/ 

/ 


'yJM  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^^jj 


PRESENTED   BY 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 


7^  L 


A  COLLECTION 

OF  THE 

ACTS,  DELIVERANCES,  AND  TESTIMONIES 

OF  THE 

^xmt  |ttbicat0r2 

'  OF  THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 

FROM  ITS  ORIGIN  IN  AMERICA  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

WITH 

NOTES  AND  DOCUMENTS 

EXPLANATORY  AND  HISTORICAL, : 

CONSTITUTING    A   COMPLETE    ILLUSTRATION    OF    HER    POLITY,    FAITH,    AND    HISTORY. 


COMPILED  FOR  THE  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 

BY  THE  v'''  ' 

Rev.    SAMUEL    J.   BAIRD. 


|)l)Ua^£lpl)ta: 

PRESBYTERIAN    BOARD    OF    PUBLICATION. 

1856. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855,  by 

A.  W.  Mitchell,  M.  D. 

In  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


ADYEHTISEMENT  TO  THE  EEADEE. 


Ix  the  following  pages  the  larger  type,  constituting  the  body  oi 
the  work,  presents  the  citations,  in  the  words  of  the  text,  from  the 
records  of  the  General  Synods  and  Assembly.  Of  dates  prior  to 
1789  the  citations  are  from  the  second  edition  of  the  "  Records  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,"  the  paging  of  which  diifers  from  that  of 
the  first  edition  by  the  addition  of  2,  down  to  the  269th  page,  after 
which  they  coincide.  Between  1789  and  1820,  inclusive,  the  cita- 
tions are  from  the  volume  of  the  Minutes  issued  by  the  Board.  Sub- 
sequent to  1820  the  annual  Minutes  are  the  authorities.  Where  any 
importance  attaches  to  the  discrimination,  during  the  coexistence 
of  the  two  General  Synods,  the  formula,  ^^  3Iinutes,  P.,"  indicates 
the  acts  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  ^''  31{nutes,  iV.  Y.,"  those 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York. 

All  other  matter  than  the  citations  from  the  Records,  is  printed 
in  small  type.  Of  this,  paragraphs  from  the  pen  of  the  compiler 
are  included  in  brackets — [  ].  Of  the  matter  thus  distinguished, 
it  may  be  proper  to  say,  that  as  it  does  not  have,  so  neither  does  it 
claim,  any  further  authority  than  may  be  found  to  belong  to  the 
facts  and  arguments  adduced. 

S.  J.  B. 


PREFACE. 


Prior  to  1821,  no  more  than  brief  extracts  of  the  annual  Min- 
utes of  the  General  Assembly  were  published.  In  1814  an  overture 
was  presented  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  D.  Baird  for  the  printing  of  the 
entire  Minutes,  from  the  beginning,  inasmuch  as  the  Extracts  were 
not  only  deficient  in  completeness,  but  entire  files  of  them  were  not 
to  be  had.  The  proposition  was  opposed  on  the  ground  of  its 
involving  the  Assembly  in  an  expense  for  which  there  was  no  pros- 
pect of  remuneration.  It  however  being  ascertained  that  a  pub- 
lishing house  in  Philadelphia  was  ready  to  give  one  thousand  dollars 
for  the  copy-right,  it  was  determined  to  secure  the  whole  profits  to 
the  General  Assembly,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted, 
viz. 

"Whereas,  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  lay  members  of  our  judi- 
catories, do  need,  and  it  is  known  that  many  of  these  as  well  as 
others  desire  to  possess,  the  printed  extracts  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  our  Church  from  the  year  1789,  it  was  therefore 

'"'■  Resolvedy  That  the  Assembly  order  a  number  of  copies  to  be 
printed,  and  that  the  profits  arising  from  the  sale  be  added  to  the 
funds  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1814,  p.  561. 

Proposals  were  accordingly  issued.  But  the  business  of  all,  re- 
ceived adequate  attention  from  none,  and  the  effort  failed.  In  1818 
the  subject  was  revived  in  a  different  form. 

"The  following  overture  was  submitted  to  the  Assembly,  and 
being  amended,  was  adopted,  viz. 

'"''  Mesolved,  That  Drs.  Janeway,  Neill,  and  Ely,  be  appointed  a 
committee,  and  they  are  hereby  appointed,  to  extract  from  the 
records  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  of  the  late  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  all  such  matters  as  may  appear  to  be  of  per- 
manent authority  and  interest,  (including  a  short  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  missions  have  been  conducted,  and  their  success,) 
that  the  same  may  be  published  for  the  information  of  Ministers  and 
people  in  our  Churches,  and  that  they  report  the  same  to  the  next 
Assembly." — dlinutes,  1818,  p.  673. 

This  committee  reported  to  the  Assembly  next  year  a  work  in 
regard  to  which  the  following  resolution  was  adopted. 

''^Resolved,  That  the  work  reported  by  this  committee  be  com- 
pleted on  the  plan  reported,  and  that  when  thus  finished,  the  com- 
mittee be  authorized  to  have  four  thousand  copies  printed,  and 
offered  for  sale  at  a  reasonable  price. 


VI  PREFACE. 

^^  Resolved,  That  tlic  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be 
requested  to  defray  the  expense  of  printing  the  above  work,  and  to 
secure  the  copy-right  of  it ;  and  that  the  Presbyteries  be  requested 
to  promote  the  sale  of  the  same." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  713. 

The  Digest  was  accordingly  published,  and  the  General  Assembly 
in  1820,  (p.  727)  "recommended  to  all  the  Bishops,  Elders,  and 
Deacons  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  and  to 
heads  of  families,  to  procure  it  for  themselves." 

This  edition  being  in  time  exhausted,  the  subject  of  a  new  selec- 
tion came  up  to  the  Assembly  in  1836  in  the  form  of  an  overture, 
and  the  following  report  was  adopted,  to  wit: 

"  That  as  the  want  of  a  new  Digest  has  been  felt  and  expressed 
by  many  brethren;  as  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  have  now 
become  too  voluminous,  to  be  conveniently  carried  to  the  places  of 
meeting  of  the  several  judicatories ;  as  it  is  impossible  now  to  sup- 
ply our  Ministers  and  Elders  with  entire  sets  of  the  Minutes  ;  and 
as  arrangements  may  be  made  for  the  publication  of  a  new  Digest, 
without  any  expense  to  the  Assembly,  they  therefore  recommend  to 
the  Assembly  the  following  resolutions  for  adoption,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  it  is  expe- 
dient that  a  new  Digest  of  the  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  highest 
judicatory  of  our  Church,  be  prepared  and  placed  within  the  reach 
of  all  our  Ministers  and  Elders. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  Dr.  John  McDowell,  Mr.  Winchester,  and 
Mr.  DufSeld,  be  a  committee  to  prepare  such  a  Digest,  and  report 
the  same  to  the  Assembly,  as  soon  as  practicable,  provided  the  ex- 
pense of  its  publication  be  not  defrayed  out  of  the  funds  of  the  K^- 
Bemh\yr— Minutes,  1836,  p.  262. 

From  this  appointment  nothing  resulted,  and  the  subject  coming 
up  again  in  1841,  was  referred  to  the  Board  of  Publication  by  the 
following  order. 

"  Th^  Board  of  Publication  is  hereby  directed  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  propriety  of  publishing  a'  new  edition  of  the  Assem- 
bly's Digest;  having  first  caused  a  thorough  re-examination  of  the 
Minutes  of  all  the  years  embraced  in  the  present  Digest,  and  also 
a  full  examination  of  all  those  published  since;  so  that  the  balance 
may  contain,  in  a  small  space,  and  a  cheap  form,  all  the  important 
acts  of  the  Assembly  now  in  force  :  to  which  may  be  added  such 
statistical  and  other  information,  in  regard  to  our  Church,  as  may 
be  judged  important." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  447. 

The  successive  measures  having  failed  to  secure  the  contemplated 
publication,  the  Assembly  in  1843 

'■''Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  of  Publication, 
if  funds  can  be  provided  for  the  purpose,  to  print  an  edition  of  all 
the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  from  the  origin  of  the  body, 
including  a  summary  of  the  sta4;istical  tables,  to  which  shall  be 
appended  a  copious  Index,  which  shall  serve  as  a  Digest  of  the 
Assembly."— il/inwYes,  1843,  p.  197. 

The  volume  of  Minutes  from  1789  to  1820,  published  in  partial 
response  to  this  resolution,  however  valuable,  did  not  supply  the 


PREFACE.  Vll 

desideratum  of  the  Assembly;  and  in  1848  a  renewed  effort  ■was 
made  to  secure  that  object. 

^^  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  prepare  a 
Digest  of  the  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  since 
1820,  accompanied  by  a  full  and  copious  index  ;  and  that  they  make 
an  arrangement  with  tine  Board  of  Publication  to  publish  such  an 
edition  as  they  may  think  proper,  including  in  the  same  volume  the 
present  Digest." 

"The  Moderator  announced  as  the  committee  of  five,  to  prepare 
a  Digest — Rev.  Daniel  V.  McLean,  Rev.  Giles  Manwaring,  Rev. 
John  McDowell,  D.  D.,  Rev.  William  M.  Engles,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Wil- 
lis Lord,  D.  'Dr—Mimites,  1848,  pp.  45,  53. 

This  committee  reported  to  the  next  Assembly  "that  they  had 
not  been  able  to  perform  the  duty,  and  asked  that  the  business  be 
transferred  to  the  Board  of  Publication.  The  request  was  granted 
and  the  committee  discharged." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  246.- 

Under  this  appointment  the  Board  issued  the  new  Digest  in 
1850. 

It  appearing  that  the  exigencies  of  the  Church  demanded  a  more 
full  and  complete  collection,  the  Author  of  the  present  compilation 
has  ventured  to  attempt  answering  this  demand.  Experiment  soon 
demonstrated  that  there  was  no  alternative  between  a  brief  abstract, 
arbitrarily  selected,  and  consequently  unsatisfactory  in  its  exhibi- 
tions, and  an  exhaustive  collection.  In  preferring  the  latter,  he  was 
not  only  confirmed  by  the  opinions  of  brethren  with  whom  he  had 
opportunity  to  consult,  but  by  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  1843, 
recited  above,  in  which  was  contemplated  the  republication  of  the 
entire  Minutes,  furnished  with  an  apparatus  of  indices,  &c.  to  serve 
as  a  Digest. 

My  aim  under  the  direction  of  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  on  the 
subject,  has  been  to  produce  a  work  which  may  constitute  a  complete 
Thesaurus,  comprehending  whatever  might  be  requisite  to  enable 
the  common  reader,  and  the  church  member  to  know  what  our 
Church  has  been  and  has  done;  no  less  than  to  place  within  the 
reach  of  Church  officers  a  full  exhibition  of  all  that  she  has,  either 
by  precedent  or  act  decided,  upon  the  principles  of  her  faith  and 
order,  and  the  rules  of  her  discipline.  Subordinate  to  this  design 
it  has  been  a  constant  study  to  condense  the  whole  to  the  smallest 
possible  dimensions. 

In  addition  to  the  extracts  from  the  Assembly's  Records,  there 
are  given  other  documents,  and  notes  historical  and  explanatory, 
serving  to  bring  out  and  illustrate  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly, 
and  the  attitude  of  the  Church,  in  the  premises  severally. 

In  arranging  the  materials  composing  the  work,  reference  has 
been  had  primarily  to  logical  order.  As  far  as  consistent  with  due 
subordination  to  this,  regard  is  had  to  the  chronological  sequence 
of  the  transactions.  The  statistical  tables  have  been  carefully  pre- 
pared, and  will  be  found  both  interesting  and  valuable,  although  the 
defective  character  of  the  materials  precludes  more  than  an  approxi- 
mation to  accuracy. 


TIU  PREFACE. 

It  is  a  pleasure  thus  publicly  to  acknowledge  my  obligations  to 
the  Rev.  Professors  Howe  and  Palmer,  of  Columbia  Seminary,  and 
Breckinridge  and  Humphrey  of  Danville,  and  to  the  Rev.  S.  B. 
McPheeters,  and  my  brother,  the  Rev.  E.  Thomson  Baird,  of  St. 
Louis,  for  valuable  suggestions,  and  important  information  and  doc- 
uments. The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  Janeway  will  also  accept  of  this 
acknowledgment  for  important  information  communicated  with 
kindness  and  promptitude  for  a  different  purpose,  but  happily  avail- 
able in  the  present  work. 

That  defects  will  not  be  discovered  in  this  volume  I  cannot  hope. 
Should  such  present  themselves  they  may  claim  indulgence  from  the 
considerate  critic.  He  is  assured  that  they  have  not  resulted  through 
negligence,  or  for  want  of  untiring  labour  and  anxiety  to  attain 
accuracy  and  completeness.  Begun  as  was  this  compilation,  amidst 
the  prostration  and  debility  induced  by  a  long  continued  exposure 
to  a  pestilent  malaria — carried  on  for  some  time  by  a  daily  alterna- 
tion of  the  writing  table  and  the  sick  couch,  and  at  length  completed 
amid  the  labours,  the  anxieties  and  cares  of  a  newly  formed  and 
arduous  pastoral  relation,  by  robbing  nature  of  her  wonted  rest, 
until  the  overwrought  system  loathed  the  needed  repose; — failing  in 
every  attempt,  either  by  importation  or  otherwise,  to  obtain  the  use 
of  any  such  works  as  might  have  served  to  suggest  a  plan,  and  com- 
pelled to  work  without  model  or  precedent;* — straitened  in  all  my 
investigations,  with  slight  exceptions,  to  the  limited  resources 
which  a  missionary  life  has  permitted  me  to  accumulate  in  my  own 
library;  to  collect,  digest,  systematize,  and  illustrate  the  accumu- 
lated deliverances  of  a  century  and  a  half,  on  every  variety  of  sub- 
jects, has  cost  me  an  amount  of  anxiety,  weariness  and  toil,  which 
can  only  be  appreciated  by  experiment,  and  which,  if  anticipated, 
would  hardly  have  been  encountered.  But  through  the  kindness  of 
a  prospering  Providence  my  work  is  done;  and  if  I  have  succeeded 
in  signalizing  to  any  additional  degree,  in  illustrating  with  greater 
clearness,  or  disseminating  to  any  wider  extent,  those  principles  of 
order  and  of  faith,  which  have  characterized  our  Church  since  she 
was  first  planted  in  this  goodly  land,  and  which  have  made  her 
what  she  is,  a  rock  immovable  in  her  principles  amid  surrounding 
change,  a  river  pouring  a  widening  and  deepening  tide  of  saving 
influences  for  the  healing  of  our  own  and  other  lands,  my  object 
will  have  been  attained,  and  in  it  I  shall  be  richly  repaid  for  all  the 
labour  expended. 

The  Manse,  ") 

Muscatine,  Iowa,  Oct.  19,  1854.  J 

*  Too  late  for  any  valuable  U8e  to  the  prepent  purpose,  I  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  Edinbui'gh, 
through  the  asuiJuity  of  Mr.  William  S.  Keutoul  of  Pittsburgh,  a  copy  of  "  A  Compendium  of  the  Laws 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland." 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK    I 


OF    THE   CONSTITUTION. 


PART  I. 

Documentary  History. 

CHAPTER  I.— Constitution  of  the  Church 
prior  to  the  Adopting  Act,  -  page  1 
'J  1.  The  General  Presbytery  had  no  writ- 
ten constitution,  vi  2.  The  organization  was 
Presbyterian.  §  3.  Relation  to  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  §  4.  First  proposal  to  adopt  a 
constitution.  §  5.  Protest  and  statement 
of  principles  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  U.— Adoption  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Standards,  -  -  -  -  p.  4 
%  6.  The  subject  laid  over  a  year.  %  7. 
Act  preliminary  to  the  Adopting  Act.  §  8. 
The  Adopting  Act.  §  9.  Excepted  passages 
of  the  Westminster  Confession.  §  10.  The 
Directory  recommended.  §11.  Theacten- 
forced  on  intrants.  §  12.  Inscribed  in  Pres- 
bytery books.  §  13.  Explanation  of  the  Act. 
§  14.  Recent  misrepresentations  of  it.  §  15. 
Position  of  the  New  Brunswick  Party.  §  16. 
Position  of  the  Synod  of  New  York. 

CHAPTER  III.— Revision  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Standards,     -         -         .         .         p.  8 

^  17.  Draught  of  the  Book  of  Government 
and  Discipline,  ij,  IS.  Confession  amended. 
§  19.  The  original  articles.  §  20.  The 
draught  as  published  for  consideration.  §  21. 
The  amended  Book  adopted.  §  22.  The 
Creed  an  appendix  to  the  Catechism.  §§  23, 
24.  Threatened  secession  of  Suffolk  Pres- 
bytery. §  25.  Completion  of  the  work  by 
the  General  Assembly.  §§  26-28.  Scrip- 
ture proofs  added.  §  29.  Subsequent  re- 
visions. 

B 


PART  II. 

Enactments  respecting  the  Constitu- 
tion. 

Title    1.  —  Adopting    the     Confession    of 
Faith,       -        -        -        -        -         p.  15 
§   30.    Use    of  Creeds    and    Confessions. 
§  31.    Adoption  includes   the   Catechisms. 
^  32.  Ministers  hostile  to  Creeds. 
Title     2. — Circulation     of    the     Constitu- 
tion, -----         p.  18 
§  33.    Original   regulations    for   printing. 
§  34.  Referred  to  the  Board  of  Publication. 
§  35.  Unauthorized  editions.     §  36.   Circu- 
lation urged.     §  37.   Translation  into   Ger- 
man. 

Title  3.—{<>\)  38-40.)  Authority  of  the  Mar- 
ginal Notes,  -  -  -  -  p.  IS 
Title  4. — Of  Amendments,  -  -  p.  21 
§  41.  Sent  down  for  a  series  of  years. 
§  42.  Amendments  to  the  doctrinal  part. 
§  43.  Proposed  change  in  the  manner. 
§  44.  The  article  respecting  constitutional 
rules.  §  45.  The  Scotch  "  Barrier  Act." 
§  46.  Different-interpretations.  §  47.  The 
article  amended.  §§  48,  49.  Amendments 
allowed  by  the  Presbyteries,  and  rejected 
by  the  Assembly. 

PART  III. 

COJIMEMORATIONS  OF    THE    CONSTITUTION. 

Title   1. — The   Bicentenary   of  the    West- 
minster Assembly,       -         -         -         p.  26 
§  50.  A  committee  appointed.     §  51.  Ul- 
timate action  of  the  Assembly. 
Title   2. — Semi- Centenary  of  the    Genera^ 
Assembly.  -         -        -        -         p.  27 

§  52.  Celebration  by  the  Assembly.    §  53. 
1  Further  action  on  the  subject. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK    II. 


THE     CONGREGATION, 


PART  1. 
Its  CoNSTiTfTiON. 
CHAPTER  \.— Formation  of  new  Congre- 
gations,      -        -        -        •        -     p.    29 
^  1.  Manner  of  organizing.     ^2.  Congre- 
gations  formed    without  officers.      §  3.    A 
rule   of  Presbytery  usually  requisite.     '§  4. 
Small   Churches   ought  not  to   be  divided. 
§  5.    When   the   people   do   not  request  it. 
^  6,  Where  the  majority  oppose  it.     (a)  An 
organization  may  be  granted.     (6)  Supplies 
without  an  organization. 
CHPATER    II. —  Qualifications    of   Mem' 
bers,  -        -        -        -        -        p.  32 

^  7.  Adoption  of  the  Confession  not  re- 
quired. %  8.  Subjection  to  the  discipline 
of  the  Church  requisite,  §9.  Persons  who 
refuse  to  dedicate  their  children  in  baptism. 
'^  10.  Dealers  in  ardent  spirits.  %  11.  Uni- 
versalists.  §  12.  Sabbath  mail  stage  pro- 
prietors.    %  13.  Postmasters. 

CHAPTER  III. — Reception  and  Dismission 
of  Members,  -  -  -  -  p.  33 
%  14.  Certificates  required.  ^  15.  Re- 
ception on  examination.  %  16.  Long  absent 
without  dismission.  ^  17.  Irregular  dismis- 
sion. §§  18,  19.  Dismission  to  another  de- 
nomination. %  20.  Dismission  indefinite. 
^  21.  Of  a  suspended  member,  ^'ji  22,  23. 
Of  one  who  has  been  restored  upon  appeal. 
$  24.  Testimonials  to  one  who  has  been 
under  judicial  charges.  ^  2.5.  Members  re- 
leased to  the  world. 

CHAPTER    IV.— 0/    Charters   and   Trus- 
tees, -        -        -        -        -        p.  37 
§  26.  Trustees  should  not  usurp  the  Dea- 
con's   office.     ^    27.    Charters    should    not 
violate  the  Constitution. 

PART  11. 
Church  Officers. 
CHAPTER  I.— 0/ Deacons,  -         p.  38 

"^  27.  Their  appointment  enjoined.  ^  28. 
Their  functions.  §  29.  The  Scotch  account 
of  them,  (s  30.  The  same  person  both  Dea- 
con and  Elder. 

CHAPTER  II.— i?«Zi/ig-£Zders,  -  p.  39 
iji  31.  In  olden  time.  ^  32.  Essential  to 
Presbytenanisin.  v  33.  Election  by  the 
people  necessary.  §  34.  The  Session  may 
nominate.  §  35.  The  customary  mode  of 
eloclion  may  be  changed  by  the  Church. 
'J  36.  None  but  members  may  vote.  ^  37. 
The  Church  may  complain  to  Presbytery  if 
the  Session  abuse  its  authority.  §  38.  An 
Elder  can  serve  but  one  Church.  §  39.  May 
not  be  chosen  for  a  term  of  years,  §  40. 
Restoration  to  communion  does  not  rein- 
stale  in  the  eldership.  ^^41.  Elders  with- 
out  parochial    charge    cannot    sit    in    any  I 


court.  ^  42.  Installation  upon  re-election. 
^  43.  Elders  who  cannot  submit  to  the  de- 
cisions of  the  higher  courts,  'j.  44.  Resig- 
nation, ^'i  45-51.  The  quorum  and  ordina- 
tion questions. 

CHAPTER  III.— O/'^/ieMJnis^ri/,  -  p.  53 
Title  1. — Of  Candidates. 

'^  52.  To  be  sought  for.  §  53.  Piety 
essential.  ^'^  54,  55.  Thorough  scholar- 
ship. ^  66.  This  waved  in  special  cases, 
SS  57.  To  whom  amenable.  <^  58.  To  what 
Presbytery  belong.  §  59.  Supervision  of 
Presbytery.  §  60.  Translation,  pending 
trials.  ^  61.  With  whom  study?  Vi  62. 
Only  theological  students  are  candidates, 
'i>§  63-66,  Three  years' theological  course. 
Title  2. — Of  Licentiates,     -        -         p.  60 

§  67.  Probation  necessiry  before  ordina- 
tion. §  68.  Precipitation  condemned.  S'' 69. 
Going  abroad  for  licensure.  §  70.  Irregu- 
lar licensure  and  ordination.  §  71.  Licen- 
tiates to  attend  Church  courts,  (i  72.  Licen- 
sure by  a  self  erected  committee.  '&  73. 
Subjects  of  Exegesis. 

Title  3.-0/ Pastors,  -        -         p.  61 

^  74.  Election  by  the  people  of  old. 
§^  75,  76.  Mode  of  election.  'J  77.  Dues 
to  former  Pastor.  ^  7S.  Pastor  and  Church 
must  belong  to  the  same  Presbytery.  ^  79. 
Pastor  by  prescription.  §  80.  Installation 
annulled  on  appeal.  S^  81.  Pastoral  duties. 
§82.  Translation.  §83.  Dissolution  of  the 
relation. 
Title  4. —  Of  Stated  supplies,         -       p.  65 

§  84.  The  system  condemned. 
Title  5. — Of  Chaplains,        -        -       p.  65 
§  85.  Chaplains  in  the  army.    §  86.  Naval 
Chaplains.     §   87.    Chaplaincy  and  pastor- 
ate incompatible. 

Title  6. —  Of  Evangelists,     -        -         p.  66 
§  88.  Ordination  of  Evangelists  approved. 
Title  7. — Of  Ministers  without  charge, 

p,  66 
§  89.  Such  disowned  by  the  General  Sy- 
nod.   §  90.  Views  of  the  General  Assembly. 
§  91.  Non-resident  Ministers,     §  92.  A  full 
minute  on  neglect  of  the  ministry. 
Title  8. — Miscellaneous  decisions  respecting 
the  ministry,      .         -         -         -         p,  69 
§   93.    Are    they  members    of  particular 
Churches?       §    94.     May    they    hold    civil 
offices  1     §    95.    Caution     about    travelling 
Ministers.      S^  96.    Removal  without  leave. 
§  97.  Prohibited  officiating  at  a  given  place. 
Title  9. — Demission  of  the  Ministry,  p,  70 
§  98.    Disallowed.    §  99.    (Of  old.)     For 
mental    incompetence.     §   100,   For  bodily 
infirmity,     §    101.    Scotch  doctrine  on  the 
subject. 

Title  10, — Names  of  Honour,        -       p,  72 
§  102.  Bishop,    v>  103.  Doctor  of  Divinity. 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


BOOK    III. 

THE    ORDINANCES, 


Introductory  Title.— (§§  1,  2.)  Distribu- 
tion of  Ecclesiastical  functions,    -    p.  13 

PART  I. 

Ordinances    pertaining    to    the    Po- 

testas  Ordinis. 
CHAVTERI.— Of  Preaching,        -       p.  74 
^3.  Lay  preaching.     '^  4.   Reading  Ser- 
mons,    ^'ji  5,6.  Expository  preaching. 

CHAPTER  Il.—The  Sacraments,    -      p.  75 

Title  1. — Of  the  Aaministration. 

§  7.  Where  there  is  no  Church,  ^  8 
Without  leave  of  Pastor  and  Session.  §  9 
Antipa;dobaptist  may  commune  occasion 
ally.  §  10.  Baptism  by  an  impostor.  'J  11 
By  a  suspended  Minister.  ^  12.  By  a  de 
posed  Minister.  §  13.  Profane  administra 
tion.  'ji  14.  Unitarian  baptism.  ^  15 
Romish  baptism.  §'js  17,  IS.  The  Church 
of  Scotland  on  Romish  baptism. 

Title  2.— The  Parents,        -         •         p.  SO 
§   19.  Their  qualifications.     §  20.  Their 
engagements. 

Title  3. — Subjects  of  Baptism,  -  p.  81 
§  21.  Period  of  infancy.  §  22.  Orphans 
in  charge  of  our  Missions.  S>  23.  Appren- 
tices to  Christian  masters.  §  24.  Children 
of  pious  slaves.  §  25.  Infant  slaves  of 
pious  masters. 

Title  4. — Of  the  mode  of  Baptism,    -  p.  S3 
§  26.  Baptism  by  immersion. 

CHAPTER  III.— (§  27.)  The  Benediction, 

p.  83 
CHAPTER  IV.— Attendance  on  the    Ordi- 
nances,       -        -        -        -        -      p.  S3 
S>  28.  Neglect  censurable.     §  29.  On  dis- 
orderly administrations. 

PART  II. 

Ordinances    Pertaining    to    the    Po- 
testas  Jurisdictionis. 

CHAPTER  I.— Of  Ordination,  -  p.  84 
S»  30.  By  Committee.  §  31.  Trials  in 
olden  time,  'ji  32.  Elders  may  not  impose 
hands  in  ordaining  Ministers.  ^\J  33,  34. 
Ordination  of  persons  in  transitu.  vS  35. 
Ordination  sine  titulo.  §  36.  Ordinations 
on  the  Sabbath.  §  37.  Irregular  not  neces- 
sarily invalid.  §  38.  Lay  ordination.  §  39. 
Procured  by  fraud.  §  40.  Methodist  ordi- 
nation. §  41.  By  other  Churches.  §  42. 
The  Eldership  may  impose  hands  on  Elders 
and  Deacons. 

CHAPTER  IL— 0/  Legislation,      -     p.  90 
<5«   43.    E.xtent  of  legislative  powers,     (b) 
Authority  of  enactments.      §  44.    Right  of 
dissent  and  protest. 


CHAPTER  III.— 0/ DJscJpZme,  -  p.  91 
§  45.  An  example  from  the  olden  time. 

Title  1. — Jurisdiction  over  territory,  p.  92 
^  46.  A  Church  outside  the  Presbytery. 
§  47.  Territory  of  a  dissolved  Presbytery. 
^  48.  A  Presbytery  by  the  Assembly  attach- 
ed inadvertently  to  a  distant  Synod. 

Title  2. — Jurisdiction  over  persons,  p.  94 
§  49.  Member  of  a  defunct  Presbytery. 
§  50.  The  only  Elders  are  accused.  ^  51. 
Accused  and  Elder  related.  §  52.  Failing 
an  attempt  to  join  another  body.  §  53. 
Non-resident  Ministers.  §  54.  Declinature 
does  not  bar.  'J  65.  Dr.  Clapp's  case. 
§  56.  Jurisdiction  over  a  deposed  Minister. 

Title  3.  —  Other  questions  of  Jurisdic- 
tion, -  -  -  -  -  p.  97 
§  67.  Appeal  from  another  denomination. 

§  58.  Discipline  of  other  denominations  to 

be    respected.       '5i§    69-63.     Discipline    of 

baptized  children. 

Title  4. — Judicial  examinations,        p.  100 
§  64.  Of  Ministers  on  joining  Presbytery. 
§  65.  Of  Ministers  suspected  of  error. 

Title  5. — (§66.)  Quorumofa  Court,  p.  100 
Title  6. — Censures  without  process,  p.  101 
^  67.  Charges  not  Judicial.  §  68.  Charges 
angrily  urged  and  abandoned.  §  69.  Cen- 
sure without  trial. 

Title  7. — Of  original  process,  -  p.  103 
§  70.  Constitution  of  the  Court,  (a)  The 
Moderator.  (6)  (c)  Counsel.  §71  Charges 
specific.  §72.  Theadmonition  of  the  Court. 
§  73.  Absence  of  accused.  §  74.  Prejudi- 
cial publications.  §  75.  Suspension  pend- 
ing process.  §  76.  Regard  to  the  rules. 
§  77.  Effect  of  informality.  §  78.  Of  evi- 
dence, (a)  Manner  of  taking  testimony. 
(6)  Lawfulness  of  the  oath,  (c)  Husband 
and  Wife  witnesses,  (d)  A  Minister  cited 
to  testify  before  a  Session,  (e)  A  member 
of  the  Court,  cited  on  the  spot. 

Title  8.— The  Decision,  -  -  p.  106 
§  79.  Must  be  definite.  §  80.  Correction 
of  the  decision.  §  81.  Respondent  may 
claim  a  copy.  §  82.  Censures  to  be  propor- 
tionate. §  83.  Suspension  for  a  specified 
time.  §  84.  A  suspended  person  may  not 
exhort.  §85.  Name  to  continue  on  the  roll. 
§  86.  (a  Deposition  and  Excommunication 
distinct  acts.  (6)  Name  of  deposed,  to  be 
published  in  some  cases. 

Title  9. — Resistance  of  Censure,  p.  109 
§  87.  Precludes  rehearing.     §  88.  Involves 

new  censure. 

Title  10. — Removal  of  Censures,  p.  110 
§  89.  As    soon    as    the    end    is    attained. 

§  90.  Caution  in  restoring  Ministers.     (6)  Is 

Presbyterial  restoration  final  ? 


In 


CONTENTS. 


Title  ]\.— New  Trial,  -  -  p.  Ill 
^91.  May    he,  on   new  evidence.     sS  92. 

After  lapse  of  years.     §93.  Complaint  may 

lie,  if  it  is  refused. 

Title  12. — Superior  Jurisdiction,  p.  112 
v3  94.  Not  to  be   ceded    away.     §  95.  No 

censure  will  lie  against  orderly  recourse  to  it. 

Title  13. — Of  Memorial  and  Petition,  p.  1 12 
f  96.  Right  of  petition,     •i  97.  It  will  not 
bring  up  a  judicial  case. 

Title  14.— Of  Reference,  -        p.  114. 

<^  9S.  The  testimony,  how  taken.  §  99. 
May  be  by  the  superior  court.  '?>  100.  A 
Reference  may  pass  direct  to  the  highest 
court.  §§  101,  102.  A  Reference  saddled 
■with  Appeals  and  Complaints. 

Title  15. — The  Records,  -  -  p.  H6 
§  103.  They  should  be  full.  §  104. 
Should  contain  nothing  without  an  order. 
§105.  Amendment.  §106.  Not  to  be  muti- 
lated. §  107.  A  superior  court  may  not 
require  erasure. 

TiTLV.  \6.— Of  Review,  -  -  p.  118 
§  108.  Annual  Review  imperative.  §  109. 
Exhibition  of  the  records  may  be  required. 
§  110.  In  a  special  case  a  copy  accepted. 
(6)  But  ordinarily  the  original.  §  111. 
Members  may  not  vote  on  their  own  records. 
§  112.  Reasons  of  exceptions  should  be 
entered.  §  113.  Neglect  of  them  disorder- 
ly. §1  114.  A  case  may  not  be  issued  judi- 
cially upon  review.  §  115.  The  inferior 
court  may  be  required  to  take  up  a  case 
irrespective  of  the  limitation  of  time. 

Title  17. — Of  Appeals  and  Complaints,  p.  121 
§  116.  The  difference  between  them. 
§  117.  Appeals  limited  to  the  parties. 
§  118.  Members  severally  of  a  court  may 
appeal.  §  119.  Appeals  limited  to  judicial 
cases.  §  120.  Appeal  upon  refusal  to 
reconsider  a  sentence.  §121.  Appeal  upon 
refusal  to  resume  a  case.  §  122.  Com- 
plaint lies  against  any  kind  of  action. 
§  123.  Against  refusal  to  correct  an  act. 
§  124.  Will  not  lie  against  refusal  to  inter- 
pret the  Constitution.  §  125.  The  pursuer 
may  bring  proof  against  the  inferior  court. 
§  126.  Lodging  of  appeal  with  the  Clerk, 
i  127.  Notice  of  reasons.  §  128.  The  limi- 
tation of  ten  days.  §  129.  Constitution  of 
the  court,  (a)  Who  may  sit?  (6)  A  mem- 
ber of  tlie  inferior  court  may  not  preside, 
(c)  The  inferior  court  excluded  on  all  pre- 
liminary questions.  §  130.  Bars  to  the  Pro- 
cess, (o)  Death  of  Respondent,  {h)  Sub- 
mission of  the  plaintiff,  (c)  The  decision 
previously  allowed,  (d)  Informality.  («) 
The  case  has  not  been  before  the  primary 
court.  (/)  Yet  pending  there.  {,g)  Viola- 
tion of  a  compromise.  (It)  Exoneration  by 
the  lower  Court,  (i)  An  orderly  case  must 
be  heard.  §  131.  The  regular  series  of 
courts  to  be  usually  followed.  §  132.  For 
sufficient  cause  the  case  m.iy  pass  direct  to 
the  Assembly.  §  133.  Personal  attendance 
unnecessary.  §  134.  Postponement  may  be 
Lad.  §  135.  Withdrawal  after  abuse  of 
lower  Court.  §  136.  Failure  to  prosecute. 
§  137.  Subsequent  resumption.  §  J3S. 
Records   essential    to    a    hearing.     §    139. 


Postponement  in  their  absence.  §  140. 
Negligence  in  sending  up  the  records. 
§  141.  A  copy  by  the  pursuer  insufficient. 
§  142.  Neglect  of  the  court  should  not 
injure  appellant.  §  143.  The  case  sent 
back  for  defective  record.  §  144.  Foreign 
matters  omitted  in  reading  the  record. 
§  145.  New  matter  admitted  by  consent. 
§  146.  Hearing  a  voluminous  case  declined. 
§  147.  Order  of  hearmg.  §  148.  Minority 
of  the  lower  court.  §  149.  Who  are  the 
original  parties.  §  150.  Withdrawal  of  the 
jiarties.  {b)  It  includes  counsel.  §  151. 
Expression  on  calling  the  roll.  §  152.  No 
hearing  allowed  a  party  after  this.  §  153. 
There  must  be  a  direct  vote  and  decision. 
§  164.  Form  of  the  question. 
Title   18. — The  final  issue,  -         p.   140 

§  155.  The  action  must  be  sustained  if 
the  decision  in  question  is  condemned. 
§  156.  The  decision  may  confirm  the  former 
sentence.  §  157.  It  may  confirm  in  part. 
§  158.  It  may  annul  it.  §  159.  It  may 
remand  the  case  to  new  trial.  §  160.  It 
may  leave  new  trial  optional.  §  161. 
Additional  censure.  §  162.  Extremes  to  be 
avoided.  §  163.  Admonition  to  both  parties. 
§  164.  The  decision  may  dissolve  a  Judica- 
tory erected  by  the  lower  court.  §  165.  It 
may  restore  judicatories,  dissolved.  §  166, 
It  may  remove  officers.  §  167.  A  special 
decision  entered  by  consent.  §  168.  The 
record  of  the  decision  should  state  the  case, 
§169.  Form  of  the  final  Minute.  §170, 
The  inferior  court  required  to  publish  the 
decision.  §  171.  Decisions  of  superior 
courts  obligatory.  §  172.  Inferior  courts 
may  remonstrate.  §  173.  The  General  As- 
sembly may  correct  a  manifestly  wrong 
decision  of  a  former  Assembly. 
Title  19. — Process  against  Church  Courts, 

p.  147 
§§  174-176.  The  same  principles  apply. 
§  177.  Process  of  an  individual  against  a 
judicatory  assumes  the  form  of  complaint. 
§  178.  It  may  effect  the  dissolution  of  the 
accused  judicature. 

TART  III. 

Common  Ordinances. 

Title  1. — Of  Benevolent  contributions, 

p.  152 

§  179.  Appointments  of  the  General  As- 
sembly not  to  be  set  aside.     §  ISO.  A  few 
objects  should    be  well   selected.     §§  181- 
183.  Systematic  Benevolence. 
Title  2. — Family  Religion,       -         p.  160 

§  184.  Attention  to  it  urged.     §  185.  Not 
to  be  superseded  by  the  Sabbath-school. 
Title  3.— (§  186.)  The  Lot,       -        p.  161 
Title  4. — Miscellaneous    acts,    concerning 

Marriage,        -        -        -        -        p.   162 

§  187.  Inconsiderate  engagements.    §  188. 
Licentiates  may  solemnize  marriage.     §  189. 
The   prior  publication.      §  190.  A   case   of 
bigamy.     §  191.  Clandestine  marriages. 
Title  5. — Affinity  in  Marriage,  p.   163 

§  192.  Wife's  brother's  daughter.  §  193. 
Wife's  half  brother's  daughter.  §  194. 
Wife's  sister's  daughter.     §  195.  Relicts  of 


CONTENTS. 


XUl 


brother  and  sister.  ^  196.  Half  brother's 
wife,  and  wife's  sister.  sN  197.  Brother's 
wife.  "Ji  198.  Wife's  sister.  §  199.  Pro- 
posed changes  in  the  Constitution.  SN  200. 
The  principle  governing  these  decisions. 

Title  6. — ("?>  201.)  Marriage  of  Missionary 
converts  with  heathen,      -         -         p.  168 

Title  7. — Sacred  Music,  -  -  p.  168 
§<*  202,  203.  The  Assembly's  collection. 
§  204.  A  smaller  one  for  Families  and 
Sabbath-schools.  ^  205.  Church  music 
under  the  control  of  the  Session. 

Title  8. — Ministerial  support,    -     p.  170 
§206.  Former  requisitions,     '5>'5>  207,  208. 
Act   of    1854.      §  209.    Aged    and    invalid 
Pastors. 

Title  9.-0/  Prayer,  -  -  p.  178 
§  210.  The  Posture.  §  211.  Rulers  re- 
membered. §212.  Social  Prayer-meetings. 
(6)  Special  reasons,  (c)  The  duty  urged. 
(d)  Revivals  consequent.  §  213.  Female 
societies.  §  214.  The  monthly  concert. 
§  215.  Change  to  the  first  Sabbath.  %  216. 
Prayer  for  overthrow  of  the  Papacy. 

Title  10.— 0/  Psalmody,  -        p.  180 

§  217.  Early  acts.— Watt's  Psalms.  §  218. 
Scruples  urged.  §  219.  Watts's  Hymns. 
§  220.  An  heretical  or  frivolous  Psalmody 
censurable.  §  221.  The  Assembly's  first 
collection.  §  222.  The  present  collection 
compiled.  §  223.  Overture  from  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed. 

Title  11. — (§224.)  Thanksgiving  Bays, 

p.  187 


Title  12. — Training  of  the  baptized  youth, 

p.  1S7 

§  225.  Enjoined  on  Presbyteries.  §  226. 
Duty  of  the  Church.  §§  227,  228.  Neglect 
of  parents  consequent  on  Sabbath-school 
facilities.  §§229-31.  Children  should  be 
trained  in  our  own  faith.  §  232.  Duty  of 
devoting  them  to  the  ministry. 
TiTLT.  ]3.— Of  Catechizing,         -        p.  190 

§  233.  The  duty  of  training  in  the  Cate- 
chisms.    §  234.  Pastoral  catechizing. 

Title  14. — Of  Sabbath- schools,  ^c.     p.  191 
§  235.   Commended.     §  236.    But  auxili- 
aries to  parents.     §  237.  The  Catechism  to 
be  taught.     §  238.  Bible  Classes. 

Title  15. — (§  239.)  Instruction  of  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb,       -        -        -        -         p.  193 

Title  16.  —  The  Ordinances  in  vacant 
Churches,  -  -  -  -  p.  193 
§  240.  Such  should  meet  for  social  wor- 
ship. (6)  The  Elders  to  be  interrogated  on 
the  subject.  §  241.  Pastoral  Letter  to  the 
frontier  Churches.  §  242.  Their  pulpits  be- 
long to  Presbytery. 

PART  IV. 
Of  Revivals. 

Title  1. — (§§  243,  244.)  Testimony  to  the 
Revival  of  \S0\-4,  -        -         p.  195 

Title  2. — (§§  245-247.)  Disorders  in  it 
condemned,        -        -        -        -       p. 196 

Title  3. — (§  248.)  Pastoral  Letter  on  dan- 
gers in  revivals,        -        -        -       p.  199 

Title  4. — (§  249.)  Pastoral  Letter  on  the 
means  of  promoting  revivals,      -      p.  2C3 


BOOK    IV. 


OF    THE    CHURCH    COURTS 


PART  I. 

General  Prixciples,       -        -      P-  210 

§  1.  Radical  principles  of  Presbytery. 
§  2.  Change  of  time  or  place  of  stated  meet- 
ing, not  by  the  Moderator.  §3.  May  be  by 
a  superior  court,  §  4.  By  a  pro  re  nata 
meeting.  §  5.  Pro  re  nata  meetings  when 
proper.  §  6.  Travelling  expenses  of  Pres- 
byters. §  7.  Failing  a  quorum.  §  8.  Quorum 
upon  adjournment  of  two  members  of  a  pro 
re  nata.  §  9,  The  stated  meeting  failing, 
the  Court  re-assembled  at  the  call  of  the 
Moderator,  §  10,  By  ap'o  re  nata  meeting, 
§  11,  By  a  superior  court,  §  12.  Absentees 
to  be  called  to  answer.  §  13.  Members 
withdrawing  without  leave.  §  14.  Corres- 
ponding members. 

PART  II. 

Of  Ecclesiastical  Commissions. 
Title  1. — Of  the  nature  of  Commissions. 

p.  213 
§  15.  What  is  a  Commission  ?  §  16.  Scotch 
definitions.     §  17.  Waldensian  example. 


Title  1. — Commissions  of  the  General  Sy- 
nod, -  -  ...  p.  215 
§  18.  Occasional  commissions,  (a)  Com- 
mission to  ordain.  (6)  Commission  to  li- 
cense, (c)  Comission  to  translate  a  Pastor. 
[d)  Commission  to  continue  or  remove  a  sus- 
pension, (c)  Extraordinary  commission. 
(/,  g,  i)  Commissions  to  pacify  Churches. 
(h,j)  Acts  reversed  by  Synod,  {k)  Commis- 
sion to  release  a  Pastor.  (/)  A  Commission 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York.  §  19.  (a,  b)  Ju- 
dicial Commissions,  (c)  The  proceedings 
reviewed  in  Synod.  §  20.  Standing  Com- 
mission of  Synod,  §  21,  Standing  Com- 
mission of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  §  22. 
Revision  of  the  acts  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mission, §  23,  Nature  of  the  Commission 
defined. 

Title  2, — Commissions  of  Inferior  Courts, 

p,  224, 
§  24. 'A  superior  court  may  not  appoint  a 
Commission  of  an  inferior.  §§  25,26.  Com- 
mission of  Presbytery.  §  27.  Commissions 
of  Synods,  (a)  Of  the  Synods  of  Virginia 
and  Pittsburgh.     (6)    Of  the  Synod   of  the 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Carolinas.     (c)  Of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

(d)  Of  the  Synod  of  Illinois. 

Title  3. — Commission  of  the  General  Ax- 

sembly, p.  225 

i$i  28.  (a,  h)  Proposals  to  create  a  Judicial 
Commission.  sS  29.  The  Boards  true  Com- 
missions. 

PART  III. 

Of  the  Church  Session,        -      p.  227 

^  30.  Quorum  of  Session.  §  31.  A  spe- 
cial Session  appointed  by  a  superior  court. 
<\  32.  The  Moderator.  §  33.  Representa- 
tion in  superior  courts.  §  34.  Session  re- 
presented in  the  absence  of  the  Pastor. 
^  35.  Vacant  Congregations.  §  36.  United 
Congregations.  §  37.  Elders  from  vacant 
Churches  in  Synod.  "^  38.  Elders  required 
to  stay  till  the  adjournment.  (6)  Should  ac- 
count for  tardiness. 

PART  IV. 

Of  the  Presbytery. 

CHAPTER  I. — Constitution  of  Presbytery, 

p.  235 

^  39.  Chronological  table  of  Presbyteries. 
^40.  The  quorum.     §41.  Preacher  of  the 
opening  sermon.     §  42.  Ministers  without 
charge,  members. 
CHAPTER    II. — Reception  and  dismission 

of  Members,  ....  p,  235 
Title  1. — Domestic  migrations. 

§  43.  May  Presbyterial  reception  be  set 
aside  ?  §  44.  Obsolete  decisions  on  this 
subject.  §  45.  Caution  in  receiving  mem- 
bers. §  46.  Rejection  of  Ministers  with 
clean  papers.  §  47.  Rule  proposed  on  this 
subject.  §  48.  Presbytery  may  examine  ap- 
plicants. §  49.  Abuse  of  this  right.  §  50. 
Examination  imperative.  §  51.  Reception 
of  Ministers  from  corresponding  bodies. 

Title  2. — Reception  of  Foreign  Ministers, 

p.  238 
^  52.  Original  rule  of  the  General  Synod. 
^  63.  New  overture  on  the  subject.  §  54. 
Subsequent  rule.  §55.  Present  rule.  sS66. 
Vindication  of  it.  §  67.  Proposed  amend- 
ment. §  58.  Illustrations  of  the  rule, 
(a)  It  applies  to  Canada.  (A)  Credentials 
approved  by  less  than  a  quorum  of  Synod. 
(c)  Resumption  here  of  the  ministry  re- 
signed abroad,  (d,  ej^Change  of  Presbytery 
by  the  probationer.  (/)  Privilege  lost  by 
return  to  Europe.  §  69.  These  rules  en- 
forced. 

Title  3. — Dismission  of  Ministers,     -   246 
V  60.  May  not  be  by  a  committee.     §  61. 
Must   be  to  a  specific  body.     §  62.  Minis- 
ters withdrawing.     §  63.  Return  of  such. 
Title  4. — Miscellaneous  Deliverances, 

p.  247 
"Ji  64.  Geographical  bounds.  §  65.  Pres- 
bytery may  meet  outside  the  bounds.  §  66. 
Pro  re  nata  meetings.  67.  Excessive  sub- 
division of  Presbyteries.  §  68.  A  Presby- 
tery may  not  transfer  a  Church.  §  69.  Pres- 
byterial duties,  (o)  Inquest  into  ministerial 
faithfulness.  (6)  Other  duties  of  Presby- 
teries. 


PART  V. 

Of  the  Synods,    -        -        -        p.  251 

§70.  Chronological  list.  §71.  A  Synod 
not  a  Convention  of  Presbyteries. 

Title  1. — History  of  the  erection  of  the 
Synods,  -----  p.  252 
§  72.  The  Synods  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  of  Philadelphia,  Virginia,  and  the 
Carolinas.  §  73.  Synods  of  Pittsburgh  and 
Kentucky.  §  74.  Synod  of  Albany.  §  75. 
Synod  of  Geneva.  §  76.  Synod  of  North 
Carolina,  and  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 
§  77.  The  Synod  of  Ohio.  §  78.  The  Synod 
of  Tennessee.  §  79.  The  Synod  of  Genesee. 
§  80.  The  Synod  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  divided.  §81.  The  Synod  of  the 
Western  Reserve.  §  82.  The  Synods  of 
West  Tennessee,  [Nashville,]  and  Indiana. 
§  83.  The  Synods  of  Utica,  Mississippi  and 
South  Alabama,  and  Cincinnati.  §  84.  The 
Synod  of  Illinois.  §  85.  The  Synod  of 
Missouri.  §  86.  The  Synod  of  the  Chesa- 
peake. §  87.  The  Synods  of  Michigan  and 
Delaware.  §  88.  The  Synod  of  Alabama. 
§  89.  The  Synod  of  Northern  India.  §  90. 
The  Synods  of  Buffalo  and  Northern  Indiana. 
§  91.  The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  divided.  §  92.  The  Synod  of 
Memphis.  §  93.  The  Synods  of  Texas  and 
Wisconsin,  §  94.  The  Synods  of  the 
Pacific,  Iowa,  and  Arkansas.  §  95.  The 
Synods  of  Baltimore  and  Alleghany. 
Title  2. — Miscellaneous  decisions,  p.  262 
§  96.  The  opening  sermon.  §  97.  Fro 
re  nata  meetings  constitutional.  §  98.  Ad- 
journed meetings  of  Synod. 

PART  VI. 

The  General  Assembly. 

CHAPTER  I. — Its  Documentary  History, 

p.  264 
§  99.  Original  organization,  (o)  Volun- 
tary organization  in  1704.  (6)  Design  of 
the  organization.  §  100.  It  was  a  proper 
General  Assembly.  §  101.  It  creates  out  of 
itself  four  subordinate  Presbyteries,  and 
assumes  the  name  of  The  Synod.  §  102. 
The  Synod  meets  by  delegation.  §  103.  Its 
powers.  §  104.  It  creates  out  of  itself  four 
subordinate  Synods,  and  continues  its  own 
succession  in  the  General  Assembly. 
CHAPTER  II. — Organization  of  the  Assem- 
bly,   p.  267 

Title  1. — Of  its  meetings. 

§  105.  Table  of  the  time,  place  and 
Moderators.  §  106.  Time  of  meeting. 
§  107.  Prayer  for  the  Assembly.  §  108. 
Order  of  organizing. 

Title  2. — Commissioners    of    the    Presby- 
teries,       p.  269 

§  109.  Ratio  of  representation.  §  110. 
Commissioners  from  new  Presbyteries. 
§§  111,  112.  New  Presbyteries  must  first  be 
recognized.  §  113.  A  Presbytery  sends 
more  than  its  proportion  of  Commissioners. 
§  114.  Commissions  defective  or  wanting. 
§  115.  No  election  through  failure  of 
quorum.     §  116.  The  rule  relaxed  in  favour 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


of  Missionary  and  frontier  Presbyteries. 
SS  117.  Extraordinary  case.  ^  118.  Princi- 
pals and  alternates. 

Title  3 — Corresponding  Members,  p.  274 
ij>  119.  Ministers  casually  present.  §  120. 
Delegates  from  other  Churches,  (a)  F'rom 
American  Churches.  §  121.  From  Foreign 
Churches.  §  122.  Distinguished  Foreign 
Ministers.  %  123.  An  aged  servant  of  the 
Church,  (Dr.  Green.)  (6)  Memorial  upon 
his  death.  <}  124.  Agents  of  benevolent 
societies. 

Title  4. — Officers  of  the  Asse7nbly,  p.  277 
^  125.  Their  travelling  expenses  paid. 
^  126.  Who  opens  the  Assembly  in  absence 
of  the  Moderator.  "Ji  127.  Election  of  the 
Moderator,  "ji  128,  His  installation.  §129. 
His  duties,  (c)  List  of  Standing  Commit- 
tees to  be  appointed,  s'*  130.  He  has  no 
other  than  the  casting  vote.  §  131.  Com- 
munications addressed  to  him.  §  132.  The 
Stated  Clerk.  (a)  List  of  Stated  Clerks, 
(ft),  (c)  Duties.  (d)  Salary.  ^  133.  The 
Permanent  Clerk,  (a)  List  of  Permanent 
Clerks.  (6-d)  Duties,  (e)  Salary.  S^  134. 
Temporary  Clerk. 

CHAPTER  III.— The  Minutes,  p.  2S1 
§  135.  The  records  of  the  original  Synod 
belong  to  the  Assembly.  'j>  136.  Printing  of 
the  old  records.  §  137.  Printing  of  the 
complete  records  from  1789.  §  138.  The 
Annual  Minutes  to  be  printed  in  extenso. 
§  139.  Arrangement  of  the  printed  roll. 
§  140.  Arrangement  of  tables,  (a)  Alpha- 
betical list  of  Ministers.  (6)  Synods  to  be 
arranged  in  chronological  order.  §  141.  No 
Presbytery  to  be  enrolled  until  officially 
recognized.  §  142.  An  Index  to  be  printed 
■with  the  Annual  Minutes.  S' 143.  To  whom 
sent.  §  144.  Their  preservation.  §  145. 
Selections  to  be  read  in  the  Churches. 
CHAPTER  IV.— Committees  of  the  Assem- 
bly,           p.  285 

Title  1. — Committee  of  Commissions. 

^<5»  146,  147.  Earlier  mode  of  proceeding. 
§  148.  Standing  Committee  appointed. 
§  149.  The  Committee  has  no  discretionary 
powers. 


TiTLe  2. — (§  150.)    Committee  of  Elections, 

p.  286 

Title  3. — (§  151.)  Committee  of  Bills  and 
Overtures,  ....        Ibid. 

Title  4. — (§  152.)  Judicial  Committee,  p.  287 

Title  6. — (§  153.)  Committee  on  the  Narra- 
tive,          p.  297 

^  154.  The  Narrative  to  notice  the  deaths 

of  Ministers. 

Title  6. — (§  155.)  Committee  on  Devotional 
Exercises,        -        -        -        -         p.  288 

Title  7. — (§  156.)  Committee  to  nominate 
Delegates  to  Corresponding  Bodies,  p.  288 

Title  8. — (%  157.)  Committee  on  Foreign 
Correspondence,       -        -        -         p.  289 

Title  9. — (§  158.)  Committee  on  Leave  of 
Absence,  ....         p.  289 

Title  10. — (§  169.)  Committee  on  the  Fi- 
nances,   -----         p.  291 

Title  11. — {%  160.)    Committee  on  Mileage, 

p.  291 
§  161.  Correction  of  mistakes  of  this  com- 
mittee. 

Title  12. — (§  162.)  Committees  on  the  four 
Boards, p.  291 

Title  13. — (§  163.)  Committee  on  Theologi- 
cal Seminaries,        -        -        -         p.  292 

Title  14. — Committee  on  Systematic  Benevo- 
lence,        p.  292 

Title  15. — Cji  164.)  The  Committees  on  the 
SyTiodical  Records,  -        -        p.  292 

CHAPTER  Y.— Powers  of  the  General  As- 
sembly,     p.  292 

i^i  165.  In  the  ordination  of  Ministers. 
§  166.  In  their  translation.  §  167.  To 
transfer  Churches,  i^  168.  To  erect  Presby- 
teries. §  169.  To  change  their  bounds. 
§  170.  To  divide  them.  vS  171.  To  appoint 
them  to  meet.  §  172.  To  dissolve  them. 
§  173.  To  erect  and  divide  Synods.  §  174. 
To  alter  their  bounds.  ^  175.  To  dissolve 
them.  §  176.  To  visit  inferior  courts. 
§  177.  To  censure  them.  §  178.  To  make 
inquest  as  to  compliance  with  injunctions. 
§  179.  To  enforce  the  performance  of  their 
duties  by  the  lower  courts.  ^S  180.  To  con- 
trol the  whole  business  of  Missions. 


BOOK    V. 

INSTITUTIONS    OF    THE    CHURCH. 


PART  I. 

General  Principles  and  Facts. 

Title  1. — Miscellaneous,  -  -  P-  297 
Vi  1.  The  four  Boards  anticipated.  'J  2. 
The  Eldership  to  have  part  in  their  manage- 
ment. §v  3,  4.  Ocjr  own  Institutions  to  be 
sustained,  'ji  6.  Their  reports  to  be  laid 
before  the  Congregations.  §  6.  To  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  members  of  the  Genera)  As- 
sembly. §  7.  Their  records  and  accounts 
to  be  laid  before  the  Assembly.  §  8.  Re- 
port of  expenses  to  be  in  detail.  §  9.  Of 
Agencies.     '^    10.    Annual  appeal  to  every 


member  of  the  Churches.     §  11.  Economi- 
cal management. 

Title  2. — Periodicals  of  the  Boards,  p.  301 
§  12.  The  Assembly's  Magazine.  §  13. 
The  Missionary  Reporter  and  Education 
Register.  §14.  The  Missionary  Chronicle. 
§  15.  The  Home  and  Foreign  Record.  §  16. 
The  Foreign  Missionary.  §  17.  The  Sab- 
bath-school Visitor. 

PART  II. 

Of  Missions. 
Introductory  Title,  .        .        p,  303 

§  18.  The  Church  a   Missionary  Society. 
§  19.  Missions  the  pledge  of  her  prosperity. 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.— Early  Missionary  Efforts, 

p.  303 
Title    1. — First   Measures  of  the   General 

Presbytery. 

<\  20.  Injunction  on  its  members  at  the 
first  meeting.  vS  21.  An  appeal  to  the  pious 
in  London.  §  22.  A  similar  appeal  to  Scot- 
lanil.  §  23.  Creation  of  a  fund.  v3  24. 
Second  appeal  to  Great  Britain,  v)  25.  First 
missionary  appropriation.  ^>(n  26,  27.  A 
yearly  collection.  S>  28.  First  appointment 
of  itinerant  missionaries. 

Title  2. — Petty  persecutions  endured,  p.  308 
§  29.  Dilliculties  in  Virginia.     ^  30.  Cor- 
respondence with  the  Governor.    §31.  With 
Great  Britain. 

Title  3. — Manner  of  operating,     -     p.  310 
liN  32.  Two  classes  ot  missionaries.     §33. 
The  appointments  imperative.     §  34.  The 
first  collection  specifically  for  missions. 
Title  4. — Early  Missions  to  the  Indians, 

p.  311 
§  35.  (fl)  A  collection  ordered.  (6)  Aid 
from  Great  Britain.  §  36.  Brainerd  em- 
ployed. §  37.  A  school  founded.  §  38. 
Correspondence  with  a  Virginia  Society. 
§§  39-41.  Brainerd  again  employed.  §  42. 
Oneida  Mission.  §§  43,  44.  Explorations. 
§  45.  Mission  to  the  Western  Indians  pro- 
posed. 

Title  5. — Labours  among  the  Western  In- 
dians, -  -  -  -  -  p.  316 
§  46.  Contemplated  in  raising  the  perma- 
nent fund.  §§  47-51.  The  Sandusky  Mis- 
sion. §  52.  Transferred  to  the  American 
Board.  §  53.  Efforts  of  the  Assembly  to 
obtain  missionaries. 

Title  6. — (§  54.)  Missions  among  the  South- 
ern Indians,  -         .         -         -     p.  3 IS 
(a)  The  Catawbas.    (6,  c)  Mr.  Blackburn's 
schools  among  the  Cherokees.     §66.  This 
ground  assumed  by  the  American  Board. 

Title  7. — (§  56.)   Overture  from  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  -         -        -         .     p.  319 

Title  S. — The  United  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  -  -  -  -  -  p.  320 
§  67.  Its  organization.  §  68.  Its  Consti- 
tution. §  69.  Overture  for  union  with  the 
American  Board.  §  60.  Preliminary  terms 
of  union.  §  61.  Permanent  terms.  §  62. 
Kejection  of  these  terms  by  the  Assembly. 
§  63.  The  Assembly  acquiesces  in  the 
union. 

CHAPTER  II.— Board  of  Missions,    p.  323 
Title  1. — Antecedent  m-asures. 

§  64.  Action  of  the  first  General  Assem- 
bly. §  65.  Committee  of  Missions  raised. 
§  66.  The  Syuod  of  the  Carolinas  permitted 
to  conduct  their  own  missions.  §  67.  The 
Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia.  §68. 
Ordination  of  their  missionaries.  §  C9.  A 
yearly  collection  ordered  by  the  Assembly. 
§  70.  A()peal  to  the  Churches.  §  71.  In- 
structions to  the  missionaries.  §  72.  The 
system  itinerant.  §  73.  Pastors  to  dissemi- 
nate a  spirit  of  missions.  §  74.  Report  on 
the  best  mode  of  conducting  missions.  §75. 
Catechists  proposed. 


Title  2. — Standing  Committee  of  Missions, 

p.  331 

§  76.  The  committee  created.    §  77.  Rule 
in  regard  to  distant  members. 
Title  3.— The  Board  of  Missions,       p.  332 

§  78.  The  committee  raised  to  a  Commis- 
sion, styled   the  Board   of  INIissions.     §  79. 
Annual  collections.     §  80.  Additional  pow- 
ers given  to  the  Board. 
Title  4. — Re-organization  of  the  Board, 

p.  334 

§  SI.  An  overture  urging  re-organization. 
§82.  Interposition  of  the  A.  H.  M.  Society. 
§  83.  The  result. 

Title  5. — (§  84.)  Other  amendments  to  the 
Constitution,  -        -        -         p.  335 

Title  6. — Proposed  Amalgamation  with  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  in  the 
West,        -        -        -  ■      -         -      p.  335 
§   85.    Overture   from   the    Presbytery   of 
Cincinnati.     §  86.  Attempt  to   elect  a  hos- 
tile Board.     §  87.  Cincinnati  Convention. 
Title    7. — (§    88.)    Western  Committee    of 
Missions,        -        -        -        -  p.  337 

Title  8. — The  Church  Extension  Commit- 
tee, -----        p.  338 
§  89.  Its  organization.     §  90.    A  special 
collection  ordered.      §  91.  Re-organization 
of  the  committee. 

Title  9. — Miscellaneous  Enactments,  p.  340 
§  92.  Itinerant  labours.  §  93.  Pastors 
should  make  lours.  §  94.  Pastoral  susten- 
tation.  §  98.  Increase  of  the  salaries  of 
missionaries.  §96.  Discretion  of  the  Board 
in  distributing  the  funds.  §  97.  Discretion 
as  to  orthodoxy  of  missionaries.  §  98.  Mis- 
sions among  the  Germans.  §  99.  Honorary 
members. 

Title  10. —  Policy  and  results  of  the  Assem- 
bly's Missions,        -        -        -         p.  342 
§  100.  Extent  of  the  field.     §  101.  Prin- 
ciples.   102.  Results. 

Title  11. — Duties  of  Presbyteries,  p.  343 
§  103.  To  provide  for  their  own  destitu- 
tions. §  104.  Presbyteries  to  report  to  the 
Board.  §  105.  Efficiency  urged.  §  106. 
Union  of  feeble  Churches. 
Title  12. — Auxiliary  organizations,  p.  344 
§§  106,  107.  Presbyteries.  §  108.  Sessions. 
§  109.  Congregations. 

CHAPTER    III.— Board    of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions,       -----       p.  346 
Title  1. — (§  110.)  Dr.  Rice''s  Memorial. 
TiLLE  2. — Tlie  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,       -----     p.  347 
§  111.    Occasion   of  its  erection.     §  112. 
Treaty  for  itu  transfer  to    the   (General  As- 
sembly.    §  113.  Report  of  the  Commission 
on    the    terms.        §    114.    Majority    report 
on  the  action  of  the   Commission.      §  115. 
Minority  report.     §    116.  Rejection  by  the 
Assembly.     §  117.  Protest.     §  118.  Reply. 

Title  3. — Organization  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  -         -         p.  355 

§  119.    The  Constitution.     §  120.    Union 

of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

§  121.   Amendments    to    the    Constitution. 


CONTENTS. 


xvu 


^  122,  Resolutions  on  receipt  of  the  first 
report.  §  123.  P;istoral  Letter  to  Foreign 
Missionaries.  §  124.  Letter  to  the  Churclies 
on  Foreign  Missions. 

Title  4.— Miscellaneous  provisions,  p.  364 
$  125.  Duty  of  Pastors  and  Sessions. 
§  126.  Injunction  on  Presbyteries.  §  127. 
Standing  day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer.  ^  12S. 
Organization  of  Mission  Presbyteries,  (o) 
Missionaries  authorized  to  organize  them- 
selves, {b)  Presbyteries  and  Synod  of 
Northern  India.  (O  Presbyteries  in  China, 
Liberia  and  Indian  Territory.  §  129.  Mis- 
sionary Church  Courts  not  bound  by  the 
letter  of  the  Constitution. 

PART  III. 

Of  Literary  and  Theological  Educa- 
tion. 

CHAPTER  I. — Measures  prior  to  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Board,    -         -        -         p.  368 
Title  1. — Early  measures   of  the    General 
Synod. 

^  130.  Miscellaneous  items.  <v  131.  A 
Commission  of  Synod.  §132.  A  free  school 
founded.  %  133.  Tuition  fee  imposed. 
•Ji  134.  Branches  taught,  s^  135.  Library 
founded.  §  136.  Aid  from  a  German  fund. 
$  137.  A  general  collection. 
Title  2. — The  College  of  New  Jersey ,  p.  373 
§  138.  Collection  for  it.  §  139.  Mission  of 
Davies  and  Tennent  to  Britain.  <}  140. 
Davies'  Presidency.  §  141.  A  general  col- 
lection. vS  142.  A  chair  of  theology  erected. 
§  143.  Re-building  of  the  College.  Si  144. 
Later  arrangements  for  theological  instruc- 
tion. 

Title  3. — More  recent  measures,  p.  377 
?i  145.  A  general  plan  adopted.  S>  146. 
Transylvania  Seminary.  §§  147,  148.  Plan 
for  increase  of  candidates,  'ji  149.  This 
plan  amended. 

CHAPTER  II.— The  Board  of  Education, 

p.  380 
Title  1. — Organization  of  the  Board. 

'ii  150.    Erection    of  a    Board    resolved. 
^  151.  Constitution. 

Title  2. — (^§  152-155.)  Amendments  to  the 
Constitution,  -  -  -  -  p.  382 
Title  3. — Rules  in  regard  to  the  Board  of 
Education,  -  -  -  -  p.  383 
§  156.  Honorary  members.  §  157.  Em- 
ployment of  Candidates  under  direction  of 
Pastors.  §  158.  Caution  to  Presbyteries  in 
recommending  candidates.  §  159.  Like 
caution  to  teachers.  §  160.  Thorough 
course  of  study,  'i  161.  Aid  may  be  in  the 
form  of  scholarships.  sS  162.  The  pledge 
of  candidates.  §  163.  Distinction  of  Pro- 
bationers and  Candidates.  >ji  164.  Discrimi- 
nation of  funds.  §  165.  Synodical  agents. 
§  166.  Theological  Seminaries  referred  for 
aid  to  the  Board. 

Title  4. — Church,    Schools    and    Colleges, 

p.  385 

§167.  Earlier  precedents.     §168.  Centre 

College.     §§  169,  170.  Report  on  Parochial 

Schools.     §  171.  To  be  established.     §  172. 

C 


Board  qf  Publication  to  provide  books. 
§  173.  Church  Colleges.  §  174.  Makemie 
College.  §  175.  Greek  Testament  in  Insti-i 
tutions  of  learning.  §  176.  Relations  to 
state  and  corporation  Schools. 

PART  IV. 
BoAKD  OF  Publication. 

Title  1. — Early  Measures,  -  p.  396 
§  177.  A  Committee  of  Censorship. 
§  178.  (a — i)  Collection  and  distribution  of 
religious  books,  (fr)  Proposal  to  organize  a 
Tract  Society.  §  179.  Recommendation  of 
publishers'  books  declined. 

Title   2. — Encouragement  to  editions  of  the 

Bible, p.  398 

§   180.    Aitken's  and    Collins's    editions. 

§  181.  The  American  Bible  Society. 

Title  3. — Board  of  PvbUcation,   -     p.  400 
§    182.    The    Constitution.      {b)    (c)    (rf) 
Amendments.     §183.  Miscellaneous  enact- 
ments.    §  184.  Colportage. 

PART  V. 

Theological  Schools. 

CHAPTER  I. — Measures  of  the  General 
Synod,  -----  p.  404 
§  185.    Efforts  to    secure  a  Professor    of 

Theology.     §  186.  Provisional  arrangement. 

CHAPTER  II. — Princeton  Seminary, 

p.  405 

Title  1. — Incipient  measures. 

^•i.  187,  188.  Various  plans  proposed.  §  189. 
Act  establishing  the  Seminary.  §  190.  Pas- 
toral letter  on  the  subject.  §  191.  Agree- 
ment with  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  Col- 
lege. §  192.  Terms  of  agreement.  §  193. 
Location  fixed  at  Princeton. 

Title  2.— (§§  194-200.)  Constitution  of  the 
Seminary,        -        -        -        .         p.  413 

Title  3. — Rules  in  regard  to  Directors  and 
Professors,  -  -  -  -  p.  418 
§§  201 ,  202.  Election  of  Directors  §  203. 
The  Board  to  report  vacancies.  §204.  Man- 
ner of  electing  Professors.  §  205.  Proposed 
precautions.  §206.  No  appointment  of  In- 
structors without  the  sanction  of  the  Assem- 
bly. §  207.  The  reports  of  the  Board  to  be 
full  and  specific. 

Title  4. — (§§  208,209.)  Missionary  depart- 
ment proposed,  -        -        -        p.  420 

Title  5. — Organization  and  Statistics  of 
the  Seminary,  ...         p.  422 

§210.  The  Professors  severally.     §211. 

The  funds  and  students. 

CHAPTER  111.— Western  Theological  Semi- 
nary, at  Allegheny  City,  -  p.  425 
§  212.  Incipient  measures.  §  213.  Con- 
stitution of  the  Seminary.  §§  214-216.  Lo- 
cation at  Allegheny.  §  217.  Plan  of  the 
Seminary.  §§218,219.  Arrangement  of  the 
Chairs.  §  220.  List  of  Professors.  §221. 
Statistics  of  the  students.  §  222.  Endow- 
ment, &c. 


xviu 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTERIV.— Dan«/7/e  Seminary,  p.  429 

Title  1. —  Papers  in  regard  to  a  Seminary 

in  the  West. 

<i  223.  Papers  from  New  Albany.  ^  224. 
From  Cincinnati.  <\  225.  From  the  Ken- 
tucky Commissioners  in  the  Assembly. 
^  22b'.  From  tlie  Western  Commissioners. 

Title  2. — Erection  of  the  Danville  Semi- 
nary, .  ....  p.  431 
^  227.  Resolve  to  establish  a  Seminary  for 

the   West.     §  228.    Location    at   Danville. 

<^  229.  Constitution  of  the  Seminary.  §  230. 

Professors  elected.     Vi  231.  Organization  of 

the  Seminary.     §  232.  Students. 

Title  3.— ('J'J  233-239.)  Plan  of  Danville 
Seminary,         ....        p.  434 

CHAPTER  V. — Sy nodical  and  other  Semi- 
Ttaries,  -        -        -        -  p.  441 

Title  1. — (vS  240.)  Powers  of  the  Synods  on 

the  subject. 

vi  241.  Proposal  to  transfer  all  the  Semi- 
naries to  the  Synods. 

Title  2. — UnionTheological  Seininary,  Vir- 
ginia, -  -  -  -  -  p.  442 
<N  242.  Taken  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Assembly.  §  243.  Adopted  by  the 
Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 
§  244.  Resumption  of  the  funds  by  the  Sy- 
nods, s^  245.  Mode  of  electing  Professors. 
^  246.  Organization  and  statistics. 

Title  3. — Columbia  Seminary,      -      p.  446 
§  247.  Its  origin.     §    248.  Power  of  the 
Synods.     ^  249.  Of  the  Professors.     ^  250. 
Endowment,  &c.    251.  Statistics. 

Title  4. — New  Albany  Seminary,  p.  447 
§>5.  252,  253.  Proposed  transfer  to  the 
Assembly  of  1853.  S*  254.  Overture  of  the 
Trustees.  '?>  255.  Action  of  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky.  §  256.  Action  of  the  Synod  of 
Indiana.  §  257.  Action  of  other  Synods. 
§  258.  Position  of  the  Assembly  toward  this 
Seminary.  §  259.  Memorial  to  Dr.  Mat- 
thews. §  260.  Re-organization  of  the  In- 
stitution.    '5'  261.  The  statistics. 

Title  5. — Other  Seininaries,  -  p.  454 
§  262.  Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky. §  263.  Southwestern  Seminary. 
^  264.  The  position  of  Lane  Seminary. 
^  265.  The  Assembly  declines  to  interfere 
with  it. 

PART  VI. 

Other  Institutions. 

CHAPTER  I.— Corporation  of  the  Widows' 
Fund,         -         -         -         .         -       p.  456 

Title  1 . — Incipient  measures. 

^  266.  Claims  of  Ministers'  widows  early 
recognized.     'J   267.    A  widows'  fund  cre- 


ated, 'i  268.  The  Synod's  contribution. 
V  269.  Amendment  to  the  plan.  ^  270.  Pe- 
tition to  the  Penns  for  a  charter. 

Title  2. — Terms  and  conditions  of  annui- 
ties. 

§  271.  Conditions  which  respect  the  sub- 
scribers. %  272.  Conditions  which  respect 
annuitants.  §  273.  Table  of  premiums. 
§  274.  Declaration  of  applicants  S''  275. 
Covenant  of  the  Corporation,  i)  276.  Con- 
dition of  annuities  foraged  Ministers.  v>  277. 
Table  of  premiums.  §278.  Covenant  of  the 
Corporation. 

Title  4. — Acts  of  the  Assembly  on  the  sub- 
ject, .....  p.  462 
§279.  A  former  plan.     §§280,281.  The 

present  plan. 

CHAPTER  l\.— Trustees  of  the  General  As- 
sembly,       -        -        .        -        -     p-  463 

Title  1.— (§  282.)  The  Charter. 
§  283.  The  charter  accepted. 

Title  2.— The  Trustees,         .        .      p.  466 
§  284.  Election.     §  285.  Intercourse  with 
the  Assembly.     §  286.  Indemnified  in  obey- 
ing the  Assembly's  instructions. 

Title  3. — The  funds  in  general,^.  -  467 
§  287.  Manner  of  keeping  the  accounts. 
§§  288-294.  Present  state  of  the  funds. 
§  295.  Minute  of  the  Assembly  of  1854. 
§  296.  The  accounts  to  be  simplified.  §  297. 
The  Treasurer's  report  to  be  in  detail. 
§  298.  Trust  funds  may  not  be  alienated. 

Title  4. — The  Commisssoners''  Fund,  p.  477 
§  299.    Original  system.     §  300.  Present 
arrangement. 

Title  5. — Contingent  Fund,        -        p.  478 
§    301.    Original    system.      §   302.   Other 
plans.    §  303.  The  present  rule. 

Title  6. — Permanent  Missionary  Fund, 

p.  479 
§  304.  Its  origin.     §   305.   Only  the  inte- 
rest used.    §  306.  This  paid  over  quarterly. 

Title  7. — Other  Funds,  -  -  p.  481 
§§307-311.  Funds  in  New  Jersey  Col- 
lege. §  312.  AzariahHorton  Fund.  §313. 
James  Lesley  Fund.  §  314.  Funds  with  the 
Corporation  of  the  Widows'  Fund.  §  315. 
Certain  funds  from  Scotland.  §  316.  East- 
burn's  Seamen's  Chapel  Fund.  §  317.  The 
Colt  Scholarship.  §  318.  The  ED  Scholar- 
ship. §  319.  The  Boudinot  Pastors'  Li- 
brary Fund.  §  320.  Another  Boudinot  Fund. 

CHAPTER  III. — Presbyterian  Historical 
Society,  -        -,        -        -  p.  486 

§  321.  Collection  of  materials  for  a  his- 
tory of  the  Church.  §§  322,  323.  Commit- 
tees to  write  a  history.  §  324.  Further  col- 
lections. §  325.  Deposited  with  the  Pres- 
byterian Historical  Society. 


CONTENTS. 


XIX 


BOOK    VI. 

RELATIONS    TO    OTHER    CHURCHES, 


PART  I. 

Intercourse  of  Churches. 

^  1.  Its  regulation  belongs  to  the  General 
Assembly. 

CHAPTER  I.— Intercourse  with  the  New 
England  Churches,  -        -        p.  491 

Title  1. — Early  Correspondence. 

'5>§  2,  3.  First  occasion  of  intercourse. 
§^  4-7.  Difficulties  in  New  York.  §  8. 
Standing  Committee  of  Correspondence. 
^  9.  Embarrassments  in  this  intercourse. 
^  10.  Annua]  Convention  with  the  Connec- 
ticut Churches.  §  11.  Aid  to  a  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  Massachusetts. 

Title  2. — After  the  Revolution,  -  p.  497 
^^  12-16.  Intercourse  with  Connecticut. 
^§  17-19.  With  Vermont.  §  20.  With  New 
Hampshire.  ^<f>  21-23.  With  Massachusetts. 
§§  24,  25.  With  Maine.  'J  26.  With  Rhode 
Island.  §§27,28.  Violations  of  the  terms. 
§§  29-34.  Negotiations  on  the  subject.  §  35. 
Proposal  to  correspond  with  Connecticut 
through  the  Pastoral  Union. 

Title  3. — Correspondence  since  1838, 

p.  508 

%  36-38.  Resumption.     §    39.    Overture 

from  the  General  Association  of  New  York. 

§§  40,  41.    Interference    with  the  slavery 

question. 

CHAPTER  II.— Correspondence  with  the 
Dutch  Reformed  and  Associate  Reformed 
Churches,  -         -         -         -         p.  510 

Title  1 . — Early  Intercourse. 

§  42.  Early  relations  with  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed. sS§  43,  44.  Treaty  for  stated  cor- 
respondence. §§45-48.  Convention  of  the 
three  Churches.  §49.  Renewal  of  Corres- 
pondence attempted.  §  50.  A  Convention 
called.  §  51.  Its  action.  §  52.  Failure  of 
this  movement.  §§  53-55.  Correspondence 
with  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod. 
Title  2. — Correspondence  with  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  since  1822,  -  p.  521 
§§  56,  67.  Plan  of  intercourse.  §§  58,  59, 
Case  of  Van  Dyke.     §  60.  Plan  modified. 

CH  APTER  III.— (§  6 1 .)  Correspondence  with 
the  Associate  Presbytery,  -      p.  523. 

CHAPTER    IV.— Correspondence   with    the 
German  Reformed  Church,        -        p.  525 
§  62.  Early   Intercourse.     §  63.    Corres- 
pondence proposed.     §  64.   Plan  adopted. 
§65.  Suspension  of  Intercourse. 
CHAPTER    Y .—Correspondence    with    the 
Reformed  Church,         -         -         -     p.  526 
§  66.  Proposals.     §  67.  Plan.     §  68.  De- 
clined by  the  Synod. 

CHAPTER  VI.— (§  69.)  Relations  with  the 
Independent  Presbyterians,        -       p.  527 


CHAPTER  VII.— (§  70.)  The  Welsh  Calvin- 
istic  Methodists,        -        -        -       p.  527 

CHAPTER  VIII.— (§§  71-75.)  Conference 
of  Reformed  Churches,        -        -     p.  52S 

CHAPTER  IX.— Relations  to  the  Episcopal 
Church,  -        .        .        .  p.  531 

§  76.  Mr.  Tennent's  reasons  for  dissent. 

§  77.  Casual  correspondence  with  the  clergy 

of  Philadelphia. 

CHAPTER    X.— Correspondence    with   Fo- 
reign Churches,       ...         p.  533 
Title  1. — Early  Relations. 

§§  78,  79.  Early  stated  correspondence. 
Title  2. — The  later  intercourse,  p.  533 

§  80.  The  subject  moved  in  the  Assem- 
bly. §  81.  Embarrassments  in  the  way. 
§  82.  The  subject  referred  to  the  Board  of 
Missions.  §  S3.  Again  taken  up.  §§84-86. 
Its  history.  ,  §  87.  Correspondence  with  the 
Waldenses.  §§  88,  89.  The  Free  Church 
of  Scotland. 

Title  3. — Foreign  Correspondence  and  the 
Slavery  question,  ...  p.  539 
§§  90,  92,  94.  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Ireland.  §91.  The  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land. §  93.  The  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Canada. 

CHAPTER  XI.— The  Papacy,  -  p.  544 
§  95.  It  is  excommunicate. 

PART  II. 

Union  of  other  bodies  with  the  Pkes- 
TERiAN  Church. 

Title   1.— (§  96.)  The  Presbytery  of  Sufolk, 

p.  546 
Title  2.— (§  97.)  The  Presbytery  ofDutcheas, 

p.  546 

Title  3.— (§  98.)   The  Presbytery  of  South 

Carolina,        ....  p.  547 

Title  4.— (§§  99,100.)  The  Presbytery  of 
Charleston,        ....       p.  543 

Title  5. — Union  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod,  .....  p.  549 
§  101.  Proposal  by  the  Assembly.  §§  102, 
103.  Articles  of  Union  adopted.  §§  104, 105. 
Union  consummated.  §  106.  Library  and 
funds  of  the  Synod.  §  107.  Claims  to  the 
Library.  §  108.  The  Library  transferred  to 
the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York. 

PART  III. 
The  Plan  of  Union. 

Title  1. — Origin  of  the  Plan,  -  p.  554 
§  109.  Proposed  by  the  Association  of 
Connecticut.  §  110.  Adopted.  §  111.  Its 
terms.  §  112.  Plan  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Albany  in  1802.     §  113.  Plan  of  the  Synod 


XX 


CONTENTS. 


of  Albany  in  1S08.  '?.§  114,  115.  Its  pro- 
visions. v>vS  116,  117.  The  Middle  Associa- 
tion received  under  them. 
Title  2. —  Workings  of  the  Plan,  p.  557. 
v>  IIS.  Case  of  Latlirop.  v>  llf).  Case  of 
Bissel.  V)  120.  Protest  on  this  case.  §121. 
Reply.  v>  122.  Case  of  Tultie.  vS  123.  Pro- 
test.    ^  124.  Deie'Mtion  of  Committee  men 


to  the  Assembly  disallowed.  '?>  125.  Pro- 
test. §  126.  Committee  men  allowed  to 
witiidraw  their  commissions.  vS  127.  Com- 
mittee men  disallowed  in  the  South.  §  128. 
Proposed  interpretation  of  the  Plan.  v^vS  129- 
132.  Its  operation  in  the  Western  Reserve. 
§  133.  Case  of  Upson.  ^  134.  Abrogation 
of  the  Plan. 


BOOK    VII. 


HERESIES    AND    SCHISMS 


PART  I. 

Testimonies  against  Errors, 


505 


§  1.  Duty  of  opposing  error,  v)  2.  Pas- 
toral Letter  on  the  maintenance  of  doc- 
trinal purity,  (1837.)  §3.  T'istimony  against 
Universalian  and  Socinian  errors. 

PART  II. 

{I  4.)    Case   or   Messes.    Cowell   and 
Tenneijt,         -        -        -         .p.  575 

PART  III. 

The  Schism  of  1741. 

CHAPTER  I.— Antecedent  difficulties, 

p.  577 

^^  5,  6.  Act  on  ministerial  intrusion,  &c. 
^1.  Acton  the  examination  of  candidates 
in  literature.  vS§  8,  9.  These  acts  amended. 
<^  10.  The  rule  ibr  examination  disregarded 
by  New  Brunswick  Presbytery.  §§  11-13. 
Various  abortive  plans  of  conciliation. 
CHAPTER  II.— J%e  division  tatcs  place, 

p.  6S2 

^  14.  The  Old  Side  Protestation.  §  15. 
New  Brunswick  party  withdraws.  §  16. 
The  Synod's  consequent  re-adoption  of  the 
Westminster  Standards. 

CHAPTER  ni.— Negotiations  of  the  New 
York  brethren,  .        .        .         p,  5^5 

^  17.  An  interloquitur.  vS  IS.  New  York 
Protest.  VNv3  19-24.  Abortive  negotiations. 
§  25.  The  New  York  members  withdraw. 
'J  26.  Erection  of  tlie  New  York  Synod. 

CIL^PTER    IV. — Subsequent    negotiations 
and  re-union,  -         .         .         p.  595 

Vi  27.  The  Synod's  account  of  the  schism 
to  the  Faculty  of  Yale.  vS§  28-30.  Nego- 
tiations.   v3  31.  Re-union.    <^  32.  The  terms. 

PART  IV. 

Case    of    the   Rev.    Samuel    Harker, 

p.  604 
§  33.  A  committee  to  deal  with  Mr.  Har- 
ker.    'J  34.  Report  of  the  committee,    'i^  35. 


The  case  further  continued.  v>  36.  Mr. 
Harker's  book  condemned,  'i,  37.  The  final 
issue. 


PART  V. 

Donegal  Schism,    " 


p.  607 


v>§  38-42.  Occasion  of  this  schism.  '(^<^  43, 
44.  The  secession.  §  45.  Re-union  with 
the  Synod. 

PART  VI. 

Disorders  in  Abingdon  Presbytery. 

CHAPTER  I.— First  development  of  disor- 

der,  -         -        -        -        -         p.  611 

§  46.  A  Commission  sent  by  the  General 

Synod.    '5>§  47,  48.  Action  of  the  Synod  nest 

year.     §  49,  Mr.  Graham  in  Presbytery. 

CHAPTER  II.— Cose  of  the  Rev.  Hezekiah 

Balch, p.  614 

§  50.  Origin  of  the  case.  §  51.  First  ac- 
tion of  the  Assembly.  %  62.  Pastoral  Let- 
ter of  the  Assembly.  §  53.  The  Commis- 
sion of  Synod,  'c*  64.  Balch  in  the  General 
Assembly.  §  55-57.  Subsequent  proceed- 
ings against  Mr.  Balch.  v  58.  The  Inde- 
pendent Presbytery  in  the  Assembly. 

PART  VII. 

The  New  Light  Heresy,         -      p.  620 

§  69.  Origin  of  this  heresy.  §  60.  A 
committee  to  visit  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 
V>61.  Proceedings  of  the  committee.  §  62. 
Address  to  the  Churches  by  the  Synod. 
V^  63.  Action  of  the  Assembly.  Vi  64.  Sequel 
of  the  seceders. 


PART  VIII. 
The  Cumberland  Schism, 


p.  627 


§§  65-67.  Origin  and  nature  of  tlie  Cum- 
berland disorders.  §  68.  Commission  of 
Synod  of  Kentucky  appointed.  v\  69.  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Commission.  '^  70.  It  cites 
the  members  of  the  Presbytery  to  the  bar  of 
Synod.     'J  71.  Action  of  the  Synod.     ^  72. 


CONTENTS. 


XXI 


A  remonstrance  to  the  Assembly  from  the 
Cumberland  seceders.  §  73.  Letter  from 
the  Assemlily  to  the  Synod.  §74.  Another 
petition  and  the  reply.  §  75.  The  Assembly 
fully  justifies  the  Synod.  §  76.  Letter  to 
the  Rev.  J.  W.  Stephenson  in  regard  to  the 
seceders.  ^'ji  77,  78. -Intercourse  with  the 
Cumberland  body. 

PART  IX. 

Case  of  thk  Rev.  ^Y.  C.  Davis,      p.  634 

§  79.  Origin  of  the  process.  ?>  SO.  Action 
ordered  by  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 
^81.  Charges  tabled.  §82.  Finding  of  the 
First  Presbytery.  §  S3.  Reference  to  the 
General  Assembly.  §  84.  The  proceedings 
of  the  Synod  condemned.  §  85.  The  As- 
sembly examines  and  condemns  "  The  Gos- 
pel Plan."  §  86.  Mr.  Davis  suspended  and 
deposed. 

PART  X. 

Case   of  the   Rev.   Thomas  B.  Crajg- 
HEAD,  -         -         -         -         p.  638 

§  87.  Origin  of  the  case,  f  88.  He  fails 
to  prosecute  his  appeal.  §  89.  Memorial 
from  him.  §  90.  The  case  resumed.  §  91. 
Postponed  a  year  for  vi'ant  of  notice  to  the 
Synod.  §§  92,  93.  Judgment  of  the  Assem- 
bly.   §  94.  Mr.  Craighead  restored. 

PART  XI. 

The  New-school  Schism. 

CHAPTER  I. — The  earlier  transactions, 

p.  645 

§  95.  First  minute  in  the  Nevv-school  con- 
troversy.— Pastoral  Letter  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia.  §  96.  The  Assembly  con- 
demns it.  §§  97,  98.  Protests  against  this 
action.  §  99.  Complaint  against  error  dis- 
countenanced. §  100.  The  American  Boards 
placed  on  a  level  with  our  own.  §  101.  Pro- 
posed geographical  division  of  the  As- 
sembly. 

CHAPTER  ll.—Barnes'sfirst  trial,    p.  650 

§  102.  His  call  to  Philadelphia.  §  103. 
He  is  received  by  the  Presbytery.  §  104. 
Action  of  the  Synod.  'J  105.  Examination 
of"  The  way  of  Salvation."  §\S  106,  107. 
Decision  upon  it.  §  108.  Reference  to  the 
Assembly.     §  109.  Action  of  the  Assembly. 

CHAPTER  111.— Elective   Affinity    Courts 
erected,     -----         p.  656 

§  110.  Elective  Affinity  Presbytery  erect- 
ed. §  111.  This  Presbytery  restored.  §  112. 
Protest  against  it.  §  113.  Reply.  §  114. 
Erection  of  the  Synod  of  Delaware. 

CHAPTER  IV.— The  AssemUy  of  1834, 

p.  659 

§  115.  The  Cincinnati  memorial.  §  116. 
Action  of  the  Assembly  upon  it.  §  117. 
Protest  against  this  action.     §  118.  Reply. 


§119.  Resolution  ofattachment  to  the  stand- 
ards. §  120.  Protest  rejected.  §  121,  122. 
The  Act  and  Testimony. 

CHAPTER  Y.—The  General  AssemUy  of 
1835,        -        -        -        -        -       p.  678 

§  123.  The  Act  and  Testimony  Conven- 
tion. §  124.  Its  memorial.  §  125.  Action 
of  the  Assembly  upon  it. 

CHAPTER  yi.— Barnes's  second  trial, 

p.  6S4 
§  126.  The  charges  tabled.  §  127.  Deci- 
sion of  the  Presbytery.  §  128.  Dr.  Junkin's 
appeal  to  Synod.  §  129.  Decision  of  the 
Synod.  §  130.  Decision  of  the  Assembly. 
§  131.  Dr.  Miller's  rejected  resolution. 
§§  132,  133.  Protests.     §  134.  Reply. 

CHAPTER  VII.— r/(e  General  Assembly  of 
1836, p.  696 

Title  1. — The  cases  of  the  Assembly's  Se- 
cond and  Wilmington  Presbyteries, 
%  135.  The  Assembly's  Presbytery  refuses 
to  exhibit  its  records.  §  136.  Resolution  of 
censure  by  Synod.  §  137.  The  Presbytery 
dissolved.  §  138.  Complaints  against  the 
Presbytery  of  Wilmington.  §  139.  In  the 
case  of  Mr.  McKim.  §  140.  In  the  case  of 
the  Newark  Church.  §  141.  Proceedings 
in  regard  to  the  Presbytery.  §  142.  The 
Assembly's  Presbytery  restored  and  geo- 
graphically defined.  §  143.  Presbytery  ot 
Wilmington  restored. 

CHAPTER  VIII.— T/te  Assembly  of  1837, 

p.  701 

Title  1. — Abrogation  of  the  Finn  of  Union. 
§  144.  Act  of  abrogation.     §  145.  Protest 
against  the  act.    §146.  The  Reply. 

Title  2. — Process  against  disorderly  courts. 

p.  711 
§  147.  Five  Synods  admonished. 

Titles. — Committee  of  Conference  on  ami- 
cable separation,  -  -  -  p. 712 
§   148.  A  committee  appointed.     §   149- 

159.  Negotiations  of  this  committee. 

Title  4. — Four  Synods  disowned,  p.  719 
§  lOO.  The  disowning  acts.  §  161.  Mr. 
Jessup's  amendment.  §  162.  Western  Re- 
serve Protest.  §  163.  Reply.  §  164.  Utica, 
Geneva,  and  Genessee  Protest.  §  165. 
Answer. 

Title  5. — Testimonies,  -  -  p.  727 
§  166.  Against  disorders  in  the  Churches. 
§  167.  Against  doctrinal  errors.  §  168. 
Protest  against  this  testimony.  §  169.  Ac- 
tion on  this  Protest. 

Title  6. — Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 

p.  735 
§    170.  It    is    dissolved.     §    171.  Protest 
against  this.     §  172.  Answer. 

Title  7.— (§  173.)  The  American  Home 
Missionary  and  American  Education  So- 
cieties, discountenanced,  -  -  p.  737 
§  174.  Protest.     §  175.  Reply. 


XXll 


CONTENTS. 


Title  8. — Other  Enactments,        •    p.  743 
§  176.   Discipline  enjoined.     <fi    177.  Sta- 
tistics of  the  disowned  Synods. 

Title  9.— cJ   178.)    Pastoral   Letter  to  the 
Churches,        .        .        .        .  p.  743 

Title  10.— ('J.'Si  179,180.)  Circular  Letter  to 
the  Churches  of  Clirist,        -        -     p.  747 

CHAPTER  IX.— The  Assembly  of  1S3S, 

p.  754 

Title  1. — The  Secession  of  the  New-school. 

'^  181.  The  Assembly's   account.     ^  182. 
Enumeration  of  the  secede  is. 

Title  2. — Further  measures  of  reform, 

p.  757 
iJi  183.  Committee  of  Pacification.  §§  184- 
186.  The  Three  Acts.  'J  187.  Minute  in 
regard  to  the  American  Board.  §  18S.  Order 
in  regard  to  theological  schools.  ^  189. 
Instructions  to  the  Clerks.  ^  190.  Act  in 
regard  to  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia. '5i  191-  Presbyters  Pastors  of  Congre- 
gational Churches. 


Title  3.  Matters  referred  to  the  next  Assem- 
bly.   p.  762 

'^  192.  Abbreviated  Creeds.    'J  193.  Equal- 
izing the  representation. 
Title  4. — (§   194.)    Pastoral  Letter  on  the 
transactions  of  1838,         -        -        p.  763 
CHAPTER  X. — Subsequent  transactions, 

p.  768 
v^   195.  Final  adjustment   of  Presbyteries 
and  Synods,     s^   196.  Interpretation  of  the 
Three  Acts  of  1838. 

CHAPTER  XI The  Suits  at  Law,     p.  771 

§  197.  The  state  of  the  case.  vS  198.  Trus- 
tees elected  by  the  New-school.  §§  199- 
201.  Report  of  the  Trustees  on  the  suit. 
v\§  202,  203.  Action  of  the  Assembly  on  the 
subject.  §  204.  Response  of  Hon.  John 
Sergeant.  ^  205.  Judge  Rogers's  charge. 
206.  Opinion  of  the  Court.  S*  207.  Assess- 
ment to  meet  the  expenses.  ^  208.  The 
Assembly  will  accede  to  any  equitable  di- 
vision of  the  funds. 

CHAPTER  Xn.— Later  relations,      p.  782 
§  209.  Proposal   for  joint  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  supper.    >5iv>  210,  211.  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery  reunited. 


BOOK    VIII. 


MORAL    AND    SECULAR    QUESTIONS 


PART  L 

Relations    of    the    Church    and   the 

State. 
Title  1. —  Uniofi  of  Church  and  State,  p.  784 
^  1.  Slanders  against  our  Church.  '§^  2,  3. 
Her  doctrine  on  the  subject.  'J  4.  A  pro- 
prietary law  resisted.  'J  6.  A  calumny 
repelled.  %  6,  7.  Testimony  against  per- 
secution in  Switzerland.  '^  8.  Letter  on 
tlie  subject  to  tlie  Pastors  of  Berne  and 
Vaud.  '&  9.  Libeity  of  worship  to  Ameri- 
cans abroad. 

PART  II. 
Of  Morals. 

Title  1. — Miscellaneous,  -  -  p.  790 
V  10.  Astrology.  'i  11.  Theatre  and 
Dancing.  S^  12.  Duelling.  ^  13.  Litigation 
among  Christians.  ^  14.  Eree  Masonry. 
V  15.  Secret  Societies.  "5s  16.  Spirit  of  specu- 
lation and  e-xtravagauce.  v\>^  17-19.  Gam- 
bling and  lotteries. 

Title  2. — Inteinptrance,  -  -  p.  794 
^^  ;^0.  i'uiicral  revels.  §  21.  Duty  of 
Church  officers  and  members.  §  22.  Pastoral 
Letter,  'ji  23.  Day  of  fasting  and  prayer. 
"J  24.  Total  abstinence.  ^26.  Manulacture 
and  sale.  26.  Sale  to  heathen  tribes.  §  27. 
Relation  of  the  Church  to  moral  reform 
societies.  > 


Title  3. — Sabbath  desecration,       -    p.  798 
§  28.    An   e.vtended    deliverance.     "^   29. 
Duty  of  Christians.     ^  30.   Desecration  by 
Congress.     §  31.  Sabbath  travel. 

Title  4. —  Sabbath  Mails,  -  p.  801 

'ji'ji  32-35.  Unsuccessful  petitions. 

PART  III. 

The  Coloured  Population. 

CHAPTER  I.— Slavery,  -  -  p.  806 
"S*  36.  First  notice  of  the  subject,  "i^  37. 
First  action.  §§  38-40.  Conununion  with 
slaveholders.  §  41.  Severity  and  traffic  in 
slaves.  §  42.  Action  of  the  Assembly  in 
1818.  ^  43.  Action  of  1836.  ^s>  44,  45. 
Full  deliverance  in  1845.  «Wn  46,  47.  This 
action  final. 

CHAPTER  II. — The  American  Colonization 

Society, p.  814 

^<j>    48-50.     Commendatory    resolutions. 

i^'Ji  51,  52.    Fourth  of  July   collections  re- 

commended. 

CHAPTER   Ul.— Religious  instruction   of 
the  JSegroes,     .        -        -        -        p.  816 

§  53.  A  coloured  missionary.  §  64.  Li- 
censure of  John  Gloucester,  v^i  56-69.  No- 
tices of  the  subject.  ^  GO.  An  academy  for 
free  people  of  colour. 


CONTENTS. 


XXlll 


PART  IV. 

Secular  Affairs, 


820 


<!  61.  Pastoral  Letter  on  occasion  of  the 
"  old  French  war."  §  62.  Pastoral,  on 
occasion  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 
§  63.  Days  of  Fasting  and  Prayer  for  Con- 


gress. $  64.  Pastoral,  occasioned  by  the 
Revolutionary  war.  'ji  65.  Congratulations 
on  the  birth  of  the  French  Dauphin.  §  66. 
Address  to  Washington  on  his  election  to 
the  Presidency.  67.  His  Reply.  ^  68.  Pas- 
toral, upon  the  French  revolution.  §  69. 
Warning  against  secular  excitements.  '5§  70, 
71.  Indian  civilization.     '^  72.  Vaccination. 


BOOK    IX. 


STATISTICS 


Title  1. — Rules,  -  -  -  p.  833 
§  1.  Reports  to  be  dated  from  the  first  of 
April,  §  2.  Items  to  be  reported.  §  3. 
Employment  of  Ministers  to  be  stated.  ^  4. 
Coloured  communicants.  §  5.  Contribu- 
tions. §  6.  Supply  of  omissions.  ^  7.  Meet- 
ings of  Synods. 

Title  2. — Synopsis  of  Statistics,    -     p.  835 
§  8.  Statistics  of  the  General  Synod.    §  9. 


Of  the  Assembly  from  1791  to  1820.  ^  10. 
Numerical  Statistics  of  the  Assembly  to  1854. 
S^  11.  Statistics  of  benevolence  to  1854. 
§  12.  Domestic  Missions  from  1791  to  1854. 
§  13.  Church  Extension.  'J  14.  Board  of 
Education.  §  15,  16.  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions.  <^  17.  Board  of  Publication.  '^  18. 
Colportage.  §  19.  Statistics  of  the;;New- 
school  General  Assembly  from  1838  to  1855, 
inclusive. 


APPENDIX. 

RULES  FOR  JUDICATORIES, 


p.  845 


E  E  R  A  T  A . 


Page  39 

48, 

63: 
64; 

92 

loo: 

121 
132, 
141 

215, 
216, 
2-25: 
228! 
248, 
264 
286. 
292, 
303, 
312 
320 
357 
413, 
425: 
494, 
495, 
511 
525, 
614 
635. 
642, 
743: 


line  20.  for  "  what  sum  soever,"  read  "  whatsumever." 
erase  the  last  line. 

2  76,  last  line,  for  "§  38,"  read  "g  36." 
I  82,  last  line,  for  "  progress,"  read  "  process." 
§  83,  fii'st  line,  for  "  It  is,"  read  "  Is  it." 
3d  line  from  foot,  for  "  *  *  *,"  read  "  &c.  iScc." 
?  64.,  erase  all  after  "  censure." 

1 116,  second  line  from  foot,  read  "any  kind  of  decision,"  &c. 
I  131,  (0)  fifth  line,  erase  "of  the  District." 
et  seq.  the  running  title  should  read  "  Final  Issue." 
g  16,  last  line,  for  "  Compare"  read  "  Compend." 
12th  line  from  the  foot,  for  "  1822,"  read  "  1722." 
line  23,  era.se  ''its  decisions  were  final." 
§  34,  insert  the  first  line  between  the  fourth  and  fifth. 
I  65,  last  line,  for  "  1858,"  read  •<  1848." 

1  75,  last  line,  for  "§168,"  read  '-§160." 

1 149,  line  16,  for  "  1837,"  read  "  1838."  ^ 

1 165,  line  10,  erase  (h)  and  insert  the  head  of  §  166,  from  the  top  of  the  nest  page. 

i  20,  fii-st  line,  for  "General  Assembly,"  read  "General  Presbytery." 

?  36,  title,  for  "David,"  read  "John." 

i  56,  la.st  line,  add  " — Minutes,  1812,  pp.  491,  514." 

2  121,  line  5,  read  "  Foreign  Missions." 

§  194,  line  3,  for  "  Title  2,  jJ  5,"  read  "  ?  139 : 5." 

§  211,  line  1,  for  "jJg  .96,  297,"  read  "?g  293,  294." 

line  4  from  foot,  for  "  direction,"  read  "  discretion." 

i  9,  line  1,  read  "  [See  below  g?  27,  34.]" 

I  43,  line  3,  erase  "  [New  York.]" 

i  64,  last  line,  for  "  1835,"  read  "  1825." 

§  .50,  line  10,  read  "readiness to  reunite  with,"  &c. 

line  3,  after  "  Davis,"  read  "  and  decided  in  the  affirmative." 

erase  "  §  93." 

gl76,  last  line,  for  "§44;  100  c.  and  135,"  read  gg50;lll,  c;  and  above  g  147." 

erase  "§  ISO." 


BOOK  I. 

THE    CONSTITUTION 


PAET    I. 

DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  L 

CONSTITUTION  PRIOR  TO  THE  ADOPTING  ACT. 

§  1.    The  General  Presbytery  had  no  written  Constitution. 

[That  the  Presbytery  did  not  at  first  adopt  any  written  constitution,  can  onl^'  be  mat- 
ter of  inference,  as  the  minute  recording  its  organization  is  lost.  The  fact  is  apparent, 
however,  from  the  following  reasons. 

(a)  Neither  in  the  letter  of  the  Presbytery  to  the  New  England  Ministers,  (Book  VI. 
§  2,)  nor  in  those  to  the  Synods  of  Dublin  (Book  V,  §  22)  and  Glasgow  (below,  §  .3), 
announcing  their  organization  atid  desiring  aid  and  correspondence,  is  any  mention  made 
of  the  adoption  of  any  written  standards.  Had  they  adopted  any,  the  omission  to  state 
the  fact,  especially  to  the  Scotch  and  Irish  Synods,  is  unaccountable. 

(6)  Although,  after  the  passage  of  the  Adopting  Act,  the  adoption  of  the  Westminster 
standards  is  a  matter  of  constant  record  in  connection  with  the  ordination  of  candidates,  in 
no  instance  does  such  a  record  occur  prior  to  that  event,  although  "  orthodoxy  in  doc- 
trinal religion"  is  constantlj'  insisted  upon. 

(c)  In  the  preamble  to  a  resolution  adopted  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wade,  (Book 
VI.  §  3,)  it  is  said,  "at  his  own  proposal,  we  admitted  him  as  a  membT  of  our  Pres- 
bytery, and  he  submitted  himself  willingly  to  our  constitution."  That  this  does  not 
refer  to  any  written  standards,  appears  from  the  form  of  the  expression,  evidently  not  de- 
signed to  indicate  the  adoption  of  articles  of  failh  and  order;  as  well  as  from  the  parallel 
statement  made  to  the  Woodbridge  people.  "The  Rev.  Nathaniel  Wade  made  applica- 
tion to  the  Presbytery  to  be  admitted  a  member  thereof  *  *  *  *  he  having  fully  and 
freely  submitted  himself  to  the  judgment  and  discipline  of  the  Church  according  to  Pres- 
bytery, and  also  to  the  meeting  in  particular  to  whom  he  and  his  people  now  stand  in 
relation." — Mniw^es,  1710,  p.  19.  This  language,  so  detailed  and  peculiar,  explains  the 
other,  and  precludes  the  idea  of  a  constitution  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  the  unwrit- 
ten principles  of  organization. 

(rf)  In  all  the  discussions  which  preceded  the  passage  of  the  Adopting  Act,  there  is  no 
intimation  on  any  hand  that  there  was  already  an  authoritative  standard  in  existence, 
but  on  the  contrary,  in  the  overture  which  led  to  the  Act,  it  is  said,  "  As  far  as  I  know, 
*  *  »  *  *  we  have  not  any  particular  system  of  doctrines,  composed  by  ourselves  or 
others,  which  we,  by  any  judicial  act  of  our  Church,  have  adopted  to  be  the  articles  or 
Confession  of  our  Faith,  &c.  Now  a  Church  without  a  Confession,  what  is  it  like]  It 
is  true,  as  I  take  it,  we  all  generally  acknowledge  and  look  upon  the  Westminster  Con- 
1 


2  DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY  [Book  I. 

fession  and  Catechisms  to  be  our  Confession,  or  what  we  own  for  such ;  hut  the  most  that 
can  be  said  is,  that  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  is  the  confession  of  the  faith  of 
the  generality  of  our  members,  Ministers  and  people:  but  that  it  is  our  Confession,  as  we 
are  a  united  body  politic,  I  cannot  see,  unless  first  it  hath  been  received  by  a  conjunct 
act  of  the  representatives  of  the  Church,  I  mean  by  the  Synod,  either  before  or  since  it 
hath  been  mb  forma  Synodi."  The  author  of  this  overture  was  the  Rev.  John  Thomp- 
son, who  became  connected  with  the  Presbytery  in  1715,  about  ten  years  after  its  first 
meeting,  and  must  have  been  aware  of  any  act  on  the  subject,  had  such  occurred.  See 
this  overture  in  Hodge's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Part  1,  p.  137.] 

§  2.  The  organization  was  strictly  Presbyterian. 
[In  addition  to  what  has  already  appeared — candidates  for  the  ministry  were  carefully 
tried  as  to  their  learning  and  soundness  in  the  faith,  and  required  to  "submit  themselves 
to  the  judgment  and  discipline  of  the  Church  according  to  Presbytery." — Minuter,  1710, 
p.  19,  and  passim.  Sessions  were  organized  and  Deacons  appointed,  and  in  their  own 
language,  they  maintained  "Presbyterian  government  and  church  discipline  as  exercised 
by  the  Presbyterians  in  the  best  Reformed  Churches,  as  far  as  the  nature  and  constitution 
of  this  country  will  allow." — Minutes,  1721,  p.  68.] 

§  3.  Relation  to  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

[The  intimacy  of  the  relation  of  the  Presbytery  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  will  appear 
from  the  following  letter  to  the  Synod  of  Glasgow.] 

"  The  Presbytery  met  at  Philadelphia,  to  the  Right  Reverend  Synod  of 
Glasgow. 

September,  1710. 
"  Right  Reverend — Hoping  you  are  in  part  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stances of  our  interest  in  these  American  plantations,  and  persuading  our- 
selves of  your  readiness  to  contribute  both  by  advice  and  otherways  for  the 
general  good  of  Christianity  in  these  poor  neglected  provinces,  we  have 
unanimously  judged  it,  (knowing  none  so  proper  to  apply  unto,  and  repose 
our  confidence  in,  as  yourselves,  our  Reverend  Brethren  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  whom  we  sincerely  honour  and  affectionately  esteem  as  fathers,) 
our  duty,  for  strengthening  our  interest  in  the  service  of  the  gospel,  to 
address  you  for  your  concurrence  with  us  in  so  great  and  good  a  work.  We 
are  not  a  little  encouraged  in  these  our  applications,  by  a  letter  from  the 
Rev.  Mr.  James  Brown,  of  Glasgow,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Rev. 
Synod,  (to  some  of  our  good  friends,)  of  your  willingness  to  correspond  with 
us,  in  what  concerns  the  advancement  of  the  Mediator's  interest  in  these 
regions  where  our  lot  is  fallen.  We  have,  for  some  years  past,  formed  our- 
selves into  a  Presbyterial  meeting,  annually  convented  at  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  Pennsylvania,  and  to  our  capacities,  (considering  our  infancy, 
paucity,  and  the  many  oppositions  and  discouragements  we  have  all  along 
struggled  with,)  taken  what  care  we  could  that  our  meeting,  (though 
small,)  might  be  for  the  general  good  of  religion  in  these  parts.  And  we 
are  thankful  that  by  the  Divine  Providence  our  endeavours  and  poor  essays 
have  not  been  altogether  in  vain.  The  number  of  our  Ministers  from  the 
respective  provinces  is  ten  in  all,  three  from  Maryland,  five  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  two  from  East  Jersey.  And  we  are  in  great  expectation  that 
some  from  other  places  may  be  encouraged  to  join  us  hereafter.  We  have 
thought  good  further  to  represent  to  the  Rev.  Synod,  the  desolate  condition 
of  sundry  vacant  places  who  have  applied  to  us  for  a  supply  of  Ministers, 
who  express  their  Christian  desire  of  enjoying  the  public  administrations  of 
the  gospel  purely,  but  to  their  and  our  grief  they  are  not  in  a  capacity  to 
provide  a  competent  maintenance  for  the  support  of  Ministers  without  being- 
beholden  to  the  Christian  assistance  of  others,  at  least  for  some  time.  We 
are  sorry  in  our  present  circumstances  we  can  neither  answer  their  requests 
by  supplying  them  with  Ministers,  nor  contributing  towards  their  outward 


Part  I.]  OF  THE   CONSTITUTION.  3 

support,  some  of  ourselves  being  considerably  straitened.  May  it  therefore 
please  the  pious  and  Rev.  Synod,  in  compassion  to  the  desolate  souls  in 
America,  perishing  for  want  of  vision,  to  send  over  one  or  more  Ministers, 
and  to  support  them  for  longer  or  shorter  time.  This  will  be  a  work  very 
worthy  of  persons  of  your  character,  a  strengthening  to  us  and  our  interest, 
and  a  matter  of  singular  comfort  to  all  the  sincere  lovers  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  We  further  represent,  that  according  to  the  best  of  our  judgment, 
forty  pounds  sterling,  annually  paid  in  Scotland,  to  be  transmitted  in  goods, 
will  be  a  competency  for  the  support  of  each  Minister  you  send,  provided 
that  of  your  pious  and  Christian  benevolence  you  suitably  fit  them  out. 
And  after  they  have  here  laboured  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  a  year  or  two, 
we  are  in  good  hopes  that  they  will  find  such  comfortable  encouragement 
as  may  induce  them  to  settle  among  us  without  giving  you  further  trouble 
for  their  support.  Thus  recommending  ourselves  and  affairs  to  your  Chris- 
tian concern  and  hearty  prayers,  expecting  your  ready  concurrence  with  us 
in  these  representations  and  desires  for  the  public  good  and  interest  of  the 
gospel,  and  praying  for  the  rich  blessing  of  Heaven  upon  yourselves,  and 
success  in  your  undertakings  for  Christ's  Church,  we  remain  your  affection- 
ate brethren  and  fellow  labourers  in  the  work  of  the  Lord." — Minutes^ 
1710,  p.  20. 

§  4.  First  proposal  to  adopt  a  Constitution. 
"As  we  have  been  for  many  years  in  the  exercise  of  Presbyterian  gov- 
ernment and  church  discipline  as  exercised  by  the  Presbyterians  in  the 
best  Reformed  Churches,  as  far  as  the  nature  and  constitution  of  this  coun- 
try will  allow,  our  opinion  is  that  if  any  brother  have  any  overture  to  offer 
to  be  formed  into  an  act  by  the  Synod,  for  the  better  carrying  on  in  the 
matter  of  our  government  and  discipline,  that  he  may  bring  it  in  against 
next  Synod."— Minutes,  1721,  p.  68. 

§  5.  Protest  and  statement  of  principles  on  the  subject. 

[A  protest  was  entered  against  the  above  act,  but]  "  The  brethren  who 
entered  their  protestation  against  the  act  allowing  any  brother  or  member 
of  this  Synod  to  bring  in  any  overture  to  be  formed  into  an  act  by  the 
Synod  for  the  better  carrying  on  in  the  matters  of  our  government  and  dis- 
cipline, &c. — the  said  brethren  protestants  brought  in  a  paper  of  four  arti- 
cles, testifying  in  writing  their  sentiments  and  judgment  concerning  church 
government,  which  was  approved  by  the  Synod,  and  ordered  by  the  Synod 
to  be  recorded  in  the  Synod  book.  Likewise  the  said  brethren  being  will- 
ing to  take  back  their  protestation  against  said  act,  together  with  their 
reasons  given  in  defence  of  said  protest;  the  Synod  doth  hereby  order  that 
the  protest,  together  with  the  reasons  of  it,  as  also  the  answers,  at  the 
appointment  of  the  Synod  given  in  to  the  reasons  alleged,  by  Mr.  Daniel 
McGill  and  Mr.  George  McNish,  be  all  withdrawn;  and  that  the  said  act 
remain  and  be  in  all  respects  as  if  no  such  protest  had  been  made.  The 
articles  are  as  followeth. 

"  1.  We  freely  grant  that  there  is  full  executive  power  of  church  gov- 
ernment in  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  and  that  they  may  authoritatively,  in 
the  name  of  Christ,  use  the  keys  of  church  discipline  to  all  proper  intents 
and  purposes;  and  that  the  keys  of  the  Church  are  committed  to  the  church 
officers  and  to  them  only. 

"2.  We  also  grant,  that  the  mere  circumstantials  of  church  discipline, 
such  as  the  time,  place,  and  mode  of  carrying  on  in  the  government  of  the 
Church,  belong  to  ecclesiastical  judicatories  to  determine  as  occasions 
occur,  conformable  to  the  general  rules  in  the  word  of  God,  that  require  all 
things  to  be  done  decently  and  in  order.     And  if  these  things  are  called 


4  DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY  [Book  I. 

Acts,  wc  will  take  no  offence  at  the  word,  provided  that  these  Acts  be  not 
imposed  upon  such  as  conscientiously  dissent  from  them. 

"3.  We  also  grant  that  Synods  may  compose  Directories,  and  recom- 
mend them  to  all  their  members,  respecting  all  the  pai-ts  of  discipline;  pro- 
vided that  all  subordinate  judicatories  may  decline  from  such  Directories, 
when  they  conscientiously  think  they  have  just  reason  so  to  do. 

"4.  We  freely  allow  that  appeals  may  be  made  from  all  inferior  to  supe- 
rior judicatories ;  and  that  superior  judicatories  have  authority  to  consider 
and  determine  such  appeals. 

Malachi  Jones,        Jonathan  Dickinson, 
Joseph  Morgan,       David  Evans." 

"The  Synod  was  so  universally  pleased  with  the  abovesaid  composure  of 
their  difference,  that  they  unanimously  joined  together  in  a  thanksgiving 
prayer,  and  joyful  singing  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-third  Psalm." — 
Minutes,  1722,  p.  73. 


CHAPTER  11. 

ADOPTION  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  STANDARDS. 

§  6.    The  suhject  laid  over  a  year. 

"There  being  an  overture  presented  to  the  Synod  in  writing  having 
reference  to  the  subscribing  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  &c.,  the  Synod, 
judging  this  to  be  a  very  important  affair,  unanimously  concluded  to  defer 
the  consideration  of  it  till  the  next  Synod,  withal  recommending  it  to  the 
members  of  each  Presbytery  present  to  give  timeous  notice  thereof  to  the 
absent  members." — Minutes,  1728,  p.  91. 

§  7.  Act  Preliminary  to  the  Adopting  Act. 

"  The  committee  brought  in  an  overture  upon  the  affair  of  the  Confes- 
sion, which,  after  long  debating  upon  it,  was  agreed  upon,  in  hccc  verba: — 

"  Although  the  Synod  do  not  claim  or  pretend  to  any  authority  of  impos- 
ing our  faith  upon  other  men's  consciences,  but  do  profess  our  just  dissatis- 
faction with,  and  abhorrence  of  such  impositions,  and  do  utterly  disclaim 
all  legislative  power  and  authority  in  the  Church,  being  willing  to  receive 
one  another  as  Christ  has  received  us  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  admit  to 
fellowship  in  sacred  ordinances,  all  such  as  we  have  grounds  to  believe 
Christ  will  at  last  admit  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  yet  we  are  undoubtedly 
obliged  to  take  care  that  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  be  kept  pure 
and  uncorrupt  among  us,  and  so  handed  down  to  our  posterity.  And  do 
therefure  agree  that  all  the  Ministers  of  this  Synod,  or  that  shall  hereafter 
be  admitted  into  this  Synod,  shall  declare  their  agreement  in,  and  approba- 
tion of,  the  Confession  of  Faith,  with  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of 
the  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,  as  being  in  all  the  essential  and 
necessary  articles,  good  forms  of  sound  words  and  systems  of  Christian 
doctrine,  and  do  also  adopt  the  said  Confession  and  Catechisms  as  the  con- 
fession of  our  faith.  And  we  do  also  agree,  that  all  the  Presbyteries  within 
our  bounds  shall  always  take  care  not  to  admit  any  candidate  of  the  minis- 
try into  the  exercise  of  the  sacred  functions,  but  what  declares  his  agree- 
ment in  opinion  with  all  the  essential  and  necessary  articles  of  said  Confes- 
sion, cither  by  subscribing  the  said  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  or 


Part  I.]  OF   THE   CONSTITUTION.  5 

by  a  verbal  declaration  of  their  assent  thereto,  as  such  IMinister  or  candi- 
date shall  think  best.  And  in  case  any  Minister  of  this  tSynod,  or  any 
candidate  for  the  ministry,  shall  have  any  scruple  with  respect  to  any 
article  or  articles  of  said  Confession  or  Catechisms,  he  shall  at  the  time 
of  his  making  said  declaration  declare  his  sentiments  to  the  Presbytery  or 
Synod,  who  ^hall,  notwithstanding,  admit  him  to  the  exercise  of  the  min- 
istry within  our  bounds,  and  to  ministerial  communion,  if  the  Synod  or 
Presbytery  shall  judge  his  scruple  or  mistake  to  be  only  about  articles  not 
essential  and  necessary  in  doctrine,  worship,  or  government.  But  if  the 
Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge  such  Ministers  or  candidates  erroneous  in 
essential  and  necessary  articles  of  faith,  the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall 
declare  them  uncapable  of  communion  with  them.  And  the  Synod  do 
solemnly  agree,  that  none  of  us  will  traduce  or  use  any  opprobrious  terms 
of  those  that  differ  from  us  in  these  extra-essential  and  not  necessary  points 
of  doctrine,  but  treat  them  with  the  same  friendship,  kindness,  and  brother- 
ly love,  as  if  they  had  not  differed  from  us  in  such  sentiments." — Mmutes, 
1729,  p.  94. 

§  8.    The  Adopting  Act. 

[The  foregoing  paper  was  adopted  in  the  morning.  In  the  afternoon  took  place  "  The 
Adopting  Act."] 

''All  the  Ministers  of  this  Synod  now  present,  except  one,*  that  declared 
himself  not  prepared,  viz..  Masters  Jedediah  Andrews,  Thomas  Craighead, 
John  Thomson,  James  Anderson,  John  Pierson,  Samuel  Gelston,  Joseph 
Houston,  Gilbert  Tennent,  Adam  Boyd,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Brad- 
ner,  Alexander  Hutchinson,  Thomas  Evans,  Hugh  Stevenson,  William 
Tennent,  Hugh  Conn,  George  Gillespie,  and  John  Willson,  after  proposing 
all  the  scruples  that  any  of  them  had  to  make  against  any  articles  and 
expressions  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms 
of  the  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,  have  unanimously  agreed  in 
the  solution  of  those  scruples,  and  in  declaring  the  said  Confession  and 
Catechisms  to  be  the  confession  of  their  faith,  excepting  only  some  clauses 
in  the  twentieth  and  twenty-third  chapters,  concerning  which  clauses  the 
Synod  do  unanimously  declare,  that  they  do  not  receive  those  articles  in 
any  such  sense  as  to  suppose  the  civil  magistrate  hath  a  controlling  power 
over  Synods  with  respect  to  the  exercise  of  their  ministerial  authority;  or 
power  to  persecute  any  for  their  religion,  or  in  any  sense  contrary  to  the 
Protestant  succession  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain. 

"  The  Synod  observing  that  unanimity,  peace,  and  unity,  which  appeared 
in  all  their  consultations  and  determinations  relating  to  the  affair  of  the 
Confession,  did  unanimously  agree  in  giviiig  thanks  to  God  in  solemn 
prayer  and  praises." — Ihid. 

§  9.  Passages  of  the  Confession  excepted  to  in  the  Adop>ting  Act. 

[The  following  are  the  passages  explained  in  tbe  above  act.  Chap.  20,  sec.  4,  of  cer- 
tain offenders  it  is  said]  "  they  may  be  proceeded  against  by  the  censures  of  the  Church, 
and  by  the  power  of  the  civil  magistrate." 

Chap.  23,  sec.  3.  '-The  civil  magistrate  may  not  assume  to  himself  the  administration 
of  the  word  and  sacraments,  or  the  power  of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  yet  he 
hath  authority,  and  it  is  his  duty,  to  take  order  that  unity  and  peace  be  preserved  in  the 
Church;  that  the  truth  of  God  be  kept  pure  and  entire;  that  all  blasphemies  and  here- 
sies be  suppressed,  all  corruptions  and  abuses  in  worship  and  discipline  prevented  or 
reformed,  and  all  ordinances  of  (Jod  duly  settled,  aduiinistered,  and  observed.  For  the 
better  effecting  whereof  he  hath  power  to  call  Synods,  to  be  present  at  them,  and  to  pro- 
vide that  whatsoever  is  transacted  in  them  be  according  to  the  mind  of  God." 

*  Mr.  Elmer.    lie  gave  in  his  assent  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod. 


6  DOCUMENTARY   HISTORY  [Book  I. 

§  10.    The  DireGtory  recommenffed. 

"A  motion  beiiif;  made  to  know  the  Synod's  judirment  ahoiit  the  Direc- 
tory, they  gave  their  sense  of  the  matter  in  the  following  words,  viz.  The 
Synod  do  unanimously  acknowledge  and  declare,  that  they  judge  the  Direc- 
tory for  worship,  discipline,  and  government  of  the  Church,  commonly 
annexed  to  the  Westminster  Confession,  to  be  agreeable  in  substance  to  the 
word  of  God,  and  founded  thereupon;  and  therefore  do  earnestly  recom- 
mend the  same  to  all  their  members,  to  be  by  them  observed  as  near  as 
circumstances  will  allow,  and  Christian  prudence  direct." — 3Iinutes,  1729, 
p.  95. 

§  11.    The  Adopting  Act  enforced  wpon  Intrants. 

(a)  "  Whereas,  some  persons  have  been  dissatisfied  at  the  manner  of 
■wording  our  last  year's  agreement  about  the  Confession,  &c.,  supposing 
some  expressions  not  sufficiently  obligatory  upon  intrants; 

"Overtured,  That  the  Synod  do  now  declare,  that  they  understand  these 
clauses,  that  respect  the  admission  of  intrants  or  candidates,  in  such  a  sense 
as  to  oblige  them  to  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  and  Catechisms  at 
their  admission,  in  the  same  manner,  and  as  fully  as  the  members  of  Synod 
did,  that  were  then  present." — Minutes,  1730,  p.  98. 

(b)  "Ordered,  That  the  Synod  make  a  particular  inquiry  during  the  time 
of  their  meeting  every  year,  whether  such  Ministers  as  have  been  received 
as  members  since  the  foregoing  meeting  of  the  Synod,  have  adopted,  or 
have  been  required  by  the  Synod,  or  by  the  respective  Presbyteries,  to 
adopt  the  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms  with  the  Directory,  ac- 
cording to  the  acts  of  the  Synod  made  some  years  since  for  that  purpose, 
and  that  also  the  report  made  to  the  Synod,  in  answer  to  said  inquiry,  be 
recorded  in  our  minutes." — Minutes,  1734,  p.  109. 

§  12.    Ordered  upon  the  Preshyterial  Records. 

"  Ordered,  That  each  Presbytery  have  the  whole  Adopting  Act  inserted 
in  their  Presbytery  book." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  115. 

§  13.   Exp)lanatio7i  of  the  Act. 

"An  overture  of  the  committee  upon  the  supplication  of  the  people  of 
Paxton  and  Derry,  was  brought  in  and  is  as  followeth.  That  the  Synod  do 
declare,  that  inasmuch  as  we  understand  that  many  persons  of  our  persuasion, 
both  more  lately  and  formerly,  have  been  offended  with  some  expressions  or 
distinctions  in  the  first  or  preliminary  act  of  our  Synod,  contained  in  the 
printed  paper,  relating  to  our  receiving  or  adopting  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession and  Catechisms,  &c:  That  in  order  to  remove  said  oflenoe,  and  all 
jealousies  that  have  arisen  or  may  arise  in  any  of  our  people's  minds,  on 
occasion  of  said  distinctions  and  expressions,  the  Synod  doth  declare,  that 
the  Synod  have  adopted,  and  still  do  adhere  to  the  Westminster  Confession, 
Catechisms,  and  Directory,  without  the  least  variation  or  alteration,  and 
without  any  regard  to  said  distinctions.  And  we  do  further  declare,  that 
this  was  our  meaning  and  true  intent  in  our  first  adopting  of  said  Confes- 
sion, as  may  particularly  appear  by  our  Adopting  Act,  which  is  as  followeth : 
'All  the  Ministers  of  the  Synod  now  present,  (which  were  eighteen  in 
number,  except  one  that  declared  himself  not  prepared,)  after  proposing  all 
the  scruples  any  of  them  had  to  make  against  any  articles  and  expressions 
in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  As- 
sembly of  Divines  at  Westminster,  have  unanimously  agreed  in  the  solution 
of  these  scruples,  and  in  declaring  the  said  Confession  and  Catechisms  to  be 
the  confession  of  their  faith,  except  only  some  clauses  in  the  twentieth  and 


Part  I.]  OF   THE   CONSTITUTION.  7 

twenty-third  dtiapters,  concerning  wliich  clauses  tlie  Synod  do  unanimously 
declare,  that  they  do  not  receive  these  articles  in  any  such  sense  as  to  sup- 
pose the  civil  magistrate  hath  a  controlling  power  over  Synods  with  respect 
to  the  exercise  of  their  ministerial  authority,  or  power  to  persecute  any  for 
their  religion,  or  in  any  sense  contrary  to  the  Protestant  succession  to  the 
throne  of  Great  Britain.' 

"  And  we  hope  and  desire,  that  this  our  Synodical  declaration  and  expli- 
cation may  satisfy  all  our  people,  as  to  our  firm  attachment  to  our  good  old 
received  doctrines  contained  in  said  Confession,  without  the  least, variation 
or  alteration,  and  that  they  will  lay  aside  their  jealousies  that  have  been 
entertained  through  occasion  of  the  above  hinted  expressions  and  declara- 
tions as  groundless.  This  overture  approved  nemine  contradicente." — 
Minutes,  17^6,  p.  126.     [See  Book  VII.  §§  16  and  32 :  I.] 

§  14.  Recent  Misrepresentations  of  this  Act. 

[The  New  School  General  Assembly,  in  1839,  adopted  a  minute,  which,  after  descri- 
bing the  Preliminary,  as  being  the  Adopting  Act,  and  entirely  overlooking  the  Adopting 
Act  itself,  proceeds  as  follows: 

"In  1730,  we  find  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  in  the  face  of  these  conciliatory 
measures  of  the  Synod,  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  as  being  in 
all  t/iini>s  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God;  and  in  1732,  the  new  Presbytery  of  Donegal 
followed  their  example,  and  promised  forever  thereafter  to  adhere  thereto.  In  1736,  that 
party,  who  were  in  favour  of  the  strong  measures  of  the  Scottish  Church,  had  gained  so 
much  ascendency,  that  they  brought  a  majority  of  the  Synod  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  two  Presbyteries  of  New  Castle  and  Donegal,  and  adopt  the  Confession,  Catechisms, 
and  Directory  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  without  alteration  or  exception  ; 
thus  establishing  the  power  of  the  civil  magistrate  to  control  Synods,  and  persecute  the 
Church."— M«M(c.s  N.  S.  Jssernhly,  1839,  p.  57. 

Yet,  so  far  is  this  from  being  correct,  that  in  the  act  of  1736,  as  above,  the  Adopting 
Act  of  1729  is  formally  recited  as  a  just  exposition  of  the  views  of  the  members  of 
Synod,  and  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  misapprehensions  of  their  people,] 

§  15.   Position  of  the  N'ew  Briinswich  party. 

(rt)  [Two  days  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  from  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  (see  Book  VII.  §§  14,  15,)  the  Presbytery  entered  the  following  minute 
on  their  record :] 

"  Inasmuch  as  the  Ministers  who  have  protested  against  our  being  of  their  communion, 
do  at  least  insinuate  false  reflections  against  us,  endeavouring  to  make  people  suspect  that 
we  are  receding  from  Presbyterian  principles;  for  the  satisfaction  of  such  Christian  people 
as  may  be  stumbled  at  such  aspersions,  we  think  it  fit  unanimously  to  declare  that  we  do 
adhere  as  closely  and  fully  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  and 
Directory,  as  ever  the  Synod  of  Philadelfihia  did  in  any  of  their  public  acts  or  statements 
about  it." — Hodge's  History,  Part  2,  p.   197. 

(b)  [This  Presbytery  having  subdivided  itself  into  two  Presbyteries,  immediately  after 
the  schism  issued  a  "  Declaration  of  the  conjunct  Presbyteries  of  New  Brunswick  and 
New  Castle."     In  it  they  make  the  following  statement:] 

"  We  think  it  proper,  for  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerning  us.  and  as  a  due  testimony 
to  the  truth  of  God,  to  declare  and  testify  to  the  world  our  principles  and  sentiments  in 
religion,  according  to  which  we  design,  through  divine  grace,  ever  to  conduct  ourselves, 
both  as  Christians  and  as  Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders. 

"  And  first,  as  to  the  doctrines  of  religion,  we  believe,  with  our  heart,  and  profess  and 
maintain  with  our  lips,  the  doctrines  summed  up  and  contained  in  the  Confession  of  Faith, 
and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  composed  by  the  reverend  Assembly  of  Divines  at 
Westminster,  as  the  truths  of  God,  revealed  and  contained  in  the  holy  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments;  ami  do  receive,  acknowledge,  and  declare  the  said  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Catechisms  to  be  the  confession  of  our  faith;  yet  so  as  that  no  part  of  the 
twenty-third  chapter  of  said  Confession  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  allow  civil  magis- 
trates, as  such,  to  have  any  ecclesiastical  authority  in  Synods,  or  Church  judicatories, 
much  less  the  power  of  a  negative  voice  over  them  in  their  ecclesiastical  transactions; 
nor  is  any  part  of  it  to  be  understood  as  opposite  to  the  memorable  revolution,  and  the 
settlement  of  the  crown  of  the  three  kingdoms  in  the  illustrious  house  of  Hanover." — 
Ibid.  p.  229. 


8  DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY  [Book  I. 

§  16.  Position  of  the  Synod  of  Neio  York. 
[See  ]^)ok  VII.  §  26  :  1.] 
(«)  ''The  Synod  bciiii;;  informed  of  certain  misrepresentations  concern- 
in<;'  the  constitution,  order,  and  discipline  of  our  Churches,  industriously 
spread  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  Dutch  Congregations  interspersed 
among  or  bordering  upon  us,  with  design  to  prevent  occasional  or  constant 
communion  of  their  members  with  our  Churches ;  to  obviate  all  such  mis- 
representations, and  to  cultivate  a  good  understanding  between  us  and  our 
brethren  of  the  Dutch  Churches,  we  do  hereby  declare  and  testify  our  con- 
stitution, oi'der,  and  discipline  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  established  Church 
of  Scotland.  The  Westminster  Confession,  Catechisms,  and  Directory  for 
public  worship  and  church  government,  adopted  by  them,  are  in  like 
manner  received  and  adopted  by  us.  We  declare  ourselves  united  with  that 
Church  in  the  same  faith,  order,  and  discipline.  Its  approbation,  coun- 
tenance, and  favour  we  have  abundant  testimonies  of.  They,  as  brethren, 
receive  us ;  and  their  members  we,  as  opportunity  offers,  receive  as  ours. 
And  as  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  the  Reformed  Churches  abroad,  agree- 
able to  the  Geneva  Platform,  hold  a  ready  and  free  communion  with  each 
other,  so  we  also  desire  the  same  with  our  brethren  of  the  Dutch  and  French 
Churches  interspersed  amongst  and  bordering  upon  us." — Minutes,  1751, 
p.  245. 

(6)  [In  reply  to  an  insulting  letter  from  some  disaffected  members,  the  Synod  says:] 
"  Though  we  might  justly  refuse  to  take  any  further  notice  of  what  is 
offered  in  said  paper,  yet  as  we  would  condescend  to  the  weakness,  and  as 
far  as  can  consist  with  duty,  bear  with  the  imperfections  of  those  who  are 
under  our  care,  for  the  sake  of  their  edification,  we  therefore  inform  them 
that,  by  adopting  the  Westminster  Confession,  we  only  intend  receiving  it 
as  a  test  of  orthodoxy  in  this  Church ;  and  it  is  the  order  of  this  Synod, 
that  all  who  are  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel,  or  become  members  of  any 
Presbytery  in  our  bounds,  shall  receive  the  same  as  the  confession  of  their 
faith,  according  to  our  constituting  act,  which  we  see  no  reason  to  repeal." — 
Minutes,  1756,  p.  274. 

(c)  Form  of  Ordination  Vows. 

[The  following  formula,  which  was  propounded  to  Messrs.  Patillo  and  Richardson,  at 
their  ordination,  by  Samuel  Davics,  illustrates  the  views  of  the  members  of  the  New  York 
Synod  in  regard  to  the  adoption  of  the  Confession:] 

"  Do  you  receive,  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  as  the  confession  of  your  faith  "? 
That  is,  do  you  believe  it  contains  an  excellent  summary  of  the  pure  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  and  as  purged  from  .the  corruptions  of  popery  and 
other  errors  that  have  crept  into  the  Church]  And  do  you  purpose  to  explain  the  Scrip- 
tures agreeably  to  the  substance  of  it?" — Davies's  Sermons. 


CHAPTER  III. 

REVISION  aIsTD  amendment   OF   THE  WESTMINSTER  STANDARDS. 

[In  anticipation  of  the  subdividing  of  the  Synod,  and  constituting  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  entire  Westminster  formularies  were  subjected  to  a  careful  revision  and  amend- 
ment.] 

§  17.  Draught  of  the  Book  of  Government  and  Discipline. 

^'Resolved,  That  the  Book  of  Discipline  and  Government  be  recom- 
mended to  a  committee  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  on  the  second 


Part  I.]  OF   THE   CONSTITUTION.  9 

Tuesday  of  September  next ;  who  shall  have  power  to  digest  such  a  system 
as  they  shall  think  to  be  accommodated  to  the  state  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America;  that  tliey  shall  procure  three  hundred  copies  to  be 
printed  and  distributed  to  the  several  Presbyteries  in  pruportiou  to  the 
number  of  their  members,  under  the  engagement  of  this  8ynod  to  have 
the  expense  of  printing  and  distribution  reimbursed  to  the  committee  at 
their  next  meeting ;  and  every  Presbytery  is  hereby  required  to  report  in 
writing  to  the  Synod  at  their  next  meeting,  their  observations  on  the  said 
Book  of  Government  and  Discipline. 

''  The  committee  appointed  to  attend  to  the  above  business  were  Drs. 
Witherspoori,  McWhorter,  Rodgers,  Sproat,  Duffield,  Alison,  and  Ewing, 
Mr.  Matthew  Wilson,  and  Dr.  Smith;  with  Isaac  Snowden,  Esq.,  Mr. 
Robert  Taggart,  and  Mr.  John  Pinkerton,  Elders." — Minutes,  1786,  p.  525. 

[Next  year  this  committee  reported  a  draught,  and]  *'The  Synod  having 
gone  through  the  consideration  of  the  draught  of  a  plan  of  government  and 
discipline.  Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  Miller,  and  Mr.  Wilson, 
junior,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  have  a  thousand  copies  thereof 
printed  as  now  amended;  and  to  distribute  them  among  the  Presbyteries  for 
their  consideration,  and  the  consideration  of  the  Churches  under  their 
care." — Alinutes,  1787,  p.  539. 

§  18.    The  Confession  of  Faith  amended. 

"  The  Synod  took  into  consideration  the  last  paragraph  of  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith ;  the  third  paragraph  of 
the  twenty-third  chapter,  and  the  first  paragraph  of  the  thirty-first  chapter ; 
and  having  made  some  alterations,  agreed  that  the  said  paragraphs,  as  now 
altered,  be  printed  for  consideration,  together  with  the  Draught  of  a  plan  of 
government  and  discipline.  The  Synod  also  appointed  the  above  named 
committee  to  revise  the  Westminster  Directory  for  public  worship,  and  to 
have  it,  when  thus  revised,  printed,  together  with  the  Draught,  for  con- 
sideration."— Minutes,  1787,  p.  539. 

§  19.    The  Articles  of  the  Westminster  Confession  xvhich  were  altered. 

«  As  magistrates  may  lawfully  call  a  Synod  of  Ministers  and  other  fit  persons  to  con- 
sult and  advise  with,  about  matters  of  religion,  so  if  magistrates  be  open  enemies  to  the 
Church,  the  Ministers  of  Christ  of  themselves,  hy  virtue  of  their  office ;  or  they  with 
other  tit  persons  upon  delegation  from  their  Churches,  mav  meet  together  in  such  assem- 
blies."—PFfs/wi.  Cmif.,  C/i.  31,  §  2. 

[The  other  articles  have  been  given  already  (§  9.)  By  a  comparison  of  these  quota- 
tions with  our  Confession  of  Faith,  (Ch.  20,  §  4  ;  Ch.  23,  §  3;  and  Ch.  31,  §  1,)  the 
nature  of  the  amendments  thus  made  will  be  apparent.] 

§  20.    The  Draught,  as  published  hy  Synod. 

[The  Draught  of  a  Plan  of  Government  and  Discipline,  as  published  by  order  of 
Synod,  consisted  of — 

The  Form  of  Government,  substantially  as  it  was  subsequently  adopted,  and  as  it  now 
stands.  The  only  material  difference  is,  that  the  supreme  juiiicatory  was  entitled  "'The 
General  Council,"  instead  of  General  Assembly,  as  it  was  designated  in  the  Form  as 
adopted  the  next  year.  A  chapter  entitled  "  Privilege"  was  also  in  the  draught,  and  was 
part  of  the  constitution,  until  the  revision  of  1820,  when  it  was  omitted.  The  Forms  of 
Process,  substantially  as  adopted  and  continued  in  force  till  the  revision  of  1820.  The 
amended  Articles  from  the  Westminster  Confession.  'I'he  preceding  subjects  occupy  41 
pages  of  the  volume.  The  Directory  for  Worship,  which  occupies  9.t  pages.  It  is  very 
full  in  liturgical  forms  and  directions.  In  addition  to  the  substance  of  what  is  retained 
in  the  Directory  for  Worship,  at  present  in'  use,  it  contained  Forms  of  Prayer  for  the 
Invocation,  before  Sermon,  before  and  after  Baptism,  at  the  Lord's  Table,  u|ion  exer- 
cising Discipline,  at  the  solemnization  of  Mariiage,  in  the  sick  room,  at  Ordinations; 
and  nine  prayers  for  the  Family.  With  these,  the  following  directions  on  the  subject 
are  given : 

2 


10  DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY  [Book  I. 

"  The  Minister,  as  in  prudence  he  shall  think  meet,  is  to  alter  and  change  this  order; 
to  leave  out  any  portions  or  parts  of  it ;  to  add  to  or  vary  it  according  to  the  numerous 
patterns  of  prayer  in  the  Scriptures." — p.  58. 

To  heads  of  families  it  is  said  :  "  As  many  as  can  conceive  prayer,  ought  carefully  to 
improve  this  gift  of  God;  yet,  for  the  sake  of  young  and  bashful  heads  of  families,  we 
have  suhjoined  a  few  forms  of  family  prayer,  earnestly  recommending  it  to  all  such,  not 
to  be  negligent  in  cultivating  a  spirit  of  prayer,  and  to  use  these  forms  no  longer  ihan 
till  they  shall  have  learned  to  express  the  desires  of  their  hearts  to  God  for  their  families 
with  some  degree  of  propriety." — p.  1 18. 

A  few  passages  from  the  Dniught,  which  may  aid  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Consti- 
tution as  it  now  stands,  will  be  cited  under  the  appropriate  heads.] 

§  21.    The  amended  Constitution  adopted. 

(a)  "  The  Synod  having  fully  considered  the  Draught  of  the  Form  of 
Government  and  Discipline,  did,  on  review  of  the  whole,  and  hereby  do, 
ratify  and  adopt  the  same,  as  now  altered  and  amended,  as  the  Constitution 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  and  order  the  same  to  be  con- 
sidered and  strictly  observed  as  the  rule  of  their  preceedings,  by  all  the 
inferior  judicatories  belonging  to  the  body.  And  they  order  that  a  correct 
copy  be  printed,  and  that  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  as  now 
altered,  be  printed  in  full  along  with  it,  as  making  a  part  of  the  Constitution. 

(b)  ^'Resolved,  That  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  above  ratification 
by  the  Synod,  is  that  the  Form  of  Grovernment  and  Discipline,  and  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  as  now  ratified,  is  to  continue  to  be  our  constitution, 
and  the  confession  of  our  faith  and  practice  unalterable ;  unless  two-thirds 
of  the  Presbyteries,  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  shall  propose 
alterations  or  amendments,  and  such  alterations  or  amendments  shall  be 
agreed  to  and  enacted  by  the  Genei'al  Assembly." — MinuteSj  1788,  p.  546. 

(c)  "The  Synod  having  now  r6visGd  and  corrected  the  draught  of  a 
Directory  for  Worship,  did  approve  and  ratify  the  same,  and  do  hereby  ap- 
point the  said  Dii'ectory,  as  now  amended,  to  be  the  Directory  for  the 
worship  of  God  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  They  also  took  into  consideration  the  Westminster  Larger  and 
Shorter  Catechisms,  and  having  made  a  small  amendment  of  the  Larger,* 
did  approve,  and  do  hereby  approve  and  ratify  the  said  Catechisms,  as  now 
agreed  on,  as  the  Catechisms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  said  United 
States.  And  the  Synod  order,  that  the  Directory  and  Catechisms  be  printed 
and  bound  up  in  the  same  volume  with  the  Confession  of  Faith  atid  the 
Form  of  Government  and  Discipline;  and  that  the  whole  be  considered  as 
the  standard  of  our  doctrine,  government,  discipline,  and  worship,  agreeably 
to  the  resolutions  of  the  Synod  at  their  present  session." — Minutes,  1788, 
p.  547. 

§  22.    The  Creed  an  Aj>pendix  to  the  Shorte)'  Catechism. 

[A  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  lies  before  us,  entitled  "The 
Humble  Advice  of  the  Asseniblie  of  Divines,  now  liy  Authority  of  Parliament  silting  at 
Westminster,  concerning  a  Shorter  Catechisme ;  with  the  Proofs  thereof  at  large  out  of 
the  Scriptures.  Presented  by  them  lately  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament.  London. 
Printed  by  A.  Maxev  for  John  Ilothwcll  at  the  Fountain  in  Goldsmiths  liow  in  Cheap- 
side.     1658."  [1648]] 

The  second  page  contains  the  order  of  Parliament  for  its  publication. — 

"Die  Lwiir  15,  Srpfemh.  1G48. 
"It  is  this  day  Ordered  by  the  Ijords  and  Commons  in   Parliament  assembled,  that  this 
Shorter  Catechisme  be  forthwith  Printed  and  Published,"  &c.  &c. 

*  [Tlifi  amfinilinpnt  conpistc(t  in  strikinp;  ovit  the  phrn?o  "tnlorating  a  false  religion;"  which  was 
enumeruteil  among  the  sins  forbidJon  in  the  second  commandment.J 


Part  I.]  OF   THE   CONSTITUTION.  11 

It  constitutes  a  small  quarto  of  forty-three  pages,  which,  as  do  all  subsequent  copies, 
contains  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Creed,  appended  to  the 
Catechism,  together  with  the  following  note,  which  occurs  in  all  subsequent  European 
editions  of  the  Westminster  standards,  and  which,  especially  in  connection  with  its  occur- 
rence in  this,  the  first  and  separate  edition  of  the  Catechism,  indicates  its  relation  as  an 
appendix  to  that  formulary.  In  accordance  with  this  fact  the  framers  of  our  Constitution, 
although  omitting  this  notice,  seem  to  have  recognized  the  adoption  of  the  Catechisms  as 
part  of  the  standards,  as  carrying  with  them  these  epitomes  of  duty,  prayer,  and  the  faith, 
which  are  accordingly  retained  as  a  part  of  the  Catechism.] 

"So  much  of  every  question,  both  in  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechism,  is  repeated  in 
the  answer,  as  maketh  every  answer  an  entire  proposition  or  sentence  in  itself;  to  the 
end  the  learner  may  farther  improve  it  upon  all  occasions  for  his  increase  in  knowledge 
and  piety,  even  out  of  the  course  of  catechizing  as  well  as  in  it. 

"And  albeit  the  substance  of  the  doctrine  comprised  in  that  abridgment  commonly 
called  the  Apostles'  Cjeed  be  fully  set  forth  in  each  of  the  Catechisms,  so  as  there  is  no 
necessity  of  inserting  the  Creed  itself;  yet  it  is  here  annexed,  not  as  though  it  were 
composed  by  the  Apostles,  or  ought  to  be  esteemed  canonical  scripture,  as  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments and  the  Lord's  Prayer  (much  less  a  prayer,  as  ignorant  people  have  been  apt 
to  make  both  it  and  the  Decalogue,)  but  because  it  is  a  brief  sum  of  the  Christian  faith, 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  anciently  received  in  the  Churches  of  Christ." 

§  23.    Threatened  secession  of  Suffolk  Presbytery  for  these  acts. 

"  A  letter  from  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  addressed  to  the  Moderator  of 
Synod,  praying  that  the  union  between  them  and  the  Synod  may  be  dis- 
solved, was  read.  The  Synod  appointed  Dr.  McWhorter  to  bring  in  a 
draught  of  a  letter  in  answer  thereto,  and  that  Dr.  McWhorter,  Dr.  Rodgers, 
Messrs.  Woodliull,  Roe,  and  Davenport,  be  a  committee  to  meet  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Suffolk  at  Huntingdon,  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  next  September 
at  two  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  that  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  be  desired,  by 
timely  notice,  to  meet  with  the  committee,  in  order  to  enter  into  free  and 
full  conversation  upon  this  subject,  and  the  committee  to  make  a  report  at 
the  next  sessions  of  Synod." 

"Dr.  McWhorter,  agreeably  to  order,  brought  in  a  draught  of  a  letter  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  which  was  approved  and  ordered  to  be  signed  by 
the  Moderator  and  sent  to  that  Presbytery,  and  is  as  follows: 

"  To  the  Reverend  the  Preahyfery  of  Suffolk  County: 

"  Reverend  and  Dear  Brethren — We  received  a  letter  from  you,  dated 
April  11th,  1787,  which  both  surprised  and  grieved  us,  by  informing  us 
*  that  you  think  it  needful  that  the  union  between  you  and  u.s  should  be 
dissolved.'  We  are  surprised  that  a  matter  of  so  great  importance,  as 
breaking  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church,  should  be  so  suddenly  gone 
into,  without  our  receiving  any  information  of  the  matter  in  respect  to  any 
previous  things  leading  to  such  an  event.  We  declare  that  we  have  done 
nothing  which  we  know  of,  that  should  be  so  much  as  matter  of  offence  to 
you,  much  less  a  ground  of  withdrawment  or  separation.  We  have  always 
supposed  that  you,  as  brethren  with  us,  believed  in  the  same  general  system 
of  doctrine,  discipline,  worship,  and  church  government  as  the  same  is  con- 
tained in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  and  Directory. 
You  inform  us  '  that  your  local  situation  renders  it  inconvenient  to  main- 
tain the  union.'  This  is  the  same  that  ever  it  was,  when  we  took  sweet 
counsel  together,  strengthened  each  other's  hands  in  the  advancement  of 
the  cause  of  our  dear  Redeemer,  stood  firm  in  opposition  to  the  enemies  of 
our  religion,  and  greatly  comforted  and  encouraged  one  another. 

"  You  say  '  that  concurrence  with  the  Draught  of  the  Form  of  Grovernment 
and  Discipline  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  North  America,  is  impracti- 
ble.'  That  is  only  a  draught  or  overture  for  consideration  and  amendment, 
and  we  should  have  rejoiced  much  to  have  had  your  company  and  aid  in 


12  DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY  [Book  I. 

pointins^  out  those  impracticabilities,  and  in  alterinfir,  corrcctincr,  and  com- 
pleting the  said  draught.  AVc  apprehend  there  are  no  principles  in  it  dif- 
ferent from  tlie  Westminster  Directory,  only  the  same  rendered  more  explicit 
in  some  things,  and  more  conformable  to  the  state  and  circumstances  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  America. 

"  You  likewise  add,  'the  Churches  in  your  limits  will  not  comply  there- 
with.' Perhaps  those  Cliurclies,  froTU  some  cause  unknown  to  us,  may  have 
hastily  imbibed  groundless  prejudices,  which  by  taking  some  pains  with 
them,  and  by  giving  a  proper  explanation  of  the  matter,  might  be  readily 
removed.  We  are  fully  of  opinion  that  the  general  principles  in  said 
draught  contain  the  plan  of  church  discipline  and  government  revealed  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  are  conformable  (allowances  being  made  for  the 
differences  in  the  states  of  civil  society  and  local  circumstances)  to  the  prac- 
tices and  usages  of  the  best  Reformed  Churches. 

"Wherefore,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  in  the  bowels  of  brotherly  love,  we 
entreat  you  to  reconsider  the  resolution  expressed  in  your  letter. 

"You  well  know  that  it  is  not  a  small  thing  to  rend  the  seamless  coat  of 
Christ,  or  to  be  disjointed  parts  of  that  one  body  his  Church.  We  are  all 
members  one  of  another;  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  body,  but  we 
should  comfort,  encourage,  and  strengthen  one  another  i»y  the  firmest  union 
in  our  common  Lord.  We  are  Presbyterians,  and  we  firmly  believe  the 
Presbyterian  system  of  doctrine,  discipline,  and  church  government,  to  be 
nearer  to  the  word  of  God  than  that  of  any  other  sect  or  denomination  of 
Christians.  Shall  all  other  sects  and  parties  be  united  among  themselves 
for  their  support  and  increase,  and  Presbyterians  divided  and  subdivided, 
so  as  to  be  the  scorn  of  some  and  the  prey  of  others?  In  order  to  testify 
to  you  the  high  sense  we  entertain  of  the  importance  of  union  in  the  Pres- 
byterian body  in  America,  we  have  appointed  a  committee,  viz.,  the  Ilev. 
Dr.  liodgers,  Dr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  Roe,  Mr.  John  Woodhull,  and  Mr. 
Davenport,  to  wait  upon  you,  to  converse  with  you,  and  to  endeavour  to 
remove  difficulties. 

"  Therefore,  we  request  the  Moderator  of  your  Presbytery  to  call  the 
same  together  to  meet  our  committee  at  Huntingdon  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  September  for  these  purposes,  at  which  time  and' place  our  committee 
are  appointed  to  attend.  That  you  may  in  a  spirit  of  candour  and  love  recon- 
sider your  resolution  and  continue  in  a  state  of  union  with  us,  and  that  we 
may,  by  our  united  efforts,  advance  the  kingdom  of  our  glorious  Redeemer, 
is  the  earnest  prayer  of  your  affectionate  and  grieved  brethren. 
"Signed  by  order  of  the  Synod, 

"  Jedediah  Chapman,  Moderator. 

"Philadelphia,  May  \Wi,  1787." 

— Minutes,  1787,  p.  532. 

§  24.    Their  opposition  loithdrawn. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  meet  the  Presbytery  of  Suffolk,  on  the 
subject  of  their  letter,  signifying  a  desire  to  withdraw  from  the  Synod, 
reported  that  they  met  the  Presbytery  at  the  time  and  place  fixed  on  by  the 
Synod,  and  conversed  the  subject  over  with  them,  with  the  gretitest  free- 
dom, candour,  and  amity;  and  that  in  conserjuence  of  said  free  and  amicable 
conference,  the  Pres])ytery  agreed  to  Avithdraw  their  request,  as  may  more 
fullv  appear  by  the  following  minute  of  said  Presbytery,  viz. 

''The  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  met  at  Brook  Haven,  April  8th,  1788, 
according  to  appointment;  entered  upon  the  consideration  of  the  petition 
sent  to  the  Reverend  Synod  of  New  York  and  I'hiladelphia,  at  their  last 
sessions,  requesting  a  dismission  from  their  body;  and,  after  deliberating 


Part  I.]  OF  THE   CONSTITUTION.  IS 

on  it,  came  to  the  following  conclusion,  viz.,  to  withdraw  the  petition.  And 
appointed  the  Kev.  Messrs.  Noah  Wetmore  and  Nathan  WoodhuU  to  attend 
the  Reverend  Synod  at  their  next  meeting  at  Philadelphia,  and  present  this 
minute  to  the  Moderator  of  Synod,  and  transact  any  other  business  as  may 
be  found  necessary  by  them  as  the  representatives  of  this  Presbytery.  A 
true  copy  of  the  miu'ute  of  Presbytery.     Attested  by 

David  Rose,  Clerk." 
— Mvnutes,  1788,  p.  544. 
[Since  1772  there  had  not  been  a  member  of  the  Suffolk  Presbytery  in  Synod,  until  the 
appearance  of  Nathan  WoodhuU  at  this  time.] 

§  25.    The  completion  of  the  Consfiftifion  hy  the  General  AssemljlT/. 

[The  following  minute  exhibits  the  General  Assembly  in  the  inchoate  state  of  the  Con- 
stitution, assuming  to  be  the  successor,  and  exercising  the  supreme  powers  of  the  Synod, 
without  recourse  to  the  Presbyteries.] 

"  The  committee  appointed  by  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, to  revise  the  chapter  of  the  Directory  entitled  ''Of  the  mode  of  inflict- 
ing church  censures,"  laid  before  the  Assembly  the  chapter,  as  by  them 
revised;  which,  being  considered  and  amended,  was  finally  enacted,  and 
ordered  to  be  printed  and  published  with  the  Constitution." — Minutes^ 
1789,  p.  9. 

§  26.    The  Scripture  Proofs  compiled. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  consider  the  expediency  of  a  new  impres- 
sion of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline  of 
this  Church,  reported,  That  *  *  *  *  another  impression  appeared 
expedient,  in  which,  if  the  Scripture  proofs  were  inserted  at  length,  it 
would  become  more  acceptable,  and  might  be  of  greater  utility  to  the 
Churches;  and  proposed  that  a  committee  be  appointed,  properly  to  select 
and  arrange  the  Scripture  texts  to  be  adduced  in  support  of  the  articles  in 
the  Confession  of  Faith,  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline;  and  prepare 
the  same  to  be  laid  before  the  next  General  Assembly. 

^'Resolved,  That  Dr.  Robert  Smith  and  Messrs.  Mitchell  and  Grier  be  a 
committee  to  carry  the  above  into  execution." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  58. 

§  27.  Manner  in  which  the  iKorh  was  done. 

"A  letter  was  received  and  read  from  Mr.  Mitchell,  one  of  the  members 
of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly  of  1792,  to  revise  and  prepare 
for  publication  an  edition  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms  and  Form 
of  Government  and  Discipline  of  this  Church,  informing  this  Assembly, 
that  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the  business,  but  that  it  was 
still  incomplete.  Whereupon,  the  business  was  recommitted,  and  the 
Moderator,  [the  Rev.  James  Latta,]  added  to  the  committee  in  the  place  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  deceased,  and  they  were  directed  to  report  to 
the  Assembly  in  1794." — Minutes,  1793,  p.  66. 

[The  letter  was  as  follows :] 

"  The  Rev.  the  General  .^sscmhhj. 
,  \  Upper  Odnrnra,  Mny  \^th,  1793. 

"  Rev.  Fathers  and  Brethren: — The  task  assigned  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  Mr. Grier, 
and  myself,  by  the  last  General  Assembly  of  our  Church,  was  divided  by  your  committee 
in  the  following  manner:  Doctor  Smith  undertook  to  adduce  Scripture  testimony  in  proof 
of  the  Larger  Catechism,  Mr.  Grier  the  Shorter,  and  Mr.  Mitchell  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Church  Government.  Doctor  Smith's  remove  from  serving  any  longer  in  the  Church 
militant,  has  left  his  part  unfinished,  and  uncorrected,  (if  correction  it  requires.)  I  send 
his  manuscript,  and  the  printed  book,  which  was  the  Doctor's  property.  Mr.  Grier  will 
inform  the  Rev.  the  General  Assembly  what  progress  he  has  made  on  his  part.  Your 
correspondent  has  completed   the  proofs  for  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and   made  some 


14  DOCUMENTARY   HISTORY.  [Book  I. 

progress  on  Church  Government,  the  first  twelve  chapters;  hut  a  severe  pain  in  rny  right 
arm,  attended  with  a  paralysis  in  my  hand,  prevented  me  from  finishing  what  I  had  in- 
considerately undertaken.  I  hope  I  shall  not  tire  nor  repent  of  any  poor  service  I  may 
be  called  to  perform  to  the  Church  of  Christ;  but  this  was  a  herculean  labour  for  the  time 
assigned  to  do  it  in. 

'•The  General  Assembly  will  perceive  my  method,  which  was  to  mention  the  chapter 
in  the  Confession,  with  its  title  and  the  several  sections  it  contains;  then  insert  the  small 
letters  of  the  Roman  alphabet  in  the  printed  coj)y,  and  these  serve  to  direct  to  those  texts 
of  Scripture  adduced  to  prove  the  subject,  or  any  part  of  it,  where  they  are  placed. 
Those  texts  that  appear  to  me  to  be  the  most  adequate  and  suitable  to  the  design,  I  have 
wrote  out  in  full.  Where  I  have  viewed  them  as  serving  either  as  parallel,  or  corrobo- 
rating, 1  have  only  set  down  book,  chapter  and  verse  in  figures.  There  may  he  lapsus 
jBe»iH(?,  which  can  be  corrected  when  reviewed  and  examined.  But  these,  with  many 
other  things,  I  submit  to  the  Assembly's  correction  and  inspection.  Had  it  been  par- 
donable, I  should  have  taken  the  liberty  to  have  altered  some  of  the  terms  and  phraseology 
in  our  translation,  as  more  correspondent  to  the  original;  but  to  depart  from  established 
customs  in  religious  matters  is  dangerous.  I  would  also  have  abridged  the  proofs  ;  but 
this  would  have  raised  a  clamour  among  the  people  at  large,  that  we  had  departed  from 
the  ancient  faith.  The  printed  copy  belongs  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  accompanies 
my  manuscript  papers,  together  with  the  Scripture  proofs  on  Church  Government.  May 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  be  in  the  midst  of  you,  to  direct 
and  assist  you  in  all  your  consultations  and  deliberations  for  His  glory  and  the  prosperity 
of  Zion.     So  prays  your  brother  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  A.  Mitchell." 

—Minutes,  1793,  p.  66. 

§  28.  Revision  and  jyuhlication  of  the  work. 

''The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  Scripture  proofs  in  support  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Catechisms,  &c.,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  submitted  their  report;  which  was  read,  examined  and 
approved,  as  a  specimen  of  the  work.  Whereupon  Dr.  Green,  Messrs. 
John  B.  Smith,  James  Boyd,  William  M.  Tennent,  Nathaniel  Irvin,  and 
Andrew  Hunter,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  compare  the  proofs  prepared 
by  said  committee,  and  now  reported  to  the  G-eneral  Assembly,  with  the 
proofs  annexed  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms  and 
Directory;  to  revise  the  whole,  prepare  it  for  the  press,  to  agree  with  the 
printer  for  its  publication,  and  to  superintend  the  printing  and  vending  of 
the  same." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  88. 

§  29.  Revisions  of  the  Constitution  hy  the  General  Assembly. 
[In  the  years  1804  and  1805,  a  revision  of  the  Form  of  Government,  &c.,  was  had; 
which  resulted  in  a  series  of  amendments  designed  "  to  explain,  render  more  practicable, 
and  bring  nearer  to  perfection  the  general  system." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  303.  Finally,  a 
committee  was  appointed  in  1816,  (Minutes,  p.  612,)  which,  in  1819,  reported  a  revision 
of  the  Form  of  Government,  Discipline,  and  Directory,  which  was  printed  and  circulated, 
"  to  obtain  from  Presbyteries  and  individuals  such  suggestions  and  alterations  as  may 
appear  to  them  expedient." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  701.  Amended  by  the  aid  of  these  sug- 
gestions, it  was  again  reported  to  the  General  Assembly  in  1820,  sent  down  to  the  Pres- 
byteries, and  by  them  adopted;  (Mimdes,  1831,  p.  6,)  reducing  the  Constitution  sub- 
stantially to  its  present  form.]     (See  below,  §  47.) 


PAET  II. 

ENACTMENTS  RESPECTING  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Title  1. — Of  Adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith. 

§  30.    The  use  of  Creeds  and  Confessions. 

"1.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly  confessions  of  faith,  containing 
formuhis  of  doctrine  and  rules  for  conducting  the  discipline  and  worship 
proper  to  be  maintained  in  the  house  of  God,  are  not  only  recognized  as 
necessary  and  expedient,  but  as  the  character  of  human  nature  is  continu- 
ally aiming  at  innovation,  absolutely  requisite  to  the  settled  peace  of  the 
Church,  and  to  the  happy  and  orderly  existence  of  Christian  communion. 
"Within  the  limits  of  Christendom  few  are  to  be  found  in  the  attitude  of 
avowed  hostility  to  Christianity.  The  name  of  Christian  is  claimed  by  all, 
and  all  are  ready  to  profess  their  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures;  too  many 
reserving  to  themselves  the  right  of  putting  upon  them  what  construction 
they  please.  In  such  a  state  of  things,  without  the  aid  of  confessions, 
Christian  fellowship  can  exist  only  in  a  very  limited  degree,  and  the  disorder 
of  the  Corinthian  church,  condemned  by  the  Apostle,  would  be  realized : 
"I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos." 

"2.  That  though  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  standards  of  our  Church 
are  of  no  original  authority,  independent  of  the  Scriptures,  yet  we  regard 
them  as  a  summary  of  those  divine  tniths  which  are  diffused  throughout 
the  sacred  volume.  They,  as  a  system  of  doctrines,  therefore,  cannot  be 
abandoned,  in  our  opinion,  without  an  abandonment  of  the  word  of  God. 
They  form  a  bond  of  fellowship  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel;  and  the 
General  Assembly  cannot  but  believe  the  precious  immortals  under  their 
care  to  be  more  safe  in  receiving  the  truth  of  God's  holy  word  as  exhibited 
in  the  standards  of  our  Church,  than  in  being  subject  to  the  guidance  of 
any  instructor,  whoever  he  may  be,  who  may  have  confidence  enough  to  set 
up  his  own  opinions  in  opposition  to  the  system  of  doctrines  which  men  of 
sound  learning,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  have 
derived  from  the  oracles  of  the  living  God.  It  should  never  be  forgotterx 
that  the  Church  is  solemnly  cautioned  against  the  danger  of  being  carried 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine. 

''3.  This  Confession  of  Faith,  adopted  by  our  Church,  contains  a  system 
of  doctrines  professedly  believed  by  the  people  and  the  pastors  under  the 
care  of  the  General  Assembly,  nor  can  it  be  traduced  by  any  in  the  com- 
munion of  our  Church,  without  subjecting  the  erring  parties  to  that  salutary 
discipline  which  hath  for  its  object  the  maintenance  of  the  peace  and  the 
purity  of  the  Church  under  the  government  of  her  Great  Master. 

''4.  Finally,  the  General  Assembly  recommend  to  all  who  are  under  their 
carC;  steadfastly  to  resist  every  temptation,  however  presented,  which  may 


16  ENACTMENTS   RESPECTING  [Book  I. 

have  for  its  object  tlie  relaxation  of  those  bonds  of  Christian  fellowship 
which  have  hitherto  been  so  eminently  blessed  of  God,  for  the  order,  edifi- 
cation and  extension  of  the  IVesbyterian  Church,  and  conclude  ■with  the 
words  of  the  holy  aposUe:  "Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there 
be  no  divisions  among  you,  but  that  ye  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the 
game  mind  and  in  the  saipe  judgment." — Minutes,  1824,  p.  211. 

§  31.  Adoption  includes  the  Catechisms. 

(a)  "  When  Ministers  and  other  officers  are  ordained  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  give  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  question :  Do  you  sincerely 
receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  this  Church  as  containing  the  system  of 
doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures?  Are  such  Ministers  and  officers  to 
be  understood  as  embracing  and  assenting  to  the  doctrines,  principles,  pre- 
cepts, and  statements  contained  in  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  in 
the  same  unqualified  sense  in  which  they  are  understood  to  embrace  and 
assent  to  the  doctrines,  principles,  precepts,  and  statements  contained  in 
other  parts  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  ?" 

''The  committee  recommended  that  the  question  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  and  the  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  18. 

(b)  ''The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  5,  viz.  'On  sub- 
scribing  the  Confession  of  Faith,'  made  the  following  report,  which  was 
unanimously  adopted,  viz. 

"That,  in  their  judgment,  any  further  legislation  on  the  subject,  by  the 
Assembly,  would  be  unnecessary  and  inexpedient.  They  consider  the  for- 
mula contained  in  our  Book,  and  the  rule  adopted  by  the  Assembly  in  1830, 
viz.  'that  in  their  judgment  every  licentiate  coming  by  certificate  to  any 
Presbytery  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly,  from  any  portion  of  a 
corresponding  ecclesiastical  body,  should  be  required  to  answer  in  the 
affirmative  the  constitutional  questions  directed  by  Chapter  xiv.  of  our 
Form  of  Government,  to  be  put  to  our  candidates  before  they  are  licensed; 
and  that  in  like  manner  every  ordained  Minister  of  the  gospel,  coming  from 
any  Church  in  correspondence  with  the  General  Assembly,  by  certificate  of 
dismission  and  recommendation,  should  be  required  to  answer  affirmatively 
the  first  seven  questions,  directed  by  Chapter  xv.  of  our  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, to  be  put  to  one  of  our  own  licentiates  when  about  to  be  ordained  to 
the  sacred  office,'  (1830,  p.  12,)  sufficiently  explicit;  and  would  earnestly 
recommend  them  to  the  attention  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the 
Assembly. 

(c)  "As  to  the  question  submitted  to  them,  'Whether  the  Catechisms, 
Larger  and  Shorter,  are  to  be  considered  as  a  portion  of  the  standards  of 
our  Church,  and  are  comprehended  in  the  words,  "Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  Church?"'  the  committee  feel  no  hesitation  in  answering  that  question 
in  the  affirmative.  It  does  not  appear  that  any  doubts  on  that  subject  have 
ever  been  entertained  until  vei-y  recently.  The  committee  find  in  the 
minutes  of  the  old  Synod,  at  the  ujiion  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  with 
the  Synod  of  New  York,  in  1758,  that  the  first  article  of  the  plan  of 
union  contains  the  following  words,  viz.  'Both  Synods  having  always  ap- 
proved and  received  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  Larger 
and  Shorter  Catechisms,  as  an  orthodox  and  excellent  system  of  Christian 
doctrine  founded  on  the  Word  of  God ;  we  do  still  receive  the  same  as  the 
Confession  of  our  Faith,  and  also  the  Plan  of  Worship,  Government,  and 
Discipline,  contained  in  the  Westminster  Directory;  strictly  enjoining  it  on 
all  our  members  and  probationers  for  the  ministry,  that  they  preach  and 
teach  according  to  the  form  of  sound  words  in  said  Confession  and  Cate- 


Part  II.]  THE   CONSTITUTION.  IT 

cliisms,  and  avoid  and  oppose  all  errors  contrary  thereto.'  In  the  recital  of 
the  manner  in  which  a  Presbytery  was  received  by  the  Synod  of  New  York, 
in  17G8,  we  have  the  following  record:  'It  was  agreed  to  grant  their  re- 
quest, provided  that  they  agree  to  adopt  our  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Catechisms,  and  engage  to  observe  the  Directory  as  a  Plan  of 
Worship,  Discipline,  and  Government,  according  to  the  aiireement  of  this 
Synod.' "  - 

"In  1788,  in  the  adopting  act  of  our  Confession,  the  Catechisms  are  dis- 
tinctly mentioned  as  a  part  of  our  standards.  '  They  also  took  into  con- 
sideration the  Westminster  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  and  having 
made  a  small  amendment  of  the  Larger,  did  approve,  and  do  hereby  approve 
and  ratify  the  said  Catechisms  as  now  agreed  on,  as  the  Catechisms  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  said  United  States.  And  the  Synod  order  that 
the  said  Directory  and  Catechism  be  printed  and  bound  up  in  the  same 
volume  with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  Form  of  Government  and 
Discipline,  and  that  the  whole  be  considered  as  the  standard  of  our  doctrine, 
government,  discipline,  and  worship,  agreeably  to  the  resolutions  of  the 
Synod  at  their  present  sessions;'  one  of  which  resolutions  was,  'that  the 
Form  of  Government,  and  Discipline,  and  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as  now 
ratified,  is  to  continue  to  be  our  Constitution,  and  the  Confession  of  our 
Faith,  and  practice,  unalterably,  unless  two-thirds  of  the  Presbyteries,  under 
the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  shall  propose  alterations,  or  amendments, 
and  that  such  alterations,  or  amendments,  shall  be  agreed  to  and  enacted 
by  the  General  Assembly.'  Accordingly,  in  the  Directory  for  the  Admin- 
istration of  Baptism,  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  are  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as 
adopted  by  this  church,  and  are  to  be  recommended  as  containing  a  summary 
of  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  taught  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments. 

"The  committee  therefore  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved  hy  the  Assembly,  That  in  receiving  and  adopting  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly of  Divines  are  included,  and  do  constitute  an  integral  part  of  the 
standards  of  this  Church. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  use  of  the  Catechisms  in  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  young,  and  of  the  children  under  the  care  of  the  Church,  be  affec- 
tionately and  earnestly  recommended  to  the  Sessions  in  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly,  as  the  most  eft'ectual  means  under  God  of  preserving 
the  purity,  peace,  and  unity  of  our  Church." — Minutes,  1832,  p.  332. 

§  32.  Ministers  hostile  to  Creeds. 

"The  committee  appointed  on  an  overture  respecting  the  consistency  of 
admitting  into  this  church  Ministers  who  manifest  a  decided  hostility  to 
ecclesiastical  creeds,  confessions,  and  formularies,  made  the  following  report, 
which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"1.  That  the  Constitution,  as  is  well  known,  expressly  requires  of  all 
candidates  for  admission,  a  solemn  declaration  that  they  sincerely  receive 
and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church,  as  containing  the  system 
of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"2.  That  the  last  Assembly,*  in  a  report  of  their  committee,  to  be  seen 
on  the  Minutes,  have  so  explicitly  and  fully  declared  the  sentiments  of  this 

*  Above,  I  30. 


18  ENACTMENTS   RESPECTING  [Book  I. 

Church  in  regard  to  her  ecclesiastical  standards,  and  all  within  her  commu- 
nion who  may  traduce  them,  that  no  further  expression  of  our  views  on 
this  subject  is  deemed  necessary." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  274. 

Title  2. — Circulation  of  the  Constitution. 
§  33.   Forinrr  reffitlnfioiisjior  its i^nhricaflon. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Eev.  Dr.  Ely  be  appointed  a  committee  to  pro- 
cure in  the  name  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  privilege  of 
copyright  for  the  publishing  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Constitution  of 
the  Church;  and  that  he  be  charged  with  seeing  that  eveiy  part  of  the  law 
concerning  the  securing  said  right  be  fully  complied  with. 

"2.  That  any  printer  so  disposed  may  print  any  number  of  copies  of  said 
book  as  he  shall  think  proper,  subject  to  the  following  restrictions: 

"3.  That  to  secure  authentic  copies  of  so  important  a  publication,  three 
Ministers  of  each  of  the  Synods  of  our  Church  be  designated  as  a  commit- 
tee in  their  respective  bounds,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  form  contracts  for 
the  payment  of  the  premium  hereinafter  mentioned;  and  carefully  to  ex- 
amine the  proof-sheets  of  said  book.  Their  signature  shall  be  regarded  as 
a  necessary  certificate  of  authenticity. 

*'  4.  That  each  printer  of  said  book,  for  the  privilege  of  printing,  shall 
pay  the  sum  of  three  cents  per  copy  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly; to  be  equally  divided  between  the  missionary  funds  belonging  to  this 
Assembly,  and  the  funds  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton." — 
Minutes,  1821,  p.  11. 

§  34.    The  2^rinting  referred  to  the  Board  of  Publication. 

''  Resolved,  That  the  permission  heretofore  granted  by  the  Assembly  to 
publish  the  Confession  of  Faith  m  contravention  of  the  copyright,  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby  revoked. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  is  hereby  directed 
to  take  the  charge,  oversight,  and  agency  of  printing  and  selling  the  autho- 
rized copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  177. 

§  35.    Unauthorized  editions. 

"Whereas  this  Assembly  have  been  informed  that  one  or  more  unautho- 
rized editions  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  Form  of  Government  and 
Discipline  of  this  Church  have  been  published  within  a  short  period, 

*  *  *  *  The  Assembly  would  dcclai-e  to  the  Churches  in  their  commu- 
nion, that  no  edition  of  the  said  Confession  of  Faith  ought  in  future  to  be 
purchased  or  encouraged  by  them,  except  such  as  may  be  published  by 
the  authority  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1803,  p.  282. 

§  36.   Its  circulation  urged. 

(ft)  "Resolved,  That  Mr.  John  McCulloh  be,  and  he  is  hereby  requested, 
to  receive  from  Mr.  Kobert  Aitkin,  printer,  three  hundred  copies  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Discipline  of  this  Church;  and  that  he  transmit 
one  hundred  copies  to  James  Hathaway,  Esq.,  at  Fort  Stanwix;  and  one 
hundred  copies  to  Evans  and  Gordon  at  Geneva;  and  fifty  copies  to  Doctor 
John  Hopkins  at  Tioga  I'oint;  and  fifty  copies  to  Mathias  Hollenback,  Esq., 
at  A\'ilkesbarre,  to  be  by  these  gentlemen  distributed  and  sold,  as  hereafter 
directed. 

"Resolved,  forther.  That  the  persons  with  whom  the  books  shall  be 
lodged  at  the  above  named  places,  be  directed  to  deliver  any  number  of  said 
books  to  the  order  of  any  one  of  the  miss  onaries  sent  by  the  General  As- 


Part  II.]  THE   CONSTITUTION.  10 

sembly  into  those  frontier  countries;  and  that  they  sell  of  said  books  to  any 
persons  applying  for  the  same,  at  one  dollar  per  copy;  and  that  they  ac- 
count with  Mr.  McCulloh  for  the  sale  and  distribution  of  said  books  so 
delivered  to  them.  And  also  that  Mr.  McCulloh  account  with  the  Treasu- 
rer of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  that  may  be  hereafter  appointed, 
for  his  whole  agency  in  this  business. 

"Resolved,  farther,  That  the  missionaries  of  the  General  Assembly,  may, 
and  they  are  hereby  directed,  to  give  orders  on  those  gentlemen  with  whom 
the  books  are  lodged  as  above,  in  behalf  of  the  congreL';ations  formed  and 
forming  on  our  frontiers,  at  the  rate  of  one  book  for  each  congregation  so 
formed  or  forming,  to  be  to  them  gratuitously  bestowed  by  the  General  As- 
sembly."— Minutes,  1799,  p.  185. 

(b)  "  Whereas,  many  of  our  feeble  Churches  are  nearly  destitute  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  are  not  able  at  present 
to  purchase  a  seasonable  supply  of  that  book ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  hereafter  the  income  from  all  future  editions  of  the 
Constitution  of  this  Church,  until  further  orders,  be  appropriated  by  the 
Stated  Clerk  in  the  gratuitous  distribution  of  copies  of  said  Constitution 
among  the  more  remote  and  destitute  Churches  in  our  communion ;  and 
that  any  former  resolutions  of  the  Assembly,  making  any  other  appropria- 
tion of  the  income  from  the  Constitution,  be,  and  the  same  hereby  are 
repealed."— i/«i?{^es,  1829,  p.  383. 

(c)  "Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  destitution  of  many  Presbyterian 
families  of  our  Confession  of  Faith,  it  is  hereby  earnestly  recommended  to 
all  our  Pastors  and  Elders  to  endeavour  to  induce  every  family  in  our  con- 
nection to  supply  themselves  with  a  copy  of  the  Standards  of  our  Church; 
and  the  Board  of  Publication  is  requested  to  furnish,  through  their  colpor- 
teurs, every  practicable  facility  for  this  purpose." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  449. 

§  37.    Translation  into  German. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  [of  Publication]  be  directed  to  have  an  accu- 
rate edition  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  published  in  the  German  language, 
and  also  such  tracts  from  time  to  time  as  they  may  deem  best." — Minutes, 
1854,  p.  43. 

Title  3. — Authority  or  the  Marginal  Notes. 

§38. 

[In  the  earlier  editions  of  the  Constitution  there  were  inserted  certain  marginal  notes, 
since  expunged.  In  reply  to  an  inquiry  on  the  authority  of  these  notes  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  the  following  statement  was  made.] 

"  That  the  book  referred  to  was  first  published  with  nothing  but  the 
simple  text,  without  any  Scripture  proofs,  or  any  notes  of  any  description 
whatsoever.  This  is  evident  not  ordy  from  the  M  nutes  of  the  General 
Assembly,  but  from  the  numerous  copies  of  the  first  edition  of  the  stand- 
ards of  our  Church  which  are  now  in  existence.  It  is  also  equally  evident 
from  examining  the  records  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  not  a  single  note 
in  the  book  has  been  added  to,  or  made  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church,  since  it  was  first  formed  and  published,  in  the  manner  above  recited. 
Several  alterations  and  additions  have  been  made  by  referring  them,  when 
contemplated,  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their  decision  thereon,  in  the  manner 
pointed  out  in  the  Constitution  itself.  But  among  all  the  points  thus 
referred,  there  is  not  found  a  single  note  which  now  appears  in  the  book 
containing  the  Constitution  of  our  Church.     Hence  it  follows,  beyond  a 


20  ENACTMENTS  RESPECTING  ,     [Book  I. 

doubt,  that  these  notes  are  no  part  of  that  Constitution.  If,  then,  it  be 
incjuired  how  these  notes  obtained  the  phice  which  they  now  occupy,  and 
what  is  the  character,  as  to  authority,  which  they  possess,  the  answer  is 
this :  When  a  second  edition  of  the  standards  of  our  Church  was  needed, 
it  was  thought  by  the  Gireneral  Assembly,  that  it  woukl  bo  of  great  use  in 
itself,  highly  agreeable  to  the  members  of  our  Church  generally,  as  well  as 
conformable  to  the  example  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  from  which  we  de- 
rive our  origin,  if  the  Scripture  proofs  were  added,  in  support  of  the  several 
parts  and  clauses  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  and  Form  of  Grov- 
ernment.  A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to 
select  the  Scripture  proofs,  and  to  prepare  them  for  being  printed  in  the 
second  edition  of  the  book.  The  work  of  this  committee  was,  the  following 
year,  referred  to  another,  and  ultimately  the  committee  charged  with  pre- 
paring the  Scripture  proofs,  reported,  along  with  these  proofs,  the  notes 
which  now  appear  in  the  book,  and  which  were  approved  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  directed  to  be  printed  with  the  proofs,  in  the  form  in  which 
they  now  appear.  These  notes,  then,  are  explanations  of  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  given  by  the  Genei'al  Assembly,  and 
which,  of  coui'se,  the  General  Assembly  may  modify  or  altogether  exclude, 
at  their  pleasure,  whereas  the  articles  of  the  Constitution  must  govern  the 
Assembly  themselves,  and  cannot  be  altered  or  abrogated,  but  in  the  man- 
ner pointed  out  in  the  Constitution  itself. 

''  On  the  whole,  in  the  book  containing  the  standards  of  our  Church, 
the  text  alone  contains  the  Constitution  of  our  Church ;  the  notes  are  an 
exposition  of  principles  given  by  the  highest  judicature  of  that  Church,  of 
the  same  force,  while  they  continue,  with  the  other  acts  of  that  judicature, 
but  subject  to  alterations,  amendments,  or  a  total  erasure,  as  they  shall  judge 
proper. 

^^  Resolved,  That  as  it  belongs  to  the  General  Assembly  to  give  direction 
in  regard  to  the  notes  which  accompany  the  Constitution,  of  which  they  are 
the  supreme  judicatory,  this  Assembly  express  it  as  their  opinion,  that  in 
printing  future  editions  of  the  Constitution  of  this  Church,  the  parenthesis 
on  the  note,  on  this  part  of  the  Form  of  Government,  which  defines  a  Synod, 
and  which  is  expressed  in  these  words,  'since  a  Synod  is  only  a  larger  Pres- 
bytery,' be  omitted,  as  well  as  the  note  connected  with  the  Scripture  proofs 
in  answer  to  the  question  in  the  Larger  Catechism, '  what  is  forbidden  in  the 
eighth  commandment,'  in  which  the  nature  of  the  crime  of  man-stealing 
and  slavery  is  dilated  upon.  In  regard  to  this  last  omission,  the  Assembly 
think  proper  to  declare,  that  in  directing  it,  they  are  influenced  by  for  other 
motives  than  any  desire  to  favour  slavery,  or  to  retard  the  extinction  of  that 
mournful  evil,  as  speedily  as  may  consist  with  the  happiness  of  all  con- 
cerned."— Minutes,  181G,  p.  630. 

§39. 
[From  the  preceding  statement  is  to  be  excepted  the  note  to  Chap.  IV.  of  the  Form  of 
Government,  in  regard  to  the  title  of  Dishop,  which  was  inserted  in   its   present  form  in 
the  original  draught  of  the  Constitution  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.] 

§40. 
"Resolved,  That  as  the  no^es  which  have  been  expunged  from  our  public 
formularies,  and  which  some  of  the  memorials,  referred  to  the  committee, 
request  to  have  restored,  were  introduced  irregularly,  never  had  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Church,  and  therefore  never  possessed  any  real  authority,  the 
General  Assembly  has  no  power  to  assign  them  a  place  in  the  authorized 
standards  of  the  Church,  and  does  not  deem  it  proper  to  take  the  constitu- 
tional measures  for  eflfecting  their  restoration." — Mumtes,  1^580,  p.  248. 


Part  II.]  THE   CONSTITUTION.  2% 

Title  4. — Of  Amendments. 
§  41.    Sent  doicn  for  a  series  of  years. 

'■'■  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  which  have  not  sent  up  their  decisions 
on  this  subject,  [a  proposed  amendment  of  the  Constitution,]  be  required  to 
send  them  to  the  next  Assembly;  and  that  the  Stated  Clerk  file  the  decisions 
reported  to  this  Assembly,  to  be  considered  by  the  next  Assembly,  as  the 
decisions  of  these  Presbyteries  respectively,  unless  they  choose  to  send  up 
a  different  decision." — Minutes,  1884,  p.  13.  See  also,  1802,  p.  255,  and 
passim. 

§  42.  Amendment  of  the  doctrinal  part. 

[The  Rev.  Drs.  Hoge,  Hodge,  Spring,  Lelantl,  and  N.  L.  Rice,  were  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  to  consider  the  propriety  of  amewding  the  Confession  on  "  the  marriage  ques- 
tion." {Minutes,  1843,  p.  197.)  The  following  statement  occurring  incidentally  in  their 
report,  gives  a  correct  statement  of  the  process  necessary  in  order  to  amend  the  doctrinal 
part  of  the  Constitution.    The  act  in  question  occurs  above,  §  22,  b.    But  see  below,  §  49.] 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  overtures  to  strike  out  the  last 
sentence  of  Chap.  xxiv.  Sec.  4,  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  beg  leave  to  sub- 
mit, in  the  first  place,  the  following  views  respecting  the  question :  Whether 
there  is  any  mode  prescribed  of  amending  or  altering  the  Confession  of 
Faith — as  a  preliminary  inquiry. 

"  The  Form  of  Grovernment,  Chap.  xii.  See.  6,  gives  power  to  the  General 
Assembly  to  propose  overtures,  which,  if  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
Presbyteries,  shall  have  the  force  of  Constitutional  Rules.  This  pro- 
vision, it  is  thought,  does  not  apply  to  altering  or  amending  the  Confession 
of  Faith.  1st.  Because  it  relates  to  the  powers  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  is  plainly  designed  to  limit  those  powers  in  respect  of  legislation.  2d. 
The  use  of  the  terms  'Overtures  or  Regulations,'  defines  with  sufficient 
clearness  the  meaning  of  the  expression  '  Constitutional  Rules,'  and  limits 
its  application  to  rules  of  government  and  discipline ;  but  excludes  altera- 
tions of  the  doctrine  and  fundamental  principles  of  the  Church.  3d.  Unless 
the  language  used  necessarily  and  certainly  embraces  alterations  of  the 
latter  kind,  it  would  be  unwise  to  resort  to  a  forced  construction,  and  thus 
jeopard  the  stability  of  the  great  principles  of  faith  and  order  embraced  in 
our  standards. 

*'  On  the  other  hand  it  is  contended  that  there  is,  and  ought  to  be,  no 
method  of  altering  our  doctrinal  formularies.  And  in  support  of  this 
opinion  it  is  said,  that  while  prudential  rules  may  be  changed  with  circum- 
stances, the  doctrines  of  religion  remain  ever  the  same.  But  to  this  it  is  a 
sufficient  answer,  that,  although  the  Bible  and  the  truth  which  it  contains 
are  unchangeable,  yet  human  compositions,  such  as  our  Confession  of  Faith 
undoubtedly  is,  are  not  infallible,  but  may  err;  and  when  any  such  error  in 
the  expression  of  truth  is  discovei'ed,  it  ought  to  be  corrected  in  an  orderly 
manner.  This  was  certainly  the  opinion  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  when  they  adopted  the  Constitution  of  the  Church. 

"That  Synod  in  the  adopting  act  inserted  a  provision  which  allows  that 
'two-thirds  of  the  Presbyteries  may  propose  alterations  or  amendments, 
which  shall  be  valid  if  subsequently  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly.'  So 
far  only  as  this  embraces  Constitutional  Rules,  this  provision  has  been 
changed;  but  in  every  other  respect  remains  in  full  force.  It  is  insufficient 
to  allege  that  it  has  been  forgotten  and  become  obsolete  ;  for  it  has  ahvays 
been  on  the  Records,  and  was  published  in  the  Digest  in  1820,  and  it  would 
be  exceedingly  unsafe  to  allow  organic  enactments  thus  to  be  overlooked 
and  lost. 


22  ENACTMENTS   RESPECTING  [Book  I. 

"It  is  conceived,  therefore,  that  this  method  of  proceeding  is  constitu- 
tional and  is  still  in  force,  and  should  also  be  strictly  observed.  Likewise 
this  resolution  of  the  Synod  should  be  prefixed  to  all  future  editions  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith."— Minn frs,  1844,  p.  422. 

§  43.   An  attempt  to  cltange  tills  provision. 

"A  motion  was  made  and  seconded  that  the  Assembly  adopt  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  viz. 

"  Whereas,  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  at  their  sessions 
in  the  year  1788,  after  adopting  the  Constitution,  made  and  recorded  a 
resolution  on  the  subject,  which  is  conceived  by  some  to  be  at  variance 
with  the  Constitution,  and  by  others  to  be  of  equal  authority  with  the  Con- 
stitution itself:  thei'efore, 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  instruct  their  commissioners  to  the 
next  Greneral  Assembly  on  this  subject,  and  authorize  them  to  annul  the 
said  resolution,  or  to  reconcile  it  with  the  Constitution. 

"  After  some  discussion,  the  Assembly 

^^  Resolved ,  That  it  would  be  improper,  in  the  conclusion  of  the  sessions, 
to  determine  on  an  aifair  of  such  magnitude  as  the  present  appears  to  be ; 
and  that,  therefore,  it  be  recommended  to  the  attention  of  the  next  General 
Assembly." — Minutes,  1800,  p.  203. 

[The  subject  was  not  again  resumed.] 

§  44.    The  article  in  regard  to  Constitutional  Rules. 

(a)  [This  article  (Form  of  Gov.  Chap.  xii.  Sec.  6)  in  the  original  draught  of  the 
Form  of  Government  as  published  for  consideration  in  1787,  stood  thus :] 

"Before  any  overtures  or  regulations,  proposed  by  the  Council  to  be  estab- 

Restriction  of   Hshed  as  standing  rules,  shall   be  obligatory  on   the    Churches,  it   shall  be 

the  Comicil.      necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Presbyteries,  and  to  receive  the  returns 

of  at  least  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries  in  writing,  approving  thereof." 

[The  only  change  in  this  before  final  adoption  was  the  alteration  of  the  title  of  the 

Supreme  Court  from  Council  to  Assembly.] 

§  45.    The  Seotch  Barrier  Act. 

[No  one  conversant  with  the  laws  and  regulations  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  can  fail 
to  recognise  in  this  article  a  provision  designed  to  correspond  with  the  Barrier  Act  of  that 
Church,  which  provides  "  that  before  a  General  Assembly  of  this  Church  pass  any  acts 
which  are  to  be  binding  rules  and  constitutions  to  the  Church,  the  same  acts  be  first  pro- 
posed as  overtures  to  the  Assembly ;  and  being  by  them  passed  as  such,  be  remitted  to 
the  consideration  of  the  several  Presbyteries  of  this  Church,  and  their  opinions  and  con- 
sent reported  by  their  Commissioners  to  the  next  Assembly  following,  who  may  then  pass 
the  same  into  acts,  if  the  more  general  opinion  of  the  Church,  thus  had,  agree  thereto." — 
Compendium  of  Laws  of  the  Kirk  of  Sroiliind,  Part  II.  p.  205. 

In  explanation  of  this  act,  Principal  Hill,  in  his  Theological  Institutes,  Part  II.  §  5,  has 
the  following: 

"  Legislative  Power, 
(ft)  "  Every  judicatory  is  occasionally  called  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  Church,  by  making 
•fiuch  s[)ecial  enactments,  in  conformity  with  those  general  laws  as  are  suggested  by  the 
circumstances  of  the  district  under  its  jurisdiction  ;  and  church  courts,  like  all  others, 
have  a  right  within  certain  limits,  to  regulate  the  forms  of  their  own  proceedings.  It  is 
not  to  such  [)artial  enactments  or  regulations  that  we  refer  when  we  speak  of  the  legisla- 
live  power  of  the  Church.  We  apply  that  term  to  the  power  of  making  standing  laws 
concerning  matters  of  general  importance,  which  are  binding  upon  all  the  members  and 
judicatories  of  the  Church.  From  the  first  estublishment  of  Presbyterian  government  in 
15G0,  till  some  years  after  the  Revolution,  [in  1688,]  such  laws  proceeded  from  the  sole 
authority  of  the  General  Assembly:  but  an  act  of  the  Church  in  the  year  1697,  which 
we  are  accustomed  to  call  the  Barrier  Act,  prescribes  the  following  mode  of  enacting  per- 
manent and  standing  constitutions,"  &c.     (Cited  above.) 


Part  II.]  THE   CONSTITUTION.  2S 

(r)  Bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  is 
unalterable,  by  any  process  which  would  not  dissolve  the  body,  it  will  be  apparent  that 
the  above  cited  article  in  our  Form  of  Government  originally  contemplated  not  amend- 
ments to  the  Constitution,  but,  as  precisely  expressed  in  its  own  terms,  "  standing  rules" 
designed  to  be  of  permanent  obligation  on  the  Church,  such  for  example  as  that  in  regard 
to  the  reception  of  foreign  Ministers,  and  several  of  the  reforming  acts  of  1837 — 1839. 
lVIisap[)rehension,  however,  early  arose  in  regard  to  the  intention  of  the  language.  The 
act  in  regard  to  the  reception  of  foreign  Ministers  gave  occasion  to  the  first  development 
of  the  difficulty.  On  this  subject  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  sent  up  the  following 
minute:] 

§  46.   Different  inteiyretations  of  the  artide. 

"  The  Presbytery  took  into  consideration  the  regulations  adopted  by  the 
General  Assembly  at  their  last  meeting,  intended  to  embrace  and  extend 
the  existing  rules  respecting  the  reception  of  foreign  Ministers  and  Licen- 
tiates; whereupon  the  Presbytery  were  of  opinion,  that  if  the  General 
Assembly  designed  these  regulations  as  a  standing  rule,  supposing  that 
having  passed  through  their  body,  they  became  obligatory  upon  the  sub- 
ordinate judicatories,  and  ought  to  be  carried  into  immediate  effect,  they 
therein  violated  the  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  our  Constitu- 
tion, which  says,  'Before  any  overtures  or  regulations,'"  &c. — Minutes, 
1799,  p.  172. 

[To  this  paper  the  Assembly  replied  :] 

"  1.  That  the  first  reason  assigned  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  for 
their  request,  is  founded  on  a  misinterpretation  of  an  ambiguous  expression 
in  the  Constitution.  The  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  is  thus 
expressed  :  '  Before  any  overtures  or  regulations  proposed  by  the  Assembly 
to  be  established  as  standing  rules  shall  be  obligatory  on  the  churches,  it 
shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Presbyteries,  and  to  receive 
the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries  in  writing,  approving 
thereof.'  Standing  rvles  in  this  section  can  refer  only  to  one  of  the  follow- 
ing objects,  1st.  To  articles  of  the  Constitution  which,  when  once  estab- 
lished, are  unalterable  by  the  General  Assembly — or  2d.  To  every  rule  or 
law  enacted  without  any  term  of  limitation  expressed  in  the  act.  The  latter 
meaning  would  draw  after  it  consequences  so  extensive  and  injurious,  as 
forbid  the  Assembly  to  give  the  section  that  interpretation.  It  would 
reduce  this  Assembly  to  a  mere  committee  to  prepare  business  upon  which 
the  Presbyteries  might  act.  It  would  undo,  with  few  exceptions,  all  the 
rules  that  have  been  established  by  this  Assembly  since  its  first  institution, 
and  would  prevent  it  for  ever  from  establishing  any  rule  not  limited  by  the 
t<;nns  of  the  act  itself.  Besides,  standing  rules,  in  the  evident  sense  of  the 
Constitution,  cannot  be  predicated  of  any  acts  made  by  the  Assembly  and 
repealable  by  it,  because  they  are  limited,  in  their  very  nature,  to  the  dura- 
tion of  a  year,  if  it  please  the  Assembly  to  exert  the  power  inherent  in  it  at 
all  times  to  alter  or  annul  them,  and  they  continue  to  be  rules  only  by  the 
Assembly's  not  using  its  power  of  repeal.  The  law  in  question  is  no  other- 
wise a  standing  rule  than  all  other  laws  repealable  by  this  Assembly." — 
Minutes,  1799,  p.  179. 

§  47.    This  article  amended. 

[Asa  diflerence  of  opinion  still  continued,  the  General  Assembly  proposed  to  have  the 
question  decided  by  substituting  the  phrase  "  constitutional  rules"  for  "  standing  rules." — 
Jhid.  p.  180.  This  movement  was  embarrassed  by  the  very  misapprehension  which 
induced  its  proposal,  e.  g.] 

''A  written  report  was  received  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  stating  that  the  Presbytery  has  duly  considered  the  amendment 
proposed  to  be  made  in  the  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 


24  ENACTMENTS   RESPECTING  [Book  I. 

Constitntion ;  that  beina;  of  opinion  tliat  by  the  words  RfamTmg  rules  in  the 
Con,stitution,  is  intended  ronstifufio/iol  rales,  no  alteration  in  the  Constitu- 
tion appears  necessary." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  298. 

[The  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  made  a  like  return.  The  alteration  was 
finally  made  in  1805  by  a  vote  of  22  Presbyteries  in  the  aiHrmative,  6  negative,  and  3 
not  voting.     Compare  Minutes,  180.3,  p.  264,  and  1805,  p.  332. 

From  these  facts  it  is  apparent  that  by  the  organic  act  adopting  the  Constitution  and 
basing  the  Church  upon  it,  no  alteration  of  any  part  of  the  Constitution  could  be  made 
except  in  terms  of  the  act  of  1788,  (§  21,  i)  ,•  and  that  this  provision  has  been  so  far 
altered  that  amendments  of  the  Forms  of  Government  and  Discipline,"  the  constitutional 
rules"  may  be  made  upon  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries,  and  the  subse- 
quent enactment  of  the  Assembly. 

The  result  furthermore  is,  by  the  above  described  alteration  of  the  limiting  clause  in 
the  Form  of  Government,  to  sanction  in  the  most  authoritative  manner  the  assertion  by 
the  Assembly  (above,  §  46)  of  its  power  to  enact  and  enforce  by  its  own  authority  such  stand- 
ing rules  as  may  by  it  be  deemed  essential  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Consti- 
tution, protecting  and  vindicating  the  purity  of  the  Church,  and  calling  out  her  energies 
in  the  dissemination  of  the  gospel.] 

§  48.    The  Assembly  may  reject  amendments  after  they  have  been  allowed 

by  the  Presbyteries. 

[See  above,  §  21,  6.] 

[In  1826,  the  Assembly  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  a  series  of  nine  propositions  for 
amendment  of  the  Constitution.  (Minutes,  1826,  pp.  22,  37.)  Of  these,  three  were 
rejected  and  six  approved  by  the  Presbyteries.  One  of  the  latter  was  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  Assembly  enacted — Minutes,  1827,  p.  132. 

In  regard  to  the  others  the  following  report  was  adopted,  viz.] 

''  The  whole  of  them  from  Nos.  1  to  6  inclusive  were  framed  with  such 
reference  to  each  other,  and  to  their  common  object,  as  that  they  ought  to 
have  been  either  adopted  or  rejected  all  together;  and  further  that  the 
Presbyteries  by  rejecting  the  sixth  have  in  effect  defeated  the  very  end 
which  they  must  have  intended  to  secure  by  the  adoption  of  the  rest; 
and  have  otherwise  involved  the  whole  subject  in  diflBeulties,  which 
from  the  peculiar  natvire  of  the  case  it  is  but  fair  and  reasonable  to  suppose 
they  could  not  have  distinctly  designed,  or  foreseen.  In  this  state  of  things 
your  committee  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  resolution,  as  in  their 
judgment  proper  to  be  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly,  viz. 

"  Whereas,  the  Presbyteries  have  failed  to  report  their  decisions  upon  the 
subject  of  the  proposed  amendments,  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  as  recorded  in 
page  37  of  the  printed  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  last  year,  in  the  full 
and  distinct  manner  contemplated  in  the  overture,  submitted  by  that  As- 
sembly, and  the  Assembly  do  not  deem  it  desirable  to  renew  the  said  over- 
ture at  the  present  time;  therefore, 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  consideration  of  the  said  proposed  amendments  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  indelinitely  postponed." — Miimtes,  1827,  p.  133. 

§  49.  Amendments  thus  disposed  of. 
[The  following  were  the  amendments  thus  disposed  of.     See  Minutes,  1826,  p.  37.] 

1.  [Form  of  Government,  Ch.  xii.  §  4,  to  read]  "The  General  Assem- 
bly shall  act  upon  all  cases  relating  to  complaints  and  appeals,  which  may 
be  regularly  brought,"  &c. 

2.  [liook  of  Discipline,  Ch.  vii.  §  1,  Art.  4,  to  read]  "No  judicial  de- 
cision, however,  of  a  judicatory,  shall  be  reversed,  unless  it  be  regularly 
brought  up  by  appeal,  or  complaint,  or  order  of  the  General  Assembly. 

3.  [Book  of  Discipline,  Ch.  vii.  §  1,  new  Articles,]  "VII.  Should  it  ap- 
pear to  the  General  Assembly  in  reviewing  the  records  of  a  Synod,  that  a 
Synod  has,  in  the  case  of  a  complaint  or  appeal,  acted  unconstitutionally, 


Part  IL]  THE   CONSTITUTION.  25 

or  done  something  manifestly  unjust  or  oppressive,  tlie  General  Assembly 
may  pass  a  censure  on  its  proceedings;  but  no  judicial  decision  of  a  Synod 
eliall  be  reversed  by  the  General  Assembly  until  due  notice  has  been  given 
to  the  original  parties  to  appear  before  the  next  General  Assembly,  and  to 
the  inferior  courts  to  send  up  all  the  documents,  papers  and  testimony  re- 
lative to  the  case,  duly  authenticated." 

''VIII.  When  a  case  shall  be  brought  up  in  the  manner  prescribed  in 
the  foregoing  article,  the  Assembly  shall  be  governed  in  their  proceedings 
by  the  rules  which  regulate  appeals  before  a  lower  judicature." 

4.  [Book  of  Discipline,  Ch.  vii.  §  2,  new  Article]  "X.  References  made 
by  Presbyteries  or  Synods  to  the  General  Assembly  shall  not  be  for  the 
trial  of  any  cause,  but  only  for  advice." 

5.  [Book  of  Discipline,  Ch.  vii.  §  3,  new  Article]  ''XVIII.  All  appeals 
from  any  Session  or  Presbytery,  shall  terminate  in  the  Synods  within  whose 
jurisdiction  they  shall  have  originated." 

6.  [Book  of  Discipline,  Ch.  vii.  §  4,  new  Article]  "VIII.  Complaints, 
like  appeals,  shall  terminate  in  the  Synods  within  whose  jurisdiction  they 
shall  have  originated." 

[Of  these  the  first  five  were  allowed  by  the  Presbyteries,  and  the  sixth  rejected.  The 
ambiguity  complained  of  in  the  final  minute  of  the  Assembly  being,  not  as  to  what  the 
Presbyteries  had  decided,  but  as  to  the  etTect  of  that  decision  upon  the  proposed  modifi- 
cation of  the  system  of  Appeals,  Complaints,  and  Review.] 


TART  III. 

COMMEMORATIONS  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Title  1. — The  Bicentenary  op  the  Westminster  Assembly. 

§  50.  A  committee  appointed. 

(a)  "  Dr.  Breckinridge  offered  the  following  minute,  which  was  adopted, 
viz. 

"This  General  Assembly  looking  forward  to  the  approaching  second  cen- 
tennial period  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  as  an  era  full  of  interest  to 
the  Churches  under  its  care,  and  to  all  other  Churches  which  adopt  the 
Standards  of  Faith,  Church  Order,  and  Discipline,  prepared  by  that  vene- 
rable body;  and  believing  that  the  occasion  can  be  so  used,  as  by  the  divine 
blessing,  greatly  to  promote  the  interests  of  truth :  it  is 

''Resolved,  That  a  Standing  Committee  of  ten  members  of  this  body 
shall  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  mature  a  plan  for  a  suitable 
commemoration  of  the  aforesaid  anniversary,  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1843; 
to  take  such  measures  by  correspondence  with  other  denominations,  whether 
at  home  or  abroad,  which  adopt  these  standards,  as  may,  as  far  as  possible 
secure  their  co-operation  in  such  a  commemoration;  to  invite  the  co-opera- 
tion of  all  other  denominations  which  are  evangelical  in  doctrine  and  pres- 
byterial  in  order;  and  to  report  their  proceedings  herein  to  the  next  General 
Assembly." 

"The  Moderator  appointed  the  following  to  be  the  Standing  Committee 
on  the  Comiuemoration  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  viz.  Messrs.  Robert 
J.  Breckinridge,  John  M.  Krebs,  Charles  Hodge,  Drury  Lacy,  William  W. 
Phillips,  Alexander  Macklin,  George  Howe,'  Robert  Stuart,  Benjamin  M. 
Smith,  Wm.  Chester." — Minutes,  1842,  pp.  17,  24. 

§  51.    Ultimate  action  of  the  Assembly. 

[In  1843,  the  committee  made  a  report  which  was  referred,  and  ultimately  the  follow- 
ing report  of  the  committee  of  reference  was  adopted :] 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  on  the  observance  of 
the  bicentenary  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  having  considered  the 
subject,  recommend  it  to  the  favourable  consideration  of  the  Assembly. 

"A  correct  knowledge  of  the  character  of  that  Assembly,  of  the  purpose 
for  which  they  were  convened,  of  the  difficulties  of  their  position,  of  the 
arduous  nature  of  their  task,  and  of  the  results  of  their  labours,  shows  the 
extent  of  the  benefit  which  they  have  conferred  on  the  interests  of  truth 
and  freedom;  and  our  Church  in  common  with  other  Churches,  which  have 
been  formed  on  the  same  model,  must  feel  that  the  occurrence  of  the  two 
hundredth  anniversary  of  their  meeting,  is  a  deeply  interesting  period  in 
the  lapse  of  time,  and  may  prove  profitable  by  its  appropriate  commemora- 


Part  III.]        COMMEMORATIONS  OF   THE   CONSTITUTION.  27 

tion.  It  is  therefore  recommended  to  the  Assembly,  to  adopt,  with  some 
modifications,  the  propositions  reported  by  the  committee  of  the  last  General 
Assembly,  as  follows : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  highly  important  that  the  venerable  standards 
prepared  by  the  Westminster  Assembly,  as  substantially  adopted  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  shall  be  more  carefully  studied,  more  perfectly  under- 
stood, and  more  faithfully  observed  by  all  the  members  and  office-bearers 
of  this  Church,  and  that  the  children  of  the  Church  be  early  and  faithfully 
taught  to  understand  and  observe  them. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  past 
trials,  persecutions,  and  faithfulness  of  the  true  Church,  and  especially  of 
our  own  branch  of  it,  should  be  diligently  sought,  particularly  by  those  who 
are  office-bearers  in  the  Church;  and  as  one  method  of  accomplishing  this 
object,  it  is  recommended  that  the  1st  of  July,  when  convenient  to  do  so, 
and  when  not  convenient,  such  other  day  during  the  current  year  as 
may  be  deemed  expedient,  be  observed  as  a  season  specially  devoted  to  the 
general  instruction  of  our  people,  by  the  Ministers,  in  the  great  facts  con- 
nected with  this  subject. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  ardent  desire  of  this  Church  to  maintain 
friendly  and  fraternal  relations  with  all  evangelical  Churches;  and  especially 
to  be  in  more  close  and  perfect  union  with  those  who  adopt  and  maintain 
our  own  formularies,  or  others  of  a  kindred  spirit  and  form. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  the  fourth  proposition  of  the  committee  of  the  last 
Assembly  respecting  the  preparation  of  a  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, be  referred  to  the  Board  of  Publication,  with  instructions  to  report 
thereon  to  the  next  Assembly. 

"And  whereas,  a  portion  of  our  brethren  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  are 
now  contending  for  those  great  principles  which  we  and  they  have  received 
from  a  common  source, 

''5.  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  express  deep  and  cordial 
sympathy  with  them  in  the  trials  they  now  endure,  and  the  sufferings  they 
may  yet  be  called  to  bear;  and  earnestly  pray  that  they  may  come  forth 
from  this  great  fight  of  afflictions,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  that  'liberty 
with  which  Christ  makes  his  people  free,'  and  that  in  the  mean  time,  they 
may  in  all  their  difficulties  and  troubles,  be  favoured  with  the  guidance  and 
consolations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  191. 

Title  2. — Semi-Centenary  of  the  General  Assembly. 

§  52.    Celebration  hy  the  Assembly. 

(a)  "On  motion  of  J.  Breckinridge, 

"Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  will  celebrate,  with  appropriate  religious 
solemnities,  the  21st  day  of  May,  instant,  as  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
organization  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  with  particular  reference  to  the  many  and  signal 
blessings  and  deliverances  which  God  has  vouchsafed  to  our  beloved  Church 
in  its  whole  history,  and  especially  to  that  recent  deliverance,  over  which 
we  now  rejoice. 

"Resolved,  That  the  exercises  proposed  for  that  occasion  be  considered  as 
coming  in  the  stead  of  those  usually  performed  on  Wednesday  afternoon. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises  be  a  Committee 
of  Arrangements  for  the  anniversary  aforesaid." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  149. 

(&)  ''The  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  anniversary  exercises  of 
Tuesday  afternoon  next,  made  a  report,  which  was  amended  and  adopted,  as 
follows,  viz. 


28  COMMEMORATIONS   OF   THE   CONSTITUTION.  [Book  I. 

"1.  By  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly,  invocation,  and  reading 
of  Isaiah,  chapter  Ix.  2.  Psalmody,  by  J.  T.  Edgar.  3.  Address,  by 
Ashbel  Green,  on  the  prominent  events  in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  connected  with  this  anniversary.  4.  Prayer  and  Thanksgiving, 
by  J.  Breckinridge.  5.  Psalmody,  by  R.  Steel.  6.  Address,  by  A. 
Alexander.  7.  Prayer,  by  T.  Smj^h.  8.  Psalmody,  by  J.  W.  Piatt. 
9.  Address,  by  J.  C.  Young.  10.  Doxology  and  benediction,  by  W.  D. 
Smdgrnsa."— Minutes,  1S39,  p.  150. 

[The  occasion  was  observed  in  accordance  with  this  order.] — Ibid.  p.  157. 

§  53.  Further  action  on  the  subject. 

[The  following  paper  was  subsequently  adopted  ■] 

"•'  Whei-cas,  by  the  great  grace  of  God  our  beloved  Church  has  now  com- 
pleted the  fiftieth  year  since  the  organization  of  the  General  Assembly; 
and  whereas,  during  that  eventful  and  most  interesting  period,  she  has  ex- 
perienced, notwithstanding  all  her  unworthiness,  extraordinary  mercies  of 
manifold  kinds;  and  whereas,  this  great  cycle  in  her  history  has  been 
characterized  by  a  series  of  remarkable  deliverances  from  imminent  dangers 
which  threatened  her  purity,  her  peace,  her  Christian  order,  and  sacred 
liberty;  therefore, 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  second  Lord's  day  of  December  next  be,  and  it 
is  hereby  appointed  a  day  to  be  observed  with  religious  solemnity  by  all  our 
people,  in  celebrating  the  praises  of  God,  and  in  rendering  thanks  to  his 
great  name  for  all  his  mercies. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  Pastors  and  other 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  under  the  care  of  this  General  Assembly,  to  con- 
vene  all  the  people  on  that  day,  to  instruct  them  more  fully  in  the  history 
of  those  great  events  in  which  we  rejoice;  and  to  invite  them  to  acts  of 
personal,  public,  and  united  praise  to  God. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  as  a  timely  and  open  expression  of  the  Church's  grati- 
tude, it  be  recommended,  that  either  by  collections,  or  in  some  other  way 
approved  and  in  use  among  the  people,  every  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  be  called  on  to  '  offer  gifts,'  for  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  good  of  man;  and  that  the  same  be  remitted  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  and  that  the  thank-offering  of 
the  people  of  God,  made  at  the  said  semi-centenary  celebration,  be  appro- 
priated to  the  great  object  contemplated  in  the  above  resolutions,  under  the 
direction  of  the  said  Board. 

^'4.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  one  from  each  Synod  represented  in 
this  General  Assembly,  be  appointed  to  address  a  circular  letter  to  the 
Churches,  explaining  the  objects  of  the  above  resolutions,  inviting  their 
universal  and  cordial  co-operation ;  and  also  calling  on  all  the  Presbyteries 
and  Synods  in  our  connection  to  take  action  on  this  important  subject  at 
their  next  stated  meeting. 

*<  5.  Resolved,  That  nothing  in  the  foregoing  resolutions  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  prevent  any  individual  who  may  prefer  it,  from  directing  their 
thank-offerings  to  the  erection  of  buildings  for  the  use  of  the  General 
Assembly  and  its  Boards,  in  the  cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Louisville."— J/mif^es,  1839,  p.  169. 


BOOK    II. 
THE    CONGREGATION 


PART    I. 

ITS   CONSTITUTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FORMATION  OF  NEW  CONGREGATIONS. 

§  1.   Manner  of  organizing  tliem. 

"A  particular  Presbyterian  Church,  so  far  as  adults  are  concerned,  is 
constituted  and  organized,  as  such,  by  a  number  of  individuals,  professing 
to  walk  together  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  principles  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  Form  of  Grovernment  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  the  election  and  ordination  of  one  or  more  lluling  Elders,  who,  by  the 
ordination  service,  become  the  spiritual  rulers  of  the  persons  voluntarily 
submitting  themselves  to  their  authority  in  the  Lord. 

"This  organization  ought  always  to  be  made  by  application  to  the'Pres- 
bytery,  within  the  bounds  of  which  the  Church  to  be  organized  is  found, 
unless  this  be  exceedingly  inconvenient,  in  which  case  it  may  be  done  by  a 
duly  authorized  missionary,  or  a  neighbouring  Minister  of  the  gospel. 

"At  the  time  appointed  for  the  purpose,  after  prayer  for  divine  direction 
and  blessing,  the  presiding  Minister,  or  committee  appointed  by  the  Pres- 
bytery, should  first  receive  from  those  persons  to  be  organized  into  the  new 
Church,  if  they  have  been  communicants  in  other  Churches,  letters  of  dis- 
mission and  recommendation  •  and  in  the  next  place,  examine  and  admit  to 
a  profession  of  faith,  such  persons  as  may  oifer  themselves,  and  may  be 
judged  suitable  to  be  received  on  examination.  If  any  of  these  persons 
admitted  to^  a  profession  on  examination,  have  not  been  baptized,  they 
should,  in  this  stage  of  the  business,  be  made  the  subjects  of  Christian 
baptism. 

"The  individuals  ascertained  in  the  foregoing  manner  to  be  desirous  and 
prepared  to  associate  as  a  church  of  Christ,  should  now,  by  some  public 
formal  act,  such  as  rising,  joining  hands,  or  subscribing  a  written  statement, 
agree  and  covenant  to  walk  together  in  a  church  relation,  according  to  the 
acknowledged  doctrines  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"The  next  step  is  to  proceed  to  the  election  and  ordination  of  Kuling 


30  THE  congregation:  .  [Book  II. 

Elders,  in  conformity  with  the  directions  given  on  this  subject  in  the  Form 
of  (lovernment  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"Deacons  arc  to  be  elected  and  ordained  in  like  manner  as  in  the  case  of 
Ruling  Elders. 

"  When  a  Church  has  been  organized  in  the  manner  already  described, 
report  of  the  same  should  be  made  as  soon  as  practicable  to  the  Presbytery 
within  whose  bounds  it  is  located.  And  when  a  missionary,  or  other  Min- 
ister of  the  gospel,  not  specially  appointed  to  the  work  by  a  Presbytery, 
has,  in  the  manner  above  specified,  organized  a  Church,  not  within  the 
known  bounds  of  any  Presbytery,  the  Church  thus  organized  should,  as  soon 
as  practicable,  make  known  to  some  Presbytery,  with  which  it  may  be  most 
naturally  and  conveniently  connected,  the  time  and  manner  of  its  organiza- 
tion, and  desire  to  be  received  under  the  care  of  said  Presbytery. 

"In  cases  in  which  churches  are  to  be  formed  within  the  known  boun- 
daries of  any  Presbytery,  it  is  most  desirable  that  persons  wishing  to  be 
organized  as  a  Presbyterian  Church,  should  petition  that  Presbytery  to 
receive  them  under  its  care  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  them  in  due 
form." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  177. 

§  2.    ConQregations  formed  without  officers. 

"There  may  be  people  in  destitute  portions  of  our  land,  who  may  be 
disposed  to  associate  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Presbyterian  Congrega- 
tion, when  no  Minister  of  the  gospel  can  be  obtained  to  aid  them.  The 
forming  of  associations  for  such  a  purpose,  in  the  circumstances  contem- 
plated, should  be  considered  not  only  as  lawful,  but  highly  commendable. 
And  such  associations  when  formed,  should,  as  speedil}''  as  possible,  take 
measures  for  obtaining  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  for  becoming 
organized  as  regular  churches. 

"Cases  may  also  occur,  in  various  places,  in  which  a  collection  or  associ- 
ation of  people  may  desire  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  be  willing,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  to  support  it,  and  yet  may  not  have  suitable  men  among 
them  to  sustain  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders. 

"Such  people  may,  and  ought  to  obtain  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  to  la- 
bour among  them,  and  occasionally  to  administer  ordinances,  under  the 
direction  of  some  Presbytery,  till  they  shall  find  themselves  in  circumstances 
to  make  a  proper  choice  of  Ruling  Elders,  and  to  have  them  regularly  set 
apart  to  their  office." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  177. 

§  3.   An  order  of  Presbytery  usually  requisite. 

"Resolved,  That  except  in  frontier  and  destitute  settlements,  where  by 
Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xv.  Sec.  15,  it  is  made  a  part  of  the  business 
of  Evangelists  to  organize  churches;  and,  except  in  cases  where  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly inconvenient  to  make  application  to  a  Presbytery,  (for  which  pro- 
vision is  made  in  the  act  of  Assembly  of  1831,)  it  is  not  the  prerogative  of 
a  Minister  of  the  gospel  to  organize  churches,  without  the  previous  action 
of  some  Presbytery,  directing  or  permitting  it;  since  in  Form  of  (Jovern- 
ment.  Chap.  x.  Sec.  8,  to  form  new  congregations  is  enumerated  among  the 
powers  of  a  Presbytery;  and  since  in  Chap,  iv.,  'Of  Bishops  or  Pastors,'  no 
mention  is  made  of  any  such  power  being  lodged  in  the  hands  of  an  indi- 
vidual Minister." — Minutes,  1833,  p.  490. 

§  4.    Small  Churches  ought  not  to  he  divided. 

"The  Assembly  fix  the  seal  of  their  disapprobation  upon  the  following 
irregularities,  viz. 

*'  1st.  The  conduct  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kellar  in  dividing  the  church  in 


Part  I.]  ITS   CONSTITUTION.  31 

Peoria,*  by  which  he  did  not  make  a  separation  from  the  great  body  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  but  a  schism  in  the  body  contrary  to  the  word  of  God 
and  the  government  of  the  Church,  which  allow  of  the  division  of  the 
Church  universal  into  separate  congregations,  only  ■when  the  people  of  God 
are  too  numerous  or  too  remote  from  each  other  to  assemble  in  one  place  to 
worship  God." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  302, 

§  5.    When  the  people  do  not  request  it. 

[The  Synod  of  Illinois]  "seem  to  have  overlooked  the  irregularity  of  the 
Presbytery  in  dividing  a  congregation  when  there  was  no  request  from  the 
people." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  303. 

§  6.    When  the  majority  oj^pose  it. 
(a)  ^n  organization  may  be  granted. 

"Has  a  Presbytery  the  constitutional  right  to  divide  a  Church,  where  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  said  Church  are  opposed  to  its  division?" 

"Resolved,  That  where  the  minority  request  it,  and  the  Presbytery  has 
reason  to  believe  that  the  interests  of  religion  will  be  promoted  by  it,  the 
Presbytery  has  the  right  to  form  the  minority  into  a  new  congregation." — 
Minutes,  i848,  p.  29. 

(6)  Svpplies  granted  without  an  organization. 

[The  Presbytery  of  Redstone  referred  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  a  memorial  from  "a 
number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Pittsburgli,  praying  to  be  erected  into  a  sepa- 
rate Congregation,  and  receive  supplies."  The  memorialists  represented  "  that  we  have 
not  united  in  the  call  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Steele,  as  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Pittsburgh,  but  that  nevertheless,  being  averse  to  a  separation,  if  it  could  be  avoided  con- 
sistently with  our  spiritual  advantage,  did  for  some  time  attend  the  preaching  of  the  said 
Kev.  gentleman,  and  most  of  us  did  subscribe  to  his  support,  but  finding  no  kind  of 
spiritual  advantage,  have  long  since  withdrawn,  and  are  now  as  sheep  without  a  shep- 
herd." 

[In  the  Synod]  "The  Commissioners  on  behalf  of  the  established  Congregation  of 
Pittsburgh,  proposed  to  shed  some  new  light  on  the  subject,  which  would  evince  the  im- 
propriety of  granting  the  prayer  of  the  petition;  after  hearing  them  to  some  length,  and 
also  the  reply  of  the  supporters  of  the  petition,  and  maturely  deliberating  thereon,  the 
/  Synod  were  of  opinion,  that  though  they  did  not  think  proper  to  erect  them  into  a  Con- 
gregation at  present,  yet  the  Presbytery  of  Redstone  might  grant  them  supplies  as  they 
may  find  convenient." 

[An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  General  Assembly.] — Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh, 
1803,  pp.  18,  19. 

[Tn  the  Assembly]  "The  papers  relating  to  the  subject"  were  again  read. 

"The  Assembly  perceiving  from  these,  that  the  case  before  them  was  an 
appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  the  Minutes  of  that  Synod 
affecting  the  case  were  read.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Steele  having  been  appointed 
by  the  appellants  as  their  commissioner  for  prosecuting  the  appeal,  was 
heard  in  support  of  it.  The  members  of  the  Synod,  who  are  members  of 
this  Assembly,  were  heard  in  defence  of  the  decision  of  Synod. 

"The  parties  having  been  fully  heard,  a  motion  was  made  and  seconded, 
that  the  decision  of  the  Synod  be  confirmed.  The  question  to  agree  to  this 
motion  was  determined  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  297. 

*  [Upon  further  information  this  censure  was  recalled. — Minute.^,  1S42,  p.  33.] 


32  THE  coNaREGATiON :  [Book  II. 

CHAPTER  II. 

QUALIFICATIONS  OF  MEMBERS. 

§  7.  Adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  not  required. 

[In  the  act  preliminary  to  the  Adopting  Act,  the  General  Synod  whilst  in  the  act  of 
enforcing  the  adoption  of  the  Confession  upon  office-bearers,  yet  in  regard  to  private  mem- 
bers declares  itself  willing  to  "  admit  to  fellowship  in  sacred  ordinances  all  such  as  we 
have  grounds  to  believe  Christ  will  at  last  admit  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  See 
Book  I.  §  7.  In  1839  the  General  Assembly  put  forth  a  similar  statement.  See  Book 
VII.  §  2,  b.] 

§  8.    Subjection  to  the  Discipline  of  the  Cliurch  requisite. 

'^Is  a  Churcli  Session  authorized  by  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  to  admit  individuals  to  the  Lord's  table,  who  do  not  sub- 
scribe to  the  doctrines  and  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church?" 

''There  can  be  no  doubt  that  all  persons  admitted  to  the  communion  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  do  in  fact  and  form  submit  to  its  discipline,  (ex- 
cept in  cases  of  occasional  communion  by  members  of  other  churches;)  but 
every  Session  must  judge  for  themselves  of  that  degree  of  knowledge  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  adherence  thereto  on  th  :  part  of  those  examined  by 
them,  which  may  render  their  reception  suitable,  and  for  their  own  edifica- 
tion and  the  peace  of  the  Church." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  434. 

§  9.  Persons  who  refuse  to  dedicate  their  children  in  baptism. 

[In  reply  to  an  overture  on  this  subject  the  committee  refer  to  the  case  of  Bethel 
Church,  (Book  III. ^  9,)  as  settling  the  principle  that  Antipsedobaptists  are  not  to  be 
excluded  from  the  Lord's  table.     But  as  to  admission  to  church  membership,  they  say] — 

"While  it  is  clear  that  persons  otherwise  of  good  Christian  character  are 
not  to  be  excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  Church  because  they  have 
scruples  concerning  infant  baptism,  there  is  in  every  case  where  such  per- 
sons apply  for  admission  a  question  as  to  the  expediency  of  receiving  them, 
upon  which  the  Session  of  the  Church  must  decide." — 3Iinutes,  1834,  p.  35. 

§  10.  Persons  engaged  in  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks. 

"Resolved,  That  the  records  [of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh]  be  approved, 
except  so  far  as  they  seem  to  establish  a  general  rule  in  regard  to  the  use  and 
sale  of  ardent  spirits  as  a  beverage,  which  use  and  sale  are  generally  to  be 
decidedly  disapproved,  but  each  case  must  be  decided  in  view  of  all  the 
attendant  circumstances  that  go  to  modify  and  give  character  to  the  same." 
—Minutes,  1843,  p.  189.     See  also  1842,  p.  16. 

§  11.    Uhiversalists  excluded. 

"A  question  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  was  introduced  through 
the  Committee  of  liills  and  Overtures,  which  was  as  follows,  viz. 

"Are  they  who  publicly  profess  a  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  universal 
and  actual  salvation  of  the  whole  human  race,  or  of  the  fallen  angels,  or 
both,  through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  to  be  admitted  to  the  sealing  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel?" 

"The  Assembly  determined  that  such  persons  should  not  be  admitted." 
—Minutes,  1792,  p.  GO.     Reaffirmed,  1794,  p.  86. 


Part  I.]  ITS   CONSTITUTION.  33 

§  12.    Sahhath  mail-stage  proprietors. 

"An  overture  relative  to  receiving  a  person  as  a  member  of  the  Churcli 
who  is  a  proprietor  in  a  line  of  stages  which  carries  the  mail,  and  runs  on 
Sabbath.  *  *  *^  ^ 

^'■Resolved,  That  it  is  the  decided  opinion  of  this  Assembly  that  all 
attention  to  worldly  concerns  on  the  Lord's  day,  further  than  the  works  of 
necessity  and  mercy  demand,  is  inconsistent  both  with  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  fourth  commandment;  and  consequently  all  engagements  in  regard 
to  secular  occupations  on  the  Lord's  day,  with  a  view  to  secure  worldly 
advantages,  are  to  be  considered  inconsistent  with  Christian  character,  and 
that  those  who  are  concerned  in  such  engagements,  ought  not  to  be  admitted 
into  the  communion  of  the  Church  while  they  continue  in  the  same." — 
Minutes,  1819,  p.  713. 

§  18.  Postmasters  officiating  on  the  Sahhath. 

"An  appeal  by  Mr,  Wiley,  postmaster  in  "Washington,  Pennsylvania, 
from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  by  which  it  is  determined  that 
Mr.  Wiley's  officiating  as  postmaster  on  the  Sabbath  day,  in  existing  cir- 
cumstances, is  a  sufficient  reason  to  exclude  him  from  the  special  privileges 
of  the  Church,  was  overtured  and  read. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  above  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  be 
affirmed." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  456. 

"  A  petition  signed  by  a  number  of  persons  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania, 
and  vicinity,  praying  the  revision,  with  a  view  to  its  being  rescinded,  of  the 
decision  of  the  Greneral  Assembly  of  1810,  respecting  the  case  of  Mr.  Wiley, 
postmaster,  was  overtured. 

"Resoloed,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  be  not  granted." — Minutes, 
1812,  p.  508. 


CHAPTER  III. 

RECEPTION  AND  DISMISSION  OF  MEMBERS. 

§  14.  A  member  received  from  another  Church  shoidd  bring  a  Certificate. 

"  Nor  can  the  Assembly  forbear  to  regret  that  the  Session  of  the  Church 
of  Chilicothe  had  not  acted  in  a  more  formal  manner  in  receiving  Mr. 
McCalla,  and  had  not  required  a  regular  certificate  of  dismission  from  the 
Church  to  which  Mr.  McCalla  belonged  before  they  received  him." — Min- 
iites,  1821,  p.  14. 

§  15.  Recejition  on  Examination. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  involved  in  so  much 
of  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  as  relates  to  the  admission  of 
persons  to  church  privileges  at  the  great  meetings  common  in  that  region, 
made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  That  they  have  given  this  subject  a  careful  consideration,  and  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  order  of  the  Churches  requires  that  all  persons 
making  a  public  profession  of  religion,  be  introduced  to  the  communion  of 
the  Church  only  by  an  individual  Session  regularly  constituted. 
5 


34  THE  congregation:  [Book  II. 

"  2.  Resolrrd^  That  it  is  tlie  right  and  duty  of  Sessions  to  take  the  exclu- 
sive oversight  of  their  respective  Congregations,  and  the  practice  of  one 
session  admitting  to  a  Christian  profession  persons  belonging  or  intending 
to  belong  to  a  Congregation  under  the  care  of  another  Session,  is  iiTegular, 
and  ought  not  to  be  countenanced. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  purity  and  prosperity  of  the  Church,  as  well  as 
the  best  interests  of  those  immediately  concerned,  demand  great  circum- 
spection in  the  admission  of  persons  to  church  privileges;  and  that  ordi- 
narily it  is  deemed  improper  to  receive  persons  immediately  upon  their 
indulging  a  hope  of  reconciliation  with  God,  and  especially  in  the  case  of 
the  young,  and  of  persons  of  previously  immoral  lives  or  lax  principles,  and 
of  those  concerning  whom  little  is  known." — Minutes,  1832,  p.  334. 

§  16.  Members  long  absent  without  dismission. 

''  The  committee  appointed  on  the  overture  from  the  Synod  of  New  Jer- 
sey, inquiring  what  a  Church  Session  ought  to  do  with  members  in  commu- 
nion who  have  been  absent  for  years,  without  having  taken  a  certificate  of 
dismission,  and  whose  place  of  residence  is  unknown,  made  a  report,  which 
was  adopted;  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  although  this  particular  case  is  not  provided  for  by  a  specific  regu- 
lation in  our  Book  of  Discipline,  yet  it  is  embraced  by  certain  general  prin- 
ciples which  are  recognized  in  that  book,  and  interwoven  with  many  of  its 
provisions.  These  principles,  together  with  the  result  bearing  on  the  case 
in  question,  the  committee  beg  leave  most  respectfully  to  state. 

"  1.  Every  Church  member  is  amenable  to  some  approjjriate  tribunal, 
by  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of  which,  in  case  of  his  foiling  into  any  error, 
immorality,  or  negligence,  he  may  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  word  of 
God. 

"2.  No  member  of  a  Church  can  properly  ever  cease  to  be  such,  but  by 
death,  exclusion,  a  regular  dismission,  or  an  orderly  withdrawing  to  join 
some  other  Christian  denomination;  and  must  of  necessity  continue  to  be 
amenable  to  that  Church  until  he  becomes  regularly  connected  with  an- 
other. 

"3.  For  a  Church  member  to  withdraw  from  a  use  of  his  privileges  as  a 
member,  either  by  irregularly  connecting  himself  with  another  denomina- 
tion, or  by  going  to  a  distant  part  of  the  world  to  reside  for  a  number  of 
years,  without  making  known  his  removal  to  the  Church  Session,  and  asking 
a  certificate,  either  of  good  standing,  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  occasional 
communion  elsewhere,  or  of  dismission  to  join  some  other  Church,  is  itself 
a  censurable  violation  of  the  principles  of  church  fellowship,  and  may  infer 
suspension  from  its  privileges. 

"4.  Church  members,  therefore,  who  have  been  absent  for  a  number  of 
years  in  unknown  places,  are  by  no  means  to  have  their  names  erased  from 
the  Churches  to  which  they  respectively  belong;  but  are  to  be  held  respon- 
sible to  their  respective  Churches;  and  if  they  should  ever  return  or  be 
heard  from,  are  to  be  regularly  dealt  with  according  to  the  word  of  God 
and  the  principles  of  our  Church;  and  although  great  caution  and  tender- 
ness ought  to  be  exercised  towards  those  whose  withdrawing  from  Christian 
privileges  may  be  occasioned  by  the  unavoidable  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence, without  any  material  fault  of  their  own,  yet  in  all  cases  in  which  a 
Church  Session  has  good  reason  to  believe  that  any  of  the  Church  under 
their  care  have  absented  thenisolves  with  design,  either  from  a  disregard  of 
Christian  privilege,  or  from  a  wish  to  escape  from  the  inspection  and  disci- 
pline of  the  Church,  they  ought,  without  unnecessary  delay,  to  declare  such 
persons  suspended  from  the  privileges  of  the  Church,  until  they  give  evi- 


Part  L]  ITS   CONSTITUTION.  35 

dence  of  repentance  and  reformation,  and  of  course,  in  making  their  statis- 
tical reports,  ought  to  enumerate  such  among  the  members  under  suspen- 
sion."— Minutes,  1825,  p.  255. 

§  17.   A  dismission  may  he  irregular,  yet  valid. 

"A  memorial  from  individuals  in  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  formerly 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davies,  asking  the  Assembly  to  de- 
termine whether  they  are  to  be  considered  members  of  the  Prospect  Church, 
or  whether  their  dismission  from  the  Church  of  Centre  is  to  be  considered 
null  and  void.  The  committee  recommended  that  the  Assembly,  while  not 
approving  of  the  haste  and  confusion  with  which  their  dismission  was  given, 
declare  their  actual  connection  with  the  Church  of  Prospect  now  to  be  valid 
and  regular.     The  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  266. 

§  18.  Dismission  to  join  another  denomination. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  in  all  cases  where  members  of  any  of  our  Churches 
apply  for  dismission  to  unite  with  a  Church  of  another  denomination,  the 
proper  course  is  to  give  a  certificate  of  Christian  character  only." — Minutes, 
1839,  p.  177. 

(b)  [The  Presbytery  of  Hudson  requesting  that  this  rule  be  rescinded,  the  Assembly 
replied:] 

"The  Presbytery  of  Hudson  has  misapprehended  the  spirit  and  scope  of 
the  resolution  in  question.  It  is  neither  a  censure  on  the  individuals,  nor 
the  Churches  to  which  they  seek  to  be  dismissed,  but  sets  forth  the  only 
fjict  which  it  is  important  that  those  Churches  should  know." — Minutes, 
1848,  p.  22. 

§  19.  A  different  decision. 

"Resolved,  That  this  whole  subject  is  one  that  ought  to  be  left  to  the 
sound  discretion  of  the  various  Church  Sessions,  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  Church." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  28. 

§  20.   Dismission  indefinite. 

"Is  it  regular  in  any  case  for  a  Church  Session  to  dismiss  a  member, 
without  specifying  the  particular  Church  with  which  he  is  to  be  connected  ? 

"At  the  recommendation  of  the  committee,  the  question  was  answered  in 
the  affirmative." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  444. 

§  21.  Dismission  of  a  suspended  m,emher. 

"Is  it  orderly  in  any  case  to  dismiss  to  another  Church  a  suspended 
member,  stating  the  case,  and  submitting  it  to  the  Session  to  which  he  has 
removed? 

"It  may  be  orderly  in  circumstances  of  necessity  arising  from  removal  to 
an  inconvenient  distance;  provided  that  in  no  instance  the  Session  to  which 
he  is  dismissed,  be  allowed  to  review  or  rejudge  the  case." — Miiiutes,  1849, 
p.  239. 

§  22.  A  suspended  person  being  restored  hy  the  superior  courts  may  claim 
dismission  in  good  standing. 

(«)  "In  regard  to  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Dobbins,  against  the  Session  of 
the  Church  of  Augusta,  for  receiving  members  suspended  by  the  Session  of 
the  Church  of  Smyrna,  the  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  both  Sessions  acted 
unconstitutionally :  the  Session  of  Smyrna  in  suspending  said  members,  and 
the  Session  of  Augusta  in  receiving  them  when  suspended.     Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  appeal,  on  this  complaint,  be  and  it  is  hereby  sus- 


36  THE    CONGREGATION:  [Book  II. 

tained;  and  the  members  in  f|uostion  are  hereby  declared  to  be  still  mem- 
bers in  good  standing  in  the  Church  of  Smyrna;  and  the  Session  of  the 
Church  of  Smyrna  are  hereby  directed  to  dismiss  said  members  if  they  still 
desire  it,  that  they  may  regularly  connect  themselves  with  the  Church  of 
Augusta." — Minutes,  1824/  p.  2"23. 

(h)  "Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Nashville  having  fully  exonerated 
the  appellant  from  all  blame  in  the  matters  respecting  which  he  was  charged 
before  the  Session  of  the  Church  at  Clarksville,  his  character  is  unimpeach- 
ed,  and  that  he  is  now,  and  ever  has  been  since  the  action  of  the  Presby- 
tery in  his  case,  entitled  to  a  dismission  from  the  Church  at  Clarksville, 
whenever  applied  for,  in  order  to  connect  himself  with  any  Church  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  present  residence." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  237. 

§  23.    Testimonials  to  a  person  who  has  been  %mder  judicial  charges. 

[Complaint  was  made  to  the  G-eneral  Assembly,  that]  ''the  Presbytery 
of  New  Castle  gave  testimonials  in  due  form  to  a  certain  Mr.  Munro;  the 
said  Munro  was  a  man  of  uncommon  inftmiy.  He  had  been  charged  before 
the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  with  crimes  which  decency  forbids  to  men- 
tion, and  had  been  convicted  and  suspended  from  his  ministry.  Afterward 
he  was  restored;  and  sent,  with  the  usual  Presbyterial  certificate,  to  labour 
in  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  This  certificate  was  accom- 
panied with  recommendatory  letters  from  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  Mr.  Mitchel, 
and  Mr.  Peppard.  Neither  certificate  nor  letters  intimated  the  least  hint 
of  this  man  as  scandalous." 

[On  this  complaint  the  Assembly] 

"Resolved,  That  on  the  investigation  of  the  subject  which  gave  founda- 
tion to  the  complaint,  there  appears  to  have  been  some  matter  of  grievance 
on  the  part  of  the  complainants;  yet,  all  things  considered,  the  General 
Assembly  do  find,  that  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  before  them  to  cen- 
sure either  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  or  the  individuals  referred  to  in 
said  complaint;  but  nevertheless, 

"Resolved,  That  no  judicatory  or  private  member  shall  certify  any  per- 
son's character  as  good,  for  a  space  of  time,  without  mentioning  whether  he 
has  been  under  process  of  scandal  during  that  time,  and  the  issue  of  it." — 
Minutes,  1791,  pp.  41,  42.     [A  rule  calling  for  great  prudence  in  its  use.] 

§  24.   Members  released  to  the  world. 

[An  overture  from]  "The  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  submitting  the  action 
of  a  Session,  by  which  the  name  of  a  member  was  stricken  from  the  roll  at 
his  own  request,  and  for  the  reason  that  he  did  not  feel  himself  actuated  in 
his  life  by  Christian  principles." 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly  there  is  no  constitutional 
or  scriptural  mode  of  separating  members  from  the  communion  of  the 
Church,  except  by  death,  by  dismission  to  join  another  Church,  or  by  disci- 
pline; consequently,  the  action  of  this  Session  is  regarded  as  irregular." — 
Mtmites,  1851,  p.  32. 

[See  also  the  case  of  Mr.  Stone  and  the  Session  of  the  Irish  Grove  Church,  Book  III. 
§  1G9.] 


Part  L]  ITS  CONSTITUTION.  37 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CHARTERS  AND  TRUSTEES. 

§  25.  Trustees  may  not  infringe  upon  the  office  of  the  Deacon. 
''It  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  Presbyterian  plan  of  government,  nor  the 
institutions  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  Trustees,  or  a  committee  chosen 
by  the  Congregation,  should  have  the  disposal  and  application  of  the  public 
money  raised  by  said  Congregation,  to  the  uses  for  which  it  was  designed; 
provided  that  they  leave  in  the  hands  and  to  the  management  of  the  Dea- 
cons, what  is  collected  for  the  Lord's  table,  and  the  poor.  And  that  Minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  have  no  right  to  sit  with  or  pre- 
side over  such  Trustees  or  committees." — Minutes,  1752,  p.  249. 

§  26.    Charters  should  not  infringe  the  Constitution  of  the  Church. 

"Considering  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  due  and  orderly  maintenance  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  its  various  provisions,  that 
care  be  taken,  in  obtaining  legal  enactments  of  a  secular  kind,  that  they  be 
so  formed  as  not  to  come  in  conflict  with  any  such  provisions — and  whereas, 
it  is  known,  that  instances  have  existed,  and  probably  do  still  exist,  in  which, 
the  charters  of  Churches,  and  perhaps  other  legal  instruments,  are  so  framed 
that  the  laws  of  the  Church  and  the  laws  of  the  land  are  not  reconcilable 
with  each  other :    Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  the 
Congregations  under  their  supervision,  that  in  resorting  to  the  legislatures 
or  tribunals  of  our  country,  they  use  the  utmost  care  to  ask  nothing,  which, 
if  granted,  will  in  any  respect  contravene  the  principles  or  order  of  our 
Church;  and  in  any  cases  in  which  civil  enactments,  heretofore  obtained,  do 
militate  with  any  of  the  principles  or  order  of  our  Church,  they  endeavour, 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  obtain  the  repeal  or  modification  of  such  enactments, 
so  as  to  make  them  consistent  with  the  ecclesiastical  order  and  principles  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church."— i/mw^es,  1838,  p.  26. 

[On  this  subject,  see  the  functions  of  the  Deacon's  office,  below,  §  29-31.] 


PAllT  II. 

CHURCH    OFFICERS. 
CHAPTER  I. 

OF  DEACONS. 

§  27.  Apj>ointment  of  Deacons  enjoined. 

^'Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  upon  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly,  to  take  such  order  on  this  subject  as  shall  secure 
the  appointment  of  Deacons  in  all  the  Churches^  with  the  exception  of  those 
in  which  it  is  impracticable  from  paucity  of  male  members." — Minutes, 
1840,  p.  286. 

*'  On  motion,  the  Presbyteries  were  called  upon  in  their  order,  to  say 
what  they  had  done  in  regard  to  the  injunction  of  the  last  Assembly 
respecting  Deacons.  It  appeared  that  to  a  considerable  extent  the  Presby- 
teries had  taken  order  on  the  subject. 

^'Hesolved,  That  the  injunction  be  continued." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  418. 

§  28.    The  function  of  the  Deacon. 

(a)  "We  need  only  represent  unto  you  the  ends  and  institution  of  Scrip- 
ture Deacons;  and  that  there  is  no  juridical  power  allowed  them  in  the 
Scriptures." — Minutes,  1715,  p.  42,  margin. 

(/))   [In  reply  to  a  question  from  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  the  Assembly  says,] 

"  The  answer  we  conceive  to  be  explicitly  given  in  our  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, Chapter  vi.  Their  duties  there  are  plainly  made  to  consist  in  distri- 
buting the  charities  of  the  Church  to  which  they  belong,  to  the  poor  of  that 
Church.  Over  charities  collected  for  any  other  purpose  than  those  specified, 
their  office  gives  them  no  control.  In  addition  to  this  the  temporalities  of 
the  Church  generally  may  be  committed  to  their  care." — Minutes,  1833, 
p.  490. 

§  29.    The  Scotch  account  of  the  office. 

[The  disuse  of  this  scriptural  and  important  olfice,  it  cannot  be  doubted  has  done 
great  injury  to  the  Churches,  as  well  as  induced  vague  and  erroneous  views  in  regard  to 
the  nature  and  importance  of  the  ofiice.  In  default  of  decisions  of  our  own  General 
Assembly  developing  the  duties  of  the  Deacon,  we  select  two  or  three  passages  from 
Scotch  authorities.] 

(a)  -'The  Deacons  should  take  up  the  whole  rents  of  the  Kirk,  disposing  them  to  the 
ministry,  the  schools,  and  poor  within  their  bounds,  according  to  the  appointment  of  the 
Kirk." — Sum  of  the  First  Book  of  Discipline,  Ch.  17:  3. 

(6)  "The  word  diakonos  sometimes  is  largely  taken;  comprehending  all  them  that 
bear  office  in  the  ministry  and  spiritual  function  in  the  Kirk.  But  now,  as  we  speak,  it 
is  taken  only  for  them  unto  whom  the  collection  and  distribution  of  the  alms  of  the  faith- 
ful, and  ecclesiastical  goods  doth  belong.  The  office  of  the  Deacons,  so  taken,  is  an 
ordinary  and  perpetual  ecclesiastical. function  in  the  Kiik  of  Christ." 


Part  II.]  EULING   ELDERS.  39 

«  Their  office  and  power  is  to  receive  and  to  distribute  the  whole  ecclesiastical  goods 
unto  them  to  whom  they  are  appointed.  This  they  ought  to  do  according  to  the  judg- 
ment and  appointment  of  the  Presbyteries  or  Elderships,  [Church  Sessions,]  (of  the 
which  the  Deacons  are  not  members,)  that  the  patrimony  of  the  Kirk  and  poor  be  not 
converted  to  private  men's  uses,  nor  wrongfully  distribute. 

By  the  patrimony  of  the  Kirk  we  mean  whatsoever  thing  hath  been  at  any  time  before, 
or  shall  be  in  times  coming,  given,  or  by  consent,  or  universal  custom  of  countries  pro- 
fessing the  Christian  religion,  applied  to  the  public  use  and  utility  of  the  Kirk.  Ho  that 
under  the  patrimony  we  comprehend  all  things  given,  or  to  be  given,  to  the  Kirk  and 
service  of  God ;  as  lands,  buildings,  possessions,  annual  rents,  and  all  such  like  where- 
with the  Kirk  is  doted,  either  by  donations,  foundations,  mortifications,  or  any  other  lawful 
titles,  of  kings,  princes,  or  any  persons  inferior  to  them ;  together  with  the  continual 
oblations  of  the  faithful.  We  comprehend  also  all  such  things,  as  by  laws  or  custom,  or 
use  of  countries,  have  been  applied  to  the  use  and  utility  of  the  Kirk ;  of  the  which  sort 
are  tiends,  manses,  glebes,  and  such  like,  which  by  common  and  municipal  laws,  and  uni- 
versal custom  are  possessed  by  the  Kirk. 

The  goods  ecclesiastical  ought  to  be  collected  and  distributed  by  the  Deacons,  as  the 
word  of  God  appoints,  that  they  who  bear  office  in  the  Kirk,  be  provided  for,  without  care 
or  solicitude. 

In  the  apostolical  Kirk,  the  Deacons  were  appointed  to  collect  and  distribute  what  sum 
^oever  was  collected  of  the  faithful  to  distribute  unto  the  necessity  of  the  saints;  so  that 
none  lacked  among  the  faithful.  These  collections  were  not  only  of  that  which  was  col- 
lected in  manner  of  alms,  as  some  suppose;  but  of  other  goods  movable  and  immovable, 
of  lands,  and  possessions,  the  price  whereof  was  brought  to  the  feet  of  the  Apostles, 

This  office  continued  in  the  Deacons'  hands,  who  intromitted  with  the  whole  goods  of 
the  Kirk,  ay  and  while  the  estate  thereof  was  corrupted  by  Antichrist,  as  the 
ancient  canons  bear  witness.  The  same  canons  make  mention  of  a  fourfold  distribution 
of  the  patrimony  of  the  Kirk,  whereof  one  part  was  applied  to  the  Pastor  or  Bishop,  for 
his  sustentation  and  hospitality;  another  to  the  Elders  and  Deacons,  and  all  the  Clergy; 
the  third  to  the  poor,  sick  persons  and  strangers ;  the  fourth  to  the  upholding  of  other 
affairs  of  the  Kirk,  especially  extraordinary.  We  add  hereunto  the  schools  and  school- 
masters also,  which  ought,  and  may  be  well  stistained  of  the  same  goods,  and  are  compre- 
hended under  the  Clergy.  To  whom  we  join  also  Clerks  of  Assemblies,  as  well  particu- 
lar as  general ;  Syndics  or  procurators  of  the  Kirk  affairs ;  takers  up  of  psalms ;  and 
such  like  other  ordinary  officers  of  the  Kirk,  so  far  as  they  are  necessary." — Second  Book 
of  Discipline,  Chaps.  8  and  9. 

§  30.  3fai/  a  person  at  once  he  Beacon  and  Elder P 
"Resolved,  That  while  it  is  important  and  desirable  that  the  several 
offices  in  the  Christian  Church  should  be  kept  distinct,  and  be  sustained 
by  diflferent  individuals  wherever  a  sufficient  number  of  competent  men 
can  be  found;  yet  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  it  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  nor  with  the  prece- 
dent furnished  in  filling  the  office  of  Deacon  at  its  first  institution,  that 
where  a  necessity  exists,  the  same  individual  should  sustain  both  offices." — 
Minutes,  1840,  p.  306. 


CHAPTER  II. 

RULING  ELDERS. 

§  31.   In  the  older  time, 
(a)  "For  the  better  establishing  and  settling  Congregations,  it  is  ordered 
and  appointed  that  in  every  Congregation  there  be  a  sufficient  number  of 
assistants  chosen  to  aid  the  Minister  in  the  management  of  Congregational 
affairs." — Minutes,  1714,  p.  37. 


40  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

(b)  "We  expect  your  acquiescence  in  our  last  year's  act,  touchin<:^  Ses- 
sions aod  Session  books;  which  we  presume  you  know  to  be  agreeable  to  the 
laudable  practice  of  the  best  Keformed  Churches." — Letter  in  Minutes^ 
1715,  p.  42. 

§  32.    The  Eldership  essential  to  Preshyterianism. 

"The  report  of  the  committee  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Western  Reserve,  was  taken  up  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.,  That 
the  records  be  approved,  with  the  exception  of  the  sentiment  on  page  154, 
viz.,  that  the  Eldership  is  not  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  In  the  opinion  of  the  committee  the  Synod  advance  a  sentiment 
that  contravenes  the  principles  recognized  in  our  Form  of  Government,  Ch. 
2,  sec.  4;  Ch.  3,  sec.  5;  Ch.  5;  and  Ch.  9,  sec.  1  and  'Z."— Minutes,  1833, 
p.  489. 

§  33.  Election  hy  the  peojjle  essential. 

[Mr.  Balch  having  selected  and  ordained  certain  persons  in  the  Church  of  Mount  Be- 
thel, without  election  by  the  people,  in  reply  to  the  question,  "  In  what  point  of  light  are 
the  Elders  nominated  and  ordained  by  Mr.  Balch  to  be  viewed  hereafter  in  Mount  Bethel 
Congregation  1"] 

"It  was  determined  by  the  Assembly  that  the  'Elders'  mentioned  in  the 
inquiry,  are  to  be  henceforth  viewed  as  private  Church  members  only,  unless 
they  be  duly  elected  and  set  apart  as  church  officers  hereafter." — Minutes^ 

1798,  p.  158. 

§  34.    The  Session  may  propose  names  to  the  Congregation. 

"The  reports  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  were  taken  up 
and  read.  The  majority  report  is  as  follows,  viz.,  'The  committee  to  whom 
the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  were  committed,  would  report  that 
they  have  examined  the  same  and  find  them  regularly  and  neatly  kept;  and 
would  recommend  their  approval.' 

"The  report  of  the  minority  is  as  follows,  viz.,  'The  minority  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  recommend  that  they  be 
approved,  with  the  exception  of  the  censure  passed  on  the  Presbytery  of 
Redstone,  p.  284,  for  their  disapproval  of  the  action  of  the  Session  of  Mor- 
gan town,  in  nominating  two  persons  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  in  that 
Congregation;  and  recommend  that  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  be  reversed, 
and  that  the  following  resolution  be  adopted,  to  wit : 

"  'Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  the  nomination  by 
the  Session  of  persons  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  or  Deacon,  is  contrary 
to  Form  of  Grovernment,  Ch.  13,  sec.  2d,  which  says,  "Every  Congregation 
shall  elect  persons  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  or  Deacon,  in  the  mode 
most  approved  and  in  use  in  that  Congregation,"  and  is  inconsistent  with 
the  freedom  of  elections.' 

"On  motion,  the  report  of  the  majority  was  adopted  as  the  sense  of  the 
Assembly,  and  the  whole  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  minutes." — Min- 
utes, 1847,  p.  381. 

§  35.    The  customary  mode  of  election  may  be  changed  by  the  Church. 

"While  the  Assembly  would  recognize  the  undoubted  right  of  each  Con- 
gregation to  elect  their  Elders  in  the  mode  most  approved  and  in  use  among 
them,  they  would  recommend  that  in  all  cases  where  any  dissatisfaction 
appears  to  exist,  the  Congregation  be  promptly  convened  to  decide  on  their 
future  mode  of  election;  and  they  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  spirit  of 
our  Constitution  would  be  most  fully  sustained  by  having  in  all  cases  a  direct 
vote  of  the  Congregation  in  the  appointment  of  Elders." — Minutes,  1827, 
p.  130. 


Part  II.]  RULING   ELDERS.  41 

§  36.  None  hut  members  of  the  Cliurch  oiujlit  to  vote. 

(a)  "Ougtt  an  unbaptized  person,  who  yet  pays  his  proportion  for  the 
support  of  a  Congregation,  to  be  permitted  to  vote  for  lluling  Elders? 

"The  office  of  Ruling  Elder  is  an  office  in  the  Church  of  Chi-ist;  that 
Euling  Elders  as  such,  according  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Book  I.  on 
Government,  Ch.  v.,  are  'the  representatives  of  those  by  whom  they  are 
chosen,  for  the  purpose  of  exercising  government  and  discipline/  in  tlie 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  that  the  discipline  lawfully  exercised  by 
them  is  the  discipline  exercised  through  them  by  their  constituents,  in 
■whose  name  and  by  whose  authority  they  act  in  all  that  they  do.  To  suppose, 
therefore,  that  an  unbaptized  person,  not  belonging  to  the  visible  kingdom 
of  the  Redeemer,  might  vote  at  the  election  of  Ruling  Elders,  would  be  to 
establish  the  principle  that  the  children  of  this  world  might  through  their 
representatives  exercise  discipline  in  the  Church  of  God;  which  is  mani- 
festly unscriptural  and  contrary  to  the  standards  of  our  Church;  and  your 
committee  would  therefore  recommend  that  the  question  in  the  said  over- 
ture be  answered  in  the  negative." — 3Iinutes,  1830,  p.  9. 

(b)  "The  General  Assembly,  having  gone  fully  into  the  consideration  of 
the  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  by  Messrs.  Lowerie  and 
Kelso,  and  having  seen  with  deep  regret  the  appearance  of  much  disorder 
in  the  whole  business,  which  they  disapprove;  believing  as  the  Assembly 
do,  that  the  election  of  Elders  should  be  conducted  with  all  due  delibera- 
tion, according  to  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  gospel,  and  although  the  Assembly  are 
of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  most  desirable  to  have  the  communicants 
only  as  the  electors  of  Ruling  Elders,  yet,  as  it  appears  to  be  the  custom  in 
some  of  the  Churches  in  the  Presbyterian  connection,  to  allow  this  privilege 
to  others,  they  see  no  reason  why  the  election  be  considered  void,  nor  any 
reason  why  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  should  not  be  affirmed. 
Therefore, 

^'Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  be  and  it  is  hereby 
affirmed.  And  the  Assembly  gave  their  opinion  that  the  Session  of  a 
Church  has  the  authority  to  convene  the  Congregation  for  all  such  purposes; 
but  should  the  Session  neglect  or  refuse  to  convene  the  Congregation,  the 
party  feeling  aggrieved  has  its  remedy  by  application  to  Presbytery  in  the 
form  of  a  complaint." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  21. 

§  37.    The  people  may  appeal  to  Presln/tery^^f  the  Session  abuse  their  poioer 

of  supervision. 

"The  Assembly  deem  it  proper,  in  sustaining  the  complaint  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Blairsville,  to  declare  that  they  do  it  on  the  ground  that  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  disappi-oving  of  the  act  of  the  Presbytery, 
if  carried  into  effect,  would  render  it  necessary  for  the  Churches  in  that 
Presbytery,  and  any  other  within  the  bounds  of  that  Synod  whose  practice 
may  be  the  same,  to  change  their  usage  as  to  the  manner  of  electing  Ruling- 
Elders,  which  by  the  Constitution  is  left  to  be  regulated  by  'the  mode  most 
approved  and  in  use  in  each  Church.'  At  the  same  time,  the  Assembly,  in 
coming  to  this  result,  have  no  design  to  establish  a  uniform  mode  of  elect- 
ing Elders  throughout  the  Church,  which  is  designedly  left  by  the  Constitu- 
tion to  be  regulated  by  the  usage  of  each  particular  Church. 

"And  it  may  be  added,  that  in  those  Churches  in  which  the  usage  has 
prevailed,  for  the  existing  Eldership  to  determine  when  and  how  large  an 
addition  shall  be  made  to  the  Session,  the  Church  has  an  effectual  security 
against  the  abuse  of  that  power,  in  the  right  of  appeal  or  complaint,  secured 
by  the  Constitution." — Minutes,  18-10,  p.  305. 
6 


42  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  11. 

§  38.   An  Elder  can  serve  hut  a  single  C7iurch. 
[The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  having  rejected  a  resolution  declaring  it  lawful  for  an  Elder 
to  exercise  the  office  in   two  different  Congregations,  the  minority  complained  to  the 
General  Assembly.] 

"The  complainants  were  heard  in  support  of  their  complaint;  the  Synod 
was  heard  in  defence  of  their  decision,  and  the  complainants  concluded  with 
a  reply,  when  it  was 

^'■Resolved,  liy  the  Assembly,  that  the  decision  of  the  Synod  be  affirmed 
and  the  complaint  dismissed." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  118. 

''The  following  question  from  the  Presbytery  of  Salem — 'Has  a  Ruling 
Elder,  in  any  case,  a  legal  right  to  adjudicate  in  another  Church  than  that 
of  which  he  is  an  Elder?' — was  taken  up  and  decided  in  the  negative.' — 
Minutes,  1831,  p.  175. 

§  39.   May  not  he  elected  for  a  term  of  years. 

"  Agreeably  to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  is 
perpetual,  (see  Form  of  Government,  Ch.  xiii.  Sec.  6,)  and  cannot  be  laid  aside 
by  the  will  of  the  individual  called  to  that  office;  nor  can  any  Congregation 
form  rules  which  would  make  it  lawful  for  any  one  to  lay  it  aside.  Your  com- 
mittee are  of  opinion  that  the  mode  of  electing  Elders  in  the  Congregation 
of  Wheatland  for  a  term  of  years  was  irregular,  and  ought  in  future  to  be 
abandoned,  but  cannot  invalidate  the  ordination  of  persons  thus  elected,  and 
ordained  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder."  [The  report  was  adopted.] — 
Minutes,  1835,  p.  12. 
§  40.  Restoration  to  the  comrmmion  of  the  Church  after  susjpension,  does 
not  of  itself  restore  to  the  Eldership. 

''The  two  things  are  distinct;  and  since  an  Elder  as  well  as  a  Minister 
may  be  suspended  from  his  office  and  not  from  the  communion  of  the 
Church;  so  there  may  be  reasons  for  continuing  his  suspension  from  his 
office,  after  he  is  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church.  He  cannot  be 
restored  to  the  functions  of  his  office,  without  a  special  and  express  act  of 
the  Session  for  that  purpose,  with  the  acquiescence  of  the  Church." — 
Minutes,  183G,  p.  263. 

§  41.  An  Elder  without  charge  can  sit  in  no  Church  Court. 

"Resolved,  That  no  Ruling  Elder  who  has  retired  from  the  active  exer- 
cise of  his  office  in  the  Church  to  which  he  belongs,  can  be  admitted  as  a 
member  of  a  Presbytery,  Syijod,  or  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1835, 
p.  32. 

§  42.   Installation  on  Re-election. 

"When  a  Ruling  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  by  removal  or  other- 
wise, terminates  his  connection  with  the  Session  by  whom  he  was  ordained, 
does  he  require  installation  before  he  can  regularly  exercise  again  the  office 
in  the  same  Church  or  in  any  other  one?"  [Answered  in  the  affirmative.] 
—Minutes,  1849,  p.  265. 

[An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Erie,  asking  whether  the  answer  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  1849,  in  relation  to  the  installation  of  Ruling  Elders  who  have  removed 
from  one  Church  to  another,  has  a  retrospective,  or  only  a  prospective  bearing.] 

"  The  committee  recommen-ded  the  following  answer  to  the  question : — 
That  it  has  a  pnjspective  bearing. 

"The  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1850,  p   454. 

§  43.   Elders  ivho  cannot  acquiesce  in  the  decisions  of  the  Snperior   Courts 

should  resign. 
"A  petition  from  the  members  of  the  Session  of  the  third  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  city,  asking  advice  of  this  Synod  with  respect  to  the  execu- 


Part  II.]  EULING   ELDERS.  43 

tion  of  tlieir  office  in  consequence  of  the  judgment  of  tlie  Synod  respecting 
that  Church.  After  it  was  duly  considered,  they  returned  the  following 
answer,  viz.,  The  Synod  advise  them  to  continue  to  act  as  Elders,  but  in 
case  they  cannot,  consistently  with  what  they  apprehend  to  be  their  duty, 
continue  as  such,  and  act  upon  the  decisions  of  Synod,  that  they  may  resign, 
their  office,  and  the  Congregation  proceed  to  choose  other  Elders  who  may 
have  freedom  to  act  according  to  the  determinations  of  the  Synod." — 
Ilinutes,  1772,  p.  435. 

§  44.  Resi(jnafio7i  of  the  EJdcrshi]). 
[Dr.  S.  F.  Day,  declining  to  have  his  children  baptized,  his  wife  being  a  Baptist,  the 
Session  of  the  Wooster  Church,  in  which  he  was  an  Elder,  was  advised  by  the  Presby- 
tery that  in  such  a  case,  (proposed  in  thesi,)  the  Elder  should  be  removed  from  office. 
Hereupon  Dr.  Day  gave  notice  to  the  Session  that  he  resigned  the  Eldership.  At  a  sub- 
sequent meeting  of  Presbytery,  upon  a  memorial  from  Dr.  Day,  the  Presbytery  recon- 
sidered its  action  and  ordered  the  Session  to  restore  him.  Upon  appeal  the  Synod  sus- 
tained the  Presbytery.  A  complaint  was  taken  up  by  the  Pastor,  the  Rev.  James  H. 
Baird,  and  b^  the  Session.     The  following  was  the  decision :] 

"  Whereas,  It  appears  from  the  record,  that  Dr.  Day  was  removed  from 
the  Session  of  the  Church  of  Wooster  by  his  own  resignation  of  his  office 
in  that  Church,  and  not  by  the  judicial  action  of  the  Session,  it  was  not 
competent  to  the  Presbytery  to  order  his  restoration  to  office  by  the  Session; 
and  therefore  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  confirming  such  action 
of  the  Presbytery,  was  erroneous,  and  ought  to  be  and  is  hereby  reversed, 
and  the  complaint  of  the  Session,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  this  point,  is  sus- 
tained."—i¥t»«^es,  1854,  p.  33. 

§  45.    The  quorum  and  ordination  q^iesfions. 

(rf)  "Resolved,  That  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  that 
neither  the  Constitution  nor  the  practice  of  our  Church  authorizes  Ruling 
Elders  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers."  [Yeas  138,  Nays 
9,  Non  liquet  1,  Excused  2.]— i/t««/es,  1843,  p.  183. 

(6)  "  Resolved,  That  any  three  Ministers  of  a  Presbytery  being  regularly 
convened,  are  a  quorum  competent  to  the  transaction  of  all  business,  agree- 
ably to  the  provision  contained  in  the  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  x.  Sec. 
7.     [Yeas  83,  Nays  Zb.'\—Ihid.  p.  196. 

[Against  this  resolution  a  protest  was  entered,  with  a  reply,  the  substance  of  which  is 
embodied  in  similar  documents  which  follow  below.] 

§  46.  Action  of  the  AssemhJy  of  1844. 

[In  the  next  Assembly  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures]  "Reported 
on  Overture  No.  3,  it  being  a  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati, 
asking  this  Assembly  to  reverse  the  decision  of  the  last,  respecting  the  right 
of  Ruling  Elders  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers,  and 
respecting  the  necessity  of  the  presence  of  Ruling  Elders  to  constitute  a 
quorum  of  Presbytery,  and  on  an  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Transyl- 
vania on  a  branch  of  the  same  subject;  and  also  an  overture  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Alabama  respecting  an  amendment  of  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, so  as  to  provide  that  Ruling  Elders  shall  be  necessary  to  a  quorum." 

[Upon  these  papers  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted.] 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  last  Assembly, 
in  determining  that  Ruling  Elders  are  not  authorized  by  the  Form  of 
Government  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers,  did  not  depre- 
ciate the  office  of  Ruling  Elder,  nor  did  they  in  any  respect  contravene  the 
letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  or  the  principles  and  practice  of 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  Europe  or  America  since  the  Reformation;  but 


44  CHURCH  OFFICER^:  [Book  II. 

in  conformity  witli  both  the  principles  and  practice  of  our  own  and  other 
Presbyterian  Churches,  they  did  decide  that  as  the  rite  of  ordination  is 
simply  a  declaratoi'y  ministerial  act,  the  laying  on  of  hands  as  a  part  thereof 
belongs  properly  to  ordained  Ministers,  while  to  Kuling  Elders  is  left  unim- 
paired and  unquestioned  the  full  and  rightful  power  of  ordering  the  work 
of  ordination,  and  of  judging  in  the  discipline  of  Ministers  in  common  with 
those  Presbyters  who  labour  in  word  and  doctrine  as  in  all  other  eases." 
[Yeas  154,  Nays  25.] 

"2.  ResoJced,  That  the  last  Assembly,  in  determining  that  three  Minis- 
ters are  a  quorum  of  the  Presbytery  when  no  Ruling  Elders  are  present,  did 
not  detract  in  any  degree  from  the  dignity  and  importance  of  this  office, 
nor  did  they  question  the  perfect  right  or  duty  of  Elders  to  be  present  and 
take  part  in  all  acts  of  government  and  discipline;  but  only  declared  that 
according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  our  constitutional  rules,  their 
absence  does  not  prevent  the  Presbytery  from  constituting  and  transacting 
business,  if  three  Ministers  are  present;  and  this  decision  is  based  upon  the 
fact  that  Ministers  are  not  only  preachers  of  the  gospel  and  administrators 
of  sealing  ordinances,  but  also  Ruling  Elders  in  the  very  nature  of  their 
office.     [Yeas  134,  Nays  45.] 

"3.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly,  in  re-affirming  these  decisions  of  the 
last  Assembly  which  have  been  called  in  question,  design  to  maintain  the 
purity,  order,  and  peace  of  the  Church,  and  the  continued  and  faithful 
observance  of  those  principles  and  regulations  which  have  heretofore  been 
found  to  consist  with  true  Christian  liberty,  and  secure  the  common  welfare 
of  all  classes  in  the  Church.  Also,  they  re-affirm  and  maintain  the  scrip- 
tural authority  of  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder,  and  the  great  importance  and 
solemn  obligation  of  the  attendance  of  Elders  on  the  meetings  of  the  judi- 
catories of  the  Church,  and  of  their  equal  participation  in  the  exercise  of 
government  and  discipline." — Minutes,  1844,  pp.  302,  370,  371. 

[Upon  these  resolutions  the  following  protests  and  replies  were  entered.] 

§  47.  Protest  on  the  quorum  question. 

"  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Gleneral  Assembly,  desire  to  record 
their  protest  against  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  upon  the  quorum  ques- 
tion. 

"  The  following  are  some  of  the  grounds  of  protest. 

"1.  We  consider  the  act  of  the  last  General  Assembly  in  affirming,  and 
of  this  General  Assembly  in  re-affirming,  that  'any  three  Ministers  of  a 
Presbytery,  being  regularly  convened,  are  a  quorum  competent  to  the 
transaction  of  all  business,'  to  be  unconstitutional.  As  by  this  decision,  the 
Assembly  have  in  effect,  as  we  believe,  stricken  out  from  the  7th  section  of 
Chapter  x.  of  the  Form  of  Government,  the  words  '  and  as  many  Elders  as 
may  be  present  belonging  to  the  Presbytery,'  thus  virtually  changing  a 
constitutional  rule,  which  they  are  expressly  forbidden  to  do. — See  Section 
6  of  Chapter  xii. 

"2.  The  Constitution  clearly  defines  the  Presbytery  as  a  body  consisting 
of  two  sets  of  Church  officers.  Preachers  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 
Ruling  Elders.  To  enable  one  of  the  constitutional  elements  of  such  a  body 
to  do  business  in  the  absence  of  the  other,  without  clear  and  express  provi- 
sion of  law  autliorizing  it,  we  Nbelieve  to  be  contrary  to  all  precedent  in 
cases  of  bodies  similarly  constituted. 

"3.  The  provision  of  our  Form  of  Government,  (Chap.  x.  Sec.  10,) 
requiring  the  consent  of  two  Elders  of  different  Congregations  to  enable  the 
Moderator  of  Presbytery  to  call  a  special  meeting,  shows  that  our  Constitu- 


Part  II.]  RULING   ELDERS.  45. 

tion  intended  to  guard  with  care  against  the  possibility  of  holding  a  meeting 
of  Presbytery  without  the  consent  and  presence  of  Ruling  Elders. 

''4.  The  natural  construction  of  the  clause  'as  many  Elders  as  may  be 
present,'  implies,  as  we  believe,  the  presence  of  some  one  or  more  Elders — 
and  similar  expressions  in  other  writings  show  that  the  language  conveys  an 
idea  not  of  contingency  or  uncertainty  as  to  the  presence  of  any,  but  only 
indefiniteness  as  to  the  number  of  those  who  are  to  be  present. 

''5.  Ruling  Elders  are,  in  Chapter  v.,  declared  to  be  'properly  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  chosen  by  them  for  the  purpose  of  exercising 
government  and  discipline;'  and  to  permit  government  and  discipline  to  be 
exercised  in  the  absence  of  all  the  representatives  of  the  people,  as  is  per- 
mitted by  this  decision,  seems  to  us  to  be  strangely  in  conflict  with  the 
representative  character  of  our  Constitution, 

"  6.  According  to  this  decision,  the  government  of  the  Church  may  be 
exercised  by  even  three  Ministers  who  have  been  ordained  sine  titulo,  and 
who  have  never  been  called  to  rule  even  an  individual  Church;  and  we 
certainly  believe  that  our  Book  never  can  sanction  a  decision  which  might 
even  occasionally  devolve  the  whole  authority  of  a  Presbytery  upon  those 
who  have  never  in  any  way  been  elected  by  the  people  to  govern  them. 

"  For  the  reasons  herein  set  forth  we  dissent  from  the  opinion  of  the 
General  Assembly  on  the  above  mentioned  decision,  and  respectfully  request 
that  this  our  protest  may  be  recorded  on  the  Minutes. 

John  C.  Young,  J.  A.  Crevling, 

D.  X.  Junkin,  N.  H.  Hall, 
Alex.  A.  Campbell,           John  S.  Reid, 
"Wm.  C.  Emerson,              Gilbert  T.  Snowden, 
Robert  B.  Dobbins,  Samuel  Taylor, 

E.  M.  Donaldson,  Chas.  A.  Poellnitz, 
Wm.  M.  Francis,               L.  Oatman, 
Samuel  McCampbell,         A.  B.  McKee, 

G.  H.  Briscoe,  J.  D.  Paxton, 

V.  King,  James  F.  Gibert, 

P.  R.  Fleming,  Benjamin  Junkin, 

James  K.  Douglass,  John  Breckinridge, 

Hays  W.  Beatty,  Singleton  Wilson, 

J.  S.  Hopkins,  P.  J.  Timlow. 

—3Ii7iutes,  1844,  p.  .386. 

§  48.   Reply  to  the  foregoing  protest. 

"The  Committee  appointed  to  answer  the  protest  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Young 
and  others  against  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  in  regard  to  the 
quorum  of  Presbytery,  respectfully  present  the  following  suggestions  in 
reply. 

"That  as  the  protest  consists  chiefly  in  mere  declarations  of  opinions  held 
by  the  protesters,  the  Committee  deem  it  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  full 
discussion  of  the  points  presented  in  the  protest,  and  will  content  themselves 
with  stating  what  they  understand  to  be  the  views  of  the  Assembly,  and 
with  giving  a  brief  outline  of  the  reasons  by  which  the  Assembly  was 
governed  in  their  decision.  In  the  execution  of  their  purpose,  the  Com- 
mittee will  follow  the  course  of  the  protesters,  and  take  up  the  several  points 
to  be  considered,  in  the  order  in  which  they  occur  in  the  protest  itself. 

"1.  The  protesters  say,  that  they  'consider  the  act  of  the  last  General 
Assembly  (1843)  in  affirming,  and  of  this  General  Assembly  (1844)  in 
reaffirming,  that  "any  three  ministers  of  a  Presbytery  regularly  convened  are 
a  quorum  competent  to  the  transaction  of  all  business"  to  be  unconstitu- 


46  CHURCH  OFFICERS:  [Book  II. 

tional,  as  the  Assembly  have  in  cifect,  as  we  [the  protesters]  believe,  stricken 
out  from  the  seventh  section  of  chapter  ten  of  the  Form  of  Government  the 
words  "and  as  many  Killing  Elders  as  may  be  present  belonging  to  the  Pres- 
bytery," thus  virtually  changing  a  constitutional  rule.'  That  the  protesters 
so  believe,  the  Committee  do  not  question,  but  they  are  perfectly  confident 
that  the  Assembly  were  of  a  different  mind,  and  that  there  is  no  discrepancy 
between  the  rule  in  our  Form  of  Government  and  the  decision  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly.  The  Assembly  did  not  decide  that  any  three  ministers  regu- 
larly convened,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  number  of  Elders,  however  large 
that  number,  were  a  quorum  competent  to  the  transaction  of  all  business, 
but  merely  this,  that  under  the  provisions  of  the  nile  properly  understood, 
any  three  ministers  regularly  convened  were  competent  to  transact  business, 
although  no  Elders  should  be  present;  understanding  the  phrase  'as  many 
Elders  as  may  be  present  belonging  to  the  Presbytery,'  as  implying  that  all 
such  Elders  as  belong  to  the  Presbytery  should  be  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the 
body,  although  they  should  outnumber  the  ministers,  and  also  as  implying 
the  possibility  that  no  Elders  might  be  present,  the  form  of  expression  being 
one  that  would  include  all  the  possible  cases  that  could  arise:  1.  That  in 
which  no  Ptuling  Elders  were  present;  2.  That  in  which  the  number  of 
Ruling  Elders  would  be  less  than  the  number  of  ministers;  3.  That  in 
which  the  numbers  would  be  equal;  and  4.  That  in  which  the  Ptuling 
Elders  would  outnumber  the  ministers.  If  the  words  of  the  rule  are  sus- 
ceptible of  this  explanation,  and  we  regard  it  as  the  only  just  and  legitimate 
one,  then  the  Assembly  have  done  no  violence  to  the  rule,  but  have  given  a 
decision  in  accordance  with  the  trae  import  of  its  terms. 

"2.  The  protesters  again  object  to  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  on  the 
ground,  '  That  the  Constitution  clearly  defines  the  Presbytery  as  a  body 
consisting  of  two  sets  of  Church  officers — Preachers  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Ruling  Elders  on  the  other.'  And  they  maintain,  that  '  to  enable  one  of 
the  constituent  elements  of  such  a  body  to  do  business  in  the  absence  of  the 
other,  witliout  clear  and  exj^ress  j^roin'tfion  of  law  authorhhuj  it,  we  believe 
to  be  contrary  to  all  precedent  in  cases  of  bodies  similarly  constituted." 

"  On  the  ground  assumed  by  the  protesters,  the  committee  maintain  that 
the  decision  of  the  Assembly  can  be  justified;  for  the  very  terms  of  the  law 
or  specific  provision  relating  to  the  quorum  of  Presbytery  require  the  con- 
struction given  to  the  rule  by  the  Assembly.  And  were  the  import  of 
the  rule  doubtful,  which  the  committee  do  not  admit,  the  facts  that  there  can 
be  a  quorum  of  a  Church  Session  without  a  Minister  present,  and  a  quorum 
of  a  General  Assembly  without  a  Ruling  Elder  present,  would  show  conclu- 
sively, that  in  interpreting  the  rule,  the  mere  fact  that  the  Presbytery  is 
composed  of  two  classes  of  Church  officers,  would  of  itself  be  no  evidence 
that  a  quorum  of  the  body  could  not  consist  of  those  belonging  to  one  class; 
and  that  class,  too,  the  members  of  which  are  invested  with  all  the  powers 
belonging  to  the  members  of  the  other  class.  If,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  or,  in  other  words,  if  from  the  composition  of  the  General  Assembly, 
to  which  the  Constitution  requires  an  equal  number  of  Ministers  and  Ruling 
Elders  to  be  delegated,  there  is  no  impediment  in  the  way  of  a  quorum 
being  composed  of  Ministers  alone,  what  can  there  be  in  the  composition  of 
a  Presbytery  to  prevent  Ministers  alone  from  composing  a  quorum?  But 
the  fact  is  otherwise  than  as  stated  by  the  protesters.  In  the  Scottish 
Church  the  quorums  of  Presbyteries,  Synods,  and  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  its  General  Commission,  may  be  composed  of  Ministers  alone :  and  the 
House  of  Lords,  in  Britain,  composed  of  the  peers  and  bishops,  may,  and 
do,  transact  business  in  the  absence  of  the  bishops.  And  even  if  the 
bishops  have  scats  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  virtue  of  their  holding  in 


Part  II.]  RULING   ELDERS.  47 

ancient  times  certain  baronies,  and  thus  virtually  composing  one  class,  as 
some  maintain,  do  not  the  protesters  themselves,  or  at  least  some  of  them 
hold,  that  it  is  only  as  Ruling  Elders  that  Ministers  are  entitled  to  seats  in 
GUI'  Church  courts?  And  therefoi'e  ixpon  their  own  showing,  there  is  no 
impediment  arising  from  the  composition  of  these  courts  in  the  way  of  the 
Ministers  alone  constituting  a  quonim. 

"But,  beyond  all  question,  the  safest  precedents  in  this  matter  are  those 
furnished  by  our  own  and  other  Presbyterian  Church  courts,  and  more  espe- 
cially those  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  from  which  we  derived  our  own  forms 
of  government  and  discipline. 

"3.  The  next  objection  urged  by  the  protesters  is,  that  'the  provision  of 
our  Form  of  Grovernment,  (Chap.  x.  Sec.  10,)  requiring  the  consent  of  two 
Eiders  of  different  Congregations  to  enable  the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery 
to  call  a  special  meeting,  shows  that  our  Constitution  intended  to  guard 
against  the  possibility  of  holding  a  meeting  of  Presbytery  without  the  con- 
sent and  presence  of  Ruling  Elders. 

"  That  this  provision  was  designed  to  guard  against  the  holding  of  a 
special  meeting  without  the  consent  of  a  fair  proportion  of  the  eldership 
assenting  thereto,  we  admit;  but  surely  the  protesters  draw  an  inference 
altogether  unwarranted,  when  they  consider  this  provision  designed  to  secure 
the  presence  of  the  Ruling  Elders.  That  there  may  be  a  quorum  at  this 
special  meeting,  it  is  not  necessary  that  any  of  the  Ministers  or  Ruling 
Elders,  who  request  the  meeting  to  be  called,  should  be  present,  or  even 
that  the  Moderator  himself  should  be  present.  Before  the  Ruling  Elders 
who  united  in  the  request  for  calling  the  meeting  could  attend  said  meeting, 
it  would  be  necessary  for  their  respective  Sessions  to  commission  them. 

"The  design,  therefore,  of  this  provision  was  not  'to  guard  against  the 
possibility  of  holding  a  meeting  of  Presbytery  without  the  ....  presence  of 
Ruling  Elders,'  but  for  the  reason  that,  as  the  Elders  are  equally  interested 
with  the  Ministers  in  the  business  of  the  Presbytery,  and  their  convenience 
should  be  consulted  as  well  as  that  of  the  Ministers,  it  is  fit  that  no  special 
meeting  should  be  called  without  the  consent  of  an  equal  number  of  Minis- 
ters and  Elders.  The  circular  letter  of  the  Moderator  is  designed  to  secure 
as  far  as  practicable  the  attendance  of  all  the  Ministers  and  of  a  Ruling 
Eider  from  each  Church.  But  neither  the  issuing  of  the  letter,  nor  the  con- 
currence of  the  two  31inisters,  or  of  the  two  Ruling  Elders,  determines  any- 
thing as  to  the  question  whether  there  can  be  a  quorum  without  the  pre- 
sence of  one  or  more  Ruling  Elders. 

"4.  The  objection  derived  from  the  import  of  the  phrase,  'as  many  as 
may  be  present,'  has  been  sufficiently  answered  under  the  first  head. 

"5.  The  fifth  objection  urged  against  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  is, 
that  'Ruling  Elders  are  (in  Chap,  v.)  declared  to  be  "properly  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  chosen  by  them  for  the  purpose  of  exercising  gov- 
ernment and  discipline;"  and  to  permit  government  and  discipline  to  be 
exercised  in  the  absence  of  all  the  representatives  of  the  people,  as  is  per- 
mitted by  this  decision,  seems  to  us,  (the  protesters,)  to  be  strangely  in 
conflict  with  the  representative  character  of  our  Constitution.' 

"The  objection,  if  of  any  force,  is  of  equal  avail  against  a  quorum  of  the 
General  Assembly  consisting  of  Ministers  alone,  which,  beyond  all  question, 
may  be  the  case,  and  condemns  the  early  practice  of  our  own  Church,  both 
before  and  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  1788.  Besides,  it  as- 
sumes what  the  protesters  have  no  where  attempted  to  prove,  viz.,  that  the 
IMinisters  of  Christ  assembled  in  Presbytery,  can  do  no  business  in  the 
absence  of  the  people  or  their  representatives.  Although  the  people  have 
the  right  to  be  represented  in  Presbytery  by  their  Ruling  Elders,  it  by  no 


48  CHURCH  officers:  [Book  II. 

means  follows  from  this  circumstance,  that  they  must  be  represented,  before 
the  regular  business  of  the  body  can  be  transacted.  The  representative 
character,  therefore,  of  our  Constitution,  forms  no  valid  objection  against  the 
decision  of  the  Assembly. 

"0.  The  sixth  and  last  objection  urged  by  the  protesters  against  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Assembly  is,  '  that  the  government  of  the  Church  may  be  exer- 
cised by  even  three  Ministers  who  have  been  ordained  sine  fittilo,  and  who 
have  never  been  called  to  rule  in  an  individual  Church;'  and  then  follows 
an  expression  of  their  belief,  that  'our  Book  can  never  sanction  a  decision 
which  even  occasionally  devolves  the  authority  of  a  Presbytery  upon  those 
who  have  never  in  any  way  been  elected  by  the  people  to  govern  them.' 

"This  is  evidently  a  hypothetical  case,  rather  than  one  likely  to  occvir  in 
real  life ;  and  if  such  an  one  should  ever  happen  to  occur,  it  would  be  with 
the  implied  consent,  at  least,  of  all  the  regularly  settled  Pastors,  and  of  all 
the  Elderships  within  the  limits  of  the  Presbytery;  for  without  their  know- 
ledge and  consent  it  could  not  possibly  take  place.  And,  further,  no  man 
is  ever  ordained  sine  tifulo,  except  with  the  express  or  implied  consent  of 
the  Churches,  given  through  their  Pastors  and  Ruling  Elders. 

"It  is  believed  by  the  committee,  that  the  objections  of  the  protesters 
have  been  fully  met,  and  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  full  specifica- 
tion of  the  reasons  in  favour  of  the  decision  of  the  Assembly — a  decision 
which  the  Assembly  believed  to  accord  with  the  true  import  of  the  terms  of 
the  rule,  and  to  be  confirmed  by  the  practice  of  our  own  and  other  Presby- 
terian Church  coui-ts,  and  by  the  practice  of  other  bodies  similarly  consti- 
tuted. Of  all  this,  full  evidence  has  in  various  forms  been  given  to  the 
Churches.  For  further  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  the  decision  of  the 
General  Assembly,  the  committee  would  refer  to  the  Minutes  for  1843. 

James  Hoge,  B.  H.  Rice, 

John  Maclean,  H.  A.  Boardman, 

C.  C.  Cuyler,  Committee." 

— Minutes,  1844,  p.  387. 

§  49.   Protest  on  the  imposition  of  hands  hy  the  Eldership  in  the  ordination 

of  Ministers. 

"The  undersigned,  who  voted  in  the  minority  oti  the  first  resolution  of 
the  series  reported  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  viz..  The  resolution 
which  explains,  justifies,  and  reaffirms  the  decision  of  the  last  Assembly, 
that  Ruling  Elders,  when  members  of  Presbytery,  have  no  authority  to  im- 
pose hands  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers  of  the  word,  by  way  of  protest 
against  the  action  of  the  present  Assembly  adopting  the  said  first  resolution, 
respectfully  submit: 

"I.  That  they  are  gratified  to  find  the  Assembly  in  the  said  resolution 
distinctly  asserting  the  right  and  power  of  Ruling  Elders  in  common  with 
Preaching  Elders,  to  order  the  whole  work  of  ordination,  and  their  further 
rightful  power  of  judging  in  the  discipline  of  Ministers  of  the  word.  And, 
further,  in  the  third  resolution,  affirming  and  maintaining  the  scriptural 
authority  of  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder,  and  their  equal  particijiation  in  the 
exercise  of  government  and  discipline.  These  are  important,  nay,  funda- 
mental principles;  and  in  the  existing  state  of  opinion  amongst  many  in  our 
Church,  we  hail  their  open  and  formal  avowal  as  a  most  important  event, 
and  make  this  statement,  lest  our  vote  against  the  said  first  resolution 
might  be  construed  into  a  denial  of  these  great  tmths. 

"II.  We  believe  that  the  Assembly  erred  in  matter  of  fact,  matter  of 
law,  and  matter  of  reason,  in  the  said  resolution,  in  the  things  following,  viz. 

"1.  It  is  in  our  opinion  an  error  of  fact,  to  assert  or  assume  that  the  prac- 


Part  II.]  RULING  ELDERS.  49 

"1.  It  is  in  our  opinion  an  error  of  fact,  to  assert  or  assume  that  the 
practice  of  our  Church  has  been  clear  and  uniform  against  the  exercise  of 
the  right  of  Euling  Elders  to  impose  hands  in  ordination :  for  that  the  con- 
trary practice  has  obtained  in  various  portions  of  our  Church,  and  for  a 
period  beyond  the  memory  of  some  of  our  ohlest  ministers,  is  capable  of 
distinct  proof.  There  is  a  member  of  this  Assembly,  who  was  ordained 
more  than  twenty  years  ago,  upon  whom  Ruling  Elders  imposed  hands. 
And,  moreover,  since  as  the  law  stands,  the  act  of  any  part  of  the  Presby- 
tery is  valid  at  all,  only  so  far  as  it  is  the  act  of  the  body  itself,  the  mere 
presence  of  Elders  in  the  body  nullifies  the  allegation  that  it  was  the 
practice  that  they  should  not  unite  in  acts  of  the  body,  and  requires  positive 
proof  of  a  positive  practice  which  forbade  their  acting,  and  we  deny  the 
existence  of  any  such  proof.  As  to  matter  of  fact,  therefore,  we  take  issue 
with  the  Assembly,  and  deny  that  any  such  positive  practice  at  all,  in  our 
Church,  much  less  any  clear  and  uniform  practice,  as  assumed  in  the  reso- 
lution, justifies  the  statement  that  it  is  against  law  for  Elders  to  lay  on 
hands. 

"2.  As  to  the  whole  influence  of  practice  in  determining  the  sense  of 
written  constitutions,  much  less  of  divine  ordinances  and  records,  we  con- 
sider the  ground  assumed  by  the  Assembly,  in  the  said  resolution,  as  erro- 
neous in  point  of  reason :  And  we  contend  that  the  practice  of  our  own 
Church,  if  it  were  clear,  uniform  and  unquestioned,  could  never  oblige  the 
conscience  of  its  office  bearers  to  put  on  written  language  a  sense  difi'erent 
from  the  sense  contained  in  the  words,  more  especially  when  the  language 
and  not  the  practice,  is  adopted  under  solemn  vows  to  God.  And  we  deny 
that  the  practice  of  all  the  Churches  in  the  world  can  ever  do  more  than 
afibrd  a  presumption  in  favour  of  the  truth  of  what  the  practice  favours — a 
presumption  whose  force  depends  entirely  on  the  character  of  the  things 
themselves,  and  that  of  the  Churches  which  practise  them :  and  our  Church 
has  in  practice  done  what  was  forbidden,  and  failed  to  do  what  was  com- 
manded j  and  the  practice  under  the  Westminster  Form  of  Government 
should  not  be  relied  on,  because  the  language  of  that  form  has  been 
materially  changed  in  our  book. 

''3.  In  the  distinction  which  the  Assembly  takes  between  \he  rite  of 
ordination,  and  the  substance  of  the  act,  we  are  of  opinion  that  there  is  an 
error  both  of  law  and  of  reason.  Of  law,  because  our  Constitution  does 
not  say  that  imposition  of  hands  is  by  the  ministers  of  the  word  as  a  rite 
superadded  to  the  act  of  the  Presbytery;  but  it  says  that  the  imposition  of 
hands  is  the  act  of  the  Presbytery,  conjoined  to  the  ordination  by  the 
Moderator  of  the  body  in  its  behalf.  Of  reason,  because,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  a  Church  court  cannot  perform  a  r!te,  which  is  personal  to  minis- 
ters of  the  word;  and  therefore  if  imposition  of  hands  be  a  rite,  belonging 
to  ministers  of  the  word  as  such,  it  belongs  to  them  individually,  and  is  as 
incapable  of  joint  exercise  as  the  rite  of  baptism. 

"4.  If  the  Assembly  means  to  say  that  the  whole  of  ordination  is  merely 
a  ministerial  and  declarative  rite,  as  its  language  seems  to  bear,  then  we  say, 
this  seems  to  us  to  be  a  total  error  of  fact,  of  law,  and  of  reason;  for,  as  we 
believe,  ordination  is  by  God's  word,  simply  and  merely  an  act  of  jurisdic- 
tion, and  belongs  absolutely  and  exclusively  to  such  assemblies,  as  being- 
composed  of  Teaching  and  lluling  Elders,  are  invested  with  power  to  rule, 
and  by  our  Constitution,  to  a  court  of  this  sort  called  a  Presbytery.  The 
Presbytery,  composed  of  Ministers  and  Elders,  has  power  to  ordain  Minis- 
ters, is  the  express  language  of  our  Constitution;  and  to  us  it  seems  clear, 
that  to  separate  the  power  of  ordination  from  the  other  portions  of  jurisdic- 
tion in  the  Church,  and  to  make  it  a  rite,  instead  of  an  exercise  of  rule  or 


50  CHURCH   OFFICERS  t  [Book  II. 

government,  is  inconsistent  not  only  with  Presbyterian,  but  with  Protestant 
ground  of  Church  order. 

"5.  When  the  Assembly  say  that  because  'the  rite  of  ordination  is 
simply  a  declaratory  ministerial  act,'  therefore  the  laying  on  of  hands  as  a 
part  thereof  must  belong  properly  to  ordained  ministers;  and  for  the  same 
reason  Ruling  Elders  cannot  unite  in  this  part  of  the  act,  their  words  neces- 
sarily bear  that,  for  the  same  reason  the  same  Elders  ought  not  to  take  part 
in  any  other  portion  of  the  act  or  rite  of  ordination;  and  moreover,  if 
Ruling  Elders  cannot  take  part,  as  the  Assembly  say  they  cannot,  in  any 
act  which  is  <leclaratori/  and  ministerial,  then  they  cannot  take  part  in  any 
act  of  any  kind  whatever,  for  the  only  power  possessed  by  Teaching  or 
Ruling  Elders,  whether  yo«'»/!A/  or  severally,  is  merely  drdarative  and  minis- 
terial, as  Grod's  word  and  our  Constitution  abundantly  declare. 

"6.  It  appears  to  us  that  the  denial  of  the  right  of  Ruling  Elders  to 
impose  hands,  involves  the  denial  that  they  are  scriptural  presbyters,  which 
denial  seems  to  us  to  undermine  the  foundation  of  Presbyterian  order;  and 
to  assert  that  ordination,  embracing  imposition  of  hands,  is  more  or  less 
than  an  act  of  church  power  exerted  by  the  constitutional  tribunals,  seems 
to  us  to  imply  that  it  is  a  mere  form,  or  that  it  is  a  true  sacrament — either 
of  which  errors  appears  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  Protestantism .> 

"With  great  respect  for  the  authority  of  the  Assembly,  we  feel  obliged 
by  a  sense  of  what  is  due  to  truth,  as  we  understand  it,  to  offer  these 
reasons  of  protest,  that  our  true  position,  and  tha  exact  objections  we  take 
to  the  aforesaid  resolution  of  the  Assembly  may  appear  in  time  to  come. 

Jas.  Stonestreet, 

N.  H.  Hall, 

Robert  B.  Dobbins, 

Chas.  A.  Poellnitz, 

Samuel  Taylor, 

P.  R.  Fleming, 

Gilbert  T.  Snowden, 

James  K.  Douglass, 

J.  S.  Hopkins, 

Samuel  McCampbell, 

John  S.  Reid, 

§  50.  Ansioer  to  the  foregoincj  Protest. 

"The  Committee  appointed  to  answer  the  protest  of  Messrs.  James  Stone- 
street,  N.  H.  Hall,  and  others,  against  the  decision  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, respecting  the  '  imposition  of  hands'  in  the  ordination  of  ministers, 
respectfully  present  the  following  reply  to  the  positions  in  said  protest. 

"  We  fully  concur  with  the  protesters,  in  the  satisfiction  which  they 
express,  that  the  Assembly  distinctly  asserts  '  the  right  and  power  of  Ruling 
Elders,  in  common  with  Preaching  Elders,  to  order  the  whole  work  of  ordi- 
nation,' 'and  their  equal  participation  in  the  exercise  of  government  and 
discipline,'  &c. ;  yet  as  the  language  employed  by  our  protesting  brethren 
may  convey  the  idea,  that  the  Assembly  has  been  constrained  to  uiake  these 
admissions  by  force  of  argument  in  the  recent  controversy,  we  feel  called 
upon  to  state  most  explicitly,  that  no  change  in  sentiment  has  been  pro- 
duced by  the  arguments  of  the  protesters,  or  of  those  who  agree  with  them 
in  opinion.  The  opinions  of  the  Assembly  of  1844  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  Assembly  of  1843,  and  the  resolution  protested  against  merely 
expresses  what  were  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
when  the  Constitution  was  framed,  and,  as  far  as  we  are  informed,  at  every 


J. 

D.  Paxton, 

Singleton  Wilson, 

James  F.  Gibert, 

Al 

ex.  A.  Campbell, 

G. 

H.  Briscoe, 

V. 

King, 

A. 

B.  McKee, 

W 

.  C.  Emmerson, 

H. 

W.  Beatty, 

John  C.  Young, 

J. 

R.  McMullen." 

—Mimites,  1844,  p.  390, 

Part  II.]  RULING   ELDERS.  51 

period  of  its  previous  and  subsequent  history.     Of  tliis  statement  full  proof 
was  given  in  the  debates  of  the  last  Assembly. 

"1.  The  protesters  charge  that 'the  Assembly  erred  in  matter  of  foot, 
matter  of  law  and  matter  of  reason/  and  as  evidence  of  error  in  matter  of 
fact,  they  state  that  there  was,  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  a  minister 
ordained  more  than  twenty  years  ago  upon  whom  Ruling  Elders  imposed 
hands.  This  it  is  presumed,  is  the  earliest  instance  of  the  kind,  of  which 
our  protesting  brethren  have  any  certain  knowledge,  and  if  so,  how  very  far 
short  does  it  come  of  overthrowing  the  position,  that  the  practice  of  our  own 
and  of  all  other  Presbyterian  Churches  is  adverse  to  the  opinions  of  the 
protesters?  Admitting,  as  they  assert,  that  'a  contrary  practice  has  obtain- 
ed in  various  portions  of  our  Church,'  and  that  too  '  from  a  period  beyond 
the  memory  of  some  of  our  oldest  Ministers,'  of  which  however  no  certain 
evidence  has  ever  been  furnished,  yet  it  is  evident  from  the  whole  current 
of  testimony,  that  these  instances  are  but  mere  exceptions  to  the  general 
practice,  and  that  they  occurred  in  portions  of  the  Church  remote  from  the 
seats  of  the  older  Churches  and  Presbyteries,  by  which,  in  1788,  our  Consti- 
tion  was  ratified  and  adopted.  And  after  all,  '  the  various  portions  of  oiir 
Church'  spoken  of,  will  doubtless,  upon  examination,  be  found  to  be  very 
few  in  number,  and  the  contrary  practice  can  in  all  probability  be  traced  to 
the  mistaken  views  of  a  few  men  in  what  was  at  that  time  a  distant  and 
feeble  Presbytery.  Not  a  single  instance  has  ever  been  adduced,  within  the 
limits  of  the  older  Presbyteries,  in  which  Ruling  Elders  imposed  hands  in 
the  ordination  of  ministers;  and  all  tradition  is  in  favour  of  the  ground 
taken  by  the  General  Assembly.  In  Europe  and  America,  there  are  various 
denominations  of  Presbyterians,  yet  none  of  them  permit  any  others  than 
ministers  of  the  word  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  ministers. 

"2.  'The  mere  presence  of  Elders  in  the  body,'  say  our  brethren,  'nulli- 
fies the  allegation  that  it  was  the  practice  that  they  should  not  unite  in  acts 
of  the  body,  and  requires  positive  proof  of  a  positive  practice  which  forbade 
their  acting,  and  we  deny  the  existence  of  such  proof.'  If  the  committee 
understand  this  language,  of  which  they  are  not  at  all  confident,  they  would 
say  in  reference  to  the  practice  of  the  Church,  that  the  allegation  has  no 
respect  to  what  in  time  past  Ruling  Elders  should  not  have  done,  but  has 
respect  to  what  they  did  not  do;  and  we  know  of  no  one  who  maintains,  that 
any  'positive  practice  forbade'  Ruling  Elders  to  act  in  the  imposition  of 
hands,  but  that  it  was  contrary  to  practice  for  them  to  do  so.  The  rule 
limits  the  imposition  of  hands  to  the  Clergy,  and  reference  was  made  to  the 
practice  to  show  that  the  construction  put  upon  the  rule  was  the  construction 
universally  put  upon  it  by  those  who  framed  the  rule,  and  almost  univer- 
sally by  those  who  have  acted  upon  it. 

"3.  Again,  the  protesters  charge  what  we  most  positively  and  unequivo- 
cally disavow,  viz.,  that  we  plead  practice  against  the  plain  and  obvious 
meaning  of  the  words.  We  maintain  that  the  words  of  the  rule,  properly 
understood  and  compared  with  the  other  parts  of  the  Constitution,  require 
the  construction  given  to  the  rule  by  the  Assembly.  We  appeal  to  the 
practice  of  our  own  and  other  Presbyterian  Churches  as  confirmatory  of  the 
exposition  given  to  the  rule,  and  as  the  best  evidence,  in  addition  to  the 
language  which  they  have  used,  of  the  meaning  and  intention  of  those  who 
framed  our  system  of  government  and  discipline.  And  will  any  one  ques- 
tion the  propriety  of  this  use  of  well  attested  practice  carried  through 
generations  and  even  centuries  ?  Or  will  any  intelligent  and  candid  men 
set  up  against  uniform  and  general  practice  mere  exceptions  which  are 
limited  in  their  extent,  and  of  modern  date? 

"4.  The  protesters   next   observe  that,  'in  the   distinction  which   the 


52  CHURCH   OFFICERS:  [Book  II. 

Assembly  takes  between  the  rite  of  ordination  and  the  substance  of  the  act, 
we  (the  protesters,)  are  of  the  opinion,  that  there  is  an  error  both  of  law 
and  of  reason.'  The  coinniittee  do  not  understand  the  Assembly  as  making 
the  distinction  to  which  objection  is  here  made.  The  Presbyteiy  has  power 
to  ordain  because  it  is  composed  in  part  of  those  to  whom  the  power  of 
ordaining  belongs,  but  who,  agreeably  to  the  principles  of  Presbyterian 
government  and  the  law  of  our  Church,  are  not  to  exercise  this  power 
without  the  consent  of  the  Ruling  Elders,  the  representatives  in  Presbytery 
of  the  people.  And  hence,  although  ordination  belongs  to  the  power  of 
jurisdiction  as  contended  for  by  our  brethren,  yet  the  power  of  the  Elder- 
ship in  regard  to  it  is  limited  to  a  concurrence  with  the  Ministers  in  deciding 
and  ordering  that  it  shall  take  place,  and  in  determining  the  time,  place, 
and  the  persons  who  are  to  take  part  in  the  public  services.  And  this  is  the 
utmost  point  to  which  the  most  strenuous  advocates  for  ordination  pertaining 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  have  gone  till  recently,  in  reference  to  the 
power  of  Ruling  Elders  in  the  matter  of  ordination. 

"5.  The  remarks  just  made,  the  committee  consider  a  sufficient  reply  to 
what  is  said  in  the  next  section  of  the  protest. 

"0.  In  saying  that  'the  rite  of  ordination  is  simply  a  declaratory  minis- 
terial act,  of  which  imposition  of  hands  is  a  part,'  the  Assembly  meant 
nothing  more  than  this,  that  the  solemn  ceremony  of  setting  a  candidate 
apart  to  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  was  a  rite  that  appertained  to 
Ministers  alone,  and  that  '  imposition  of  hands'  was  used  as  a  moral  sign  to 
declare  publicly  who  the  party  is  that  is  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  Min- 
istry. In  this  sense  it  is  properly  called  a  declarative  act,  and  in  as  much 
as  it  is  to  be  performed  by  Ministers  alone,  it  is  properly  called  a  ministe- 
rial act. 

"7.  The  protesters  next  say,  that  it  appears  to  them  'that  the  denial  of 
the  right  of  Ruling  Elders  to  impose  hands,  involves  the  denial  that  they 
are  scriptural  Presbyters.' 

"But  do  they  not  themselves  advert  with  satisfaction  to  the  fact,  that  the 
Assembly  in  their  resolutions  on  this  subject,  affirm  and  maintain  'the 
scriptural  authority  of  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder?'  With  no  propriety, 
therefore,  can  the  denial  by  the  Assembly  of  the  right  of  Ruling  Elders  to 
impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers  be  regarded  as  involving  a 
denial  that  they  are  scriptural  officers.  That  it  involves  a  denial  that  they 
are  'Bishops,'  'Pastors,'  'Ministers,'  and  even  'Presbyters,'  in  exactly  the 
same  sense  that  Ministers  are  Presbyters,  is  conceded;  their  distinctive 
character  being  that  of  'representatives  of  the  people,'  and  their  official 
name  being  that  of  '  Ruling  Elders,'  in  order  to  distinguish  them  the  more 
fully  from  those  who  both  in  the  Scripture  and  our  Form  of  Government,  are 
styled  simply  'Presbyters,'  or  'Elders,'  meaning  Ministers  of  the  word,  who 
alone  are  the  Presbytery  to  whom  the  imposition  of  hands  appertains :  it 
appertaining  to  the  Ruling  Elders  to  concur  with  the  Ministers  or  Presbyters 
as  to  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  ordaining  a  candidate  for  the  sacred 
office. 

"  Much  of  the  erroneous  reasoning  respecting  the  powers  of  the  Ruling 
Elders,  arises  from  overlooking  the  distinction  between  Ministers  of  the 
gospel  and  Ruling  Elders.  ]?oth  these  classes  of  officers  are  appointed  to 
exercise  government  and  discipline,  but  to  the  former  only  does  it  belong  to 
labour  in  word  and  doctrine,  and  therefore  to  set  apart  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after  due  trial  and  approbation,  those  who  are  to  take  part 
in  the  same  Ministry. 

"We  have  now  taken  notice  of  all  the  objections  of  the  protesters,  and  if 
we  mistake  not,  we  have  fairly  met  them.     Were  it  requisite,  we  could, 


PartIL]  THE  MINISTRY.  53 

without  difficulty,  set  forth  the  objections  to  the  views  entertained  by  the 
protesters,  and  show  that  their  views  are  contrary  to  Scripture,  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  our  Church,  and  to  the  practice  of  our  own  and  all  other  Pres- 
byterian Churches;  and  that  they  tend  to  subvert  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder, 
by  confounding-  it  with  that  of  Minister  of  the  word.  It  was  the  doctrine 
of  the  Independents  and  not  of  the  Presbyterians,  that  Ruling  Elders  had 
the  right  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers,  as  could  be  abund- 
antly shown  from  authorities  not  to  be  questioned. 

*'  In  favour  of  the  decision  of  the  last  Assembly,  or  rather  of  the  last 
three  Greneral  Assemblies,  it  can  be  shown,  1.  That  the  decision  accords 
with  the  word  of  Grod;  2.  With  the  very  words  of  our  Constitution; 
3.  With  the  uniform  practice  of  those  who  framed  the  Constitution ;  4.  With 
the  uniform  practice  of  all  other  Presbyterian  Churches;  and  we  cannot  but 
express  the  hope  that  a  matter  which  has  been  decided,  after  a  full  and 
careful  examination,  by  our  whole  Church,  and  bysucb  large  majorities,  may 
be  considered  as  settled,  and  that  it  will  not  be  made  a  subject  of  further 
agitation. 

James  Hoge,  B.  H.  Rice, 

John  Maclean,  H.  A.  Boardman, 

C.  C.  Cuyler,  Committee." 

—Minutes,  1844,  p.  392. 

§51. 

[The  replies  above  given  were  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  following  resolution.] 
"  Inasmuch  as  there  is  not  time  for  the  committee  appointed  to  answer 
the  protests   on  the  quorum  and  ordination  questions  previously  to   the 
adjournment  of  the  Assembly,  therefore,  , 

^^RemJved,  1st.  That  the  protests  be  admitted  to  redord.  2d.  That  the 
committee  appointed  to  prepare  answers,  be  requested  to  do  so  after  the 
rising  of  the  Assembly,  and  forward  them  to  the  Stated  Clerk.  3d.  In 
taking  this  course,  the  Assembly  disclaim  any  want  of  respect  to  said  pro- 
testants,  and  express  the  hope  that  agitation  on  the  subjects  in  question 
may  cease." — Ihid.  p.  385. 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THE  MINISTRY. 

Title  I. — Candidates. 

§  52.    To  he  souglit  for  and  encouraged. 

^'Resolved,  That  each  Minister  and  Church  Session  be  affectionately 
requested  to  search  diligently  and  prayerfully  for  young  men  of  piety  and 
promising  talents,  proper  to  be  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Church  as 
candidates  for  the  gospel  Ministry,  and  recommend  such  young  men  to  the 
Presbytery  within  whose  bounds  they  are  found,  or  to  some  education 
society." — Minutes,  1828,  p.  240.     Reiterated  in  the  Minutes  jjassm. 

§  53.    Undoubted  piety  essential. 

"  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  having  brought  some  overtures  into  the  Synod 
with  respect  to  the  trials  of  candidates  both  for  the  Ministry  and  the  Lord's 
supper,  that  there  be  due  care  taken  in  examining  into  the  evidences  of  the 


54  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

grace  of  God  in  them,  as  well  as  of  their  other  necessary  qualifications;  the 
Synod  doth  unanimously  agree,  that  as  it  has  been  our  principle  and  prac- 
tice, and  as  it  is  recommended  in  the  Directory  for  worship  and  government, 
to  be  careful  in  this  matter,  so  it  awfully  concerns  us  to  be  most  serious  and 
solemn  in  the  trials  of  both  sorts  of  candidates  above  mentioned.  And  this 
Synod  does,  therefore,  in  the  name  and  fear  of  God,  exhort  and  obtest  all 
our  Presbyteries  to  take  special  care  not  to  admit  into  the  sacred  office 
loose,  careless,  and  irreligious  persons,  but  that  they  particularly  inquire 
into  the  conversations,  conduct,  and  behaviour  of  such  as  offer  themselves 
to  the  IMinistry,  and  that  they  diligently  examine  all  the  candidates  for  the 
Ministry  in  their  experiences  of  a  work  of  sanctifying  grace  in  their  hearts, 
and  that  they  admit  none  to  the  sacred  trust  that  are  not  in  the  eye  of 
charity  serious  Christians.  And  the  Synod  does  also  seriously  and  solemnly 
admonish  all  the  Ministers  within  our  bounds  to  make  it  their  awful,  con- 
stant, and  diligent  care,  to  approve  themselves  to  God,  to  their  own  con- 
sciences, and  to  their  hearers,  serious,  fliithful  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of 
God,  and  of  holy  and  exemplary  conversations.  And  the  Synod  does  also 
exhort  all  the  Ministers  within  our  bounds  to  use  due  care  in  examining 
those  they  admit  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 

"  This  admonition  was  approved  by  the  whole  Synod." — 3Iinutes,  1734, 
p.  110. 

§  54.    Thorough  literary  training  requisite. 

(a)  ^'It  was  requested  by  the  First  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  that  the 
Synod  declare  to  them  their  sense  on  this  point,  viz.,  "Whether  a  person 
without  a  liberal  education  may  be  taken  on  trial,  or  licensed  to  preach  the 
gospel?  The  question  being  put,  it  was  carried  in  the  negative." — Minutes, 
1783,  p.  499. 

(J))  *' An  ovei^ture  was  brought  in,  in  the  following  terms,  viz..  Whether, 
in  the  present  state  of  the  Church  in  America,  and  the  scarcity  of  Minis- 
ters to  fill  our  numerous  Congregations,  the  Synod  or  Presbyteries  ought 
therefore  to  relax,  in  any  degree,  in  the  literary  qualifications  required  of 
intrants  into  the  Ministry?  And  it  was  carried  in  the  negative  by  a  great 
majority." — Minutes,  1785,  p.  511. 

(f)  [The  Assembly  enjoins  it  on  all  the  Presbyteries]  "to  take  the  most 
eifectual  order  in  their  power  to  increase,  if  possible,  the  qualifications  of 
candidates  for  the  gospel  Ministry,  with  regard  both  to  sincere  piety  and 
solid  and  extensive  learning;  that  the  improvements  of  the  pulpit  may  keep 
pace  with  the  progress  of  society  and  letters." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  181. 

§  55.  Letter  to  Rev.  David  Riee  on  thorough  literary  training  for  the 

Ministry. 

''Dear  Sir — Your  letter  of  the  18th  of  April  has  been  regularly  laid 
before  the  General  Assembly,  and  although  it  ought  to  have  been  accom- 
panied with  an  extract  from  the  Minvites  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania, 
yet  the  Assembly  having  perfect  confidence  in  you,  easily  waived  that  for- 
mality. 

"  The  inquiry  which  you  propose,  in  the  name  of  the  Presbytery,  con- 
cerning the  propriety,  in  your  present  circumstances,  of  licensing  and 
ordaining  men  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  Ministry,  without  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, is  certainly  of  gror.t  magnitude.  Considering  the  great  and  ardent 
zeal  on  the  subject  of  religion  which  has  been  awakened  throughout  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  United  States,  the  multitudes  who  are  earnestly  demanding 
of  you  the  bread  of  life,  and  the  few,  comparatively,  who  are  regularly 
ordained  to  break  it  among  them;,  the  reasoning  seems  specious  at  first, 

f     •im 


Part  II.]  THE   MINISTRY.  55 

whicli  would  encourage  us,  in  the  instances  you  mention,  to  depart  from  the 
spirit  of  our  standards  on  this  subject;  and  some  plausible  facts  frequently 
occur  which  appear  to  confirm  this  reasoning,  and  mislead  the  judgments  of 
many  honest  and  well  meaning  men.  On  all  subjects  on  which  the  human 
mind  is  roused  to  uncommon  exertions,  and  inflamed  with  uncommon 
ardour,  men  become  eloquent  for  a  season,  and  even  the  most  weak  and 
ignorant  often  surprise  us  by  the  fluency  and  pertinency,  as  well  as  fervour 
of  their  expressions.  And  in  general  revivals  of  the  spirit  of  religion,  that 
copiousness  and  pathos  in  prayer  and  exhortation,  which  are  not  uncom- 
monly to  be  found  among  men  who  are  destitute  of  any  liberal  culture  of 
mind,  and  often  even  of  any  considerable  natural  talents,  may  tempt  them- 
selves, and  lead  others  to  conclude,  that  they  are  endued  with  peculiar  and 
extraordinary  gifts  for  the  service  of  the  Church,  which  ought  not  to  be 
suff"ered  to  lie  useless  and  unemployed. 

"  An  ardent  zeal,  too  often  united  with  a  certain  spiritual  pride,  and 
strong  self-love,  is  apt  to  inspire  some  weak  persons  of  an  enthusiastic  tem- 
perament, with  vehement  impulses  to  preach  the  gospel,  which  they  flatter 
themselves  are  calls  from  Heaven;  but  experience  has  repeatedly  shown  us, 
that  these  inward  impulses  most  commonly  aflect  men  of  great  imbecility  of 
mind,  or  of  strong  vanity.  Experience  farther  shows,  that  when  this  fer- 
vour is  somewhat  abated,  all  their  barrenness  and  defect  of  furniture  for  the 
holy  ministry,  and  the  sound  interpretation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  become 
manifest;  and  too  many  unhappy  examples  have  occurred  of  those  who 
have  abandoned  good  morals  when  deserted  by  their  zeal.  And  with  regard 
to  supposed  calls  to  preach  the  gospel,  no  man  can  be  rightly  called  to  that 
sacred  ofiice  out  of  the  regular  order  which  Christ  has  established  in  his 
Church;  no  such  inward  call  can  be  judged  of  by  any  Church  judicatory, 
nor  distinguished  by  any  certain  criterion  from  the  visionary  impulses  of 
enthusiasm.  The  judicatories  of  the  Church  can  judge  only  of  the  life  and 
conversation  of  men,  their  knowledge  and  their  talents  to  teach. 

"  Besides,  we  know  that  the  nature  of  true  religion  is  to  render  men 
humble.  And  such  is  the  solemnity  and  importance  of  the  duty  of  inter- 
preting the  word  of  Clod  to  the  people,  and  speaking  in  his  name,  that  a 
sincere  penitent  will  rather  wait  to  be  sought  out,  than  forwardly  intrude 
himself  into  so  holy  a  calling.  And  do  we  not  find  in  fact,  that  they  are 
not  usually  the  most  prudent,  judicious,  and  qualified  to  teach  among  the 
laity,  who  are  most  solicitous  to  be  constituted  public  guides  and  instructors 
in  the  Church? 

"We  do  not  say  that  a  liberal  education  is  absolutely  essential  to  a  man's 
usefulness  in  the  Ministry  of  the  gospel;  but  reason  and  experience  both 
demonstrate  its  high  importance  and  utility.  And  where  ignorant  men  are 
permitted  to  explain  the  Holy  Scriptures,  it  ought  to  be  subject  to  the 
direction  and  control  of  others  of  greater  knowledge.  But  this  is  an  order 
which  it  has  not  been  thought  proper  to  adopt  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
And  the  superior  comparative  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  our  Church,  and 
that  of  our  eastern  brethren,  which  is  similarly  constituted,  is  a  demonstra- 
tion by  no  means  equivocal,  of  the  approbation  and  smiles  of  Heaven  upon 
us,  in  the  exercise,  of  our  present  form  of  government  and  discipline.  But 
were  our  opinion  on  this  subject  different  from  what  it  is,  we  cannot  lawful- 
ly and  conscientiously  depart  from  our  present  standards  till  they  be  changed 
in  an  orderly  manner  by  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries  which 
compose  the  body  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  You  express  your  apprehensions,  lest,  if  certain  illiterate  and  unquali- 
fied men*  should  not  be  admitted  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  among  you, 

*  [The  followers  of  Barton  W.  Stone  and  the  Cumherland  partv,    See  Book  Vn.,  Parts  yii.  and  viii.] 


56  cnuncH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

they  may  withdraw  from  the  Church,  and  become  the  promoters  of  dancer- 
ous  schisms.  We  answer,  The  path  of  duty  is  a  safe  path.  Do  wliat  is 
right,  and  commit  the  event  to  God.  If  they  are  men  of  such  a  spirit,  it  is 
only  a  new  proof  that  they  are  most  unfit  for  the  office  to  which  they  aspire. 
Parties  created  by  them  will  neither  be  important  nor  durable.  ]5ut  if  the 
gates  of  the  Church  are  opened  to  weakness  and  ignorance,  she  will  soon  be 
overflowed  with  errors,  and  with  the  wildest  disorders.  We  shall  bring  the 
Ministiy  into  disgrace  and  contempt;  which  should  be  like  the  priesthood 
of  Aaron,  without  blemish.  If  men  are  sincerely  desirous  of  promoting  the 
glory  of  God,  let  them  first  bestow  the  necessary  pains  and  time  to  acciuire 
the  requisite  qualifications  for  feeding  and  leading  the  flock  of  Christ;  let 
them  be  regularly  initiated  into  the  priesthood,  and  not  hasten  to  oflfer 
unhallowed  fire  on  God's  altar.  If  they  are  sincerely  desirous  of  doing 
good,  let  them  do  it  in  that  sphere  in  which  they  appear  destined  by  pro- 
vidence to  move.  In  this,  every  Christian,  the  poorest  and  humblest,  has 
ample  scope  to  exercise  his  pious  and  benevolent  dispositions,  and  to  exert 
his  talents,  whatever  they  may  be." — Minutes,  1804:,  p.  299. 

§  56.  Literary  qualifications  waved  in  special  cases. 

"  Several  very  earnest  applications  were  made  to  the  Synod  by  Welch 
people  in  diff"erent  parts,  representing  that  many  among  them  understand 
not  the  English  tongue;  and  unless  they  have  a  pastor  capable  of  speaking 
in  their  own  language  they  must  live  entirely  destitute  of  ordinances;  that 
a  certain  Mr.  John  Griffith  came  some  years  ago  from  Whales,  with  good 
certificates  of  his  Christian  knowledge  and  piety,  though  he  has  not  had  a 
liberal  education,  and  of  being  there  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel;  that  he 
has  preached  among  them  to  their  great  satisfaction,  and  therefore  pray  the 
Synod  to  ordain  him  to  the  jMinistry,  that  he  may  both  preach  and  also 
administer  the  sacraments  among  them." 

"  As  the  circumstances  of  that  people  are  singular,  and  no  other  way 
appears  in  which  they  can  enjoy  ordinances,  the  Synod  agree  that  the  said 
Mr.  John  Griffith,  though  he  has  not  the  measure  of  school  learning  usually 
required,  and  which  they  judge  to  be  ordinarily  requisite,  be  ordained  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  And  appoint  Messrs.  Samuel  Davies,  Dr.  Alison, 
Treat,  Hunter,  and  Kettletas,  to  be  a  Presbytery,  j^i'o  re  nata,  to  ordain  him 
to-morrow  at  11  o'clock. 

"  The  members  appointed  to  be  a  Presbytery,  pro  re  nata,  to  ordain  Mr. 
John  Griffith,  brought  in  the  following  report: 

"  '  The  members  appointed  to  be  a  Presbytery,  pro  re  nata,  met  accord- 
ing to  appointment,  and  chose  Mr.  Davies  Moderator,  Dr.  Alison  clerk. 

''  'Mr.  John  Griffith  appeared  before  us,  and  after  proper  questions  pro- 
posed to  him,  (as  preparatory,)  to  our  satisfaction,  his  receiving  the  West- 
minster Confession  and  Catechisms,  &c.,  according  to  the  agreement  of  this 
Synod,  and  pi'ofessing  subjection  to  them,  the  Presbytery  agreed  to  proceed 
immediately  to  his  ordination;  and  accordingly,  the  Presbytery,  with  impo- 
sition of  hands  and  prayer,  set  apart  the  said  Mr.  John  Griffith  to  the 
gospel  ministiy. 

*'  '  Concluded  with  prayer.' 

"Orrhred,  That  Mr.  Griffith  belong  to  Philadelphia  Presbytery." — Min- 
utes, 1758,  pp.  289,  290. 

§  57.    To  ^I'hat  judicatory  are  candidates  Judicially  amenahle? 

''Whereas,  It  appears  necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
Church  and  uniformity  of  procedure  in  the  judicatories  under  the  care  of 
the  General  Assembly,  that  the  manner  of  administering  discipline  to  can- 


Part  II.]  THE   MINISTRY.  57 

didates  and  licentiates  for  the  gospel  ministry,  should  be  distinctly  specified, 
therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  1.  That  as  the  word  of  God  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  recognize  the  distinction  of  laity  and  clergy,  and  a  system 
of  procedure  in  discipline,  in  some  respects  diverse,  as  the  one  or  the  other 
of  these  ordere  of  men  is  concerned,  it  becomes  the  judicatories  of  the 
Church  to  guard  against  the  violation  of  this  principle  in  the  administration 
of  discipline. 

"  2.  That  although  candidates  and  licentiates  are  in  training  for  the  gos- 
pel ministry,  and  in  consequence  of  this  are  placed  under  the  care  of  Pres- 
byteines,  and  in  certain  respects  become  immediately  responsible  to  them, 
yet  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  laity,  till  they 
receive  ordination  to  the  whole  work  of  the  gospel  ministry. 

''3.  That  it  follows  from  the  last  resolution,  that  when  candidates  for  the 
gospel  ministry  are  discovered  to  be  unfit  to  be  proceeded  with,  in  trials  for 
the  sacred  office,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  to  arrest  their  pro- 
gress; and  if  further  discipline  be  necessary,  to  remit  them  for  that  purpose 
to  the  Sessions  of  the  Churches  to  which  they  properly  belong;  and  that 
when  licentiates  are  found  unworthy  to  be  permitted  further  to  preach  the 
gospel,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  to  deprive  them  of  their 
license;  and  if  further  discipline  be  necessary,  to  remit  them  for  that  pur- 
pose to  the  Sessions  of  the  Churches  to  which  they  properly  belong. 

"4.  That  in  order  to  insure  the  proper  effect  of  discipline  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  which  severally  belong  to  Sessions  and  Presbyteries,  it 
will  be  incumbent  on  Church  Sessions,  when  they  shall  see  cause  to  com- 
mence process  against  candidates  or  licentiates,  before  the  Presbytery  has 
arrested  the  trials  of  the  one,  or  taken  away  the  licensure  of  the  other,  to 
give  immediate  notice  to  the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  the 
candidates  or  licentiates  are  amenable,  that  such  process  has  been  com- 
menced, to  the  intent  that  the  impropi-iety  may  be  prevented,  of  an  indi- 
vidual proceeding  on  trials  or  continuing  to  preach  after  committing  an 
off"ence  that  ought  to  arrest  him  in  his  progress  to  an  investiture  with  the 
sacred  office;  and  when  Presbyteries  shall  enter  upon  an  investigation,  with 
the  view  of  stopping  the  trials  of  a  candidate,  or  taking  away  the  license  of 
a  licentiate,  the  Session  to  which  such  candidates  or  licentiates  are  amena- 
ble, shall  be  immediately  informed  of  what  the  Presbytery  is  doing,  that 
the  Session  may,  if  requisite,  commence  process,  and  inflict  the  discipline 
which  it  is  their  province  to  administer." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  377. 

§  58.    To  what  Presbytery  does  the  care  of  a  candidate  belong? 

"  The  Synod  judge  that  any  student  in  divinity  who  professes  a  design  to 
enter  into  the  ministry,  has  a  right  in  our  present  situation  to  study  fur  his 
improvement  under  the  direction  of  any  divine  of  reputation  in  the  Synod, 
according  to  a  former  act;  but  that  when  he  proposes  to  enter  upon  trials 
with  a  view  to  the  ministry,  he  shall  come  under  the  care  of  that  Presby- 
tery to  which  he  most  naturally  belongs;  and  he  shall  be  deemed  most 
naturally  to  belong  to  that  Presbytery  in  whose  bounds  he  has  been  brought 
up  and  lived  for  the  most  part,  and  where  he  is  best  known.  But  if 
another'Presbytery  desire  that  any  student  or  students  should  come  into 
their  bounds,  or  if  any  such  student  or  students  for  greater  conveniency,  or 
from  any  circumstances  that  make  it  necessary,  desire  to  enter  upon  trials  in 
a  different  Presbytery,  upon  his  offering  satisfactory  reasons,  he  may  be  dis- 
missed; but  in  either  case  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  removes  shall  not 
receive  or  admit  him  to  come  under  trials  upon  his  having  a  certificate  as  a 
regular  Church  member  only,  but  he  shall  bring  a  testimonial  from  the 


58  CHURCH   OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

Presbytery  or  several  neighbouring  Ministers  where  he  lived,  recommending 
him  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  of  exemphiry  piety  and  holiness  of 
conversation ;  nor  shall  anything  less  be  deemed  a  sufficient  recommenda- 
tion."— Minutes,  170-4,  p.  387. 

§  59.   Preshyteries  to  exercise  a  strict  supervision  over  candidates. 

[Upon  an  overture]  "From  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville,  requesting 
the  Assembly  to  enjoin  on  the  Professors  in  all  our  Theological  Seminaries 
to  render  semi-annually  to  the  Presbyteries  whose  candidates  for  the  ministry 
may  be  in  the  said  Seminaries,  an  account  of  these  candidates,  similar  in 
all  respects  to  the  quarterly  reports,  required  by  the  Board  of  Education  in 
reference  to  young  men  receiving  pecuniary  aid; 

The  committee  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  minute,  viz. 
While  the  Assembly  advises  all  the  Presbyteries  to  institute  regular  and 
careful  inquiries  into  the  standing  and  progress  of  their  candidates  for  the 
holy  ministry  in  all  stages  of  study,  yet  it  deems  it  inexpedient  to  adopt 
the  measure  proposed  in  the  overture.  The  report  was  adopted." — Minutes, 
1852,  p.  205. 

§  60.  Pending  trials  before  one  Presbytery,  a  candidate  may  not  be  taken 

up  by  another. 

(a)  "The  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  expressing  some  uneasiness  at  the 
conduct  of  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  for  having  received  and 
licensed  a  certain  3Ir.  John  McClean,  who,  they  apprehend,  most  properly 
belonged  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  had  applied  to  them  to  be 
licensed;  and  while  they  were  taking  the  pi-oper  steps  for  obtaining  more 
full  satisfaction  concerning  his  church  membership  and  Christian  character, 
he  in  the  meantime  removed  from  them,  and  applied  to  the  Second  Phila- 
delphia Presbytery,  and  was  licensed  by  them ;  both  the  Presbyteries  were 
fully  heard  in  a  free  conference  on  this  subject,  and  withdrew.  The  Synod 
after  mature  deliberation  order  Mr.  McClean  to  be  cited  before  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle,  with  power  to  them  to  hear  the  charges  against  him, 
and  issue  the  affair  in  a  regular  manner,  and  report  to  the  next  meeting  of 
Synod.  And  the  Synod  do  prohibit  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery 
from  employing  him  to  preach  till  the  aflPair  shall  be  concluded." — 3Iinutes, 
1772,  p.  435. 

(b)  "The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  committee  to  examine  the 
records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  was  resumed.  The  report  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

"Your  committee  observe  in  page  24th,  that  although  the  Synod  were 
informed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  that  a  certain  Mr.  Hindraan  had 
put  himself  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  for  trials,  and  after- 
wards, without  certificate  or  dismissiun  offered  himself  to,  and  was  received 
upon  trials  by  the  Presbytery  of  Lewos;  and  though  in  page  34th  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle  represent  that  the  said  gentleman  had  been  laid  under 
censure  by  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal ;  that  they  had  no  authentic  proof  that 
it  was  taken  off;  and  that  this  gentleman  had  obtained  license  in  opposition 
to  a  rule  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Pliiladelpliia,  in  their  minutes  of 
1764,  pages  79  and  80;  yet  the  Synod  recommended  it  to  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Castle  to  receive  and  treat  this  gentleman  as  a  regular  candidate,  with- 
out any  decision  upon  the  matters  referred  to  them.  Whereupon  the  As- 
sembly 

"Resolved,  That  the  Synod  be  informed  that  the  Assembly  disapprove  of 
the  proceedings  as  represented  in  their  records,  in  recommending  a  candi- 


Part  II.]  THE   MINISTRY.  '  59 

date  to  be  received  as  in  full  standing,  before  they  had  given  a  decision 
upon  the  allegations  against  him." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  37. 

§  61.    Witli  wJioni  sliould  a  candidate  study  theology? 

''Whereas,  our  Form  of  Grovernment,  Chap.  xiv.  See.  6,  requires  that 
candidates  for  the  ministry,  before  they  are  licensed,  'shall  have  studied 
divinity  under  some  approved  divine  or  pi-ofessor  of  theology;'  evidently 
meaning  thereby  such  divine  or  professor  of  theology  as  is  approved  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  some  of  her  regularly  organized  forms ;  therefore,  in 
order  to  secure  a  ministry  who  shall  be  sound  in  the  faith,  and  well  instruct- 
ed in  the  doctrines,  order,  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  in  order  to  the 
thorough  instruction  of  the  people  in  the  cardinal  doctrines  and  duties  of 
our  holy  religion,  it  is 

^'Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  be,  and  they  hereby  are  enjoined  to  see 
that  their  candidates  for  the  ministry  prosecute  their  studies  only  at  such 
theological  seminaries,  or  with  such  divines  as  are  thus  approved,  and  recog- 
nized by  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  sound  in  the  faith  and  attached  to  our 
ecclesiastical  order  and  forms  of  worship  as  laid  down  in  the  accredited 
standards  of  our  Church." — 3Iimites,  18.38,  p.  39. 

§  62.    Theological  students  only  are  properly  candidates. 

'' Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  prefer  that  young  men  within  their 
bounds  who  are  looking  forward  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  should  be  offi- 
cially recognized  as  candidates  under  the  care  of  Presbyteries,  only  when 
they  are  prepared  to  enter  upon  their  theological  studies;  and  that  until 
that  time  they  be  regarded  simply  as  students  on  probation,  under  the  gene- 
ral watch  and  patronage  of  the  Presbyteries." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  29. 

§  63.  A  three  years'  theological  course  urged. 
"Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  it  is,  in  general,  highly 
inexpedient  for  candidates  for  the  ministry  to  apply  for  licensure  at  such  a 
period  of  their  course  of  study  as  would  prevent  them  from  finishing  the 
three  years  plan  of  studies  adopted  and  approved  by  former  Assemblies." — 
Minutes,  1843,  p.  187. 

§  64.    The  pledge  required  hy  the  Board  of  Education. 

"Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  are  deeply  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  a  thorough  course  of  theological  study,  and  would  earnestly 
recommend  to  their  Presbyteries  to  elevate  the  standard  of  education,  and 
that  the  rule  of  the  Board  of  Education  does  not  conflict  with  the  Constitu- 
tion, when  it  prescribes  the  time  of  study,  inasmuch  as  the  Constitution 
makes  two  years  the  shortest  time  allowed  to  complete  the  course  of  theo- 
louical  study,  but  does  not  prescribe  the  maximum." — Minutes,  1844,  p. 
375. 

§  65.  A  standing   ride  of  an  inferior  court  requiring   longer  time  than 
specified  in  the  Constitution. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  approved,] 
"  except  a  vote  of  that  Synod  by  which  they  determine  it  to  be  constitu- 
tional for  that  Synod  to  enact,  '  That  in  future,  candidates  who  have  the 
gospel  ministry  in  view,  be  required  to  attend  to  the  study  of  divinity  at 
least  three  years  before  licensure,'  which  vote  was  determined  by  the 
Assembly  to'be  unconstitutional." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  59. 

[Unanimously  re-afErmed,  1793,  p.  73.] 


60  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

§  66.  Proposed  alteration  of  the  Constittcti'on,  liere. 

[In  1836.  a  proposal  to  change  the  requisition  in  the  Constitution,  (Form  of  Gov., 
Chap.  xvi.  Sec.  6,)  from  two  to  three  years,  received  a  vote  of  thirty-rtve  Presbyteries  in 
the  iiflirmative  to  twenty  in  tiie  negative.  The  next  year  the  vote  was  increased  to  fifty- 
two  allirmative  and  thirty-eight  negative.  As  this  did  not  give  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  Presbyteries  in  the  Church,  the  subject  was  prosecuted  no  farther.] — Minutes, 
1836,  p.  276;  1837,  p.  438. 

Title  2. — Of  Licentiates. 

§  67.   Importance  of  probation  hcfore  ordination. 

[The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  having  adopted  a  rule  condemning  ordi- 
nation sine  titulo,  a  letter  was  subsequently  received  from  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Prime  on 
the  subject,  to  which  the  Synod  sent  the  following  reply.] 

"In  answer  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Prime's  letter,  it  appears,  that  he  and  his 
brethren,  in  whose  name  he  writes,  are  agreed  with  this  Synod  in  senti- 
ments, that  in  sending  forth  Ministers  to  labour  in  Christ's  vineyard,  we 
sliould  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  but  should  use  all  scriptural  methods 
to  be  satisfied  of  their  piety,  learning,  prudence,  and  aptness  to  teach.  And 
they  are  further  agreed  with  us  to  make  trial  by  hearing  candidates  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry  preach,  pray,  and  expound  the  Scriptures,  previous  to 
ordination,  at  least  before  their  ordination,  that  we  may  be  satisfied  in  our 
minds  that  they  have  ministerial  gifts  to  qualify  them  for  their  duty  in  that 
sacred  character:  that  we  should  endeavour  by  private  conversation,  and  a 
continuance  of  such  trials,  to  come  to  a  greater  sutisfiictioa  of  their  aptness 
to  teach,  and  other  necessary  qualifications.  And  the  Synod  are  firmly  per- 
suaded that  our  method  of  licensing  them  to  preach,  by  way  of  probation 
for  the  gospel  ministry,  before  ordination,  is  grounded  on  general  directions 
given  by  the  apostle,  that  we  should  lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  but 
should  commit  this  to  faithful  men  who  are  known  to  be  able  to  teach  others. 
But  as  Mr.  Prime,  and  the  two  brethren  in  whose  name  he  writes,  seem  to 
diflfer  from  this  Synod  only  in  the  mode  of  making  these  necessary  trials 
before  ordination,  the  Synod,  after  a  serious  consideration  of  their  request, 
which  they  are  persuaded  is  made  from  a  conscientious  regard  to  what  they 
think  their  duty,  have  agreed  to  lay  no  burden  on  them,  or  on  those  young 
men  whose  consciences  will  not  allow  them  to  preach  the  gospel  without 
ordination,  and,  therefore,  though  the  Synod  cannot  repeal  the  act  referred 
to  in  the  above  letter,  respecting  the  ordaining  Ministers,  sine  tltido,  as  they 
judge  it  still  expedient  and  useful,  yet  they  allow  the  Presbytery  to  ordain 
those  gentlemen  referred  to  by  Mr.  Prime  in  his  letter,  in  case  they  shall 
be  found  on  trial,  to  be  qualified  for  the  work  of  the  sacred  ministry,  not 
doubting  but  they  will  take  due  care  on  this  important  head." — MinuteSj 
1771,  p.  415. 

§  68.   Precipitation  condemned. 

(a)  ''The  Presbytery  book  of  Suffolk  approved,  except  that  they  have 
neglected  to  record  their  candidates  adopting  our  public  standards  at  licen- 
sure, though  they  inform  us  it  is  a  matter  of  constant  practice ;  that  they 
try  and  license  at  the  same  Presbytery;  and  in  one  instance, -ordained  with- 
out previous  trial  or  licensure;  and  that  they  license  for  a  certain  time.  All 
which  we  highly  disapprove." — Minutes,  1764,  p.  8o9. 

(6)  "No  student  shall  be  received  to  enter  upon  trials  in  order  to  his 
licensing  to  preach,  until  he  shall  repair  unto  the  dwellings  or  lodgings  of 
at  least  most  of  the  Ministers  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  offers  himself, 
and  thereby  give  them  an  opportunity  to  take  a  view  of  his  parts  and  beha- 
viour."— Minutes,  1735,  p.  119. 


Part  II.]  THE   MINISTRY.  61 

§  69.  Going  abroad  for  licensure  condemned. 
"The  Synod  entertains  a  high  regard  for  the  Associated  Churches  of 
New  England,  yet  we  cannot  but  judge  that  students  who  go  to  them,  or  to 
any  other  than  our  own  Presbyteries  to  obtain  license,  in  order  to  return 
and  officiate  among  us,  act  very  irregularly,  and  are  not  to  be  approved  or 
employed  by  our  Presbyteries,  as  we  are  hereby  deprived  of  the  right  of 
trying  and  approving  the  qualifications  of  our  own  candidates;  yet  if  any 
case  may  happen  wherein  such  conduct  may  in  some  circumstances  be 
thought  necessary  for  the  greater  good  of  any  Congregation,  it  shall  be 
laid  before  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  Congregation  belongs,  and  approved 
of  by  them." — Minutes,  1764,  p.  338. 

§  70.  Licensure  and  ordination  valid,  alihoiigli  in  some  respects  irregular. 
''The  Assembly  having  had  the  whole  affiiir  laid  before  them,  and  fully 
heard  the  parties,  after  mature  deliberation,  judged  that  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Hindman  there  appeared  to  have  been  such  a  want  of  attention  to  the  rules 
of  this  body,  and  neglect  of  order,  as  to  afford  just  grounds  of  uneasiness  to 
the  appellants,  and  to  deserve  the  disapprobation  of  the  Assembly.  But 
inasmuch  as  acts  which  have  been  performed  in  an  informal  manner  must 
often  when  done  be  sustained,  the  Assembly  do  hereby  sustain  the  licensure 
and  ordination  of  Mr.  Hindman;  while  at  the  same  time  they  enjoin  it  in 
the  most  pointed  manner  on  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  to  give  particular 
attention,  that  no  Presbytery  under  their  care  depart  in  any  respect  from 
that  rule  of  the  former  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  which  is  as 
follows:"  [See  above,  §  58.] — Minutes,  1792,  p.  56. 

§  71.  Licentiates  to  attend  the  Church  courts. 
"The  Synod  find  that  many  of  their  candidates  [licentiates]  do  not  attend 
their  meetings,  and  fur  this  reason  many  of  their  appointments  are  not  ful- 
filled. They  judge  that  candidates  should  constantly  attend  their  respective 
Presbyteries,  and  as  often  as  they  can  conveniently,  they  should  attend  our 
Synods." — Minutes,  1763,  p.  325. 

§  72.  Licensure  hy  a  self-constituted  committee  of  the  General  Preshytery . 
"It  is  reported  that  Mr.  Samuel  Davis,  Jlr.  Hampton,  and  Mr.  Henry, 
having  upon  good  and  sufficient  reasons  taken  Mr.  Jno.  Bradner  under 
trials,  in  order  to  his  being  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  having  gone 
through  the  ordinary  pieces  of  trial,  and  being  satisfied  with  him  therein,  as 
also  with  respect  to  the  orthodoxy  of  his  foith,  did  license  him  accordingly 
in  March  last;  which  was  approven." — Minutes,  1714:,  p.  36. 

§  73.    Subjects  of  Exegesis. 
[The  following  subjects  of  exegesis  appear  on  the  earlier  records  as  assigned  to  candi- 
dates on  trial  for  ordination.] 

"De  regimine  ecclesiae.  An  fides  sola  justificet?  An  Christus  pro 
omnibus  et  singulis  sit  mortuus?  De  sanctorum  perseverantia.  De  neces- 
sitate specialis  Spiritus  Sancti  operationis  ad  conversionen.  De  materia  jus- 
tificationis.  An  fa?dus  circumcisione  signatum,  a  foedere  evangelico  essen- 
tialiter  differat  ?  De  libero  arbitrio.  An  justificatio  nostra  sit  ab  asterno, 
aut  in  tempore  pra^stita?  An  lex  naturae  sit  sufficiens  ad  salutem?" — 
Minutes,  1706-1735,  passim. 

Title  3. — Of  Pastors. 

§  74.  Election  by  the  people  from  the  first. 
"Appointed  that  the  letters  sent  from  the  people  of  Snow  Hill  in  Somer- 
set, be  read  before  the  Presbytery. 


62  CHURCH  officers:  [Book  II. 

"The  letters  were  accordingly  read,  and  their  contents  were  duly  consider- 
ed by  the  Presbytery.  And  whereas,  the  aforesaid  people  do  by  their  re- 
presentatives and  letters  earnestly  address  the  Presbytery  for  their  joint  con- 
currence, and  assistance  in  prosecuting  their  call  to  Mr.  John  Hampton, 
that  he  may  undertake  the  work  of  the  ministry  among  them,  as  their 
settled  and  proper  Minister  and  Pastor, — 

"  Ordered  hy  the  Presbyter ij,  That  the  call  be  sent  to  jMr.  Hampton,  by 
the  foresaid  people ;  and  also,  the  other  paper  containing  their  subscriptions 
for  his  encouragement  to  undertake  the  work  of  the  ministry  among  them, 
be  given  to  Mr.  Hampton  to  peruse  and  consider.  Which  accordingly  were 
given  him. 

"  Ordered,  That  whereas  Mr.  Hampton,  after  his  receiving  the  call  to  him 
from  the  people  at  Snow  Hill,  gave  several  satisfactory  reasons  why  he 
could  not  at  this  time  comply  with  it;  that  the  said  Mr.  Hampton  may  have 
the  call  and  the  paper  of  subscription  continued  in  his  hands  for  his  further 
perusal,  till  the  nest  Presbytery." — 3Iinutes,  1707,  p.  10,  et  passim. 

§  75.  Mode  of  proceeding  in  election. 

"The  business  left  unfinished  in  the  morning  was  resumed,  and  after  a 
full  discussion  of  the  subject,  the  motion  to  sustain  the  appeal  of  the  Ses- 
sion of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  from  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  affirming  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, by  which  the  Presbytery  directed  the  said  Session,  within  twenty  days 
from  the  date  of  their  decision,  or  after  the  final  determination  of  the  case, 
to  convene  the  congregation  for  the  pui'pose  of  electing  a  Pastor,  was  deter- 
mined in  the  affirmative;  and  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  Neill,  and  Mr.  Richards  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  minute,  stating  the  principles  on  which 
the  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  statement  of  the  principles  and 
grounds  upon  which  the  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  the  Session  of 
the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  reported,  and  their  report  being 
read  and  amended,  was  adopted  in  the  words  following,  viz. 

"That  both  to  prevent  misapprehension  and  to  aid  the  congregations  and 
judicatures  of  this  Church  in  deciding  on  any  similar  cases  that  may  arise, 
the  Assembly  therefore  declare, 

"I.  That  in  vacant  congregations  which  are  fully  organized,  the  Session 
of  each  Congregation  are  to  determine,  under  their  responsibility  to  the 
higher  judicatures,  when  the  Congregation  are  prepared  to  elect  a  Pastor,  as 
directed  in  the  Form  of  Government  of  this  Church,  Chap.  xiv.  Sec.  1. 

"II.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Session  when  a  Congregation  is  vacant,  to 
use  their  best  endeavours  to  promote  the  settlement  of  a  Pastor  in  the  same, 
in  the  speediest  manner  possible,  consistently  with  the  peace,  order,  and 
edification  of  the  Congregation ;  and  it  is  the  privilege  of  the  people,  or  of 
any  portion  of  them,  to  complain  to  the  Presbytery  when  they  think  that 
the  Session,  after  being  suitably  requested,  neglect,  or  refuse  to  convene  the 
Congregation  to  elect  a  Pastor. 

"  III.  That  it  belongs  to  the  Presbyteries  to  take  cognizance  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Sessions  and  Congregations  in  the  important  concern  of  settling 
Pastors,  and  to  adopt  the  most  effectual  measures  on  the  one  hand  to  pre- 
vent all  undue  delay  by  the  Session,  or  the  people,  and  on  the  other,  to  pre- 
vent all  precipitancy  in  the  settlement  of  any  Minister,  or  the  adoption  of 
any  system  of  proceedings  in  the  Congregation  inconsistent  with  the  real 
and  permanent  edification  of  the  people. 

"IV.  That  by  the  due  and  discreet  observance  of  /these  principles  by  all 
concerned,  it  will  be  found  that  so  far  from  the  Session  of  a  Congregation 


Part  II.]  THE  MINISTRY.        ~  63 

havinpj  it  in  their  power  to  deprive  a  majority  of  a  Consrefration  of  their 
right  to  make  au  election  of  a  Pastor,  when  sought  in  an  orderly  and  Chris- 
tian manner,  or  to  keep  a  Congregation  unsettled  for  an  indefinite  length  of 
time,  the  rights  of  the  people  will  be  most  effectually  secured,  and  their 
precious  and  inalienable  privilege  of  choosing  their  own  Pastor  will  be  exer- 
cised by  them  in  the  shortest  period  which  their  own  real  benefit  will  per- 
mit. 

''V.  That  the  conviction  of  this  Assembly,  that  the  foregoing  obvious 
and  constitutional  principles  had  not  been  duly  adhered  to  in  the  case 
before  them;  that  the  Congregation  had  not  proceeded  with  a  suitable 
respect  for  the  Session,  and  that  the  Presbytery  did  not  adopt  the  most 
suitable  measure  when  they  advised  and  directed  the  Session  to  convene  the 
Congregation  in  twenty  days,  has  led  the  Assembly  to  sustain  this  appeal  as 
the  measure  most  constitutional,  best  calculated  on  the  whole  to  do  justice 
to  all  the  parties  concerned,  and  to  point  the  way  to  the  most  speedy  settle- 
ment of  the  unhappy  differences  and  disorders  which  have  so  long  existed 
in  the  particular  Congregation  immediately  concerned." — Minutes,  1814, 
p.  559. 

§  76.    Wlio  entitled  to  vote. 

^'Agreed,  That  none  be  allowed  to  vote  for  the  calling  of  a  Minister  but 
those  that  shall  contribute  for  the  maintenance  of  him,  and  that  the  major 
vote  of  those  shall  be  determinative." — Minutes,  1711,  p.  24. 

[See  above,  §  38.] 

§  77.  Call  not  allowed  till  dues  to  former  Pastor  are  paid. 
''  Overtured,  That  Mr.  Anderson,  according  to  his  desire,  be  left  at  his 
liberty  to  remove  from  New  York,  and  to  accept  of  a  call  from  any  other 
people,  as  Providence  may  determine;  and  the  Congregation  of  New  York 
be  at  liberty  to  call  another  Minister  in  an  orderly  way,  as  soon  as  they  shall 
pay  up  what  arrears  appear  justly  due  to  Mr.  Anderson." — Minutes,  1726, 
p.  83. 

§  78.   Pastor  and  Church  must  belong  to  the  same  Preshytery . 

"Overture  No.  19.  From  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington, 
asking  whether  a  Minister  who  is  a  member  of  one  Presbytery,  can  be  in- 
stalled as  Pastor  over  a  Church  in  another  Presbytery;  and  if  so,  what  are 
the  proceedings  proper  in  the  case.  The  committee  recommend  the  Assem- 
bly to  answer  that  he  should  not  be  installed  in  such  a  case.  Adopted." — 
Minutes,  1854,  p.  46. 

§  79.    Under  sjjecial  circumstances  the  j^astoral  relation  resulting  from  pre- 
scriptive exercise. 

"It  appears  evident  to  this  Synod,  that  Mr.  Tennent  having  in  all  respects 
acted,  and  been  esteemed,  and  looked  upon,  not  only  by  this  Synod,  but  also 
by  the  Congregation  of  Neshaminy,  and  particularly  by  the  appellants  them- 
selves, as  the'  Minister  and  Pastor  of  the  people  of  Neshaminy,  that  he  is 
still  to  be  esteemed  as  the  Pastor  of  that  people,  notwithstanding  the  want 
of  a  formal  instalment  among  them;  which  omission,  though  the  Synod  doth 
not  justify,  yet  it  is  far  from  nullifying  the  pastoral  relation  between  Mr. 
Tennent  and  said  people." — Minutes,  1736,  p.  127. 

§  80.   Installation  annulled  up>on  appeal. 

"  The  appeal  and  complaint  of  Thomas  Bradford,  and  others,  from  a  deci- 
sion of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  the  installation  pf 
Mr.  Dulfield,  were  taken  up.     The  appeal,  with  the  reasons  of  it,  and  all  the 


64  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

docunients  in  the  case  were  read.  The  parties  were  heard,  and  were  then 
considered  as  withdrawn  from  the  house.  The  roll  was  called  to  give  the 
members  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  opinion.  After  which,  the  final 
vote  was  taken,  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  were  sustained.  The  follow- 
ing resolution  was  then  adopted  as  explanatory  of  the  above  decision,  viz. 

"That  the  appeal  be  sustained,  and  the  acts  of  the  Presbytery  in  relation 
to  the  call  and  installation  of  Mr.  Duffieldj  be  and  they  hereby  are  reversed." 
— Minutes,  1885,  p.  83. 

§81.  Pastoral  duties. 

(a)  "That  in  the  discharge  of  pastoral  duties,  they  take  the  ixtmost  care 
that  the  word  of  God  be  known  and  understood  by  the  people,  and  that  for 
this  purpose,  in  their  public  instructions  the  practice  of  lecturing  on  certain 
portions  of  Holy  Scripture,  be  not  laid  aside,  but  rather  revived  and  increas- 
ed; that  they  endeavour,  where  it  is  prudent  and  practicable,  to  institute 
private  societies  f^r  reading,  prayer,  and  pious  conversation;  above  all  that 
they  be  faithful  in  the  duties  of  family  visitation,  and  the  catechetical  in- 
struction of  children  and  youth." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  182. 

(h)  "Upon  an  overture  to  the  Synod  in  pursuance  of  an  order  of  the 
committee  to  that  purpose,  viz.,  to  use  some  proper  means  to  revive  the  de- 
clining power  of  godliness,  the  Synod  do  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  our 
ministers  and  members,  to  take  particular  care  about  ministerial  visiting  of 
families,  and  press  family  and  secret  worship,  according  to  the  Westminster 
Directory,  and  that  they  also  recommend  it  to  every  Presbytery,  at  proper 
seasons  to  inquire  concerning  the  diligence  of  each  of  their  members  in  such 
particulars. 

"This  overture  was  approved,  nemine  contradicenfe." — Minutes,  1738, 
p.  105. 

(c)  Public  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 

"Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  do  hereby  enjoin  on  all  Ministers  of 
Churches  under  their  care,  a  strict  and  regular  observance  of  the  third 
Article  in  the  Directory  for  Public  Worship,  (page  424;)  and  they  further 
recommend  to  all  the  Presbyteries  in  connection  with  this  General  Assem- 
bly, that  they  inquire  at  least  once  in  every  year,  at  a  stated  meeting,  how 
far  the  regulations  in  said  Article  have  been  observed,  and  if  in  any  in- 
stances overlooked  or  neglected,  that  they  take  measures  to  have  the  same 
properly  observed  " — Minutes,  1839,  p.  166. 

§  82.    Translation  of  Pastors. 

[Originally  the  Constitution  (Chap.  xvi.  §  2,)  required  in  all  cases  citation  of  parties, 
and  consequent  postponement  until  a  subsequent  meeting  of  Presbytery.  In  1805  it  waa 
modified  so  as  to  read  as  at  present — "If  the  parties  be  not  prepared  to  have  the  matter 
issued  at  that  Presbytery,  a  written  citation  shall  be  given  to  the  Minister,  &c."  In  pro- 
posing this  change  the  Assembly  accompanied  it  by  the  explanatory  note — "This  amend- 
ment is  intended  to  provide,  that  consent  of  parties  shall  shorten  the  constitutional  pro- 
gress for  translating  a  Minister." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  305;  1805,  p.  332.] 

§  83.   Dissolution  of  pastoi'al  relation. 

"It  is  contrary  to  Chapter  xvii.  of  the  Form  of  Government,  for  a  Pres- 
bytery to  dissolve  the  connection  between  a  Minister  and  his  Congregation 
at  the  time  when  he  presents  his  request  for  its  dissolution,  and  the  Congre- 
gation joins  issue  by  commissioners  duly  appointed  for  that  purpose? 

"licsolred,  That  it  is  not  expedient  for  this  Assembly  to  give  a  decided 
answer  to  the  question;  but  leave  every  Presbytery  to  act  according  to  their 
own  discretion  in  the  premises." — Mitnttes,  1882,  p.  884. 

■[A  comparison  of  the  preceding  section,  will  lead  to  the  conclusion,  that,  as  in  that,  so 
in  this  case  some  delay  was  intended,  and  as  this  Chapter  on  dissolving  the  pastoral  rela- 


Part  II.]  THE   MINISTRY.  65 

tion  remains  unaltered  the  postponement  is  still  required.     Consent  of  parties  is  not 
allowed  to  facilitate  the  process.] 

Title  4. — Stated  Supplies. 

§  84.    The  system  of  Stated  Supplies  disapproved. 

(a)  ^'Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  the  Presbyteries  to  take  such 
measures  as  they  may  deem  expedient  for  forming  the  pastoral  relation,  in 
a  regular  manner,  in  all  cases  where  Churches  are  now  served  by  Stated  Sup- 
plies, unless  there  be  special  reasons  to  the  contrary;  of  which  reasons  the 
Presbytery  is  required  to  judge,  and  to  make  their  judgment  matter  of 
record  on  their  minutes." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  36. 

(h)  ^'Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  the  Presbyteries  to  take  early 
and  efficient  measures  for  terminating,  as  far  as  possible,  the  growing  evil 
of  the  system  of  Stated  Supplies,  and  for  leaving  all  our  Churches  to  seek 
the  regular  installation  of  their  stated  teachers  as  Pastors,  in  the  full  sense 
of  the  term,  as  used  in  our  Form  of  Grovernment." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  177. 
[See  below,  §  92,  VI.] 

Title  5. — Chaplains. 

§  85.    Chaplains  in  the  Army. 

(a)  "Application  was  made  to  the  Synod  by  Mr.  Beatty  desiring  to  know 
their  mind  with  respect  to  his  going  Chaplain  to  the  forces  that  may  be 
raised  in  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  if  he  shall  by  the  Grovernment  be 
called  to  that  service.  The  Synod  do  judge  it  to  be  his  duty,  and  in  that 
case  do  appoint  their  several  Presbyteries  to  provide  supplies  for  Mr. 
Beatty's  Congregation." — Minutes,  1756,  p.  275.     Eepeated,  1758,  p.  282. 

(b)  "'Tis  allowed  that  Messrs.  Alexander  McDowell,  and  Hector  Alison 
go  as  Chaplains  to  the  Pennsylvania  forces,  and  that  Mr.  Kirkpatriek  go 
with  the  New  Jersey  forces  the  ensuing  campaign." — Mimites,  1760,  p.  802. 

(r)  [The  First  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  reported  that  they]  "have 
ordained  Mr.  Israel  Evans  and  Mr.  William  Linn,  to  qualify  them  to  act  as 
Chaplains  in  the  army,  to  which  they  had  been  appointed." — Minutes,  1776, 
p.  472. 

(rf)  [In  1777,  Mr.  Robert  Keith  was  ordained  to  the  same  service.] — Minutes,  p.  477. 

(c)  "  By  the  report  now  made  by  the  New  Castle  Presbytery,  it  appears 
that  there  was  a  mistake  in  the  report  of  last  year,  respecting  Mr.  Arm- 
strong's ordination;  that  he  was  not  ordained,  sine  tituJo;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  his  having  accepted  a  Chaplaincy  in  the  army." — Minutes,  1779, 
p.  484. 

§  86.  Naval  Chaplains. 

"  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  propriety  of 
their  ordaining  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  a  licentiate  under  their 
care,  who  now  holds  the  office  of  Chaplain  in  the  nav^y  of  the  United  States, 
was  considered,  whereupon  the  Assembly, 

'■'■Resolved,  That  this  judicature  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  feels  a  deep 
and  lively  interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  mariners  of  this  country; 
and  especially  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  naval  service  of  our  Union ; 
and  that  the  Assembly  therefore  will  rejoice  if  any  Presbytery  under  its 
care  has  the  opportunity  of  ordaining  any  well  qualified  persons,  men  of 
piety  and  learning,  with  a  view  to  their  rendering  permanent  ministerial 
services  to  large  Congregations  of  our  fellow  citizens  who  dwell  in  ships  of 
war." — Minutes,  1826,  p.  14. 


66  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

§  87.  A  Chaplain  may  not  at  the  same  time  hold  a  pastoral  charge.       ^ 

"A  case  of  conscience  was  put;  viz.,  Whether  a  Minister  having;  connec- 
tion with  any  part  of  his  majesty's  regular  forces  as  their  Chaplain,  and 
receiving  the  salary  or  any  part  thereof,  as  such,  may  or  ought  to  accept  of 
a  stated  pastoral  relation  to  any  Congregation?  Which  question  was 
answered  in  the  negative." — Mimites,  1759,  p.  294. 

Title  6. — Evaxgelists. 
[That  the  office  of  Evangelist  is  a  permanent  one  in  the  Church,  see  below,  §  92,  IX.] 
§  88.    Ordination  to  the  office  approved. 

(a)  "Is  it,  or  is  it  not  in  accordance  with  the  principles  and  practice  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  to  ordain  Evangelists  to  labour  in  fields  having 
feeble  Churches  which  are  not  able  to  support  a  Pastor,  and  are  too  remote 
conveniently  to  secure  the  services  of  an  ordained  minister?'' 

''To  ordain  Evangelists  under  the  specified  circumstances  is  in  accordance 
with  the  practice  of  the  Church,  and  is  no  infraction  of  any  of  its  laws." 
— Minutes,  1850,  p.  454. 

(6)  [A  request  being  made  that]  ''The  Synods  of  Virginia  and  the  Caro- 
linas  have  liberty  to  direct  their  Presbyteries  to  ordain  such  candidates  as 
they  may  judge  necessary  to  appoint  on  missions  to  preach  the  gospel; — 

Resolved,  That  the  above  request  be  granted;  the  Synods  being  careful 
to  restrict  the  permission  to  the  ordination  of  such  candidates  only  as  are 
engaged  to  be  sent  on  missions." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  98. 

Title  7. — Ministers  without  Charge. 

§  89.  Neglecters  of  their  ministry  disowned  hy  the  General  Synod. 

"Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Stevenson  has  from  time  to  time,  and  for  years  past, 
neglected  attending  on  our  judicatures,  and  also  omitted  his  ministry  with- 
out giving  us  any  reasons  for  his  said  conduct,  it  is  therefore  agreed,  that 
his  name  shall  be  struck  out  of  our  records,  till  he  come  before  us  and  give 
an  account  of  his  proceedings." — Minutes,  1741,  p.  156. 

[For  other  examples,  see  Mimdes,  1751,  p.  200;  1761,  p.  307;  1763,  p.  323;  &c.] 

§  90.   Principles  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  suhject. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  this  Church  that  no  Minister  of 
the  gospel  can  be  regularly  divested  of  his  office  except  by  a  course  of  disci- 
pline, terminating  in  his  deposition;  that  if  any  Minister,  by  providential 
circumstances,  become  incapable  of  exercising  his  ministerial  functions,  or 
is  called  to  suspend  them,  or  to  exercise  them  only  occasionally,  he  is  still 
to  be  considered  as  possessing  the  ministerial  character  and  privileges;  and 
his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery  are  to  inspect  his  conduct;  and  while  they 
treat  him  with  all  due  tenderness  and  sympathy,  they  are  to  be  careful  that 
he  do  not  neglect  ministerial  duty  beyond  what  his  circumstances  render 
unavoidable;  that  if  any  3Iinister  of  the  gospel,  through  a  worldly  spirit,  a 
disrelish  for  the  duties  of  his  office,  or  any  other  criminal  motive,  become 
negligent  or  careless,  he  is  by  no  means  to  be  suftered  to  pursue  this  course, 
so  as  at  length  to  be  permitted  to  lay  aside  the  ministry  without  censure; 
because  this  would  be  to  encourage  a  disregard  of  the  most  solemn  obliga- 
tions, by  opening  a  way  to  escape  from  them  with  impunity.  But  in  all 
such  cases.  Presbyteries  are  seasonably  to  use  the  means  and  pursue  the 
methods  pointed  out  in  the  word  of  God  and  the  rules  of  this  Church,  to 
recall  their  olfending  brother  to  a  sense  of  duty;  and  if  all  their  endeavours 


Part  II.]  THE    MINISTRY.  67 

be  inefFectual,  tliey  are  at  lengtli  regularly  to  exclude  or  depose  liim  from 
his  office. 

"  If  any  cases  or  questions  relative  to  tliis  subject  arise  in  Presbyteries, 
which  are  not  contemplated  by  the  provisions  of  this  rule,  such  cases  or 
questions  should  be  referred  to  the  General  Assembly  for  a  special  deci- 
sion."— Minutes,  1802,  p.  258.  Republished  and  enjoined,  3Iinutes,  1839, 
p.  173. 

(6)  ^'When  Ministers  have  withdrawn,  or  may  hereafter  withdraw,  wholly 
or  in  part,  from  the  work  of  the  ministry,  it  is  enjoined  upon  the  Presbyte- 
ries to  which  they  belong,  to  require  of  such  Ministers  their  reasons  for  so 
doing,  which  reasons  are  to  be  put  upon  record  by  the  Presbytery,  with  an 
expression  of  their  approbation  or  disapprobation  of  the  same." — Minutes, 
1834,  p.  36. 

§  91.  Non-resident  Ministers. 

"  The  Committee  on  Bills,  and  Overtures  reported  Overture  No.  6,  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  in  relation  to  the  residence  of  Ministers  within 
the  bounds  of  Presbyteries  to  which  they  do  not  belong. 

"  The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted,  referring  the  memorialists  to 
the  previous  action  of  the  Assembly  as  satisfactory,  viz.  Minutes  of  1836, 
page  272 — 

<'  ^Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  the  Presbyteries  to  inquire  carefully 
in  regard  to  any  of  their  members,  who  may  be  residing  without  the  bounds 
of  their  respective  Presbyteries,  whether  there  be  sufficient  cause  for  such 
non-residence;  and  if  not,  that  measures  be  taken  to  transfer  the  relation  of 
such  Ministers  to  the  Presbyteries  in  the  bounds  of  which  they  reside.' 
Minutes  of  1842,  p.  29 — '  Permanent  ministerial  connection  with  any  Pres- 
bytery, except  that  in  whose  bounds  the  individual  lives,  is  irregular  and 
disorderly,  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed.'  " — Minutes,  1853,  p.  434. 

§  92.  A  full  minute  on  neglect  of  the  worh  of  the  ministry. 

"The  Moderator  of  the  last  General  Assembly  [Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge] 
submitted  to  the  Committee  of  Overtures  a  minute  in  regard  to  hasty  ordi- 
nation of  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  to  unauthorized  demission  of  their 
covenanted  employment  by  Ministers;  which  that  Committee  reported  to 
the  Assembly,  (Overture  No.  11,  p.  423,  printed  Minutes  of  1841,)  and 
which  being  considered,  was  referred  to  a  select  Committee,  (p.  425,)  the 
report  of  which,  together  with  the  original  minute,  was,  by  order  of  the 
Assembly,  (p.  447,)  referred  to  another  select  Committee,  which  was 
directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly  of  1842;  which  last  named  committee, 
having  considered  the  subject,  submit  the  following  minute  as  their  report, 
viz. 

"I.  That  as  persons  are  liable  to  mistake  their  calling,  and  as  the  office  of 
the  ministry  is,  by  God's  institution,  a  permanent  one,  which  cannot  be  laid 
aside  at  pleasure,  Presbyteries  ought  to  exercise  great  caution  in  ordaining 
IMinistevs  of  the  gospel.  And  they  are  hereby  enjoined,  not  to  ordain  any 
one  to  the  pastoral  office,  until  full  proof  has  been  made  of  him,  as  a  licen- 
tiate, by  the  Presbyteiy  that  ordains  him. 

"  11.  As  one  great  evidence  of  a  divine  call  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
is  the  call  of  a  particular  Congregation,  it  is  especially  necessary  to  use  great 
caution  in  ordinations,  sine  tituJo;  and  the  Presbyteries  are  enjoined  not  to 
proceed  to  such  ordinations,  except  in  the  cases  provided  for  in  our  Form  of 
Government. 

"  III.  That  the  Presbyteries  are  specially  enjoined  not  to  ordain  their 


68  CHURCH  OFFICERS :  [Book  II. 

licentiates  when  tliey  are  about  to  remove  into  the  bounds  of  other  Presby- 
teries, but  to  dismiss  them  as  licentiates. 

"  IV.  That,  as  intimately  connected  with  this  subject,  Presbyteries  ought 
to  have  a  special  oversight  of  the  settlement  of  Ministers  in  vacant  churches, 
as  by  the  word  of  Grod,  and  the  standards  of  the  Church,  they  are  empowered 
and  directed.  And  that  in  all  such  settlements,  it  is  in  itself  right,  and 
would  tend  to  establish  proper  order,  and  the  due  supervision  of  Presbyteries, 
and  to  break  up  irregular  influences  and  residences,  that  vacant  churches 
should  apply  to  their  own  Presbyteries  for  supplies. 

"  V.  That  permanent  ministerial  connection  with  any  Presbytery  except 
that  in  whose  bounds  the  individual  lives,  is  irregular  and  disorderly,  and 
ought  not  to  be  allowed.  But  where  the  residence  is  not  in  the  bounds  of 
any  of  our  Presbyteries,  (as  in  the  case  of  foreign  missionaries,)  the  connec- 
tion may  be  with  either  of  them. 

"  VI.  That  the  relation  of  Stated  Snpph/,  which  has  grown  up  between 
many  of  our  Churches  and  Ministers,  is  unknown  in  our  system,  and  tends 
to  disorder  and  injury  in  many  ways.  The  Presbyteries  are  therefore 
directed  to  supplant  it,  as  far  as  possible,  in  all  cases,  by  the  regular  pastoral 
relation ;  and  to  discountenance  it  as  a  permanent  relation. 

''VII.  That  those  Ministers  who  give  up  the  regular  and  stated  work  of 
the  gospel  ministry  as  their  main  work,  except  it  be  for  reasons  satisfactory 
to  their  Presbyteries,  should  be  called  to  an  account  by  the  Presbyteries  to 
which  they  belong,  and  dealt  with  according  to  the  merits  of  their  respective 
cases.  And  the  justifiable  cause  for  which  any  minister  gives  up  his  work, 
should  be  stated  on  the  Minutes  of  his  Presbytery  at  the  time,  with  the 
approval  of  the  body. 

"VIII.  That  all  our  Presbyteries  be  directed,  at  their  first  stated  meet- 
ing after  the  rising  of  this  Assembly,  to  require  such  Ministers  in  their 
bounds  as  are  not  regularly  engaged  in  their  covenanted  work,  as  their  chief 
business,  to  give  an  account  of  themselves :  and  the  Presbyteries  shall  take 
such  order  in  the  premises  as  is  consistent  with  this  minute,  and  report 
their  doings  specially  to  their  respective  Synods,  and  to  the  next  Assembly. 

"IX.  The  whole  object  of  this  action  is  to  enforce  the  true  principles  of 
our  standards,  in  regard  to  the  calling  and  work  of  the  gospel  ministry;  and 
to  correct  errors  and  irregularities  which  have  sprung  up  in  various  places. 
And  for  effectual  reform  in  the  premises,  the  whole  subject  is  commended 
to  the  special  attention  of  all  our  Synods  and  Presbyteries.  And  nothing 
herein  is  to  be  construed  as  any  disparagement  of  the  true  office  and  work 
of  an  Evangelist,  which  is  scriptural,  permanent,  and  most  important;  and 
on  that  very  account  the  more  carefully  to  be  giuirded,  lest  it  become  a  pre- 
text and  covering  for  deceived  persons,  or  for  intruders  into  the  holy  work 
of  the  gospel  ministry. 

"X.  Resolved,  That  it  be  referred  to  the  Presbyteries,  whether  the  fol- 
lowing Section  shall  be  added  to  the  15th  Chapter  of  our  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, viz. 

"The  office  of  a  Minister  of  the  gospel  is  perpetual,  and  cannot  be  laid 
aside  at  pleasure;  yet  any  Minister  may,  with  the  permission  of  his  Presby- 
tery, demit  the  exercise  of  his  office;  and  when  any  Minister  has  thus  demit- 
ted  the  exercise  of  his  office,  he  shall  not  be  permitted  to  sit  as  a  member 
of  any  of  our  ecclesiastical  judicatories.  And  any  Minister  having  so 
demitted  the  exercise  of  his  office,  nuiy,  on  personal  application  to  the  Pres- 
bytery which  allowed  him  to  demit  it,  if  said  Presbytery  think  proper,  be 
by  it  restored  to  the  exercise  thereof,  and  to  all  the  rights  incident  thereto." 
— 3Iinules,  1842,  p.  28. 


Part  II.]  THE    MINISTRY.  69 

Title  8. — Miscellaneous  decisions  respecting  the  Ministry. 

§  93.  Are  Ministers  to  he  enrolled  as  members  of  'particular  Congregations? 

"From  the  Presbytery  of  Miami  the  question,  Whether  ordained  Minis- 
ters of  the  gospel  ought  not  to  be  considered  church  members;  and  to  have 
their  names  enrolled  on  the  sessional  records  of  the  Church  where  they  are 
settled  as  Pastors  or  stated  supplies  ? — which  question  the  committee  recom- 
mended to  be  answered  in  the  negative.  After  debate  the  recommendation 
was  adopted." — Minutes,  184:.3,  p.  176. 

§  94.  May  a  Minister  liold  a  civil  office? 

''The  Committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  communication  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Ohio,  respecting  the  Rev.  Boyd  Mercer,  and  his  letter  to  the 
Moderator  of  the  Assembly,  exhibited  their  report. 

"  The  report  having  been  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows, 
viz. 

"  With  respect  to  the  abstract  question,  whether  the  tenure  of  a  civil 
office  be  or  be  not  incompatible  with  that  of  the  holy  ministry ;  the  Assem- 
bly is  of  opinion  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  in  the  Con- 
stitution, acts,  or  proceedings  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United 
States,  expressly  prohibitory  of  such  union  of  offices. 

"  With  respect  to  the  particular  case  referred  to  their  consideration,  as 
Mr.  Mercer,  in  his  letter,  expressly  asserts  that  it  is  not  his  intention  to 
decline  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  and  that  he  was  led  to  devote  him- 
self, for  the  present,  to  the  functions  of  an  Associate  Judge,  by  a  state  of 
health  so  infirm  as  to  interrupt  the  regular  discharge  of  his  public  duties  as 
a  Minister  of  religion;  your  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  the  Presbytery 
of  Ohio  ought  not  to  censure  him,  unless  there  be  some  circumstances  in 
the  case  unknown  to  the  Assembly. 

"That  none,  however,  may  so  far  misconstrue  these  sentiments  as  to  per- 
suade themselves  that  they  countenance  a  covetous,  ambitious  spirit,  your 
committee  further  'beg  leave  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  cautioning  your 
clergy  against  worldly-mindedness;  of  exhorting  them  not  to  aspire  after 
places  of  emolument  or  civil  distinction;  of  reminding  them  that  the  care  of 
souls  is  their  peculiar  business,  and  that  they  who  serve  at  the  altar  ought, 
as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  temporal  avocations." — Minutes,  1806,  p.  363. 
Reaffirmed,  Minutes,  1808,  p.  399. 

§  95.    Travelling  Ministers. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  request  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Hartford  for  the  revision  of  the  Act  of  Assembly  of  1702,  in 
relation  to  itinei'ating  clergymen,  made  the  following  report,  which  being 
read,  was  agreed  to,  and  confirmed  by  the  Assembly. 

"Resolved,  That  on  examining  the  act  referred  to  above,  comprising  the 
regulations  that  are  to  be  observed  by  the  Churches  in  connection  with  the 
Assembly  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  on  this  subject,  the 
Assembly  perceive  no  ground  for  further  interference  in  this  matter.  So 
far  as  regards  Ministers  not  in  connection  with  either  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  or  with  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  the  Assembly  are 
of  opinion  that  as  their  regulations  cannot  apply  to  such  Ministers,  the  seve- 
ral Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  must  exercise  their 
own  Christian  prudence  and  caution  in  admitting  Ministers  of  this  descrip- 
tion to  preach  to  the  Congregations  within  their  respective  bounds." — Min- 
utes, 1809,  p.  422. 


70  CHURCH  OFFICERS:  [Book  II. 

§  96.  Removal  without  leave  of  Presbytery. 

(a)  ^'Mr.  John  Cross  has,  without  the  concurrence  of  the  Presbj'tery,  re- 
moved from  one  Congregation  to  another.  The  Synod  do  dechire  that  the 
conduct  of  such  Ministers  *  *  *  that  take  the  charge  of  any  Congregation 
without  the  Presbytery's  concurrence,  to  be  disorderly,  and  justly  worthy  of 
Presbyterial  censure,  and  do  admonish  said  Mr.  Cross,  to  be  no  further 
chargeable  with  such  irregularities  for  the  future." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  115. 

(J))  "Considering  that  the  circumstances  which  urged  him  to  take  the 
method  he  used  were  very  pressing,  and  that  it  was  indeed  almost  impracti- 
cable to  him  to  apply  for  the  consent  of  Presbytery  or  Synod,  in  the  orderly 
way,  and  further,  being  persuaded  that  Mr.  Alison's  being  employed  in  such 
a  station  in  the  Academy  has  a  favourable  aspect  in  several  respects,  and  a 
very  probable  tendency  not  only  to  promote  the  good  of  the  public,  but  also 
of  the  Church ;  as  he  may  be  serviceable  to  the  interests  thereof  in  teaching 
philosophy  and  divinity,  as  far  as  his  obligations  to  the  academy  will  permit, 
we  judge  that  his  proceedings  in  said  afiair,  are  in  a  great  measure  excusa- 
ble. Withal  the  Synod  advises,  that  for  the  future,  its  members  be  very 
cautious,  and  guard  against  such  proceedings  as  are  contrary  to  our  known 
approved  methods  in  such  cases." — Minutes,  1752,  p.  206. 

§  97.  xL  Minister  may  be  prohibited  preaching  in  a  given  place. 

[See  Book  VI.,  §  3,  S.] 
(a?)  '■^Resolved,  That  as  Mr.  Clapp  was  merely  a  stated  supply  of  the 
Church  in  New  Orleans,  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi  had  a  right,  and  it 
was  their  duty,  under  existing  circumstances,  to  adopt  measures  to  detach 
him  from  said  Congregation." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  192. 

(b)  "The  Presbytery  of  Peoria  are  censurable  for  not  calling  Mr.  Kellar 
to  order  when  he  disregarded  their  advice  to  desist  from  preaching  in  the 
town  of  Peoria." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  302. 

(c)  *  *  "And  that  it  be  enjoined  on  him  [Mr.  Davies]  not  to  resume  his 
labours  in  the  free  school  house,  No.  79,  without  the  consent  of  his  Presby- 
tery."—J/t?m<es,  1849,  p.  264. 

Title  9. — Demission  of  the  Ministry. 

§  98.  It  is  disallou'ed. 

[The  article  recited  above,  §  92,  X.,  proposing  to  authorize  the  demission  of  the  minis- 
try for  sufficient  reasons,  received  a  vote  of  thirt}'  Presbyteries  in  the  affirmative,  to  twen- 
ty-nine negatives. —  (Mmtitcs,  184.3,  p.  18.5.)  There  not  being  a  majority  of  all  the 
Presbyteries  in  the  (vhiirch,  the  matter  was  dropped.  The  following  instances  will  show 
the  olden  practice.] 

§  99.  Demission  for  mental  incompetence. 
"There  being  from  time  to  time  complaints  of  the  weakness  and  defi- 
ciency of  Mr.  Robert  Laing,  rendering  his  exercise  of  the  ministerial  func- 
tion a  detriment  to  the  interest  of  religion,  and  rather  a  scandal  than  an  help 
to  the  gospel;  the  Synod  advised  hiui  to  demit  the  whole  exercise  of  the 
ministry,  and  not  to  take  it  vip  again  but  by  the  approbation  of  at  least  three 
Ministers  of  the  Presbytery  wherein  he  may  reside;  the  said  Mr.  Laing  did 
quietly  and  humbly  acquiesce  in  the  aforesaid  advice.  And  there  being  a 
motion  made,  that  in  case  Mr.  Laing  should  remove  unto  some  place  in  the 
skirts  of  the  Synod,  so  that  the  commissioners  may  not  be  apprized  of  his 
circumstances  in  order  to  his  relief,  should  there  be  need  of  it,  that  any 
member  or  members  of  the  Synod  administering  to  his  necessities  in  a  pru- 
dent way,  (wherein  they  shall  be  accountable  to  the  Synod,)  may  be  reim- 
bursed by  the  Synod;  the  said  motion  was  approved  of  by  the  Synod,  the 


Part  II.]  THE   MINISTRY.  71 

said  Mr.  Laing  bringing  with  him  such  credentials  as  may  testify  of  his 
good  moral  behaviour.  And  the  Synod  did,  for  the  present,  in  testimony 
of  their  compassion,  give  him  out  of  the  fund  the  sum  of  forty  shillings." — 
Minutes,  1726,  p.  84. 

§  100.  Demission  on  account  ofhodilij  affliction. 

(a)  "  The  Presbytery  of  New  York  report,  that  the  Rev.  jMr.  William 
Woodhull,  one  of  their  members,  appeared  before  them  at  their  last  meeting, 
and  stated  to  them  his  situation,  as  being  still  incapable  of  exercising  his 
ministry  by  his  continued  indisposition,  and  the  little,  or  rather  no  proba- 
bility of  his  ever  being  able  to  attempt  the  exercise  of  it  in  future,  and  that 
he  was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  certain  secular  employments  that  would 
seem  to  render  it  improper  to  have  his  name  in  their  records  as  a  member, 
while  he  is  incapable  of  attending  their  meetings,  or  discharging  any  of  the 
great  duties  of  his  ministry,  and  therefore  submits  to  them  the  propriety  of 
their  continuing  and  considering  him  as  a  member  from  time  to  time;  and 
that  the  Presbytery,  on  considering  his  situation,  thought  it  best  to  leave 
his  name  out  of  their  records  in  future,  till  he  shall  be  able  to  return  to  the 
exercise  of  his  ministry,  an  event  that  would  give  them  great  pleasure. 

"The  Synod  considered  the  above  report,  and  are  of  opinion,  that  Mr. 
"Woodhull  ought  to  be  continued  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
and  therefore  direct  that  Presbytery  to  insert  his  name  in  their  roll." — 
Minutes,  1783,  p.  497. 

(6)  "  In  consequence  of  Mr.  Joseph  Montgomery's  having  informed  them 
[the  New  Castle  Presbytery]  that  through  bodily  indisposition  he  was  inca- 
pable of  officiating  in  the  ministry,  and  having  also  accepted  an  office  under 
the  civil  authority,  they  have  left  his  name  out  of  their  records." 

"  The  Synod  disapprove  of  the  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle, 
in  striking  the  name  of  Mr.  Montgomery  off  their  roll  for  the  reasons  given 
in  their  report;  neither  of  which,  nor  both  together,  seem  to  be  sufficient; 
and  in  future  recommend  to  all  Presbyteries,  when  any  Ministers  under 
their  inspection  resign  their  charge,  or  discontinue  the  exercise  of  their 
office  while  they  remain  in  the  same  bounds,  to  pass  a  regular  judgment 
on  the  reasons  given  for  such  conduct;  and  continue  their  inspection  of 
those  who  shall  not  have  deserved  to  be  deprived  of  the  ministerial  charac- 
ter, though  they  may  be  laid  aside  from  immediate  usefulness." — Minutes, 
1785,  pp'T  507  and  510. 

(c)  "By  a  report  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes,  it  appeared  that  a  Min- 
ister, heretofore  a  member  of  that  Presbytery,  had  been  declared  to  be  no 
longer  a  member  thereof;  and  as  the  Assembly  were  informed,  is  considered 
by  them  as  divested  of  the  ministerial  office,  and  this  without  deposition, 
suspension,  or  censure;  wherefore, 

^^ Resolved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  this  Church,  that  no  Minister  of  the 
gospel  can  be  regularly  divested  of  his  office  except  by  a  course  of  discipline, 
terminating  in  his  deposition.  That  if  any  Minister,  by  providential  cir- 
cumstances, become  incapable  of  exercising  his  ministerial  functions,  or  is 
called  to  suspend  them,  or  to  exercise  them  only  occasionally,  he  is  still  to 
be  considered  as  possessing  the  ministerial  character  and  privileges;  and  his 
brethren  of  the  Presbytery  are  to  inspect  his  conduct;  and  while  they  treat 
him  with  due  tenderness  and  sympathy,  they  are  to  be  careful  that  he  do 
not  neglect  his  ministerial  duty,  beyond  what  his  circumstances  render 
unavoidal)le." — Minutes,  1802,  p.  258. 

§  101.    Tlte  Scotch  doctrine  on  the  suljecf. 

[After  denouncing  deposition  against  immoral  Ministers,  it  is  added] — "These  also 
who  are  ahogetiier  found  insufHcient  to  execute  their  charge,  should  be  deposed;  whereot 


72  CHURCH   OFFICERS — THE   MINISTRY.  [Book  II. 

other  kirks  should  be  advertised,  that  they  receive  not  the  persons  deposed.  Yet  they 
ought  not  to  he  deposed,  who,  through  age,  sickness,  or  other  accidents,  become  unmeet 
to  do  their  office;  in  which  case  their  honour  should  remain  to  them,  their  kirk  should 
maintain  thera,  and  others  ought  to  be  provided  to  do  their  office." — Second  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline,  Chap.  vii.  §§  2.5,  26. 

Title  10. — Names  of  Honour. 
§  102.    The  Htir  of  Bishop. 

[The  clerk  having  adopted  the  title  "  Bishop"  as  the  designation  of  the  ministerial  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted:] 

"Besolvrd,  That  the  word  'Minister'  be  substituted  for  the  word  'Bishop/ 
in  preparing  the  Minutes." — Minutes,  1846,  p.  189. 

§  103.    The  first  Doctor  of  Divinity  in  our  Church. 

"A  letter  was  ordered  to  be  wrote  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Leechman, 
Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  which  was  done,  and  is 
as  follows : 

"Philadelphia,  May  29th,  1758. 

"Very  Reverend  Sir, — Though  we  have  not  the  honour  of  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  you,  yet  your  distinguished  character  and  praises  in  the 
Churches  of  Christ,  and  eminent  station  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  are 
well  known  to  us,  and  to  the  Churches  in  these  American  colonies,  and  we 
would  much  esteem  a  correspondence  with  you,  if  your  more  important 
affairs  might  allow  it.  We  presume  to  give  you  this  trouble  now,  request- 
ing you  to  accept  for  yourself,  and  to  present  to  the  learned  Professors  of  the 
University  our  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  late  mark  of  your  regard 
to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Francis  Alison,  a  member  of  this  Synod,  in  conferring  a 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  on  him.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  good  charac- 
ter, of  public  spirit,  and  well  esteemed  as  a  preacher.  He  has  been  very  in- 
dustrious and  successful  in  promoting  learning  in  this  part  of  the  world,  both 
before  and  since  he  was  called  to  a  public  station  in  the  College  and  Acade- 
my in  this  city,  and  we  hope  he  will  ever  behave  so  as  to  deserve  your 
regard.  Such  honours  conferred  on  men  of  confessed  worth  here,  may  much 
encourage  learning  and  public  usefulness,  and  may  be  of  service  to  our 
Church,  as  we  have  another  [the  Episcopal]  denomination  among  us,  whose 
Ministers  are  frequently  honoured  with  such  titles.  We  shall  ever  think  it 
an  honour  to  our  Synod  to  enjoy  the  favour  of  that  University,  and  particu- 
larly of  Dr.  Leechman." — Minutes,  1758,  p.  230. 


BOOK    III. 
THE    ORDINANCES, 


INTRODUCTORY  TITLE. 

OF   THE    DISTRIBUTION    OF   ECCLESIASTICAL    FUNCTIONS. 

§1- 

[The  following  statement  from  the  Scots  Second  Book  of  Discipline,  indicates  the 
principles  regulating  the  distribution  of  the  various  functions  of  ecclesiastical  authority:] 

"The  Kirk  hath  a  certain  power  granted  by  God,  according  to  the  which  it  uses  a  pro- 
per jurisdiction  ami  government,  exercised  to  the  comfort  of  the  whole  Kirk.  This  power 
ecclesiastical  is  an  authority  granted  by  God  the  Father,  through  the  Mediator  Jesus 
Christ,  unto  his  Kirk  gathered;  and  having  ground  in  the  word  of  God  to  be  put  in  exe- 
cution by  them  unto  whom  the  spiritual  government  of  the  Kirk  by  lawful  calling  is  com- 
mitted. 

"  The  policy  of  the  Kirk,  flowing  from  this  power  is  an  order  or  form  of  spiritual  gov- 
ernment, which  is  exercised  by  the  members  appointed  thereto  by  the  word  of  God;  and 
therefore,  is  given  immediately  to  the  office  bearers,  by  whom  it  is  exercised,  to  the  good 
of  the  whole  body. 

"This  power  is  diversely  used;  for  sometime  it  is  severally  exercised,  chiefly  by  the 
teachers;  sometime  conjunctly,  by  mutual  consent  of  them  that  bear  the  office  and  charge, 
after  the  form  of  judgment.  The  former  is  commonly  called  Potestas  ordinis,  and  the  other 
Potestas  jurisdictionis." — Second  Book  of  Disc,  Chap.  i.  §§  4 — 7. 

§2. 

[Besides  the  ordinances  which  come  under  these  two  heads  of  authority,  there  are 
others  coming  under  the  designation  of  privilege,  which  are  common  to  private  Chris- 
tians. These  are  embodied  below,  in  Part  III.  So  far  as  any  of  them  are  dispensed 
either  occasionally  or  statedly  in  the  public  Congregation,  they  belong  to  the  potestas 
jurisdictionis,  being  under  the  direction  of  the  courts  of  the  Church,  subordinate  or 
supreme. 

The  subject  of  Revivals  as  a  corollary  to  the  ordinances,  and  involving  directions  for 
their  use  in  the  most  interesting  and  trying  circumstances,  is  assigned  to  Part  IV.] 


10 


PART  I. 


ORDINANCES    PERTAINING   TO    THE   POTESTAS 
ORDINIS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PREACHING. 

§  3.   Lay  j[)reac}unf]. 

(a)  ''Upon  information  that  David  Evan,  a  lay  pei'son,  hacl  taken  upon 
him  pviblicly  to  teach  or  preach  among  the  Welch  in  the  Great  Valley, 
Chester  county,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  said  Evan  had  done  very 
ill,  and  acted  irregularly  in  thus  inviuding  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  was 
thereupon  censured." — Minutes,  1710,  p.  17. 

(h)  "The  Assembly  disapprove  the  conduct  of  Mr.  McCalla,  in  preaching 
the  gospel  before  he  was  regularly  licensed." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  14. 

§  4.  Reading  sermons. 

(a)  "It  is  further  enjoined  that  all  our  Ministers  and  probationers  forbear 
reading  their  sermons  from  the  pulpit,  if  they  can  conveniently." — 3IinuteSf 
1761,  p.  309. 

(h)  "The  General  Assembly  has  reason  to  believe  that  the  practice  of 
reading  sermons  in  the  pulpit  is  greatly  on  the  increase  amongst  our  Minis- 
ters, and  being  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  not  the  best  method  of 
preaching  the  gospel,  it  hereby  recommends  the  discontinuance  of  the  prac- 
tice as  far  as  possible,  and  earnestly  exhorts  our  younger  Ministers  to  adopt 
a  different  method,  as  more  scriptural  and  effective." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  448. 

(c)  "Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  has  reason  to  believe  that  the 
practice  of  reading  sermons  in  the  pulpit  is  on  the  increase  amongst  our 
Ministers;  and  being  decidedly  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  the  most  effective 
and  acceptable  method  of  preaching  the  gospel;  therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  That  we  do  earnestly  repeat  the  recommendation  of  the  As- 
sembly of  1841,  that  this  practice  be  discontinued  as  far  as  practicable;  and 
affectionately  exhort  our  younger  Ministers  and  candidates  for  the  ministry 
to  adopt  a  different  method  as  more  scriptural  and  effective,  and  more  gene- 
rally acceptable  to  God's  peojjle." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  271. 

§  5.  ExTpository  i^reacJiincj. 

"  Overtured,  That  every  Minister  in  their  respective  Congregations  read 
and  comment  upon  a  chapter  of  the  Bible,  every  Lord's  day,  as  discretion 
and  circumstances  of  time,  place,  &c.,  will  admit."  [Adopted.] — Minutes, 
1707,  p.  10. 

§  6. 

^'Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  our  Ministers  to  give  particular 
attention  to  such  expository  preaching  as  shall  bring  the  great  doctrines  and 


Part  T.]  THE   SACRAMENTS.  75 

duties  of  the  gospel  clearly  before  the  minds  of  the  people  of  their  respective 
charges;  and  that  they  endeavour  so  to  arrange  this  course  of  instructions, 
that  all  the  various  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  as  set  forth  in  order,  in  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  shall  be  distinctly  presented  and  enforced." — Minutes, 
1838,  p.  39. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  SACRAMENTS. 

Title  1. — Of  their  Administration. 

§  7.    Where  there  is  no  Church  organized. 

"  It  was  moved  that  the  restriction  laid  by  the  last  General  Assembly  on 
our  missionaries,  which  confines  them  to  administer  the  ordinance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  such  places  only  where  there  are  Church  officers  regvdarly 
appointed,  be  repealed,  and  it  is  hereby  repealed  accordingly." — Minutes, 
1798,  p.  146. 

§  8.  Administered  hy  others  without  leave  of  the  Pastor  and  Session. 
''While  the  Assembly  as  a  general  principle,  disapprove  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments  by  one  of  their  Ministers  within  the  bounds  of  a 
Congregation  with  which  he  is  not  connected,  without  the  consent  of  the 
Minister  and  Session  of  said  Congregation;  yet  under  the  peculiar  local  cir- 
cumstances of  the  people  among  which  Mr.  McCalla  occasionally  adminis- 
tered ordinances,  the  Assembly  cannot  decide  that  he  deserves  censvire." — 
Minutes,  1824,  p.  222. 

§  9.  Antijyavhthajitist  admitted  to  occasional  communion. 

"A  letter  came  through  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  from  Bethuel 
Church,  Esq.,  inquiring  whether  he  may  be  admitted  to  occasional  commu- 
nion, whilst  he  has  scruples  concerning  infant  baptism. 

''The  letter  from  Bethuel  Church,  Esq.,  as  overtured  was  read,  and  the 
motion  formerly  made  thus  amended :  '  That  the  Session  of  the  Church  of 
Cambridge  be  permitted  to  receive  Mr.  Church  upon  satisfactory  evidence 
of  his  good  character,  his  scruples  notwithstanding* — was  taken  up  and 
agreed  to." — 3Iinutes,  1798,  pp.  145.  149. 

§  10.  Ba2)tism  l)y  an  impostor. 

"Whereas  a  certain  person  pretending  at  Egg  Harbour  to  be  a  Minister 
regidarly  ordained  among  the  Presbyterians,  under  that  character  baptized 
some  adults  and  infants,  and  it  appearing  to  the  Synod  that  his  pretences 
were  false,  having  at  that  time  no  license  or  ordination,  it  is  our  opin- 
ion that  all  the  gospel  ordinances  he  administered  under  that  false  and 
pretended  character  are  null  and  invalid." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1752,  p.  249. 

§  11.  By  a  suspended  Minister. 

"The  following  overture  was  presented  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 
viz.,  'Can  a  Presbytery  consistently  acknowledge  as  valid  the  ordinance  of 
baptism  as  administered  by  those  who  are  regularly  suspended  by  a  higher 
judicatory  of  the  Church '/ 

"  'If  not,  how  are  we  to  regard  the  baptism  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rians V  " 


76  POTESTAS   ORDINIS.  [Book  III. 

"  The  Assembly  resumed  the  considoratioii  of  the  report  of  the  committee 
on  the  overture  respecting  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians.  After  consider- 
able discussion,  the  report  of  the  committee  was.  adopted,  and  is  as  follows, 
viz. 

"1.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  Ministers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  when  regularly  suspended  by  the  competent  judicatories,  have  no 
right  to  exercise  the  functions  of  a  jNlinister  during  that  suspension. 

"  2.  That  while  those  persons  styling  themselves  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
tery were  under  suspension,  their  administrations  are  to  be  considered  as 
invalid ;  but  after  the  General  Assembly  have  declared  them  to  be  no  longer 
connected  with  our  Church,  their  administrations  are  to  be  viewed  in  the 
sftme  light  with  those  of  other  denominations  not  connected  with  our  body. 
This  decision  is  grounded  on  the  opinion  that  the  Act  of  the  Assembly  of 
1814  precluded  the  propriety  of  deposition,  or  any  other  process  in  the 
case." — Minutes,  1825,  pp.  263.  275. 

§  12.  Bij  a  deposed  Minister. 

"'Is  baptism,  administered  by  a  Minister  after  he  is  deposed  from  his 
office,  valid?'  " 

'■^Resolved,  That  in  answer  to  this  question,  the  Presbytery  be  referred  to 
Chap.  vii.  See.  1,  of  the  Directory  for  Public  Worship." — Minutes,  1819, 
p.  701. 

§  13.  Profane  admilnistration. 

^'Resolved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  this  Church  that  the  unworthiness  of 
the  Ministers  of  the  gospel  does  not  invalidate  the  ordinances  of  religion 
dispensed  by  them.  It  is  also  a  principle  that  as  long  as  any  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  is  acknowledged  by  us  as  a  Church  of  Christ,  we  ought 
to  hold  the  ordinances  dispensed  by  it  as  valid,  notwithstanding  the  unwor- 
thiness of  particular  ]Miuisters.  Yet,  inasmuch  as  no  general  rule  can  be 
made  to  embrace  all  circumstances,  there  may  be  irregularities  in  particular 
administrations  by  men  not  yet  divested  of  their  office,  either  in  this  or  in 
dther  Churches,  which  may  render  them  null  and  void.  But  as  these  irre- 
gularities must  often  result  from  circumstances  and  situations  that  cannot 
be  anticipated  and  pointed  out  in  the  rule,  they  must  be  left  to  be  judged 
of  by  the  prudence  and  wisdom  of  Church  Sessions,  and  the  higher  judica- 
tories to  which  they  may  be  referred.  In  such  cases,  it  may  advisable  to 
administer  the  ordinance  of  baptism  in  a  regular  manner,  where  a  profane 
exhibition  of  the  ceremony  may  have  been  attempted.  These  cases  and 
circumstances,  however,  are  to  be  inquired  into  by  the  Chuix-h  Sessions, 
and  referred  to  a  Presbytery  before  a  final  decision." — Minutes,  1790, 
p.  26. 

§  14.    Unitarian  haptism. 

"  'A  person  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  by  Dr.  Priestly  applied  for 
admission,  to  the  Lord's  table.  Shoiild  the  baptism  administered  by  Dr. 
Priestly,  then  a  L'nitarian,  be  considered  valid':" 

^'■Resolved,  That  this  question  be  answered  in  the  negative. 

"  In  the  present  state  of  our  country,  whilst  Unitarian  errors  in  various 
forms  are  making  their  insidious  approaches;  whilst  the  advocates  of  this 
heresy  in  many  cases  are  practising  a  system  of  concealment,  and  insinu- 
ating themselves  into  the  confidence  of  multitudes  who  have  no  suspicion  of 
their  defection  from  the  faith,  the  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
speak  without  reserve. 

*'  It  is  the  deliberate  and  unanimous  opinion  of  this  Assembly  that  those 


Part  I.]  THE   SACRAMENTS.  7T 

who  renounce  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  deny  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory  with  the  Father, 
cannot  be  recognized  as  Ministers  of  the  Gospel;  and  that  their  ministra- 
tions are  wholly  invalid." — Minutes,  1814,  p.  549. 

§  15.  Romish  Baptism. 

(a)  "  The  question  presented  to  this  Assembly  by  overture  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Ohio,  'Is  baptism  in  the  Church  of  Rome  valid?'  is  one  of  a 
very  grave  character,  and  of  deep  practical  importance.  The  answer  to  it 
must  involve  principles  vital  to  the  peace,  the  purity,  and  the  stability  of 
the  Church  of  God. 

"After  a  full  discussion,  carried  throixgh  several  days,  this  Assembly  has 
decided,  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote  [173  yeas  to  8  nays],  that  baptism  so 
administered  is  not  valid. 

(b)  "  Because,  since  baptism  is  an  ordinance  established  by  Christ  in  his 
Church,  (Form  Gov.  Chap,  vii.,  Matt,  sxviii.  19,  20,)  and  is  to  be  admin- 
istered only  by  a  Minister  of  Christ,  duly  called  and  ordained  to  be  a 
steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  (Directory,  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  1,)  it  follows 
that  no  rite  administered  by  one  who  is  not  himself  a  duly  ordained  Minis- 
ter of  the  true  Church  of  God  visible,  can  be  regarded  as  an  ordinance  of 
Christ,  whatever  be  the  name  by  which  it  is  called,  whatever  the  form 
employed  in  its  administration.  The  so-called  priests  of  the  Romish  com- 
munion are  not  Ministers  of  Christ,  for  they  are  commissioned  as  agents  of 
the  papal  hierarchy,  which  is  not  a  Church  of  Christ,  but  the  Man  of  Sin, 
apostate  from  the  truth,  the  enemy  of  righteousness  and  of  God.  She  has 
long  lain  under  the  curse  of  God,  who  has  called  his  people  to  come  out 
from  her,  that  they  be  not  partakers  of  her  plagues. 

(c)  "  It  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  the  Ilefoi'med  Churches,  that  the 
whole  papal  body,  though  once  a  branch  of  the  visible  Church,  has  long 
since  become  utterly  corrupt,  and  hopelessly  apostate.  It  was  a  conviction 
of  this  which  led  to  the  lieformation,  and  the  complete  separation  of  the 
Reformed  body  from  the  papal  communion.  Luther  and  his  coadjutors, 
being  duly  ordained  presbyters  at  the  time  when  they  left  the  Romish  com- 
munion, which  then,  though  fearfully  corrupt,  was  the  only  visible  Church 
in  the  countries  of  their  abode,  were  fully  authorized  by  the  word  of  God, 
to  ordain  successors  in  the  ministry,  and  so  to  extend  and  perpetuate  the 
Reformed  Churches  as  true  Churches  of  Christ:  while  the  contumacious 
adherence  of  Rome  to  her  corruptions,  as  shown  in  the  decisions  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  (which  she  adopts  as  authoritative,)  cuts  her  off  from  the 
visible  Church  of  Christ,  as  heretical  and  unsound.  This  was  the  opinion 
of  the  Reformers,  and  it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformed  Churches  to  this 
day.  In  entire  accordance  to  this  is  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  our  Church,  passed  in  1835,  (see  Minutes  of  General  Assembly,  vol.  8, 
p.'  33,)  declaring  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  an  apostate  body. 

(d)  "The  decision  by  the  Assembly  of  1835,  renders  the  return  of  a 
negative  to  the  inquiry  proposed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  indispensable 
on  the  ground  of  consistenet/;  unless  we  be  prepared  to  admit,  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  baptism  is  not 
an  ordinance  established  by  Christ  in  his  Church  exclusively,  and  that  it 
may  be  administered  by  an  agent  of  the  Man  of  Sin,  an  emissary  of  the 
prince  of  darkness;  that  it  may  be  administered  in  sport  or  in  blasphemy, 
and  yet  be  valid  as  though  administered  by  a  duly  commissioned  steward  of 
the  mystei'ies  of  God. 

(f)  "  Nor  can  it  be  urged  that  the  papal  hierarchy  is  improving  in  her 
character,  and  gradually  approximating  to  the  scriptural  standard.     She 


78  POTESTAS   ORDINIS.  [Book  III. 

claims  to  he  infalUlIe :  her  dogmas  she  pronmlcates  as  the  cloctriues  of 
heaven ;  and  she  pronounces  her  heaviest  anathema  apiinst  any  and  every 
man  who  questions  lier  authority,  and  refuses  to  bow  to  her  decisions.  She 
cannot  recede  from  the  <j,round  she  has  assumed.  She  has  adopted  as  her 
own,  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  degrade  the  word  of  God: 
which  claim  e((ual  authority  for  the  Apocrypha  as  for  the  New  Testament; 
and  which  declare  the  sense  held  and  taught  by  holy  mother  church,  on  the 
authority  of  tradition  and  of  the  Fathers,  to  be  the  true  and  only  sense  of 
Scripture.  All  who  deny  this  position,  or  who  question  her  authority,  she 
denounces  with  the  bitterest  curses. 

(/)  '*  She  thus  perverts  the  truth  of  God ;  she  rejects  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith ;  she  substitutes  human  merit  for  the  righteousness  of 
Christ ;  and  self-inflicted  punishment  for  gospel  repentance :  she  proclaims 
her  so-called  baptism  to  be  regeneration,  and  the  reception  of  the  conse- 
crated wafer  in  the  eucharist,  to  be  the  receiving  of  Christ  himself,  the 
source  and  fountain  of  grace,  and  with  him  all  the  grace  he  can  impart.  Is 
this  the  truth  ?  Is  reliance  on  this  system,  true  religion  ?  Can,  then,  the 
papal  body  be  a  Church  ? 

(^)  '^  The  Church,  (i.  e.  the  church  visible,)  as  defined  in  our  standards,  is 
the  whole  body  of  those  persons,  together  with  their  children,  who  make  pro- 
fession of  the  holy  religion  of  Christ,  and  of  submission  to  his  laws.  (Form 
Gov.  Chap.  ii.  Sec.  2.)  As  certainly  then,  as  the  dogmas  and  practices  of 
papal  Rome  are  not  the  holy  religion  of  Christ,  must  it  be  conceded,  that 
the  papal  body  is  not  a  Church  of  Christ  at  all ;  and  if  not,  then  her  agents, 
be  they  styled  priests,  bishops,  archbishops,  cardinals,  or  pope,  are  not  min- 
isters of  Christ  in  any  sense ;  for  they  have  no  connection  with  his  trae 
visible  Church ;  and  not  being  true  Ministers  of  Christ,  they  have  no  power 
to  administer  Christian  ordinances,  and  the  rite  they  call  baptism,  is  not,  in 
any  sense,  to  be  regarded  as  valid  Christian  baptism. 

(Ji)  '*  Further,  by  the  perverted  meaning  they  affix,  and  the  superstitious  ■ 
rites  they  have  superadded  to  the  ceremonies  they  perform  under  the  name 
of  baptism  and  the  eucharist,  the  symbolical  nature  and  true  design  of  both 
the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  are  lost  sight  of  and 
utterly  destroyed — so  that,  could  we  by  any  possibility  assign  to  her  the 
name  of  a  Church,  she  would  still  be  a  Church  without  the  two  grand  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel ;  she  neither  administers  Christian  baptism,  nor  cele- 
brates the  supper  of  our  Lord. 

(t)  "  Moreover,  since,  by  the  11th  canon  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  she 
declares  the  efficacy  of  her  ordinances  to  depend  upon  the  intention  of  the 
administrator,  no  man  can  know  with  certainty  that  her  form  of  administra- 
tion in  any  ordinance  is  not  a  mere  mockery :  no  consistent  papist  can  be 
certain  that  he  has  been  duly  baptized,  or  that  he  has  received  the  veritable 
eucharist :  he  cannot  know,  that  the  priest  who  officiates  at  his  altar  is  a 
true  priest,  nor  that  there  is  actually  any  one  true  priest,  or  any  one  prelate 
rightly  consecrated  in  the  whole  papal  communion.  The  papal  hierarchy 
has  by  her  own  solemn  act  shrouded  all  her  doings  in  uncertainty,  and  en- 
veloped all  her  rites  in  hopeless  obscurity.  Even  ou  this  ground  alone, 
the  validity  of  her  baptism  might  safely  be  denied. 

(J)  "  Nor  is  the  fact  that  instances  now  and  then  occur  of  apparent  piety 
in  the  members  of  her  communion,  and  of  intelligence,  zeal,  and  conscien- 
tiousness in  some  of  her  priests,  any  ground  of  objection  against  the  position 
here  taken  by  this  Assembly.  The  virtues  of  individuals  do  not  purify  the 
body  of  Avhich  they  are  members.  We  are  to  judge  of  the  character  of  a 
body  claiming  to  bo  a  (Hiurch  of  Christ — not  by  the  opinions  or  practices  of 
its  individual  members,  but  by  its  standards  and  its  allowed  practices. 


Part  I.]  THE   SACRAMENTS.  79 

Bound  as  he  is  by  the  authority  of  his  Church — and  that  on  pain  of  her 
heaviest  malediction — to  understand  the  Scriptures  only  in  the  sense  iu 
which  his  Church  understands  and  explains  them,  a  consistent  papist  can- 
not receive  or  hold  the  true  religion,  or  the  doctrines  of  grace.  If  he  does, 
he  must  either  renounce  the  papacy,  or  hypocritically  conceal  his  true  sen- 
timents, or  he  must  prepare  to  brave  the  thunders  of  her  wrath.  True  reli- 
gion and  an  intelligent  adherence  to  papal  Rome  are  utterly  incompatible 
and  impossible.  The  Church  and  the  papacy  are  the  repelling  poles  of  the 
moral  system. 

(k)  "  Difficulties  may  possibly  ai-ise  in  individual  cases.  It  may  not  be 
easy  at  all  times  to  say  whether  an  applicant  for  admission  into  the  Church 
of  Christ  has,  or  has  not,  been  baptized  :  whether  he  has  been  christened 
by  a  popish  pastor  or  not.  In  all  such  doubtful  cases  the  Session  of  a  Church 
Biust  act  according  to  the  light  before  them.  But  it  is  safer  and  more  con- 
ducive to  peace  and  edification,  to  embrace  a  well  established  principle  for 
our  guidance,  and  act  upon  it  firmly  in  the  fear  of  Grod,  leaving  all  conse- 
quences with  him,  than  to  suffer  ourselves,  without  any  fixed  principles,  to 
be  at  the  mercy  of  circumstances. 

(?)  "  While  some  other  Churches  may  hesitate  to  carry  out  fully  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation,  in  wholly  repudiating  popish  baptism,  as  well 
as  the  popish  mass,  we,  as  Presbyterians,  feel  bound  to  act  on  the  principle 
laid  down  by  our  Assembly  so  long  ago  as  1790,  that,  so  long  as  a  body  is 
by  us  recognized  as  a  true  Church,  are  her  ordinances  to  be  deemed  valid, 
and  no  longer.     [Above,  §  13.] 

"  In  1835*  the  Assembly  declared  the  papacy  to  be  apostate  from  Christ, 
and  no  true  Church.  As  we  do  not  recognize  her  as  a  portion  of  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ,  we  cannot,  consistently,  view  her  priesthood  as  other  than 
usurpers  of  the  sacred  functions  of  the  ministry,  her  ordinances  as  unscrip- 
tural,  and  her  baptism  as  totally  invalid." — Minutes,  1845,  pp.  15.  34. 

§  16.  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  on  this  suhject. 

[The  first  Scotch  Confession  was  writte^n  by  John  Winrow,  John  Spotswood,  John 
Douglas,  John  Row,  and  John  Knox,  in  reply  to  a  demand  of  the  Parliament  that  the 
Reformed  Ministers  should  lay  before  them  a  summary  of  doctrine  which  they  could 
prove  to  be  consonant  with  the  Scriptures.j  The  22d  article — "  Of  the  right  adminis- 
tration of  the  Sacraments,"  is  as  follows  :] 

§  17. 

"That  sacraments  be  rightly  ministrate  we  judge  two  things  are  requisite.  The  one, 
that  they  be  ministrate  by  lawful  Ministers  whom  we  affirm  to  be  only  they  that  are 
appointed  to  the  preaching  of  the  word,  into  whose  mouth  God  hath  put  some  sermon  of 
exhortation,  they  being  men  lawfully  chosen  thereto  by  some  Church.  The  other,  that 
they  be  ministrate  in  such  elements,  and  in  such  sort  as  God  hath  appointed;  else  we 
affirm  that  they  cease  to  be  the  right  sacraments  of  Christ  Jesus.  And  therefore  it  is, 
that  we  flee  the  doctrine  of  the  papistical  Church,  in  participation  of  their  sacraments; 
first,  because  their  Ministers  are  no  Ministers  of  Christ  Jesus;  yea,  (which  is  more  horri- 
ble,) they  suffer  women,  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  will  not  suffer  to  teach  in  the  Congrega- 
tion, to  baptize.  And  secondly,  because  they  have  so  adulterated  both  the  one  sacrament 
and  the  other  with  their  own  inventions  that  no  part  of  Christ's  actions  abides  in  the  ori- 
ginal purity;  for  oil,  salt,  spittle  and  such  like  in  baptism,  are  but  men's  inventions.  Ado- 
ration, veneration,  bearing  throughout  streets  and  town,  and  keeping  of  bread  in  boxes  and 
buists,  are  profanation  of  Christ's  sacraments,  and  no  use  of  the  same.  For  Christ  Jesus 
said,  'Take,  eat,'  &c.;  'Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.'  By  which  words  and  charge, 
he  sanctified  bread  and  wine,  to  be  the  sacraments  of  his  holy  body  and  bloud,  to  the  end 
that  the  one  should  be  eaten  and  that  all  should  drink  of  the  other;  and  not  that  they 
should  be  keeped  to  be  worshipped  and  honoured  as  God,  as  the  papists  have  done  herebe- 
fore,  who  also  have  committed  sacrilege,  stealing  from  the  people  the  one  part  of  the  sacra- 

*  Sue  Book  6,  I  95.  t  McCrie's  Life  of  Knox,  pp.  204.  209. 


80  POTESTAS    ORDINIS.  [Book  III. 

ment,  to  wit,  the  blessed  cup.  Moreover,  that  the  sacraments  be  rightly  used,  it  is  requir- 
ed, that  the  end  and  cause  why  the  sacraments  were  institute,  be  understood  and  observed, 
as  well  of  the  Minister,  as  by  the  receivers;  for  if  the  opinion  be  changed  in  the  receiver 
the  right  use  ceaselh;  which  is  most  evident  by  the  rejection  of  the  sacrifices,  (as  also,  if 
the  teacher  plainly  teach  false  doctrine,)  which  were  odious  and  abominable  before  God, 
albeit  they  were  his  own  ordinances,  because  that  wicked  men  used  them  to  another  end 
than  God  hath  ordained.  'I'he  same  affirm  we  of  the  sacraments  in  the  papistical  (Jlhurch, 
wherein  we  affirm  the  whole  action  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  be  adulterated  as  well  in  the  ex- 
ternal form,  as  in  the  end  and  opinion.  What  Christ  Jesus  did,  and  commanded  to  be 
done,  is  evident  by  the  Evangelists,  and  by  St.  Paul.  What  the  priest  doth  at  the  altar 
we  need  not  rehearse.  The  end  and  cause  of  Christ's  institution,  and  why  the  same 
should  be  used,  is  expressed  in  the  words,  »Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me;  so  oft  as  ye 
shall  eat  of  this  bread,  and  drink  of  this  cup,  ye  shall  show  forth,'  that  is,  extol,  preach, 
magnify  and  praise,  '  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come  again.' — ( 1  Cor.  xi.  25,  26.)  But  to  what 
end,  and  in  what  opinion  the  priests  say  their  mass,  let  the  words  of  the  same,  their  own 
doctors  and  writings  witness;  to  wit,  that  they  as  mediators  between  Christ  and  his  Church, 
do  offer  unto  God  the  Father  a  sacrifice  propitiatory  for  the  sins  of  the  quick  and  dead; 
which  doctrine,  as  blasphemous  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  making  derogation  to  the  sufficiency 
of  his  only  sacrifice  once  offered,  for  purgation  of  all  these  that  shall  be  sanctified,  (^Heb. 
ix.  28;  X.  13,)  we  utterly  abhor,  detest,  and  renounce." 

§18. 

[With  this  compare  the  following  response  of  the  Assembly  of  1565  to  the  question, 
"If  baptisme  administrat  be  ane  papist  priest,  or  in  the  papistical  manner  shall  be 
reiterat]"] 

"  When  sic  children  come  to  years  of  understanding,  they  should  be  instructed  in  the 
doctrine  of  salvatione,  the  corruption  of  the  papistrie  might  be  declared  unto  them,  whilk 
they  most  publickly  damne,  before  they  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table,  whilks  if  they  doe 
there  needs  not  the  external  sign  to  be  reiterat;  for  no  papist  ministers  baptisme  without 
water,  and  some  forme  of  words,  whilks  are  the  principalis  of  the  externall  signe;  we  our- 
selves were  baptized  be  papists,  whose  corruptions  and  abuses  now  we  damne,  cleaving 
only  to  the  simple  ordinance  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  veritie  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whilk 
makes  baptisme  to  work  in  us  be  the  proper  effects  thereof,  without  any  declaration  of  the 
external  signe.  If  sic  children  come  never  to  the  knowledge  of  trew  doctrine,  they  are 
to  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  God." — Eooke  of  the  Universal  Kirk,  p.  41. 

Title  2. — The  Parents. 

§  19.    Their  qualifications. 

(a)  [The  General  Synod]  "do  also  exhort  all  the  Ministers  within  our 
hounds,  to  take  due  care  in  the  examination  of  all  candidates  for  baptism, 
or  that  offer  to  dedicate  their  children  to  God  in  that  sacred  ordinance,  that 
they  are  persons  of  a  regular  life,  and  have  suitable  acquaintance  with  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  reli<.iion;  that  that  seal  be  not  set  to  a  blank,  and 
that  such  be  not  admitted  to  visible  Church  relation  that  are  manifestly 
unfit  for  it." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  11.5. 

(&)  '*  That  previously  to  the  administration  of  baptism,  the  Minister  shall 
inquire  into  the  parents'  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fundamental  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  regularity  of  their  life;  and  being  satisfied  so  as  to 
admit  them,  shall  in  public  point  out  the  special  duties  of  the  parents,  and 
particularly,  that  they  teach  their  children  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of 
Christianity,  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
and  comprised  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms; 
which  therefore  he  shall  recommend  unto  them." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1755, 
p.  267. 

(o)  "  Our  Confession  of  Faith  recognizes  the  right  to  baptism  of  the 
infant  children  only  of  such  parents  as  are  members  of  the  Church." — Min- 
utes, 1843,  p.  180. 

(d)  "  The  following  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  was  laid 


Part  I.]  THE   SACRAMENTS.  81 

before  the  Assembly:  'As  baptism  is  to  be  administered  to  the  infants  of 
those  who  are  members  of  the  visible  Church,  but  our  Directory  leaves  the 
description  of  the  visible  and  credible  profession  of  Christianity  vague  and 
indefinite,  it  is  humbly  proposed  to  the  Assembly  to  give  some  precise  direc- 
tion and  definition  of  such  a  profession  for  the  information  of  its  Ministers/ 
In  answer  to  the  above  reference,  the  Assembly  judged  it  unnecessary,  and 
perhaps  impracticable,  to  deliver  rules  more  explicit  than  those  contained  in 
the  standards  of  our  Church;  but  should  cases  of  difficulty  arise,  they  must 
be  decided  respectively,  according  to  their  own  merits  before  the  proper 
judicatories." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  91. 

§  20.  Parental  engagements. 

(a)  [The  Eev.  Mr.  Cumming]  ''  is  to  be  commended  for  insisting  on  per- 
sons praying  in  their  families,  who  present  their  children  to  baptism." — 
Minutes,  N."  Y.,  1752,  p.  250. 

(Jj)  "Whether  besides  requiring  of  parents,  dedicating  their  children  to 
God  in  baptism,  an  express  acknowledgment  of  the  duties  of  parents,  and 
recommending  to  them  the  observance  thereof,  it  should  be  considered  as 
essential,  to  require  that  they  come  under  an  explicit  vow  or  solemn  engage- 
ment also,  to  perform  those  duties? 

'■'■Resolved,  That  an  answer  to  this  question  is  contained  in  the  Directory 
for  Public  Worship  of  this  Church,  under  the  head  of  the  'Administration 
of  Baptism,'  which  requires  an  express  engagement  on  the  part  of  the 
parents." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  89. 

Title  3. — Subjects  op  Baptism. 
§  21.  Period  of  infancy. 

"The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  question,  'At  what  age  ought 
children  to  be  considered  too  old  to  be  baptized  on  the  faith  of  their  j^arents?' 
reported  the  following  answer,  which  being  read,  was  adopted,  viz. 

"The  precise  time  of  life  when  the  state  of  infancy  ceases,  is  not  deter- 
mined in  the  word  of  (xod,  nor  by  the  standards  of  our  Church,  and  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  is  incapable  of  being  regulated  by  any  uniform  rule;  but 
should  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  Ministers  and  Sessions,  to  be  determined 
according  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  each  case.  The  Assembly, 
therefore,  deem  it  inexpedient  to  attempt  to  fix  the  precise  time  at  which 
children  ought  to  be  considered  too  old  to  be  baptized  on  the  faith  of  their 
parents." — 3Iinutes,  1822,  p.  25. 

§  22.    Orj)7ian  children  of  heathen  parents  in  the  care  of  our  3Iissio7is. 

"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  to  the  Presbytery  of  Lodiana : 

''Dear  Brethren — You  have  submitted  to  us  questions  respecting  a  sub- 
ject which  we  have  no  doubt  is  one  of  very  great  importance  in  regard  to 
the  progress  of  religion  among  the  heathen.  We  have  seriously  considered 
it,  and  give  you  here  the  result  of  our  deliberations. 

"  You  present  to  us  three  questions,  to  which  we  reply  in  the  order  in 
which  the  same  are  presented. 

"1.  'Are  all  orphan  children  of  heathen  parents  committed  to  the  care  of 
our  missions,  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  without 
respect  to  their  ages  ?' 

"We  reply,  certainly  they  are  not. 

"You  must  make  the  same  distinction  that  you  would  make  if  their  pa- 
rents were  alive  and  members  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  desiring  to  have 


82  POTESTAS   ORDINIS.  [Book  III. 

them  baptized,  the  same  distinction  which  is  made  in  Christian  countries. 
AVe  add,  kit  those  chiklreu  only  be  baptized  in  every  case  wlio  are  so  com- 
mitted to  the  missions,  or  other  Christian  tuition,  as  to  secure  eflfectually 
their  entire  religious  education.     On  this  point  great  caution  is  necessary. 

"  2.  You  ask,  (on  the  presumption  that  the  preceding  question  is  answered 
in  the  negative,)  'x\re  those  only  to  be  baptized  who  have  not  attained  to 
years  of  discretion  ?' 

"This  (juestion  we  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

"3.  Your  third  question  is  in  substance  as  follows:  'If  those  only  who 
have  not  attained  to  years  of  discretion  are  to  be  baptized,  at  what  age  shall 
the  federal  right  be  supposed  to  cease  and  personal  responsibility  to  com- 
mence?' 

"Although  it  is  not  difficult  to  answer  this  question  in  accordance  with 
the  standards  and  the  practice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  yet  the  rule  may 
frequently  be  found  difficult  of  application.  Our  answer  to  the  question 
however  is: 

"The  officers  of  the  Church  must  judge  in  each  particular  case  whether 
the  proposed  subject  of  baptism  has  arrived  at  years  of  discretion  or  not. 
We  can  adopt  no  other  rule  in  our  own  practice,  and  we  can  recommend  no 
other  to  you.  We  refer  you  to  Chap.  ix.  Sec.  2,  of  our  Directory  for  Wor- 
ship. If  the  person  proposed  to  be  baptized  has  acquired  that  maturity  of 
mind  which  renders  him  capable  of  making  an  intelligent  profession  of  reli- 
gion himself,  he  ought  not  to  be  baptized  on  the  faith  of  another.  Our 
Confession  of  Faith  recognizes  the  right  to  baptism  of  the  infant  children 
only  of  such  parents  as  are  members  of  the  Church.  We  do  not  doubt  that 
in  heathen  countries  children  of  heathen  parents  ordinarily  arrive  at  what 
are  called  years  of  discretion,  later  than  those  who  enjoy  the  advantages  of 
Christian  instruction  in  early  life ;  but  in  a  country  where  the  religion  of  all 
consists  in  forms  and  ceremonies,  great  care  should  be  taken  that  the  Chris- 
tian religion  does  not  even  appear  to  partake  of  the  formality  and  emptiness 
of  Mohammedanism  and  Paganism." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  179. 

§  23.  Apprentices  to  Christian  masters. 

"The  following  case  of  conscience  from  Donegal  Presbytery,  was  over- 
tured,  viz.,  whether  Christian  masters,  or  mistresses,  ought,  in  duty,  to  have 
such  children  baptized  as  are  under  their  care,  though  born  of  parents  not 
in  the  communion  of  any  Christian  Church  ?  Upon  this  overture  Synod  are 
of  opinion,  that  Christian  masters  and  mistresses,  whose  religious  professions 
and  conduct  are  such  as  to  give  them  a  right  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
for  their  own  children,  may  and  ought  to  dedicate  the  children  of  their 
household  to  God,  in  that  ordinance,  when  they  have  no  scruple  of  con- 
science to  the  contrary." — Minutes,  1787,  p.  527. 

§  24.    Children  of  pious  slaves. 

"It  was  overtured,  whether  Christian  slaves,  having  children  at  the  entire 
direction  of  unchristian  masters,  and  not  having  it  in  their  power  to  instruct 
them  in  religion,  are  bound  to  have  them  baptized;  and  whether  a  gospel 
Minister  in  this  predicament  ought  to  baptize  them?  and  Synod  determined 
the  question  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes,  1787,  p.  527. 

§  25.  In/ant  slaves  of  Christian  masters. 

"  '  Ought  baptism,  on  the  profession  and  promise  of  the  master,  to  be  admin- 
istered to  the  children  of  slaves  ?' 

"1.  It  is  the  duty  of  masters  who  are  members  of  the  Church  to  present 
the  children  of  parents  in  servitude  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  provided 


Part  L]  ATTENDANCE   ON   THE   ORDINANCES.  83 

they  are  in  a  situation  to  train  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord,  thus  securing  to  them  the  rich  advantages  which  the  gospel  pro- 
vides. 

''2.  It  is  the  duty  of  Christ's  Ministers  to  inculcate  this  doctrine,  and  to 
baptize  all  children  of  this  description  when  presented  by  their  masters." — 
Minutes,  1816,  p.  617. 

Title  4. — Mode  op  Baptism. 
§  26.  Baptism  hy  immersion. 

"Is  it  expedient,  in  the  present  state  of  the  Church,  for  a  Presbyterian 
Minister  to  baptize  by  immersion  in  any  ease?" 

"  The  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap,  xxviii.  See.  3,  teaches  as  follows,  viz. 
'Dipping  of  the  person  into  the  water  is  not  necessary;  but  baptism  is 
rightly  administered  by  pouring  or  sprinkling  of  water  upon  the  person.' 
Your  committee  see  no  cause  for  adding  anything  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Confession  on  this  subject."     [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1834,  p.  18. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    BENEDICTION. 

§27. 

[The  benediction  is  an  authoritative  blessing  of  the  people  of  God  in  the  name  of 
Christ.  It  partakes  partly  of  the  nature  of  a  prayer,  and  partly  of  a  declaration  of  the 
will  and  purpose  of  God.  Strictly  it  can  be  pronounced  by  none  but  ordained  Ministers 
of  Christ.  When  the  form  is  used  by  licentiates  or  others,  its  nature  is  changed,  and  it 
assumes  the  mere  character  of  a  prayer.  It  is  doubted  whether  the  form  should  ever  be 
used  by  licentiates.    Our  Church  has  not,  however,  given  any  deliverance  on  the  subject  ] 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ATTENDANCE  ON  THE  ORDINANCES. 

§  28.  Neglect  censurable. 

"The  appeal  and  complaint  of  G.  A.  Hotchkiss  against  the  Synod  of 
Indiana,  fur  sustaining  the  Session  of  Pleasant  Township  Church  and  the 
Presbytery  of  Madison,  in  censuring  him  for  absenting  himself  from  public 
worship,  on  account  of  disagreement  with  his  pastor.  The  papers  were  read 
in  order;  the  regular  process  prescribed  in  the  Book  was  observed,  and  the 
Assembly  voted  unanimously  that  the  action  of  the  inferior  courts  be  sus- 
tained and  confirmed." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  44. 

§29. 

[That  it  is  improper  to  attend  upon  disorderly  or  heretical  ministrations,  see  below, 
§  38,  b.] 


PART  II. 

ORDINANCES  PERTAINING  TO  THE  POTESTAS  JURIS- 
^         DICTIONIS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORDINATION. 

§  30.    Ordination  hy  Comtnittee. 

[In  the  early  history  of  the  Church,  ordinations  were  frequently  performed  by  Commit- 
tees of  the  General  Presbytery  and  Synod ;  e.  g.  Book  II.,  §  56.] 

"  The  Presbytery  having  seen  Mr.  George  Gillespie's  certificates,  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow,  concerning  his  being  licensed  to  preach,  and  his 
conversation,  did  approve  of  them,  and  in  case  Providence  make  way  for'his 
ordination,  by  a  call  from  any  congregation  before  next  Presbytery,  Mr.  An- 
drews, McNish,  Anderson  and  Morgan,  are  ordered  to  ordain  him,  and  that 
one  of  the  said  members,  or  two,  as  they  shall  see  fit,  preach  at  the  solemnity." 
— Minutes  J  1712,  p.  26. 

§  31.     Trials  for  ordination  in  the  olden  time. 

[The  early  records  of  our  Church  want  the  first  leaf,  which  is  irrevocably  lost.  They 
consequently  commence  abruptly  in  the  middle  of  the  proceedings  upon  the  trials  of  Mr. 
John  Boyd  preparatory  to  his  ordination.  He  is  in  the  act  of  presenting  a  Latin  exegesis, 
as  follows :] 

" — De  regimine  ecclesice,  which  being  heard,  was  approved  of  and  sustained. 
He  gave  in  also  his  thesis,  to  be  considered  of  against  next  sederunt. 

"  Sederunt  2d.  10  hris.  27. 

''  Post  preces,  sederunt,  Mr.  Francis  McKemie,  Moderator,  Messrs.  Jede- 
diah  Andrews  and  John  Hampton,  Ministers. 

"  Mr.  John  Boyd  performed  the  other  parts  of  his  trials,  viz.  preached  a 
popular  sermon  on  John  i.  12;  defended  his  thesis;  gave  satisfaction  as  to 
his  skill  in  the  languages;  and  answered  to  extemporary  questions;  all  which 
were  approved  of,  and  sustained. 

"  Appointed  his  ordination  to  be  on  the  next  Lord's  day,  the  29th  inst., 
which  was  accordingly  performed  in  the  public  meeting-house  of  this  place, 
before  a  numerous  assembly;  and  the  next  day  he  had  the  certificate  of  his 
ordination." — Mimites,  1706,  p.  9. 

§  32.  Elders  may  not  impose  hands  in  ordaining  Ministers. 

(a)  "  A  comnmnication  from  the  Presbytery  of  the  Western  District,  on 
the  subject  of  allowing  Ruling  Elders  to  unite  in  the  imposition  of  hands  in 
the  ordination  of  Bishops.  The  Committee  unanimously  recommended  an 
adherence  to  the  order,  and  until  recently,  the  uniform  practice  of  our  Church 
on  this  subject,  viz.  to  allow  preaching  Elders  or  Bishops  only  to  engage  iu 
that  service.     Which  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  16. 

[See  above,  Book  II.,  §§  4.5-50.] 


Part  II.]  OKDINATION.  85 

(6)  [In  the  original  draught  of  the  Constitution  as  published  for  consideration  by  the 
Synod  in  1787,  (see  Booli  I.  §  20,)  the  article  directing  the  manner  of  ordination  (Form 
of  Guv.  Ch.  15,  §  14,)  stands  word  for  word  as  we  have  it,  except  that  the  phrase  of 
«'  presiding  Bishop"  is  used  instead  of  "  presiding  Minister."  In  addition  to  this,  the 
Directory  for  Worship,  contained  in  the  same  printed  volume,  has  a  chapter,  giving  the 
order  of  ordination  in  detail,  including  the  prayers,  presentation  of  a  Bible,  &c.  The 
following  is  the  language  there  employed,  so  far  as  the  present  question  is  involved.  This 
entire  chapter  on  ordination  was  struck  out  of  the  Directory  before  its  adoption  by  the 
Synod  the  next  year.] 

"  When  the  person  to  be  ordained  has  passed  through  the  trials  prescribed  in  the 
Form  of  Government  and  Discipline,  or  such  others  as  shall  be  deemed  satisfactory,  the 
Presbytery  being  met  for  his  ordination,  the  sermon  being  ended,  and  the  engagements 
directed  in  the  Form  of  Government,  &c.  being  taken,  the  person  who  is  to  be  ordained 
shall  kneel  down  in  the  most  convenient  part  of  the  church,  and  the  Minister  who  has 
been  appointed  to  preside,  shall  lay  his  right  hand  upon  his  head,  and  then  all  the  other 
Ministers  of  the  Presbytery  present,  shall  also  lay  their  right  hands  upon  his  head,  and 
the  presiding  Minister  shall  pray  in  the  following,  or  like  manner,"  &c. 

"Then  he  shall  take  him  by  the  right  hand,  saying,  in  words  to  this  purpose  :  '  We 
give  you  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  take  part  of  this  ministry  with  us.'  Then  the 
Ministers  who  laid  hands  on  him,  shall  in  their  order,  take  him  by  the  right  hand." — 
Dr might,  ^c,  pp.  Ill,  113. 

§  33.    Ordination  abroad  of  Ministers  coming  among  us. 

"  The  Synod  would  bear  testimony  against  tlie  late  too  common  and  now 
altogether  unnecessary  practice  of  some  Presbyteries  in  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, viz.  their  ordaining  men  to  the  ministry,  sine  tifido,  immediately 
before  they  come  over  hither,  thereby  depriving  us  of  our  just  rights,  viz. 
that  we,  unto  whom  they  are  designed  to  be  co-presbyters,  and  among  whom 
they  design  to  bestow  their  labours,  should  have  just  and  fair  inspecting 
into  their  qualifications;  we  say,  it  seems  necessary  that  the  Synod  bear 
testimony  against  such  practice  by  writing  home  to  the  Greneral  Synod, 
thereby  signifying  our  dissatisfaction  with  the  same.  *  *  *  *  The  Synod 
do  agree  that  no  Minister  ordained  in  Ireland,  sine  titido,  be  for  the  future 
received  to  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  among  us,  until  he  submit  to  such 
trials  as  the  Presbytery  among  whom  he  resides  shall  think  proper  to  order 
and  appoint.  And  that  the  Synod  do  also  advertise  the  General  Synod  in 
Ireland,  that  the  ordaining  any  such  to  the  ministry,  sine  titulo,  before 
their  sending  them  hither  for  the  future,  will  be  very  disagreeable  and  dis- 
obliging to  us." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  119. 

[See  also  next  section,  resolution  2.] 

§  34.    Ordination  of  licentiates  in  transitu. 

"Whereas,  many  of  the  Ministers  who  are  to  supply  the  vacant  churches 
and  destitute  places  in  the  more  new  and  growing  parts  of  our  Church, 
must  for  some  time  to  come  be  educated  in  the  older  sections  of  our  country, 
and  at  a  great  distance  from  the  field  where  they  are  to  be  employed ;  and 
whereas  it  is  important  to  the  happy  and  useful  settlement  of  these  Minis- 
ters in  their  several  fields  of  labour,  that  they  should  enjoy  the  full  confi- 
dence of  the  Ministers  and  Churches  among  whom  they  are  to  dwell;  and 
whereas  the  ordination  of  Ministers  in  the  presence  of  the  people  among 
whom  they  are  to  labour  is  calculated  to  endear  them  very  much  to  their 
flocks,  while  it  gives  their  fathers  and  brethren  in  the  ministry  an  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing  their  opinions  and  sentiments  on  subjects  of  doctrine  and 
discipline;  and  whereas  our  Form  of  Government  seems  to  recognize  the 
right  and  privilege  of  each  Presbytery  to  examine  and  ordain  those  who 
come  to  the  pastoral  oflSce  within  their  bounds,  and  who  have  never  before 
exercised  that  office,  therefore, 

^'Resolved,  1.  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  our  Presbyteries 


86  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

not  to  onlain  sine  titulo  any  men  who  propose  to  pursue  the  work  of  their 
luinistiy  in  any  sections  of  the  country  where  a  Presbytery  is  already  organ- 
ized, to  wliich  they  may  go  as  licentiates  and  receive  ordination. 

"  2.  That  the  several  bodies  with  which  we  are  in  friendly  correspond- 
ence in  the  New  England  States,  be  respectfully  requested  to  use  their 
counsel  and  influence  to  prevent  the  ordination,  by  any  of  their  Councils  or 
Consociations,  of  men  who  propose  to  pursue  the  work  of  the  ministry  with- 
in the  bounds  of  any  Presbytery  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church;  and  that  the  delegates  from  this  Assembly  to  those 
bodies  respectively  be  charged  with  communicating  this  resolution." — Min- 
iites,  1834,  p.  12. 

§  35.    Ordination  sine  titulo. 

(a)  [Report  having  been  made  by  the  Presbyteries  in  1762  of  a  number  of  ordina- 
tions, some  of  which  were  probably  sine  titulo,'] 

"  On  hearing  these  reports,  a  question  was  proposed,  whether  it  be  pro- 
per to  ordain  to  the  ministry  sine  titulo ,  except  for  some  particular  mission." 
— Minutes,  1762,  p.  314. 

[Other  exciting  questions  postponed  the  one  thus  presented  for  several  years.  At 
length  the  question  was  resumed.] 

"The  question,  Ought  Ministers  to  be  ordained  sine  titulo,  i.  e.,  without 
relation  or  probable  view  had  to  a  particular  charge,  resumed;  and  after 
further  deliberation,  we  judge  as  follows: 

"That  in  ordinary  cases,  where  Churches  are  properly  regulated  and 
organized,  it  is  a  practice  highly  inexpedient  and  of  dangerous  consequences; 
not  to  be  allowed  in  our  body  except  in  some  special  cases,  as  missions  to 
the  Indians,  and  some  distant  places,  that  regularly  apply  for  Ministers. 
But  as  the  honour  and  reputation  of  the  Synod  is  much  interested  in  the 
conduct  of  Presbyteries  in  such  special  cases,  it  is  judged  that  they  should 
previously  apply  to  the  Synod  and  take  their  advice  therein,  unless  the  cases 
require  such  haste  as  would  necessarily  prevent  the  benefit  of  such  a  mission 
if  delayed  to  the  next  session  of  Synod;  in  which  cases  the  Presbyteries 
shall  report  to  the  next  Synod  the  state  of  the  cases  and  the  reasons  of  their 
conduct." — Minutes,  1764,  p.  337. 

[Re-affirmed,  1771,  p.  415.     See  above,  Book  II.  §  67.] 

(h)  "The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  submitted  to  the  Assembly  for  their 
decision  the  case  of  Mr.  John  Jones,  a  licentiate  under  their  care,  who  at 
their  last  sessions  had  requested  that  the  Presbytery  would  take  measures 
to  ordain  him  sine  titulo.  The  Presbytery  stated  that  Mr.  Jones  had  been 
a  licensed  candidate  for  a  number  of  years;  that  he  had  always  sustained  a 
good  and  consistent  character;  that  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  an  academy, 
and  was  so  circumstanced,  that  his  being  ordained  might  render  him  more 
extensively  useful.     The  Assembly  having  considered  the  case, 

"Eesoh'r.d,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  be  permitted  and  autho- 
rized to  ordain  Mr.  Jones  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  sine  titido, 
provided  the  Presbytery,  from  a  full  view  of  his  qualifications,  and  other 
attending  circumstances,  shall  think  it  expedient  so  to  ordain  him." — 
Minutes',' inm ,  p.  386. 

(c)  "Application  was  made  to  the  Synod  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle 
for  advice  respecting  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Samuel  [Stanhope]  Smith's  being 
ordained  by  said  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  under  whose  care  he  is,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  having  accepted  a  call  from  a  Congregation  within  the 
bounds  of  the  l*resbytcry  of  Hanover. 

"1'he  Synod  having  heard  all  the  circumstances  relative  to  this  case,  and 
deliberated  thereon,  agree  that  it  is  not  expedient  for  the  Presbytery  of  New 


Part  II.]  ORDINATION.  87 

Castle  to  ordain  Mr.  Smith  as  the  matter  now  stands." — Minutes,  1775, 
p.  465. 

(d)  [Leave  to  ordain  sine  titulo  was  granted,  occasionally  till  18 13,  when  the  Assembly 
adopted  the  following  resolution.  The  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  re- 
jected by  the  Presbyteries,  (^Minutes,  1814,  p.  568,)  and  the  practice  of  asking  leave  of 
the  higher  courts  in  such  cases  fell  into  disuse."] 

(«)  Proposed  rule. 

^'Resolved,  That  as  a  considerable  and  evident  diversity  of  opinion  has  for 
a  length  of  time  existed  among  the  judicatures  and  Ministers  of  our  commu- 
nion on  the  question,  whether  Presbyteries  can  regularly  proceed  to  ordina- 
tion sine  titulo,  without  consulting  a  higher  judicature,  and  it  is  hereby 
expedient  for  the  peace  and  order  of  the  Church,  that  this  question  should 
be  decided ;  this  Assembly  therefore  repeal  the  act  of  the  last  Assembly,  by 
which  a  farther  attention  to  this  subject  was  dismissed,  and  this  Assembly 
do  farther  direct  that  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly, 
as  well  those  which  have  heretofore  voted  on  this  subject,  as  those  which 
have  not,  do  send  up  in  writing  the  expressions  of  their  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject to  the  next  Greneral  Assembly,  in  order  that  there  may  be  a  constitu- 
tional and  final  decision  on  the  point  in  controversy,  and  that  the  practice 
relative  thereto  may  be  uniform  in  all  parts  of  our  Church.  The  rule  pro- 
posed, and  on  which  an  affirmative  or  negative  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  is 
required,  is  in  the  following  words,  viz. 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  Presbyteries,  when  they  think  it  necessary  to 
ordain  a  candidate,  without  a  call  to  a  particular  pastoral  charge,  to  take  the 
advice  of  a  Synod  or  of  the  General  Assembly,  before  they  proceed  to  such 
ordination." — Minutes,  1813,  p.  523. 

§  36.    Ordinations  on  the  Sahhath. 

"  The  General  Assembly  think  it  would  not  be  for  edification  to  adopt  a 
uniform  rule  on  the  subject.  In  general  they  think  it  is  not  expedient  that 
ordinations  should  take  place  on  the  Sabbath;  yet  th;it  there  may  be  cases 
in  which  urgent  or  peculiar  circumstances  may  demand  them.  The  Assem- 
bly, therefore,  judge  it  best  to  leave  it  to  the  Presbyteries  to  act  in  this 
concern  as  they  may  judge  that  their  duty  requires." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  7. 

§  37.  Irregularity  does  not  necessarily  invalidate  ordination. 

(a)  [Among  exceptions  to  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati] — 

"  On  pages  116  and  117,  a  resolution  declaring  '  null  arid  void  the  ordi- 
nation of  two  men  to  the  gospel  ministry,'  who  were  neither  ordained  as 
evangelists  nor  as  pastors,  was  declared  to  be  out  of  order;  and  no  further 
notice  of  the  case  is  found  on  the  minutes;  in  regard  to  which,  the  Assem- 
bly are  of  opinion  that  the  resolution,  in  so  far  as  it  contemplated  depriving 
men  of  ordination  on  account  of  Presbyterial  irregularity  in  granting  it, 
ought  not  to  have  prevailed;  but  that  the  Synod  were  nevertheless  bound 
to  censure  the  Presbytery  fur  irreirularity  in  that  ministerial  act." — Minutes, 
1839,  p.  161. 

(ft)  [In  the  Assembly  of  1850,  the  committee  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  West 
Tennessee,  recommended  their  approval  with  the  exception  that  the  Synod  approved  the 
ordination  of  a  licentiate  by  the  Presbytery  of  Holston,  when  but  two  Ministers  appeared 
to  take  part  in  the  laying  on  of  hands.  The  committee  recommended  that  the  Assembly 
express  their  strong  disapprobation  of  this  action,  and  declare  that  the  Synod  should  not 
have  countenanced  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery. 

The  facts  were  that  the  Presbytery,  consisting  of  three  Ministers  and  seven  Elders,  had 
conducted  the  business  of  the  ordination  up  to  the  point  of  the  imposition  of  hands,  when 
it  was  found  that  one  of  the  Ministers  was  absent.  The  remaining  two  proceeded  with 
the  ordination. 


88  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

It  was  argued  that  the  absent  member  was  to  be  held  as  technically  present,  as  his 
absence  was  not  ascertained  or  allowed  in  any  oflicial  manner;  and  further,  that  ordina- 
tion by  two  Presbyters,  though  irregular,  is  not  necessarily  invalid.  From  our  Constitu- 
tion we  derive  the  rule  of  regularity,  but  from  the  Bible  that  of  validity;  and  as  that  no 
where  requires  the  particular  number  three  to  an  ordination,  and  as  we  recognize  ordina- 
tion by  an  Episcopal  prelate,  being  but  one  man,  we  may  not  invalidate  this. 

The  exception  was  rejected,  and  the  record  approved.  The  Minutes  fail  to  show  these 
facts.] 

(c)  "The  Synod  havinc:  heard  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Done- 
gal, in  April,  17G1,  concernint;;  the  mode  of  setting  Elders  apart  to  their 
office  in  one  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Carlisle,  together  with  the 
reasons  of  the  appeal  to  the  Synod  from  said  judgment,  do,  upon  the  whole, 
approve  of  the  Presbytery's  judgment,  and  also  of  their  caution  to  prevent 
any  bad  consequences  that  might  arise  from  a  deviation  from  that  mode 
which  has  been  commonly  used  in  this  Church,  and  which  is  highly  proper 
on  such  occasions,  although  we  wish  that  they  had  expressed  their  caution 
in  stronger  terms.  We  judge  that  the  Elders  chosen  at  that  time  are 
clothed  with  sufficient  authority  to  act  in  the  office  of  Elders  in  the  Church, 
as  they  actually  acquiesced  in  the  election  of  the  people,  and  in  their 
appointment  to  the  office;  and  we  judge  that  the  consent  of  the  persons  to 
undertake  the  office  should  be  necessarily  obtained.  And  though  it  appears 
it  was  substantially  obtained  in  the  present  case,  yet  we  are  of  opinion  that 
it  had  been  more  eligible,  and  more  for  the  peace  and  edification  of  the 
Church,  if  their  public  and  explicit  consent  to  undertake  and  execute  that 
office  had  been  taken  in  the  fxce  of  the  Congregation.  And  we  hope  that 
the  Presbytery  will  observe  their  own  directions  for  the  future." — Minutes, 
1765,  p.  ;i4-i. 

§  38.  Lay  ordination. 

(a)  "The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  15,  viz.  'On 
ordination,  by  a  deposed  minister  or  by  laymen/  made  the  following  report, 
which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"Tlmt  this  paper  contains  a  letter  from  a  Minister  in  South  Carolina  to 
the  Stated  Clerk,  requesting  him  to  obtain  a  decision  of  the  Cleneral  iVssem- 
bly  on  the  question,  '  Whether  the  ordination  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  by 
the  interposition  of  the  hands  of  the  laity  is  valid  T  That  the  answer  to  this 
question  should  be  in  the  negative,  is  so  obvious  and  evident,  on  all  correct 
principles  of  ecclesiastical  order,  that  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  it 
is  unnecessary  for  the  General  Assembly  to  give  any  further  consideration 
to  the  subject." — Minntes,  1832,  p.  327. 

(I))  "  Resolved,  That  while  this  Assembly  readily  acknowledges  the  right 
of  the  Session  to  determine  according  to  the  Scriptures  and  the  Constitution 
of  our  Church  the  qualifications  for  admission  to  sealing  ordinances,  yet 
they  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  declare  that  in  their  judgment  the  services  of 
those  who  have  received  only  lay-ordination,  or  of  those  who  have  been  de- 
posed from  the  gospel  ministry,  are  unscriptural  and  unwarrantable;  and 
therefore  an  attendance  on  their  ministrations  cannot  be  in  the  order  of  the 
gospel,  and  ought  to  be  discouraged  and  discountenanced  by  every  friend  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom." — Minutes,  1833,  p.  493. 

§  39.    Ordination  procured  hy  fraud. 

"'Is  the  ordination  of  a  Minister  valid,  which  has  been  procured  by 
forgery  and  unwarrantable  means?' 

"  Confining  the  answer  of  the  Assembly  to  the  case  in  question  as  verbally 
explained,  this  question  is  answered  in  the  affirmative;  but  that  the  Pres- 


Part  II.]  ORDINATION.  89 

bytery  should,  in  suet  a  case,  proceed  immediately  to  depose  him." — Min- 
utes, 1843,  p.  198. 

§  40.  Methodist  ordination.  * 

(a)  "  A  petition  was  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  from  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  Island  of  Bermuda,  requesting  the  settlement  of  a  Mr. 
Enoch  Matson,  an  Elder,  formerly  connected  with  the  Methodist  Church, 
who  was  represented  as  willing  to  subscribe  the  doctrine,  discipline,  and 
government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  accompanied  with  a  request  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  for  direction  in  what  manner  to  proceed  in  re- 
ceiving him  into  this  Church. 

"  The  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  to  proceed 
in  receiving  Mr.  Matson  to  trials  for  the  ministry,  in  the  same  manner  as  if 
no  licensure  or  ordination  by  the  Methodist  Church  had  taken  place." — 
Minutes,  1792,  p.  56.     \_Re-affirmed,  1800,  p.  199.] 

A  different  decision. 

(It)  "  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  decisions  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1792,  and  referred  to  by  the  Assembly  of  1800,  respect- 
ing the  re-ordination  of  ministers  regularly  ordained  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  desiring  to  connect  themselves  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  however  expedient  at  the  time  of 
its  formation,  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  a  precedent  to  guide  the  future 
decisions  of  the  judicatories  of  this  Church;  and  that  the  Presbyteries  un- 
der the  care  of  this  Assembly,  when  they  receive  into  their  connection  an 
ordained  minister  from  any  other  denomination,  be  careful  to  record  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  and  the  reasons  which  induced  them  to  receive 
such  ordained  Minister." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  441.  [Re-affirmed,  1852,  p. 
210.] 

§  41.    Ordination  of  the  Baptist  and  other  Churches. 

"  It  is  not  among  the  principles  or  usages  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to 
consider  the  ordination  of  Ministers  by  other  Protestant  Churches  as  in- 
valid; on  the  contrary,  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  always  considered  the 
ordinations  of  most  other  Protestant  Churches  as  valid  in  themselves,  and  not 
to  be  I'epeated  when  those  who  have  received  them  become  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Nor  is  it  perceived  that  there  is  any  sufficient  reason 
why  the  ordinations  in  the  Baptist  Church  should  not  be  considered  as  valid, 
and  be  sustained  as  such. 

"  But  while  the  Presbyterian  Church  can  act  as  has  now  been  stated  in 
regard  to  ordinations,  it  is  among  those  principles  and  usages  which  she  re- 
gards as  most  sacred  and  important,  to  secure  for  her  Churches  both  a  pious 
and  a  learned  ministry,  and  she  cannot  admit  of  any  usage  or  exercise  any 
apparent  liberality,  inconsistent  with  security  in  this  essential  particular. 
On  the  whole,  therefore, 

'^  Resolved,  That  when  applications  are  made  by  Ministers  of  the  Baptist 
or  any  other  Protestant  denomination,  to  be  connected  with  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  applications  are  made  shall  re- 
quire all  the  qualifications,  both  in  regard  to  piety  and  learning,  which  are 
required  of  candidates  for  licensure  or  ordination  of  those  who  have  origi- 
nally belonged  to  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  shall  require  the  applicants 
from  other  denominations  to  continue  their  study  and  preparation,  till  they 
are  found  on  trial  and  examination  to  be  qualified  in  learning  and  ability,  to 
teach  in  the  manner  required  by  our  standards;  but  that  when  found  thus 
to  be  (qualified,  it  shall  not  be  necessary  to  re-ordain  the  said  applicants,  but 


90  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

only  to  install  them  when  they  are  called  to  settle  in  Presbyterian  Congrega- 
tions."— Minutes,  1821,  pp.  15,  IG. 

§  4:2.    Ordination  of  Ruling  Elders  and  Deacons  hy  impositioii  of  hands  of 

the  Eldership. 

(a)  "Our  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xiii.  Sec.  4,  declares  that  such, 
whether  Elder  or  Deacon,  shall  be  set  apart  to  their  respective  offices  by 
prayer.  The  imposition  of  hands,  however,  we  are  aware,  in  many  of  our 
Churches  is  practised,  and  as  it  is  plainly  in  accordance  with  apostolic 
example,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly  that  it  is  proper  and  lawful.  We 
conceive  that  every  Church  in  this  respect,  may  with  propriety  be  left  to 
adopt  either  of  these  two  modes,  as  they  think  suitable  and  best." — Minutes, 
1833,  p.  490. 

(b)  "An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Alabama  on  the  subject 
of  ordaining  Elders  and  Deacons,  by  the  imposition  of  hands.  The  com- 
mittee recommended  that  it  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  each  Church  Ses- 
sion to  determine  the  mode  of  ordination  in  this  respect.  Which  was 
adopted." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  16. 

(c)  [The  Session  of  the  Mount  Bethany  Church  having  been  censured  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Memphis  for  ordaining  Deacons  with  the  laying  on  of  hands,  memorialized  the 
Assembly  "  to  determine  whether  in  the  ordination  of  Elders  and  Deacons  it  is  unconsti- 
tutional or  otherwise  improper  to  use  the  rite  of  laying  on  of  hands,  by  the  existing  Elder- 
ship."] 

^'Resolved,  That  the  Session  of  Mount  Bethany  Church  be  referred  to  the 
Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1842  for  an  answer  to  said  overture." — Minutes, 
1851,  pp.  12.  35.  172;  and  1852,  p.  227. 


CHAPTER  11. 

OF  LEGISLATION. 

§  43.    Of  the  extent  of  Legislative  powers. 

(«)  "I.  The  Presbyterian  Church  is  unanimously  of  the  opinion"  *  *  "That 
'God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from  the  doctrine 
and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything  contrary  to  his  word  or 
beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  or  worship :'  Therefore  they  consider  the  rights 
of  private  judgment  in  all  matters  that  respect  religion,  as  universal  and 
unalienable :  they  do  not  even  wish  to  see  any  religious  constitution  aided 
by  the  civil  power,  further  than  may  be  necessary  for  protection  and  secu- 
rity, and  at  the  same  time  be  equal  and  common  to  all  others." 

"II.  That  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  above  principle  of  common 
right,  every  Christian  Church  or  union,  or  association  of  particular  Churches, 
is  entitled  to  declare  the  terms  of  admission  into  its  communion,  and  the 
qualifications  of  its  Ministers  and  members,  as  well  as  the  whole  system  of 
its  internal  government  which  Christ  hath  appointed:  that  in  the  exercise 
of  this  right,  they  may  notwithstanding  err,  in  making  the  terms  of  commu- 
nion either  too  lax  or  too  narrow;  yet  even  in  this  case,  they  do  not  infringe 
upon  the  liberty  or  rights  of  others,  but  only  make  an  improper  use  of  their 
own." 

"VII.  That  all  Church  power,  whether  exercised  by  the  body  in  general, 
or  in  the  way  of  representation  by  delegated  authority,  is  only  ministerial 
and  declarative;  that  is  to  say,  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of 


Part  II.]  LEGISLATION. — DISCIPLINE.  91 

faith  and  manners;  that  no  Church  judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to  make 
laws,  to  bind  the  conscience  in  virtue  of  their  own  authority;  and  that  all 
their  decisions  should  be  founded  upon  the  revealed  will  of  God.  Now, 
though  it  will  easily  be  admitted,  that  all  iSynods  and  Councils  may  err 
thi'ough  the  frailty  inseparable  from  humanity;  yet  there  is  much  greater 
danger  from  the  usurped  claim  of  making  laws,  than  from  the  right  of  judg- 
ing upon  laws  already  made,  and  common  to  all  who  profess  the  gospel; 
although  this  right,  as  necessity  requires  in  the  present  state,  be  lodged 
with  fallible  men." — Form  of  Gov.,  Chap.  i. 

(6)  [That  the  enactments  of  the  superior  courts  are  obligatory  on  the  inferior,  see 
below,  §  179,  and  Book  VII.  §  32,  IL     See  also  Book  I.  §  46.] 

§  44.    Of  the  right  of  dissent  and  protest. 

[See  Book  VII.  §  32,  III.] 

[In  the  Assembly  of  1846  leave  was  refused  to  have  a  dissent  with  reasons,  entered 
upon  the  record.  The  consideration  influencing  the  body  seems  to  have  been  the  threat- 
ened introduction  of  several  others,  should  the  one  offered  be  recorded.  The  only  justifi- 
cation attempted  was  in  the  suggestion  that  the  language  of  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  1,  of  the  Book 
of  Discipline  seems  to  imply  that  a  dissent  may  be  rejected  if  accompanied  with  reasons. 
This  is  true  if  taken  with  the  limitation  given  in  sec.  3  of  the  same  chapter,  if  the  reasons 
are  not  respectfully  expressed.  Otherwise  a  judicatory  has  no  discretion,  but  is  bound  to 
admit  a  dissent  no  less  than  a  protest  to  record.  The  mistake  seems  to  have  arisen  from 
a  false  idea  that  the  diflerence  between  a  dissent  and  a  protest  consists  in  the  fact  of  the 
one  being  accompanied  with  reasons,  and  the  other  being  without.  The  true  difference 
as  determined  alike  by  the  Constitution  as  above  cited,  and  the  practice  of  the  Church  is  that 
in  a  dissent  a  party  relieves  himself  from  all  responsibility  for  a  given  decision,  by  a 
recorded  act  to  which  he  may  attach  reasons  or  not  at  his  discretion.  A  protest  goes  far- 
ther, and  not  only  declines  responsibility  for,  but  utters  a  solemn  testimony  against,  a  deci- 
sion, and  may,  as  well  as  a  dissent,  be  entered  without  reasons,  although  generally  accom- 
panied by  them.     The  Minutes  of  1846  take  no  notice  of  the  case  above  referred  to. 

In  Book  VII.,  §  120,  is  a  signal  example  of  oppression  and  disregard  of  the  Constitu- 
tion by  the  refusal  to  record  a  protest. 

The  only  question  properly  before  a  judicatory  upon  the  presentation  of  a  dissent  or 
protest,  seems  to  be,  "  Is  its  language  respectful  and  free  from  offensive  reflections  or  insinu- 
ations!" This  being  decided  in  the  affirmative,  the  paper  is  entitled  to  record  without 
further  vote.     If  in  the  negative,  the  judicatory  may  still  at  its  discretion  record  it.] 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF  DISCIPLINE. 

§  45.  An  example  from  the  olden  time. 

(a)  [The  following  was  copied  by  the  author  from  the  original  record,  through  the  favour 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Steel,  the  present  pastor  of  the  Abington  Church.  It  dates  a  year  before 
the  Adopting  Act] 

"March  ye  7th,  Anno  Domini,  1728. 

"The  charge  of  the  Church  against  George  Rennick  and  Henry  Jamison,  viz: 

"  1st.  Caused  divisions  in  the  Church; — to  be  marked  by  Rom.  16:  17. 

"  2d.  Their  breach  of  covenant  by  turning  off  from  attending  att  any  ordinances  of  ye 
Church,  without  giving  any  reason  for  so  doing; — contrary  to  Rom.  13:   2. 

"  3dly.  Despise  government,  being  often  sent  for  by  the  Church.  2  Pet.  2:    10. 

"4lhly.  Refusing  wholy  to  heare  the  Church,  being  often  charged  and  admonished; — 
in  Matt.  18:    17. 

"And  likewise  ye  said  Rennick's  wife,  and  his  son  Wm.  Rennick  and  his  wife,  also 
his  son-in-law  Robert  Loke  confederates  in  the  same  obstinacy  with  ye  said  Rennick  and 


92  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

Jamison  now  two  years  past.  And  by  so  doing,  as  far  as  their  credit  could  go,  vilifying 
this  Church,  and  put  a  contempt  upon  Uod's  ways  and  ordinances,  and  thereby  made 
themselves  to  this  Church  as  heathens  and  publicans. 

"  Whereupon  we  cannot  hut  think  it  our  duty  according  to  the  Rule  of  God's  word  to 
determine  them  as  heathens  and  publicans. 

Malachi  Jones,  Pastor. 
Abednego  Thomas,]  Garret  Wynkoop, 


Joseph  Breden,  V  Elders.      Joseph  Charlesworth,  V  Deacons." 

Benj.  Jones,  j  Charles  Haeste,  J 

(6)    This  case  in  the  General  Synod. 

"Six  persons  that  were  excommunicated  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Malachi  Jones, 
namely,  George  Renock  and  his  wife,  Robert  Poke,  [Loke?]  William  Renock 
and  his  wife,  and  Henry  Jameson,  appealing  to  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
from  the  sentence  of  excommunication  passed  against  them,  and  the  Presby- 
tery having  referred  that  matter  to  the  determination  of  the  Synod;  after  hear- 
ing two  of  the  appellants  and  two  of  Mr.  Jones's  Church,  (whereof  one  was 
an  Elder,)  declaring  what  they  knew  of  the  offences  charged  against  the  ap- 
pellants, as  also  read  and  considered  the  extract  of  the  minutes  of  the  ex- 
communication;  the  Synod,  after  due  deliberation,  came  to  this  conclusion: 
That  whereas  the  appellants  do  freely  own,  in  their  own  names,  and  in  the 
names  of  them  that  are  absent,  their  breaking  away  from  the  communion  of 
Mr.  Jones's  Church,  without  previous  application  made  for  certificates  of 
dismission,  was  a  disorder  and  a  fault  for  which  they  are  very  sorry,  and  do 
ask  forgiveness  of  Grod  and  all  those  that  they  did  oifend  by  this  disorderly 
step;  the  Synod  does  appoint,  that  upon  their  acknowledging  this  their 
oifence,  by  a  writing  read  or  offered  to  be  read  in  Mr.  Jones's  Congregation, 
the  said  appellants  shall  be  absolved  from  the  aforesaid  sentence,  and  so  be 
free  to  join  with  what  Congregation  they  please." — Minutes,  1728,  p.  92. 

Title  1. — Jurisdiction  over  Territory. 

§  46.  A  Church  outside  the  hounds  of  a  Pre^ytery,  heing  placed  under  its 
care,  does  not  convey  the  territory. 

(a)  '' Inasmuch  as  the  order  of  the  Gleneral  Assembly  of  1792  respect- 
ing the  bounds  of  the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  Virginia,  placed,  the  Con- 
gregation of  Alexandria,  and  no  other,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Potomac, 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia;  therefore 

^'Resolved,  That  the  second  Congregation  of  Alexandria  properly  belongs 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Winchester,  and  that  the  said  Presbytery,  in  receiving 
the  second  Congregation  under  their  care,  are  guilty  of  no  infringement  of 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  705. 

(b)  [The  act  of  1792  was  as  follows:]  "Resoh-ed,  That  the  river  Poto- 
mac be  the  boundary  line  between  the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  Virginia, 
except  the  Congregation  of  Alexandria,  which  shall  belong  to  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  01. 

§  47.    The  territory  of  a  dissolved  Presbytery. 

"From  the  minutes  of  the  late  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  it  appears  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  in  the  year  1797,  petitioned  said  Synod  for  a 
division  of  that  Presbytery;  which  petition  was  granted.  The  western 
boundary  of  Abingdon,  by  this  act,  was  to  be  'a  line  running  from  the  North 
Carolina  boundary,  north  to  the  mouth  of  Big  Limestone;  up  said  creek 
*  *  *  to  the  Kentucky  line.'  The  members  west  of  this  line,  were  consti- 
tuted into  a  Presbytery  by  the  name  of  Union. 

"On  the  petition  of  several  persons  in  1799,  the  boundary  line  between 


Part  II.]  JURISDICTION.  93 

the  Presbyteries  of  Abingdon  and  Union  was  altered,  by  an  act  of  the  same 
Synod.  This  line  was  to  run  due  north,  tovichino;  in  its  course  the  mouth 
of  Lick  Creek.  By  this  new  partition,  the  Rev.  Hezekiah  Balch  and  John 
Copan,  who  were  before  attached  to  Union  Presbytery,  became  members  of 
Abingdon. 

''  In  1800,  the  Synod  formed  a  new  Presbytery  to  be  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Greenville,  the  boundary  of  which  on  the  east  was  to  be 
the  first  established,  and  on  the  west  the  last  established  line  between  the 
Presbyteries  of  Abingdon  and  Union.  The  territory  occupied  by  this  Pres- 
bytery is  the  one  now  in  dispute;  and  this  territory,  it  should  not  be  for- 
gotten, embraced  the  Rev.  Mr.  Balch  and  John  Copan,  who  by  the  first  di- 
viding line  were  members  of  Union,  and  by  the  second  members  of  x\bing- 
don. 

"In  1804,  the  Presbytery  of  Greenville  was  dissolved  by  the  Synod,  and 
the  only  information  given  respecting  the  destination  of  this  disputed  terri- 
tory is  in  the  following  extract  from  their  minutes : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  said  Presbytery  of  Greenville  be  dissolved,  and  it  is 
hereby  dissolved.  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Samuel  Davis  and  George  Newton  are 
directed  to  apply  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  for  re-admission;  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Hez.  Balch  and  John  Copan  to  apply  to  the  Presbytery  of  Union, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bovell,  to  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington,  in  the  Sy- 
nod of  Kentucky,  or  to  any  other  Presbytery  in  whose  bounds  his  lot  may 
be  ordered.' 

"  From  this  minute  it  does  appear  to  your  committee,  that  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  over  this  territory,  once  embraced  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Greenville,  is  not  given  either  to  Abingdon  or  Union.  The 
Presbytery  of  Concord  can  unquestionably  claim,  by  the  authority  of  this 
act,  that  part  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Davis  and  Newton,  and  their  con- 
gregations; the  Presbytery  of  Union,  that  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Balch 
and  Copan;  and  as  the  act  is  silent  as  to  the  acquisition  of  either  Slinisters 
or  territory  by  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  your  committee  can  see  no 
reason  why  that  Presbytery  should  not  be  restricted  within  the  same  limits 
by  which  they  were  bounded  when  the  Presbytery  of  Greenville  was  in  ex- 
istence. This  is  what  is  denominated  the  Limestone  boundary,  and  is  the 
same  line  of  division  which  was  established  between  Abingdon  and  Union, 
when  Union  Presbytery  was  constituted. 

"  From  this  view  of  facts,  your  committee  would  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  that  this  line  be  the  boundary  between  the  Presbyteries  of  Abing- 
don and  Union,  leaving  any  congregations  now  established  within  the  for- 
mer bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Greenville,  the  liberty  of  attaching  them- 
selves to  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  if  in  their  judgment  they  shall  deem 
such  a  measure  conducive  to  their  edification,  and  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
Church."     [Adopted.]— i/mw^fs,  1822,  p.  22. 

§  48.  J.  Presbytery  formed  hy  the  General  Assembly  and  inadvertently  at' 
taclied  to  a  distant  Synod. 

"  Resolved,  Whereas  the  last  General  Assembly  directed  the  formation 
of  the  Presbytery  of  the  Creek  Nation,  and  attached  the  said  Presbytery  to 
the  Synod  of  Mississippi;  and  whereas  the  said  Presbytery  is  adjoining  the 
Synod  of  Memphis,  which  has  received  it  under  its  care ;  that  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  said  Synod  in  the  premises  be  approved,  and  that  the  said  Pres- 
bytery be  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Memphis. — Minutes,  1849,  p.  248. 


94f  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

Title  2. — Jurisdiction  over  Persons. 

§  49.  Memher  of  a  defunct  Preshyter)/. 

"  What  is  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued  by  a  Presbytery,  when  a  Min- 
ister, witli  a  certificate  of  good  standing  from  a  Presljytery  that  has  no 
longer  any  existence,  applies  for  admission,  if  the  applicant  has  in  the  in- 
terval between  the  dissolution  of  the  one  Presbytery  and  his  application  to 
the  other,  been  guilty  of  some  offence,  for  which  the  Presbytery  applied  to 
would  refer  his  case  back  to  his  own  Presbytery,  provided  it  were  in  ex- 
istence? 

"1.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  our  Church  expressly 
provides,  that  when  a  Minister  shall  be  dismissed  by  one  Presbytery,  with  a 
view  to  his  joining  another,  he  shall  always  be  considered  as  remaining  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery  which  dismissed  him,  until  he  actually 
becomes  a  member  of  another.  In  the  case  stated  in  the  overture,  however, 
as  the  dismissing  Presbytery  had  become  extinct,  it  was  physically  impos- 
sible to  act  according  to  the  letter  of  this  rule.  In  these  circumstances, 
every  principle  of  sound  interpretation  seems  to  direct,  that,  in  ordinary 
cases,  the  Presbytery  into  which  admission  is  sought,  should  receive  the  appli- 
cant ;  and  if  he  be  charged  with  any  offence,  conduct  the  process  against 
him. 

''2.  Nevertheless,  it  is  the  privilege  of  every  Presbytery  to  judge  of  the 
character  and  situation  of  those  who  apply  to  be  admitted  into  their  own 
body,  and,  unless  they  are  satisfied,  to  decline  receiving  the  same.  A  Pres- 
bytery, it  is  true,  may  make  an  improper  use  of  this  privilege,  in  which  case 
the  rejected  applicant  may  appeal  to  the  Synod  or  the  General  Assembly. 

"  3.  When  any  Minister,  dismissed  in  good  standing  by  an  extinct  Pres- 
bytery, is  charged  with  an  offence  subsequently  to  the  date  of  his  dismission, 
the  Presbytery  to  which  he  applies  for  admission  not  only  may,  if  they  see 
cause,  decline  receiving  him,  but  if  their  own  situation  be  such  that  there 
is  no  prospect  of  their  being  able  to  conduct  process  against  him  in  an  im- 
partial and  efficient  manner,  ought  to  decline  admitting  him  into  their  body. 

"  4.  In  this  case,  Ministers  dismissed  by  an  extinct  Presbytery,  and  not 
received  into  any  other,  are  to  be  considered  under  the  direction  of  their 
proper  Synod,  and  ought  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  Synod  may  order." — 
Minutes,  1825,  pp.  258.  264. 

§  50.    The  only  Elders  are  to  he  hronglit  to  trial. 

"Common  fame  accuses  two  Ruling  Elders,  they  being  the  only  acting 
Elders,  of  unchristian  conduct,  which  took  place  several  years  ago,  but  which 
has  lately  been  made  known  to  the  Presbytery  with  which  said  Church  is 
connected.     What  is  the  duty  of  Presbytery  in  the  case  ? 

"Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  is  the  competent  court  to  try  these  two 
Elders,  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  cite  the  offending  persons  before  them 
and  proceed  to  issue  the  case." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  260.  262. 

§  51.  The  only  Elder  is  related  to  the  accused. 
"If  it  shall  appear  to  a  Presbytery,  by  common  fame,  or  otherwise,  that 
a  member  of  one  of  its  Churches  is  a  proper  subject  of  discipline,  and  said 
Church  has  but  one  Elder,  and  that  Elder,  by  relationship  to  the  offending 
member,  or  for  other  reasons,  declines  to  act  in  his  official  capacity,  does  the 
fifth  paragraph  of  the  chapter  in  our  Form  of  (xovernment  on  General  Keview 
and  Control,  together  with  8th  Sec.  Chap,  x.,  authorize  the  Presbytery  to 
bring  the  offender  to  trial,  and  to  act  on  the  case  in  the  place  of  said  Session? 
And  are  said  paragraphs  the  only  remedy  in  our  Form  of  Government  for 
the  difficulty  referred  to?" 


Part  II.]  JURISDICTION.  95 

"The  overture  was  answered  by  a  reference  to  Form  of  Government, 
Chap.  X.  Sec.  8;  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  1,  Subsections  5  and  6; 
and  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  2." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  221. 

§  52.  An  unsuccessful  attemjJt  to  Join  another  hodi/  does  not  annid  the  rights 

of  Jurisdiction. 
[The  Rev.  Garner  A.  Hunt,  a  member  of  Newton  Presbytery,  without  the  knowledge 
of  Presbytery,  made  application  to  the  German  Lutheran  Synod,  to  be  received  as  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body,  and  was  rejected.] 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Grarner  A.  Hunt  be  considered  as  still  a  mem- 
ber of  Newton  Presbytery,  and  amenable  to  that  body." — Minutes,  1828, 
p.  227. 

§  53.  Nonresident  3{inisters. 

(rt)  "The  Presbytery  of  New  York  represented  to  Synod  that  one  of  their 
members  now  resided  in  the  bounds  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery,  whose 
moral  character  laboured  under  some  imputations,  and  requested  the  advice 
of  Synod  as  to  which  of  the  Presbyteries  should  make  inquiry  into  that  mat- 
ter; whereupon  the  Synod  judged  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York:'— 3Iinutes,  1782,  p.  495. 

(6)  "  Petitions  from  the  Churches  at  Mount  Pleasant  and  Greensburg,  in 
New  York,  and  from  five  Ministers  of  the  gospel  residing  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mr.  George  Bourne,  requesting  that  Mr.  Bourne  might  be  restored  to  the 
office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  were  overtured;  and  application  on  behalf  of 
Mr.  Bourne,  was  made  by  Dr.  Ely,  that,  on  the  profession  of  his  penitence, 
he  may  be  restored.     Whereupon,  it  was 

^'Resolved,  That  the  case  of  JMr.  George  Bourne  be  referred  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York,  in  whose  bounds  he  now  resides;  and  it  is  hereby 
ordered  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  be  furnished  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Lexington,  with  all  the  documents  relative  to  the  deposition  of  Mr.  Bourne, 
that  they  receive  testimony  as  to  the  character  and  deportment  of  Mr. 
Bourne  since  his  deposition,  and  also  the  evidences  of  repentance  Mr. 
Bourne  may  furnish;  and  it  is  ordered,  moreover,  that  the  said  Presbytery 
of  New  York  do  proceed  to  issue  the  case,  and  continue  the  sentence  of 
deposition,  or  restore  him  the  said  Bourne,  to  the  gospel  ministry  as  they 
may  judge  proper." — Minutes,  1824,  p.  222. 

(c)  '■^Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  Presbyteries, 
both  of  Harmony  and  Steubenville,  appear  to  have  misconceived  the  direc- 
tions as  laid  down  in  Chap.  v.  Sects.  3  and  4  of  the  Book  of  Discipline; 
inasmuch  as  those  rules  do  not  transfer  jurisdiction  from  a  Presbytery  to 
which  a  Minister  belongs,  to  the  one  within  whose  bounds  he  resides,  so  as 
to  authorize  the  latter  Presb)i;ery  to  try  such  Minister,  but  only  to  examine 
witnesses  in  the  case,  and  transmit  an  authentic  record  of  the  testimony  to 
the  Presbytery  which  made  the  application;  therefore, 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  is  at  liberty  to  pursue  such 
course  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Belknap  as  the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  the 
good  of  religion  shall  in  their  opinion  require." — Minutes,  1831,  ji.  191. 

[Mr.  Belknap  belonged  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony.] 

§  54.   Declinature  hi/  the  accused  does  not  bar  Jurisdiction. 

(a)  [In  the  original  Draught  of  the  Directory,  as  printed  for  consideration  in  1787, 
Chap.  X.  §  6,  stood  as  follows:] 

"  When  any  person  has  been,  with  the  advice  of  the  Presbytery,  adjudged  to  be  cut  off 
from  the  communion  of  the  Church,  it  is  proper  that  the  sentence  be  pronounced  against 
him;  even  although,  as  is  to  be  expected  in  such  cases  of  contumacy  and  wickedness,  he 
should  pretend  to  despise  the  censures  of  the  Church,  and  either  cast  o?i  all  profession  of 
religion,  or  to  go  to  another  denomination." — Draught,  &c.,  p.  93.     [Before  adoption  the 


96  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

supposed  case  was  struck  out,  and  the  article  left  as  it  now  is  in  unlimited  application  to 
all  cases.] 

{h)  "A  reference  from  tlie  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  was 
brought  in,  in  the  following  words : 

"  '  The  Presbytery  took  Mr.  Eakin's  affair  under  consideration,  and  as  he 
has  deserted  his  pastoral  charge,  and  his  character  labours  under  grievous 
reports  of  gross  immoralities,  and  he  has  not  thought  proper  to  attend  this 
judicature,  though  twice  cited  to  appear  and  vindicate  his  character  and 
conduct,  but  by  a  letter  sent  to  Dr.  Alison,  to  be  communicated  to  this 
Presbytery,  desired  that  his  name  might  be  struck  out  of  their  book,  as  he 
was  determined  never  hereafter  to  have  any  pastoral  charge  under  the  care 
of  this  Presbytery,  or  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, the  Presbytery  calling  to  mind  the  difficulties  in  which  they  have 
already  been  involved  by  his  conduct,  judged  it  most  expedient  to  refer  his 
case  to  the  Synod,  and  desire  this  reference  may  be  laid  before  them  as  soon 
as  there  is  a  convenient  opportunity.'  " 

[The  Synod  hereupon  issued  a  new  citation,  closing  with  the  assurance,  "You  are  to 
consider  this  as  the  last  citation  you  are  to  expect  on  this  head  ;  the  Synod  will  therefore 
proceed  to  hear  and  issue  the  matter  whether  you  attend  or  not."  Mr.  Eakin  attended 
and  confessed  the  truth  of  the  charges,  submitting  himself  to  the  judgment  of  Synod.] — 
Minutes,  1771,  pp.  413,  414.  418. 

(c)  [On  this  subject  see  also  Davis's  case,  below.  Book  VII.  §  86,  Similar  was  the 
course  pursued  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  the  case  of  Stone  and  his  New  Light  asso- 
ciates, who  were  deposed,  notwithstanding  their  attempted  withdrawal  from  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Synod.     Book  VII.  §  59.  64.]" 

§55.  A  jiccidiar  case. 

[In  1830  the  Rev.  Theodore  Clapp  having  adopted  a  system  of  doctrines  at  variance 
with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  communicated  the  fact  to  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi,  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  and  requested  a  dismission  to  join  the  Hampshire  County  Asso- 
ciation of  Congregational  Ministers  of  Massachusetts.  Hereupon  the  Presbytery  adopted 
a  series  of  resolutions  refusing  the  dismission,  but  declaring  that  "  the  Rev.  Theodore 
Clapp  is  no  longer  either  a  member  of  this  body  or  a  Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 
The  whole  business  came  before  the  Assembly  upon  a  complaint  of  a  minority  of  the  Ses- 
sion of  the  First  Church  in  New  Orleans,  with  consent  of  the  Presbytery  carried  up  to 
the  General  Assembly.] 

''Resolved,  That  since  the  Rev.  Theodore  Clapp  has  neithei*  been  dis- 
missed nor  suspended  by  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi,  he  ought  to  be 
regarded  as  a  member  of  that  body;  and  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assem- 
bly, they  have  sufficient  reasons  for  proceeding  to  try  him  upon  the  charge 
of  error  in  doctrine." — Minutes,  1881,  p.  192. 

[In  the  sequel,  Clapp  was  deposed.] 

§  56.  Jurisdiction  over  a  deposed  Minister. 

[See  above,  §  53,  b.] 

"Mr.  David  Austin,  who  had  been  formerly  a  member  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  and  had  withdrawn  from  the  Presbytery  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  appeared  before  the  Assembly  and  renewed  his  request  of  last  year, 
to  be  again  received  into  ministerial  communion  and  regular  standing  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  Austin  having  been  fully  heard  in  support 
of  his  petition,  withdrew;  when  the  Assembly,  after  maturely  considering 
the  case, 

"Resolved,  That  as  it  would  be  disorderly  for  this  Assembly  to  restore 
IWr.  Austin  to  his  standing  in  the  l^resbyterian  Church  in  the  form  in  which 
it  is  sought  by  him,  inasmuch  as  he  withdrew  from  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  against  whom  he  makes  no  complaint,  and  to  whom  of  course  he  ought 
to  apply,  so  this  Assembly,  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  had  on  the  sub- 


Part  II.]  JURISDICTION.  97 

ject  of  Mr.  Austin's  application,  have  had  before  them  sufficient  evidence 
that  it  is  inexpedient,  at  present,  to  recommend  his  reception  by  any  judi- 
cature of  this  Church.  Yet  the  Assembly  are  willing  to  hope  that  the  time 
may  come  when  the  restoration  of  Mr.  Austin  to  his  former  standing  may 
take  place,  to  his  own  satisfaction  and  the  edification  of  the  Church.'' — 
3Imutes,  1802,  p.  238. 

Title  3. — Other  questions  of  Jurisdiction. 

§  57.  An  appeal  from  a  court  not  of  our  communion. 

"  The  committee  on  the  memorial  of  Mr.  Horatio  A.  Parsons,  made  a 
report,  which  was  adopted,  as  follows,  viz. 

"Whereas,  it  appears  from  an  examination  of  the  said  memorial  and  of 
the  documents  accompanying  it,  that  Mr.  Parsons  appeals  from  the  decision 
of  a  Synod  over  which  this  Assembly  has  no  jurisdiction ;  and  where  this 
Assembly  has  no  means  of  examining  into  the  merits  of  the  case  brought  to 
view  in  this  memorial;  therefore, 

''Resolved,  That  the  papers  relating  to  this  case  be  returned  to  Mr.  Par- 
sons, that  he  may,  should  he  see  fit,  apply  to  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  to 
be  disposed  of  as  that  Presbytery  shall  deem  best. 

"■Resolved,  Secondly,  That  it  appears  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
Mr.  Parsons,  that  the  interests  of  justice  require  the  attention  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Albany  to  this  case." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  13. 

§  58.    The  Discipline  of  other  Evanyelical  Churches  respected. 

(a)  "  Letters  came  to  the  Synod  from  Mrs.  Catharine  Wood,  who  stands 
excommunicated  by  the  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  complaining 
against  the  censure  of  that  Church,  and  desiring  the  Synod  to  relieve  her; 
which  being  considered  by  an  interloquitur  of  the  Synod,  it  was  agreed  that 
a  letter  should  be  writ  to  that  Church,  desiring  a  conference  between  three 
or  four  of  them  and  as  many  of  us  relating  to  that  affair;  which  letter  being 
wi'ote  and  delivered,  and  no  answer  from  them  yet  come,  the  Synod  agreed 
to  leave  the  consideration  of  any  answer  that  might  be  brought,  and  what 
else  may  occur  about  that  matter,  to  the  management  of  the  commission  of 
the  Synod,  the  time  of  the  Synod's  sitting  being  near  expired." — Minutes, 
1728,  p.  91. 

*'  Inquiry  being  made  with  respect  to  Mrs.  Catharine  Wood,  it  was  found 
that  endeavours  had  been  used  in  order  to  accommodate  said  affair,  but  to 
little  purpose  hitherto;  and  the  said  affair  is  wholly  left  to  the  management 
of  any  Presbytery  to  which  she  shall  apply,  as  they  shall  see  cause.  And 
the  better  to  enable  the  said  Presbytery  to  conduct  themselves  in  it,  the 
Synod,  having  been  informed  that  her  old  friends,  the  Baptists,  say  that 
they  have  nothing  to  object  against  her,  and  that  any  other  society  ai'e  at 
liberty  to  receive  her,  if  they  shall  see  cause,  they  do  judge  that  she  is  vir- 
tually released  from  the  censure  she  lay  under,  and  therefore  that  she  may 
be  received  as  a  member  of  a  Christian  Church,  if  the  differences  between 
her  husband  and  her  were  accommodated,  for  anything  that  appears  to 
them."— Minutes,  1729,  p.  93. 

(h)  "Mr.  Alexander  Miller,  from  the  parish  of  Ardstraw,  in  Ireland,  ap- 
plied to  us  for  liberty  to  preach  the  gospel  as  a  Minister  of  this  Synod.  He 
acknowledged  he  was  degraded  by  the  Presbytery  of  Letterkenny,  and  Sub- 
Synod  of  Londonderry,  and  the  General  Synod  in  Ireland,  but  complained 
that  they  treated  him  hardl}'  and  unjustly,  and  offered  the  minutes  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Letterkenny  to  our  consideration,  to  justify  his  conduct.  The 
Synod  having  seriously  considered  his  allegations,  think  that  they  have  no 
13 


98  POTESTAS   JUKISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

right  to  judge  of  tlie  proceedings  of  the  judicatories  in  Ireland;  that  they 
have  not  the  uiinutes  of  the  Sub-Synod,  and  General  Syuud,  and  fur  that 
reason  think  it  would  be  partial  and  unfair  to  believe  that  so  many  men  of 
candour  and  integrity  would  treat  him  in  their  judicatories  severely  and  un- 
justly; and  as  several  of  our  membei's  have  wrote  to  their  correspondents  in 
that  Church,  they  think  they  would  act  Avrong  to  encourage  a  man  which  is 
cast  out  of  their  Churches,  till  they  hear  for  what  reasons ;  and  we  would 
warn  all  the  societies  under  our  care  to  give  him  no  encouragement  as  a 
Minister,  till  his  chai'acter  is  cleared,  and  he  be  acknowledged  as  a  gospel 
Minister  by  us." — Minutes,  175B,  p.  211. 

(c)  "The  affair  of  Mr.  McGill  resumed.  The  Synod  having  heard  all 
that  could  at  present  be  further  offered  in  respect  to  Mr.  McGill,  and  again 
deliberated  on  his  case,  find  that  he  had  been  suspended  from  preaching  by 
the  Burgher  Associate  Presbytery  of  Monaghan  in  Ireland,  and  afterward 
deposed  by  the  Burgher  Associate  Synod  of  Edinburgh;  and  do  therefore 
judge,  that  however  we  have  credible  testimony  in  favour  of  his  character, 
both  befure  the  accusation  was  brought  against  him  in  his  own  Presbytery, 
and  since  his  removal  from  Ireland,  yet  we  cannot,  at  present,  receive  him 
as  a  member;  but  willing  to  do  everything  in  our  power  for  his  relief, 
agree  in  the  meantime,  to  take  every  possible  method  to  obtain  information, 
both  from  the  Presbytery  which  suspended,  and  the  Synod  which  deposed 
him.  And  accordingly  we  appoint  Dr.  Rodgers  to  endeavour  to  obtain  all 
the  light  he  can  from  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  Monaghan,  and  Dr.  With- 
erspoou  to  procure  such  information  as  he  can  from  the  above-mentioned 
Synod,  respecting  said  Mr.  McGill,  to  be  laid  before  the  Synod  at  their  next 
meeting." — Mimites,  1775,  p.  465. 

(d)  "The  Assembly  took  into  consideration  the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  an  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  in 
the  case  of  Mr.  Aaron  C.  Collins,  and  after  mature  deliberation  thereon,  re- 
solved as  follows  :******* 

"  That  as  the  present  case  originated  within  the  bounds  of  the  Consociated 
Churches  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  the  Assembly  do  refer  the  whole  case 
of  Mr.  Collins  to  the  General  Association  of  the  said  State,  that  they  may 
direct  to  a  full  investigation;  and  it  is 

"  Ordered,  That  gll  the  proceedings  had  upon  this  affair,  both  before  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York  and  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  to- 
gether with  all  the  evidence  and  other  documents  that  can  be  obtained,  re- 
lating thereto,  be  sent  by  the  ■delegates  from  the  General  Assembly  to  the 
General  Association." — Minutes,  1793,  p.  68. 

§  59.   Discipline  of  bajifized  Children  of  the  Church. 

(o)  "A  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Virginia  was  laid  before  the  Assem- 
bly, in  the  following  words,  viz. 

"  '  Through  the  Committee  of  Overtures  was  laid  before  the  Synod  the  fol- 
lowing question:  How  far  and  in  what  sense  are  persons  who  have  been  re- 
gularly baptized  in  infancy,  and  have  not  partaken  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  subject  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church? 

'William  Hill,  Ckrk  of  the  Spwd  of  Virginia. 
<  Septemler  27th,  1798.' 

"  After  some  discussion,  it  was 

"Jieaohed,  That  the  public  Standards  of  this  Church  contain  a  sufficient 
answer  to  the  question  stated  in  the  above  reference." — Minutes,  1799,  p. 
171. 

{h)  [In  1811,  there  came  up  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  a  reference] 
"  of  a  case  relative  to  the  disciplining  of  baptized  persons  arrived  at  maturity, 


Part  II.]  JURISDICTION.  99 

not  in  communion.  This  reference  was  committed  to  Dr.  Clark,  Messrs. 
Nathan  Grier  and  Picton,  who  were  directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly  on 
the  subject." 

'■'■  The  committee  to  which  the  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
relative  to  the  conduct  to  be  pursued  by  the  Church  with  respect  to  baptized 
persons  not  in  communion^  had  been  committed,  brought  in  their  report, 
which  was  read,  and  the  subject  was  indefinitely  postponed," — Minutes, 
1811,  pp.  4G8.  475. 

§  GO.  A  Committee  to  report  on  the  suhject. 

''Resolved,  That  Drs.  Miller  and  Romeyn,  and  the  Rev.  James  Rich- 
ards, be  a  committee  to  prepare  and  report  to  next  Assembly  a  full  and 
complete  answer  to  the  following  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
which  had  been  made  to  this  Assembly : 

"What  steps  should  the  Church  take  with  baptized  youth,  not  in  commu- 
nion, but  arrived  at  the  age  of  maturity,  should  such  youth  prove  disorderly 
and  contumacious?" — Minutes,  1811,  p.  480. 

"  The  committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  report  to  this  Assem- 
bly on  the  subject  of  disciplining  baptized  children,  reported,  and  the  report 
being  read,  was  recommitted  to  the  same  committee  for  revision  and  publi- 
cation, and  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  Assembly,  without  expressing  any  opinion  on  the 
principles  it  contains,  recommend  it  to  the  serious  consideration  of  all  the 
Presbyteries  and  Ministers,  that  in  due  time  a  decision  may  be  had  on  the 
important  subjects  discussed  in  the  report. 

"Resolved,  That  this  minute  be  printed  in  the  beginning  of  the  pam- 
phlet containing  the  report  of  the  aforesaid  committee." — Minutes,  1812, 
p.  509. 

[This  report  entered  at  large  into  the  suhject ;  taking  the  ground  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Church  to  pursue  a  course  of  firm  and  judicious  discipline  with  such  of  her  baptized 
youth  as  fail  to  lay  hold  on  the  covenant  for  themselves  when  they  arrive  at  maturity.] 

§  61.    The  suhject  again  resumed. 

"The  subject  of  a  report  on  the  disciplining  of  baptized  children,  in 
relation  to  which  the  Assembly  of  the  last  year,  and  the  year  before,  had 
taken  order,  was  called  up,  and  it  appeared  that  several  Presbyteries  had 
brought  forward  a  formal  expression  of  their  opinion  in  regard  to  the  adop- 
tion or  rejection  of  the  report  in  question.  On  this  a  discussion  having 
arisen  whether  the  report  was  intended  to  be  sent  to  the  Presbyteries,  for 
the  expression  of  Presbyterial  opinion  on  the  subject,  it  was  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  whole  subject  be  referred  to  a  committee,  to  consi- 
der and  report  to  the  Assembly  what  shall  appear  to  them  to  be  the  correct 
method  of  procedure  to  be  adopted  relative  thereto,  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  is  now  before  the  Assembly,  and  that  Drs.  Green,  WoodhuU,  and 
Wilson,  and  Messrs.  Caldwell  and  Connelly,  be  the  committee." 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  report  a  correct  method  of  procedure  to  be 
adopted  relative  to  a  report  on  the  disciplining  of  baptized  children  reported, 
and  it  was  ordered  that  the  report  lie  on  the  table." 

"The  report  on  the  subject  of  disciplining  baptized  children,  which  had 
at  a  former  session  of  this  Assembly  been  laid  on  the  table,  was  again  read, 
and  recommitted  to  the  some  committee,  with  the  addition  of  Drs.  GriflBn 
and  Blutchford,  and  Messrs.  Blackburn,  Fisher,  and  Haslett." 

"  On  motion.  Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  to  report  to  the 
Assembly  a  correct  method  of  procedure  to  be  adopted  relative  to  a  report 


100  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

made  by  a  former  committee  on  the  subject  of  disciplining  baptized  children, 
be  (lischarged. 

''  And  they  were  accord iii2;ly  dischar>rod,  and  the  subject  was  indefinitely 
postponed." — Minutes,  1814,  pp.  543.  547.  551.  567. 

§  63,  A  specified  case. 

"  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  on  the  subject  of  ex- 
communicating a  person  who  had  been  baptized,  but  had  not  been  received 
into  full  communion  of  the  Church,  was  overtured,  and  was  committed  to 
Dr.  Miller,  Messrs.  Finley,  Freeman,  Cook,  and  Haslett." 

"  The  unfinished  business  of  yesterday,  viz.  the  consideration  of  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  to  which  had  been  committed  the  reference  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  concerning  the  proper  construction  of  the  first 
article  of  the  first  chapter  of  the  forms  of  process,  relative  to  persons  who 
have  been  baptized,  but  have  not  been  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table,  was 
resumed.  After  a  long  discussion  on  the  subject,  a  motion  was  made  and 
seconded,  for  an  indefinite  postponement.  The  question  being  taken  was 
determined  in  the  affirmative,  and  therefore  the  firther  consideration  of  the 
subject  was  indefinitely  postponed." — Minutes,  1815,  pp.  578.  589. 

Title  4. — Judicial  Examinations. 

§  64.  Of  Ministers  on  joining  Presbytery. 

[The  examination  to  which  candidates  are  subjected,  upon  the  question  of  their  ordina- 
tion, and  especially  tliat  of  Ministers  in  passing  from  one  Presbytery  to  another,  is  a  judi- 
cial process,  which  is  governed  by  the  rules  of  judicial  proceedings,  and  the  result  of  which 
may  be  not  only  the  rejection  of  the  Minister,  but  the  remanding  of  him  to  his  own  Pres- 
bytery for  censure  upon  the  grounds  of  the  evidence  obtained  by  the  examining  court. 
See  Book  IV.,  §  45,  and  following.] 

§  65.  A  Minister  suspected  of  error  subject  to  examination. 

[This  is  implied  in  the  right  exercised  in  the  case  above  stated,  where  examination  is 
had  upon  the  remote  presumption  arising  from  the  fact  of  a  man  being  a  stranger  to  the 
Presbytery. 

In  both  the  New  Light  and  Cumberland  schisms  the  immediate  question  on  which  the 
secession  occurred,  was  the  right  of  such  examination,  asserted  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
and  denied  by  the  schismatics.  See  Book  VII.,  §  59;  69,  b;  d;  and  71.  The  proceed- 
ings of  the  Synod  were  in  each  of  these  instances,  as  the  sequel  in  the  above  places  shows, 
fully  sustained  by  the  Assembly.] 

Title  5. — Quorum  for  Judicial  purposes. 
§  66. 

(a)  [Is  a  judicatory  competent  to  act  when  a  parrty  or  parties  at  the  bar  are  necessarily 
included  in  the  quorum?      We  answer  in  the  alKrmative. 

No  more  important  or  responsible  duty  devolves  on  any  judicatory  than  that  of  review, 
in  which  it  sits  in  judgment  for  trial,  not  of  individuals,  but  of  Church  courts,  and  in  the 
course  of  which  the  members  of  the  inferior  court  are  present,  not  as  members  entitled  to 
vote,  but  as  respondents  at  the  bar. 

Yet  it  will  not  be  disputed  that  a  bare  quorum  is  competent  to  take  up  and  perform  this 
stated  and  imperative  duty.  By  this  ordinary  case,  it  is  practically  decided  that  members 
who  are  at  the  bar  of  the  house  and  so  precluded  from  a  vote  on  the  business  in  hand,  are 
yet  present  in  the  sense  of  the  Constitution  as  part  of  the  quorum. 

(6)  By  definition  of  the  Constitution, — by  a  continual  series  of  precedents, — and  by 
universal  consent,  it  is  perfectly  competent  to  erect  courts  whose  roll  shall  contain  a  num- 
ber barely  sufiicient  to  form  a  quorum, — Sessions  having  but  one  or  two  Elders,  Presby- 
teries  having  but  three  Ministers,  and  Synods  including  but  three  Presbyteries.  If  these 
are  really  constitutional  courts,  they  as  such  possess  all  the  powers  comprehended  under 


Part"  II.]  CENSURES  WITHOUT   PROCESS.  101 

their  several  definitions  in  the  Constitution,  including  all  the  judicial  powers  pertaining  to 
any  other  court  of  their  own  grade  severally;  competence  therefore  to  exercise  the  func- 
tions of  review  and  control  over  their  constituent  elements,  of  entertaining  and  deciding 
appeals  and  complaints,  and  of  instituting  and  carrying  through  process  in  requisite  cases. 
In  each  of  these  instances,  however,  the  process  will  ordinarily  involve  the  decision  of  the 
matters  at  issue  by  a  number  fewer  than  a  quorum,  one  or  more  of  the  members  being  in 
the  altitude  of  respondent  at  the  bar. 

(c)  There  seems  to  be  good  reason  to  suppose,  that  in  this  view  is  found  the  reason  of 
the  particular  number  three  being  fallen  upon  as  a  quorum  of  Bishops  or  Ministers. 
Should  one  be  subjected  to  charges  requiring  process,  there  remains  a  plurality  of  persons  of 
the  same  order  to  sit  upon  the  trial.  This  suggests  the  additional  remark,  that  the  princi- 
ple laid  down  at  the  head  of  this  Title,  is  to  be  received  with  the  proviso,  that  in  the  cases 
supposed  there  must  be  a  plurality  of  members  of  the  order  of  the  respondent  present,  and 
sitting  on  the  case.  There  must  be  a  vote  of  at  least  two  Elders,  to  inflict  any  censure 
upon  a  Ruling  Elder;  at  least  two  Ministers  must  sit  in  judgment  of  a  process  against  a 
Minister;  and  members  of  at  least  two  Presbyteries  are  requisite  to  sit  upon  a  case  involv- 
ing a  Presbytery.  A  Synod  containing  but  three  Presbyteries  could  not  therefore  issue  a 
case  in  which  one  of  the  Presbyteries  appeared  as  prosecutor,  and  another  as  respondent. 
In  other  words,  all  decisions  must  be  rendered  by  the  concurrent  votes  of  a  plurality,  by 
the  action  of  an  Assembly, 

(rf)  Since  the  adoption  of  the  amended  Form  of  Government,  which  defines  a  quorum 
of  a  Synod  as  consisting  of  "any  seven  Ministers,  with  as  many  Elders  as  may  be  present, 
provided  not  more  than  three  of  said  Ministers  belong  to  one  Presbytery,"  thus  making 
a  representation  from  at  least  three  Presbyteries,  essential  to  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness; there  have  been  no  less  than  twenty-one  Synods,  organized  with  but  thr^e  Presbyte- 
ries, or  which  by  the  erection  of  new  Synods,  have  been  reduced  to  that  number.  It  will 
be  needless  to  cite  instances  to  show  the  competence  of  these  Synods  to  act  in  all  those 
cases  in  which  one  of  their  constituent  Presbyteries  is  by  the  Constitution  precluded  from 
a  vote.  The  Synod  of  Virginia  was  thus  constituted  from  1825  to  1832.  During  this 
time  an  appeal  being  taken  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  East  Hanover  by  Mr. 
Matthew  H.  Rice,  directly  to  the  Assembly,  it  was] 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  appellant  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  appeal,  on  the 
following  ground,  viz.,  no  reasons  are  assigned  by  the  appellant  for  making 
this  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  instead  of  the  Synod." — Minutes^ 
1830,  p.  24. 

Title  6. — Censures  without  Process. 

§  67.    Of  charges  not  judicial. 

(ci)  "While  it  is  unquestionably  the  privilege  of  individuals  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church  when  they  think  they  see  the  peace,  purity, 
or  prosperity  of  the  Church  in  danger,  either  from  an  individual  or  from  an 
inferior  court,  to  apply  to  the  General  Assembly  in  an  orderly  manner  for 
redress  or  direction,  yet  in  such  cases,  unless  they  mean  to  come  forward  as 
prosecutors,  with  the  necessary  testimony,  they  should  most  carefully  avoid 
mentioning  names  connected  with  charges  of  the  most  serious  kind,  in  sup- 
port of  which  no  evidence  has  been  orderly  adduced;  nor  have  the  individ- 
uals thus  accused  had  an  opportunity  of  replying  to  those  charges,  or  of 
making  any  defence  of  themselves.  The  Assembly  therefore  cannot  witness 
a  procedure  of  this  kind  without  expressing  their  disapprobation  of  it." — 
Minutes,  1824,  p.  211. 

(i)  '■^Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  sustain  the  appeals  of  the  Session  of 
the  Church  of  Bloomington,  and  of  Dr.  AVylie,  against  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Indiana,  and  the  judgment  of  the  Presbyteiy  and  Session  is  here- 
by confirmed,  on  the  ground  that  Mr.  Harney  circulated  evil  reports  against 
I)r.  Wylie,  without  showing  that  he  did  it  in  the  due  performance  of  some 
indispensable  duty;  but  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  that  Mr. 
Harney  shall  still  have  the  privilege,  if  he  desire  it,  of  commencing  a  pro- 
secution against  Dr.  Wylie  before  the  Presbytery  of  Vincennes,  and  in  such 


102  POTESTAS   JURISDiCTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

case,  sakl  Presbytery  are  hereby  autliorizecl  and  directed  to  hear  the  ■whole 
cause  and  issue  the  same  in  a  constitutional  way." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  29. 

§  68.    The  accuned  ought  to  be  held  innocent  of  charges  angrily  xwged  and 

then  disorderli/  abandoned. 

"  Mr.  George  Bryan,  by  the  hands  of  the  janitor,  delivered  into  the 
Synod  a  paper  containing  the  reasons  of  the  corporation's  withdrawing  their 
petition  and  remonstrance,  which  are  as  follows : 

"  '  The  complainants  after  opening  in  a  general  manner  the  matters  they 
could  have  proved  in  order  to  enforce  the  prayer  of  their  remonstrance 
before  the  lleverend  Synod,  do  say  we  purposed  to  have  gone  fully  into 
these  matters,  but  from  what  passed  here  yesterday,  it  appears  to  us  that 
many  of  the  members  without  having  then  entered  on  our  complaint,  though 
upon  the  eve,  and  in  full  prospect  of  so  doing,  have  declared  themselves 
very  fully  as  to  the  irregularities  and  violences  imputed  to  the  Rev.  ]Mr. 
Duffield  and  some  of  his  adherents,  and  that  Mr.  Duffield  hath  been  estab- 
lished, as  far  as  the  Synod  can  do  it.  Pastor  of  Pine  street  Church  against 
the  very  prayer  of  our  supplication.  Whilst  our  complaint  is  thus  mani- 
festly prejudged,  we  cannot  but  observe  that  ridicule  is  set  up  by  some  of 
the  members  as  the  test  of  tnith,  and  characters  wantonly  attacked  in  a 
manner  unbecoming  the  gentleman  and  the  Christian.  What  then  have  we 
to  do  but  to  I'etire  from  your  bar.' 

"  After  much  conversation  and  great  deliberation,  it  is  overtured,  that  as 
George  Bryan,  Esq.  and  William  Miller,  in  the  name  of  the  incorporated 
committee,  presented  a  petition  and  remonstrance,  charging  Mr.  Dutfield 
with  sundry  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  praying  that  he  might  be 
removed  from  the  pulpit  and  Church  in  Pine  street;  but  some  time  after 
those  gentlemen  withdrew  their  said  petition,  and  assigned  their  reasons 
therefor,  which  are  ordered  to  be  recorded  on  our  minutes,  the  Synod  there- 
fore finding  no  accusers,  do  acquit  him,  the  said  jMr.  Duffield,  from  all 
charges  contained  in  the  aforesaid  petition  and  remonstrance." — Minutes, 
1773,  p.  449. 

§  69.    Censure  without  trial. 

(«)  '^Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  house,  that  no  man  or  body  of  men, 
agreeably  to  the  Constitution  of  this  Church,  ought  to  be  condemned  vv 
censured,  without  having  notice  of  the  accusation  against  him  or  them,  and 
notice  given  for  trial.  And,  therefore,  that  if  the  General  Assembly  of  last 
year  meant,  by  the  minute  in  question,  to  pass  a  censure  on  the  Presbytery 
of  Lewes,  it  was  informal." — Minutes,  1793,  p.  71. 

(b)  '■^Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  adopt  the  preceding  resolutions, 
in  their  judgment  there  was  error  in  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  in 
expressing  a  judicial  opinion  in  relation  to  charges  against  Mr.  Davies, 
which  did  not  come  before  them." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  264. 

(c)  ''The  Assembly,  moreover,  cannot  forbear  expressing  their  regret  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Washington  should  have  passed  a  vote  of  censure  on  Mr. 
McCalla,  without  citing  him  to  appear  before  them,  or  giving  him  any  oppor- 
tunity of  making  a  defence,  since  this  mode  of  proceeding  seems  to  have 
occasioned  a  portion  of  the  irregularity  in  the  Presbytery  of  West  l^cxing- 
ton,  of  which  the  Presbytery  of  ^Vashington  have  complained." — Minat<s, 
1821,  p.  14. 

(d)  "The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
the  Carolinas,  reported,  and  the  book  was  approved  to  page  28  of  the  twen- 
ty-third sessions  of  said  Synod,  with  the  exception  of  the  resolution  to  make 
a  Minister  liable  to  suspension  without  trial,  for  three  years'  absence  from 


Part  II.]  ORIGINAL   PROCESS.  103 

Synod,  without  sending  foi"ward  his  reasou  for  absence." — Jlinutes,  1811, 
p.  468. 

Title  7. — Of  Original  Process. 

§  70.  Constitution  of  the  court, 
(a)  A  Minister  should  preside  where  a  Minister  is  prosecutor. 

"■  Ordered,  To  hear  the  reference  by  the  second  Phihidelphia  Presbytery 
of  jMr.  Alexander  Alexander's  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  the  Session  of 
the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city. 

''After  stating  the  cause  and  reading  the  judgment  of  the  Session  and 
the  appeal,  both  parties  were  fully  heard.  And  the  Synod  finding,  that  as 
the  Session  had  not  a  Minister  of  the  word  to  preside  through  the  course  of 
the  trial,  and  that  a  Minister  was  the  accuser  of  the  appellant,  it  was  judged 
it  was  at  least  inexpedient  to  proceed  to  trial,  and  upon  the  whole  wfe  think 
it  best  and  do  remit  the  matter  back  to  the  Presbytery  to  be  heard  and 
judged  of  by  them  de  novo." — Minutes,  1773,  p.  447. 

(6)  Professional  counsel, 
"  Is  it  a  violation  of  our  Book  of  Discipline  for  professional  counsel  under 
all  circumstances  to  aid  in  the  examination  of  witnesses?"     [Answered  in 
the  afiirmative.] — Minutes,  1852,  p.  205. 

(f)  A  member  being  counsel  cannot  vote. 
[Upon  the  appeal  of  IMr.  McQueen,]   "It  was,  on  motion  recorded,  that 
Dr.  Krebs,  as  having  been  counsel  for  Mr.  McQueen,  was  by  the  Constitu- 
tion precluded  from  voting." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  44. 

§  71.    Charges  must  he  specific. 

''Mr.  Ewing  complains  against  the  Commission;  that  they  received 
charges  against  him  which  were  vague  and  indeterminate.  The  Synod 
agrees  that  these  charges  are  rather  deficient  in  point  of  specialty,  but  are 
of  opinion  that  the  Commission  acted  with  prudence  and  integrity  in  receiv- 
ing said  charges,  inasmuch  as  they  endeavoured  to  reduce  them  to  a  spe- 
cialty, and  as  Mr.  Ewing  submitted  so  far  as  to  plead  to  them,  and  as  the 
particular  circumstances  of  the  first  and  third  Presbyterian  Congregations 
in  Philadelphia  were  viewed  by  them  as  so  critical  as  in  their  judgment 
required  an  immediate  discussion  of  the  aifair. 

"Yet  the  Synod  orders,  that  all  their  judicatures  shall,  for  the  future,  be 
particularly  careful  not  to  receive  or  judge  of  any  charges  but  such  as  shall 
be  seasonably  reduced  to  a  specialty  in  the  complaint  laid  before  them." — 
Minutes,  1770,  p.  406. 

§72.    The. preliminary  admonition  of  the  cotirt. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Northern  Indiana  approved  except  that] 
"Of  four  judicial  cases  issued,  the  records  do  not  show  that  the  house  was 
charged,  as  is  required  by  the  Book,  in  judicial  cases." — 3Iinutes,  1854, 
p.  37. 

[This  and  similar  censures  frequently  occurring  are  based  on  a  mistake.  The  rule 
referred  to  was  only  recommended  to  inferior  courts  by  the  Assembly,  as  one  of  "a  system 
of  regulations  which,  if  they  think  proper,  may  be  advantageously  adopted  by  them."  See 
marginal  note  on  the  first  page  of  the  Rules  as  printed  with  the  Constitution.] 

§  73.  Absence  of  the  accused  may  bar  trial. 

"The  Presbytery  proceeded  regularly  to  cite  the  accused  once  and  again, 
and  upon  his  not  appearing,  they  proceeded  to  the  trial,  and  having  gone 
through  the  evidence,  they  referred  the  whole  to  the  Synod  to  adjudicate 
upon  it,  with  the  expression  of  their  own  opinion,  that  Mr.  Craighead  ought 


104  POTESTAS  jumsDicTiONis.  [Book  III. 

to  be  suspcndctl.  The  Synod  met  immediately  after  Presbytery,  and  took 
up  the  case,  and  in  concurrence  with  the  opinion  of  the  Presbytery,  sus- 
pended Mr.  Craighead  from  the  gospel  ministry. 

*^Iu  this  proceeding  the  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  there  was 
too  much  haste.  Mr.  Craighead  was  not  guilty  of  contumacy,  for  he  wrote 
two  letters  to  the  Presbytery  excusing  himself  for  nouattendance;  and  if  he 
had  been  guilty  of  contumacy,  he  ought  to  have  been  suspended  on  that 
ground.  Perhaps  no  man  ought  to  be  tried  on  charges  preferred  and  to  be 
supported  by  evidence,  who  is  not  present,  without  his  own  consent.  A 
trial  in  the  nature  of  things,  cannot  be  impartial,  when  there  is  but  one 
party  heard." — MiniUes,  18:^4,  p.  219. 

§  74.  Publications  calculated  to  'prejudice  the  court. 

(a)  "A  number  of  copies  of  a  book  containing  a  history  of  the  former 
proceedings  in  this  case,  and  strictures  upon  them,  having  been  distributed 
through  the  pews  of  the  church,  it  was 

"liesolvcd,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly,  the  distribution  of 
books,  letters,  or  pamphlets,  among  the  members  of  the  house,  relative  to  a 
cause  pending  before  them,  or  which  is  expected  to  be  submitted  to  their 
decision,  is  an  infringement  upon  the  prerogatives  of  this  house,  and  ought 
to  be  discountenanced  as  an  illegal  and  improper  attempt  to  bias  the  judg- 
ment of  the  members." — Minutes,  1814,  p.  552. 

(h)  "In  relation  to  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Marquess,  pend- 
ing the  decision  of  his  case,  the  Presbytery  of  Nashville  did  no  more  than 
repeat  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly,  given  more  than  once  con- 
cerning such  publications;  and  as  the  Presbytery  passed  no  sentence  upon 
Mr.  M.  for  this  step,  there  is  no  ground  of  appeal  or  complaint." — Mimites, 
1849,  p.  287.     [Also  1848,  p.  49.] 

§  75.  A  Minister  may  he  suspended  pending  j^^oc^ss. 

(a)  "Overtured,  That  a  committee  be  sent  to  Rehoboth,  with  full  power 
from  the  Synod  to  act  in  their  names,  and  by  their  authority,  in  the  aftair 
between  Mr.  Clement  and  that  people,  and  that  Mr.  Clement  be  suspended 
from  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  until  the  determination  of  that  committee. 
This  overtiu'e  was  carried  by  a  vote  iu  the  affirmative,  nemine  contra- 
d  ice  ate. 

"  Ordered,  That  Masters  McNish,  McGill,  Thompson,  Stewart,  Gillespie, 
and  Hook,  or  any  three  of  them,  be  a  committee  for  said  purpose,  and  to 
meet  at  said  place  the  fourth  Friday  of  October  next. 

"  Ordered,  That  each  of  the  mentioned  Ministers  carry  an  Elder  with 
him  if  he  can." — Minutes,  1720,  p.  62. 

(h)  "Whereas,  our  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  v.  Sec.  2,  says,  'the  same 
general  method,  substituting  the  Presbytery  for  the  Session,'  is  to  be  ob- 
served in  investigating  charges  against  a  Minister,  as  are  prescribed  in  the 
case  of  private  members: 

Does  this  authorize  the  Presbytery  to  apply  the  principle  contained  in 
Chap.  iv.  Sec.  18,  to  Ministers  against  whom  charges  exist  that  cannot  be 
seasonally  tried,  so  far  as  to  suspend  them  from  the  functions  of  the  gospel 
ministry  until  they  can  be  tried '! 

'■'■  R<'s,oh-ed ,  That  when  charges  are  tabled  against  a  Minister,  and  it  is 
impracticable  at  once  to  issue  the  case,  the  I'rcsbytery  has  the  right,  if  the 
interests  of  religion  seem  to  demand  the  measure,  to  suspend  him  from  the 
exercise  of  his  ministerial  functions  until  the  case  shall  have  been  issued." 
—Mimi.tes,  1848,  p.  34. 


Part  IL]  ORIGINAL   PROCESS.  105 

§  76.    The  rules  to  he  strictly  ohserved. 

{a)  "  While  the  Assembly  do  not  wish  to  protect  the  guilty,  they  do 
judge  that  great  caution,  deliberation,  and  as  far  as  may  be,  the  rules  of 
discipline,  where  ministerial  character  is  impeached,  ought  to  be  strictly  ob- 
served."— Minutes,  1828,  p.  238. 

(Ij)  ''The  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Arthur,  from  the  sen- 
tence of  Presbytery,  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the  gospel  ministry  on 
the  ground  of  contumacy,  because  the  Presbytery  appeared  to  have  been 
precipitate,  and  not  to  have  observed  the  constitutional  rules.  See  Disc. 
Ch.  4,  Sects.  6.  10  and  \\:'—3nnutes,  1822,.  p.  25. 

§  77.   Informal  it  1/  involves  censure,  hut  does  not  invalidate  a  just  sentence. 

(ci)  "  The  appeal  from  the  first  sentence,  by  which  the  charge  of  slander, 
preferred  against  him  by  the  Rev.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  was  declared  to  be 
substantiated,  and  Mr.  Arthur  required  to  submit  to  a  rebuke,  the  Assem- 
bly could  not  sustain.  For  although  the  Assembly  noticed  the  omission  of 
Presbytery  to  assign  Mr.  Arthur  counsel  to  manage  his  defence,  (see  Dis- 
cipline, Chap.  iv.  Sec.  13,)  yet  they  did  judge  the  pamphlet,  of  which  Mr. 
Arthur  admitted  himself  to  be  the  author,  to  contain  slander  against  Mr. 
Wilson,  and  could  not  but  disapprove  of  the  spirit  under  the  influence  of 
which  it  appeared  to  have  been  written." — 3Iinutes,  1822,  p.  25. 

(U)  "  While,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  Presbytery  of  Jersey, 
in  originating,  conducting,  and  issuing  this  prosecution,  do  not  appear  to 
have  exercised  that  cautious  regard  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  in 
cases  of  process  which  are  so  efficient  in  matters  of  discipline,  and  while 
they  deem  this  applicable  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  in  relation 
to  both  parties"  [yet  with  some  exceptions  the  sentence  is  affirmed.] — 
Minutes,  182-4,  p.  204. 

§  78.    0/  the  evidence. 
(a)   It  must  be  under  oath. 

"  There  is  one  other  thing  in  the  proceedings  [in  the  ease  of  Craighead,] 
on  which  the  General  Assembly  will  remark;  which  is,  that  statements  were 
given  as  evidence  by  the  members  of  the  Presbytery,  which  are  not 
recorded,  and  which  do  not  appear  to  have  been  given  under  the  usual 
solemnity  of  an  onth."— Minutes,  1824,  p.  220.     See  Book  IV.  §  19,  c.  2. 

(6)  The  lawfulness  of  judicial  oaths. 

" '  An  oath  for  comfirmation  (says  the  apostle)  is  to  men  an  end  of  all 
strife.'  Heb.  vi.  16.  It  is  a  solemn  affirmation,  wherein  we  appeal  to  God 
as  the  witness  of  the  truth  of  what  we  say;  and  with  an  imprecation  of  his 
vengeance,  if  what  we  affirm  is  false,  or  what  we  promise  be  not  performed. 
Its  force  results  from  a  belief  that  God  will  punish  false  swearing  with  more 
severity  than  a  simple  lie,  or  breach  of  promise,  because  perjury  is  a  sin  of 
greater  deliberation,  and  violates  superior  confidence. 

''That  oaths  are  lawful  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  our  Lord  when  in- 
terrogated on  certain  occasions  answered  upon  oath.  See  Matt.  xxvi.  63,  64. 
Paul  also  uses  several  expressions  which  contain  the  nature  of  an  oath.  See 
Rom.  i.  9;  ix.  1;  1  Cor.  xv.  31;  2  Cor.  i.  18;  Gal.  i.  20.  They  are 
solemn  appeals  to  God. 

"  It  is  manifest  that  oaths  are  not  to  be  used  on  light  or  trivial  occasions. 
We  are  expressly  commanded  not  to  take  God's  name  in  vain.  But  as  the 
Bible  does  not  point  out  the  particular  occasions  when  oaths  are  to  be  used, 
nor  the  persons  who  are  to  administer  them,  these  circumstances  are  left  to 
the  discretion  of  individuals  and  communities.  The  necessity  of  oaths  is 
14  ^ 


'106  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

founcled  in  expediency,  and  all  associations,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical, 
have  a  right  to  use  them  for  confirmation,  when,  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound 
discretion,  they  are  deemed  important.  It  is  lawful  for  every  community  in 
the  compact,  on  which  their  union  is  founded,  to  point  out  the  cases  in 
which  oaths  shall  be  used,  and  who  shall  administer  them.  The  authority 
of  Moderators  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  administer  oaths,  is  not  de- 
rived from  the  General  Assembly,  but  from  the  Constitution,  or  articles  of 
compact,  which  our  Churches  have  adopted,  and  by  which  they  have  agreed 
to  be  governed  as  a  Christian  community.  It  may  be  proper  also  to  add 
that  the  oaths  prescribed  by  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  administered  by 
civil  [ecclesiastical?]  authority,  in  no  respect  interfere  with  our  relations  to 
civil  society;  nor  can  the  administering  of  them,  if  rightly  viewed,  be  con- 
sidered as  a  violation  of  those  laws  of  the  State  which  prescribe  the  manner 
in  which  civil  oaths  shall  be  administered." — Minutes,  1823,  p.  145. 

(c)  Husband  and  wife  joint  witnesses. 

"  A  certain  married  woman  charges  an  unmarried  man  with  immodest 
conversation  and  conduct  in  attempts  upon  her  chastity,  of  which  her  husband 
and  another,  or  indifferent  person,  were  at  a  certain  time  witnesses.  Where- 
as our  Constitution  declares  that  a  person  accused  shall  not  be  convicted  by 
a  single  witness,  can  the  said  woman  and  her  husband  be  admitted  witnesses 
in  the  above  case  ?" 

''To  the  above  question,  the  Assembly  answered,  that  in  all  such  cases 
as  that  submitted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  it  is  a  principle  that  both  the 
husband  and  wife  are  to  be  admitted  to  give  testimony.  But  in  every  par- 
ticular case  as  it  occurs,  the  judicature  before  whom  it  is  tried,  ought,  in 
order  to  guard  against  collusion,  to  pay  a  very  scrupulous  regard  to  all  the 
circumstances  attending  it,  and  especially  to  the  characters  of  those  who  are 
admitted  as  evidences,  so  that  on  the  one  hand  the  necessity  of  the  case 
may  be  consulted,  and  on  the  other,  that  no  injury  may  result  to  an  in- 
nocent person." — Minutes,  1797,  p.  128. 

(rf)  ^  Minister  cited  to  testify  before  a  Session. 

"  A  request  from  certain  Ministers  and  Euling  Elders  of  the  Synod  of 
Alabama,  for  the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly  touching  certain  ques- 
tions that  may  arise  in  the  case  of  a  Minister,  who,  when  cited  by  a  Church 
Session  as  a  witness,  declines  to  appear  before  that  court.  The  committee 
recommended  that  the  brethren  be  referred  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap, 
i.  Sec.  5,  Chap.  iv.  Sec.  10,  Chap.  v.  Sec.  1  and  2,  Chap.  vi.  Sec.  16,  for 
answer  to  their  questions.     Adopted." — 3Iinufcs,  1854,  p.  17. 

(e)  .A  member  of  the  court  required  to  testify  on  the  spot. 
^'liesoIverJ,  That  a  member  of  a  judicatory,  present  when  the  judicatory 
is  taking  testimony,  is  bound,  if  called  upon  to  do  so,  to  give  his  testimony 
in  the  case  that  is  in  process,  and  that  his  refusal  to  do  so,  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  not  been  cited  beforehand,  would  subject  him  to  censure  for 
contumacy." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  45. 

Title  8. — The  Decision. 

§  70.   Must  be  definitive  and  preeise. 

^'■Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  the  Synod  of  Indiana  did  not  take  an  ex- 
press vote  on  sustaining  the  appeal  of  IMr.  Harney,  and  the  sentence  on 
record  is  vague  and  inconsistent  with  itself,  the  whole  case  be  remitted  to 
the  said  Synod,  with  an  injunction  to  them  to  reconsider  the  same,  and  pass 
a  definite,  precise,  and  just  sentence." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  480. 


Part  IL]  THE   DECISION.  107 

§  80.    The  court  may  at  the  same  session  reconsider  and  correct  the  decision, 

if  irregidar. 

"The  committee  to  whom  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  were 
recommitted,  beg  leave  to  report:  That  your  committee  find  tliat  a  judgment 
of  the  Session  of  Salem  was  confirmed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  and 
brought  by  appeal  before  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  who  remitted  the  cause 
to  a  select  Session.  The  sentence  of  this  Session,  which  appears  to  your 
committee  to  have  been  irreg-ular,  was  affirmed  by  the  Synod  of  the  Caroli- 
nas, at  their  sessions  in  October,  1790.  At  the  same  sessions,  however, 
they  resumed  the  cause,  and  rescinded  the  decision  made  by  the  Synod  two 
days  before.  Here  your  committee  conceive,  that  the  Synod  did  right  as  to 
matter,  but  were  wrong  in  point  of  form ;  for  it  does  not  appear  from  the 
minutes  that  there  was  more,  than  merely  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
Synod  for  resuming  the  cause. 

"The  Synod  next  proceeded  to  consider  the  appeal,  but  before  they  came 
to  a  decision,  a  meeting  was  held  by  the  members  of  Abingdon  Presbytery, 
then  attending  on  Synod,  at  which  meeting  they  professed  to  reveree  the 
former  sentence  of  that  Presbytery,  and  reported  the  same  to  Synod  in  order 
to  preclude  the  farther  proceedings.  Here  your  committee  observe,  that  in 
their  opinion  the  Presbytery  had  no  right  to  call  back  the  cause,  after  sen- 
tence by  them  passed,  and  an  appeal  from  it  carried  up  to  the  superior  court. 
The  Synod  having  agreed  that  they  had  a  right  to  proceed,  notwithstanding 
this  information,  did  accordingly  proceed,  and  in  a  regular  way,  as  your 
committee  conceive,  reversed  the  sentence  of  the  Session  of  Salem,  and 
declared  the  appellant  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church. 

"Upon  the  whole,  your  committee  conceive  that  the  proceedings  of  that 
Synod  should  be  sustained  in  point  of  order  by  the  General  Assembly,  and 
their  decision  confirmed.  In  that  instance  in  which  their  proceedings  seem 
to  be  most  contrary  to  regular  discipline,  and  which  is  particularly  pointed 
at  in  the  reasons  of  protest  by  the  members  of  Abingdon  Presbytery — we 
mean,  resuming  a  case  during  the  same  Session  after  a  decision  first  had 
upon  it,  your  committee  judge  that  the  first  decision  was  made  in  a  way  thiit 
was  entirely  informal,  and  therefore  they  had  a  right  to  resume  the  cause, 
and  issue  it  in  an  orderly  and  constitutional  way,  which  they  have  accord- 
ingly done,  though  your  committee  conceive  that  this  reason  should  have 
been  assigned  on  their  minutes." — Minutes^  1791,  p.  42. 

§  81.    The  resjjondent  may  claim  a  copy  of  the  decision. 

"The  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Arthur,  from  the  sentence  of 
the  Presbytery  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the  gospel  ministry,  on  the 
ground  of  contumacy,  because  the  Presbytery  appeared  to  have  been  preci- 
pitate, and  not  to  have  observed  the  constitutional  rules.  (See  Discipline, 
Chap.  iv.  Sects.  6.  10,  11.)  They  deem,  too,  the  request  of  Mr.  Arthur  for 
a  copy  of  the  first  sentence,  to  have  been  reasonable,  and  that  it  ought  to 
have  been  complied  with." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  25. 

§  82.    Censures  should  he  in  p>roportion  to  the  offence. 

(«)  "Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Spicerbe  sustained,  on  the  ground 
that  the  sentence  pronounced  on  him  was  disproportioned  to  his  crime,  it 
not  appearing  substantiated  that  he  was  guilty  of  more  than  a  single  act  of 
prevarication;  while,  therefore,  the  Assembly  express  their  entire  disappro- 
bation of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Spicer,  as  unbecoming  a  Christian  and  a  Chris- 
tian Minister,  they  reverse  the  sentence  of  deposition  passed  upon  him  by 
the  Presbytery,  and  direct  that,  after  suitable  admonitions  and  acknowledg- 
ments, he  be  restored  to  the  ministerial  o&qg." -^Minutes,  1821,  p.  16. 


108  POTESTAS   JUKISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

(h)  "The  Assembly  sustain  the  appeal  of  David  iPrice,  from  the  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  on  the  ground  that  the  charge  of  intoxication  was 
not  sufficiently  supported  by  the  testimony;  although  it  does  appear,  princi- 
pally from  his  own  confession,  that  he  had  made  an  unbecoming  use  of 
ardent  spirits,  and  that  an  admonition  was,  in  the  view  of  the  Assembly, 
deserved,  and  would  have  been  sufficient." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  274. 

§  83.    Suspension  for  a  specified  time,  token  designed  cliiefly  to  vindicate  the 

honour  of  reliyion. 

''The  affiiir  of  Mr.  Robert  Cross  transmitted  from  the  interloquitur  of  the 
Synod,  came  into  consideration  before  the  Synod,  wherein  the  charge  of  for- 
nication laid  against  him,  with  its  aggravations,  were  fully  heard  and  consi- 
dered with  great  deliberation,  and  also  charged  upon  him  by  the  Moderator, 
in  the  f;ice  of  the  Synod,  and  before  several  other  discreet  persons  who  were 
desired  to  be  present.  And  the  said  Mr.  Robert  Cross  did,  with  great  seri- 
ousness, humility,  and  signs  of  true  repentance,  confess  the  charge  laid  against 
him,  and  in  all  respects  did  so  behave  himself  as  was  universally  satisfactory 
to  the  Synod,  and  the  other  persons  present. 

Ouerfured,  That  Mr.  Cross  be  suspended  by  act  of  the  Synod  four  Sab- 
baths, and  at  the  expiration  of  said  time  he  have  liberty  again  to  preach  the 
gospel.  And  that  at  the  desire  of  the  congregation  of  New  Castle,  or  their 
representatives  in  their  name,  he  may  be  again  restored  to  the  exercise  of  his 
ministry  in  that  place,  by  a  committee  of  the  Synod,  and  that  the  said  com- 
mittee meet  at  said  place  at  least  three  days  before  the  expiration  of  the  said 
time. 

''This  overture  was  agreed  to  by  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1720,  p.  63. 

§  84.   Suspension  from  the  ministry  precludes  the  office  of  exhorter. 

[The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  approved,  except]  "in  pages  270 
and  271,  where  the  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ontario  is  censured  for 
condemning  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Foreman,  a  suspended  minister,  for  exer- 
cising the  rights  of  a  common  Christian  in  illustrating  Scripture  and  de- 
livering exhortations;  because,  without  deciding  on  the  rights  of  common 
Christians  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Foreman  being  suspended  from  the  ministry, 
ought  by  no  means  to  be  considered  as  occupying  the  ground  of  a  common 
Christian  in  good  standing." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  10. 

§  85.    The  name  of  a  suspended  person  should  not  he  removed  from,  the  roll. 

[The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Northern  Indiana  approved,  except]  "  on 
page  54  the  Synod  censure  the  Presbytery  of  Michigan  for  retaining  the 
name  of  Mr.  Nicoll  on  the  roll,  after  suspending  him  from  the  gospel  ministry. 
Your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  name  of  a  suspended  Minister 
should  be  retained  on  the  roll  of  Presbytery  till  they  proceed  to  the  higher 
censure,  though  he  be  deprived  of  the  exercise  of  his  ministerial  functions." 
—Minutes,  1847,  p.  398. 

§  8G.  Deposition. 
(a)  Deposition  and  excommunication  distinct  acts. 
"  The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  are  approved,  with  the  exception 
of  a  resolution,  which  declares  that  a  deposed  IMinister  ought  to  be  treated 
as  an  excommunicated  person.  In  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  the  de- 
position and  excommunication  of  a  Minister  are  distinct  things,  not  neces- 
sarily connected  with  each  other,  but  when  connected,  ought  to  be  inflicted 
by  the  Presbytery,  to  whom  the  power  of  judging  and  censuring  Ministers 
properly  belongs." — Minutes,  1814,  p.  549. 

/ 


Part  II.]  EESISTANCE   OF   CENSURE.  109 

"  Resolved,  That  though  the  causes  which  provoke  deposition  are  almost 
always  such  as  to  involve  the  propriety  of  exclusion  from  the  sacraments, 
yet  the  two  sentences  are  not  essentially  the  same,  the  one  having  reference 
to  office,  and  the  other  to  the  rights  of  membership;  and,  therefore,  Pres- 
byteries should  be  explicit  in  stating  both,  when  they  mean  both.  When, 
however,  a  Presbytery  interpret  deposition  to  involve  suspension  from  the 
sacraments,  and  pronounce  the  censure  in  that  sense,  the  sentence  obviously 
includes  both." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  34. 

(6)   The  names  of  deposed  Ministers  in  certain  cases  to  be  published. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly,  when  they  shall  depose  any  of  their  members 
from  the  exercise  of  the  ministerial  office;  and  when  any  person  so  deposed 
shall,  without  having  been  regularly  restored,  assume  the  ministerial  charac- 
ter, or  attempt  to  exercise  any  of  the  ministerial  functions,  that  in  such 
case,  with  a  view  to  prevent  such  deposed  person  from  imposing  himself  on 
the  Churches,  Presbyteries  be  careful  to  have  his  name  published  in  the 
Assembly's  Magazine,  as  deposed  from  the  ministry,  that  all  the  Churches 
may  be  enabled  to  guard  themselves  against  such  dangerous  impositions." — 
Minutes,  1806,  p.  360. 

Title  9. — Resistance  of  Censure. 
§  87.  It  precludes  re-hearing. 

"The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  petition  of  Mr.  Bourne 
reported,  and  their  report  being  read  was  accepted;  whereupon  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  as  it  appears  to  be  a  fact  that  Mr.  Bourne  has  not  sub- 
mitted to  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  in  affirming  a  decision  by  which  he 
was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry,  he  be  permitted  to  withdraw  his  peti- 
tion."— Minutes,  1823,  p.  151. 

§  88.  Involves  higher  censure. 

(a)  Resolved,  That  the  Church  of  Genoa  be  referred  to  the  minute  of  the 
Assembly  formed  in  the  case  of  David  Price,  in  the  year  1825,  from  which 
it  will  appear  that,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  an  admonition  was 
deserved  by  the  said  Price,  in  consequence  of  his  unchristian  conduct.  And 
it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  that  the  Session  ought  immediately  to 
have  administered  such  admonition;  that  they  ought  still  to  administer  it; 
and  that  if  the  said  Price  refuse  to  submit  to  such  admonition,  or  do  not 
thereupon  manifest  repentance  and  Christian  temper  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Church,  he  ought  not  to  be  received  into  the  communion  of  that  or  of 
any  other  Presbyterian  Church." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  116. 

(6)  "  The  Synod  having  notified  Mr.  Hemphill,  that  they  intend  this  day 
to  enter  upon  his  affair,  and  he  not  appearing,  but  sending  a  disrespectful 
and  contemptuous  letter  in  the  following  words : 
*' '  To  the  liev.  members  of  the  Synod : 

"  '  By  way  of  answer  to  the  notification  which  I  received  Saturday  last,  I 
have  only  to  observe,  that  the  dispute  between  the  Synod  and  me  being  made 
public  in  the  world,  which  was  first  began  by  the  Commission,  what  I  have 
at  present  to  offer  to  the  Synod,  is  contained  in  an  answer  to  the  vindication 
, of  the  reverend  commission  now  in  the  press,  and  will  be  speedily  published, 
and  that  I  despise  the  Synod's  claim  of  authority.     Your  humble  servant, 

'  Samuel  Hemphill. 
'  Monday  morning. 

"  '  P.  S.  I  shall  think  you  will  do  me  a  deal  of  honour,  if  you  entirely  ex- 
communicate me.' " 


110  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

"  The  Synod  from  the  consideration  of  his  contumacy  in  his  errors,  his 
disreiiard  of  the  censure  of  the  Commission,  and  rejecting  our  communion, 
do  dechire  him  unqualified  for  any  future  exercise  of  his  ministry  within  our 
bounds,  and  that  this  be  intimated  to  all  our  congregations  by  each  respective 
Minister.      Approved  nemiue  contrach'cmte." — Minutes,  17o5,  p.  117. 

(r)  "  The  consideration  of  Mr.  Alexander  Miller's  complaint  resumed, 
and  upon  full  inquiry  the  Synod  conclude,  that  as  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover 
are  not  present,  and  it  has  not  been  made  appear  before  us  that  they  were 
cited  to  be  present,  or  informed  that  Mr.  Alexander  Miller  intended  to  lodge 
a  complaint  against  them  before  the  Synod,  at  this  time,  we  cannot  now 
enter  upon  the  consideration  of  the  merits  of  the  complaint,  but  order  both 
the  Presbytery  and  Mr.  Alexander  Miller  to  attend  our  next  Synod  prepared 
for  a  full  hearing,  and,  in  the  meantime,  on  account  of  Mr.  Miller's  unjusti- 
fiable delay  for  some  years  to  enter  his  complaint  before  us,  the  irregularity 
of  his  proceedings  during  that  time,  and  the  atrocious  nature  of  the  crimes 
laid  to  his  charge,  we  do  hereby  declare  him  suspended  from  the  exercise  of 
the  ministerial  office  till  his  complaint  can  be  fully  heard. 

"  Mr.  Alexander  Miller  was  called  in,  and  the  above  determination  of  the 
Synod  read  in  his  hearing,  whereupon  he  gave  in  a  paper,  renouncing  the 
authority  of  the  Synod.  Upon  which  the  Synod  find,  that  as  Mr.  Miller 
was  deposed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  he  declined  the  judgment  of  that 
Presbytery  and  appealed  to  this  Synod :  and  while  we  were  taking  measures 
to  try  and  issue  his  complaint,  he,  in  the  paper  aforesaid,  hath  renounced 
our  authority.  The  Synod  therefore  declare  he  is  not  a  member  of  this 
body,  and  forbid  all  their  Presbyteries  and  Congregations  to  employ  him." — 
Minutes,  1769,  p.  396. 

(f/)  [The  Assembly  having  sustained  the  suspension  of  Josiah  B.  Andrews,  received 
the  following  note.] 

"  '  Notice  is  hereby  most  respectfully  given  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
Presbyterians  in  the  United  States,  that  the  undersigned  conscientiously 
believes  it  to  be  his  duty  to  continue  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  to  perform 
all  other  ministerial  services,  according  to  the  rule  of  God's  word,  wherever 
he  may  be  providentially  called ;  any  resolutions  or  decisions  of  the  Assem- 
bly, or  of  any  other  ecclesiastical  body  under  their  jurisdiction,  made  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding.     God  alone  is  my  judge. 

'  JosiAii  B.  Andrews. 
' Philadc/jyhia,  June  2,  1826.' 

"HewIveJ,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly  the  said  letter  is  highly 
contumacious,  and  the  sentiments  avowed  in  it  a  gross  infraction  of  Mr. 
Andrews'  ordination  vows." — Minutes,  1827,  pp.  111.  111. 

Title  10. — Removal  of  Censures. 
§  89.   May  he,  so  soon  as  the  object  is  gained. 

'^  Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  memorialist  be  granted  so  far  as  that 
this  General  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Presbytery  of  Ffiyetteville  to 
reconsider  their  decision  in  the  case  of  the  Eev.  Archibald  McQueen;  and 
if,  in  their  judgment,  it  should  appear  conducive  to  the  peace  of  the  Church, 
and  the  promotion  of  religion  in  the  region  around  them,  to  restore  I\Ir. 
IMcQueon  to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  exercise  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  gosj^el  ministry,  on  the  ground  that  in  his  case  the  ends  of  dis- 
cipline are  attained  by  the  operation  of  the  sentence  under  which  Mr. 
IMcQueeu  has  been  lying  for  a  period  of  three  years." — Minutes,  1845, 
p.  o2. 


Part  II.]  NEW  TRIAL.  Ill 

§  90.    Great  caution  to  he  used  in  restoring  Ministers  loTio  have  been  under 

discipline. 

(a)  Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  relative  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Rev.  John  Shepherd  to  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
so  far  as  it  censures  the  restoration  of  said  Shepherd,  who  was  deposed  by  a 
judicatory  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  fellowship  with  us,  be  and  hereby  is 
confirmed;  because  it  did  not  appear  from  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Onondaga,  that  said  restoration  took  place  in  consequence  of  any  confession 
of  the  alleged  crime  for  which  the  said  Shepherd  was  deposed,  or  of  any 
profession  of  penitence  for  it,  or  of  any  conference  with  the  judicatory 
which' deposed  him." — Minutes,  1818,  p.  687. 

(Jj)  Resolved,  That  the  case  of  Mr.  Greorge  Bourne  be  refeiTcd  to  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York,  in  whose  bounds  he  now  resides;  and  it  is  hereby 
ordered,  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  be  furnished  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Lexington  with  all  the  documents  relative  to  the  deposition  of  Mr. 
Bourne ;  that  they  receive  testimony  as  to  the  character  and  deportment  of 
Mr.  Bourne  since  his  deposition,  and  also  the  evidences  of  repentance  which 
Mr.  Bourne  may  furnish.  And  it  is  ordered,  moreover,  that  the  said  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  do  proceed  to  issue  the  case,  and  either  continue  the 
sentence  of  deposition  or  restore  him,  the  said  Bourne,  to  the  gospel  minis- 
try, as  they  may  judge  proper." — Minutes,  1824,  p.  222. 
(f)  Is  the  Presbyterial  act  of  restoration  final? 

[That  it  may  be  reversed  by  the  superior  courts,  see  Book  IV.  §§  43,  44.] 

Title  11. — New  Trial. 
§  91.  It  may  he  had  upon  new  evidence. 

(a)  "  That  as  new  evidence,  apparently  of  an  important  kind,  has  been 
alleged  on  this  case  since  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  it  is  proper  that  a  new 
trial  be  instituted  thereon." — 3Ii)uitcs,  1793,  p.  68. 

(b)  "Resolved,  That  as  only  one  of  the  parties  in  this  case  is  present, 
this  G-eneral  Assembly  do  not  consider  themselves  as  placed  in  circum- 
stances which  admit  of  their  reconsidering  the  decision  of  last  Assembly  on 
Mr.  Hindman's  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  even  if  the  existence 
of  new  evidence  were  ever  so  unquestionable. 

"Resolved,  also.  That  it  is  the  well  known  privilege  of  Mr.  Hindman,  if 
he  consider  himself  as  having  new  evidence  to  offer  in  this  case,  to  apply  to 
the  Presbytery  for  a  new  trial  upon  that  new  evidence." — Minutes,  1811, 
p.  479. 

(c)  ''The  Judicial  Committee  reported  on  the  appeal  of  John  Ward  from 
a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee,  that  on  the  ground  of  new  testimony 
the  appellant  be  directed  to  apply  to  the  Church  of  Bergen  for  a  new  trial. 
The  report  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  380.     Also  1841,  p.  307. 

§  92.  Neio  trial  after  lapse  of  years. 

"\.  Our  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  ix.  Sec.  1,  provides  that  if  after  a 
trial  before  any  judicatory,  new  testimony  be  discovered  which  is  supposed 
to  be  highly  important  to  the  exculpation  of  the  accused,  it  is  proper  for 
him  to  ask  and  for  the  judicatory  to  grant  a  new  trial. 

"2.  It  is  very  conceivable  that  after  a  lapse  of  five  or  six  years,  the  sen- 
tence of  an  ecclesiastical  court  which  was  originally  considered  as  just  and 
wise,  although  no  new  testimony  strictly  speaking  has  appeared,  may  in  the 
view  of  the  Church  appear  under  an  aspect  equivalent  to  new  testimony,  and 
calling  for  reconsideration,  yet 

''3.  Inasmuch  as  the  frequent  reconsideration  of  cases  adjudged  by  the 


112  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

inferior  judicatories,  without  the  appearance  of  new  testimony,  admits  of 
great  and  mischievous  abuse,  and  might  lead  to  an  endless  recurrence  of 
reviews  and  reversals  of  former  decisions,  in  the  absence  of  a  majority  of  the 
court  pronouncing  the  same;  it  is  evidently  more  regular,  safe,  and  for  edi- 
fication, when  a  review  of  a  decision,  without  the  disclosure  of  new  testimony, 
is  thought  desirable,  to  refer  the  case  to  the  next  higher  judicatory." — 
annates,  1833,  p.  491. 

§  93.  If  the  court  refuse  to  grant  a  nciv  trial  npon  the  allegation  of  new  tes- 
tinioni/  a  complaint  may  lie. 
"A  complaint  from  Mr.  Francis  Hindman  against  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Castle,  for  not  granting  him  a  new  trial  in  his  case,  agreeably  to  the  resolu- 
tion of  last  Assembly,  having  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Moderator,  was 
read,  together  with  several  papers  accompanying  it,  [and  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee,] who  were  authorized  to  call  for  other  papers  and  to  cite  witnesses  if 
they  deem  it  necessary,  and  were  directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly  the 
result  of  their  attention  to  the  subject." — Minutes,  1812,  p.  496. 

Title  12. — Of  superior  Jurisdiction. 

§  94.  Not  to  he  ceded  away. 

"  'Whether  the  Greneral  Assembly,  out  of  their  liberality,  charity,  and  can- 
dour, will  admit  to  their  communion  in  the  ecclesiastic  assemblies,  as  far  as 
they  can  consistently  with  the  scrupulosity  of  their  consciences,  a  Presby- 
tery who  are  totally  averse  to  the  doctrine  of  receiving,  hearing,  or  judging 
of  any  appeals  from  Presbyteries  to  Synods,  and  from  Synods  to  General 
Assemblies,  because,  in  their  judgment,  it  is  inconsistent  with  Scripture  and 
the  practice  of  the  primitive  Churches?' 

*'In  answer  to  which,  the  General  Assembly  reply:  That  although  they 
consider  the  right  of  appeal  from  the  decision  of  an  inferior  judicature  to  a 
superior,  an  important  privilege,  which  no  member  of  their  body  ought  to 
be  deprived  of,  yet  they  at  the  same  time  declare  that  they  do  not  desire 
any  member  to  be  active  in  any  case  which  may  be  inconsistent  with  the 
dictates  of  his  conscience." — Minutes,  1789,  p.  11. 

§  95.  No  censure  will  lie,  for  endeavouring  in  an  orderly  manner  to  have 
an  adverse  decision  set  aside. 
"A  certain  Andrew  Mahaffey  brought  an  appeal  from  a  judgment  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Donegal,  confirming  a  judgment  of  the  Session  of  Chestnut 
Level.  The  minutes  of  said  Session  were  read,  and  said  Mahaffey  fully 
heard.  Upon  the  whole,  the  Synod  judge:  1.  That  inasmuch  as  Andrew 
Mahaffey  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Session  with  respect  to  himself, 
that  he  ought  not  to  have  been  deprived  of  any  Church  privileges,  because 
he  disapproved  of,  and  appealed  from,  the  judgment  iii  other  instances." — 
Minutes,  1703,  p.  332. 

Title  13. — Of  Memorial  or  Petition. 
§  96.  Right  of  petition. 

(a)  "We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  Assembly,  respectfully  enter  our 
protest  against  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  postponing  indefinitely 
the  resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Neill,  in  favour  of  the  right  of  petition  by  our 
Presbyteries  and  Synods;  because, 

"1st.  No  opportunity  was  offered  to  any  member  to  express  his  views  on 
the  subject  previously  to  the  vote;  thus  the  Assembly  was  hurried  into  a 


Part  II.]  MEMORIAL   AND   PETITION.  113 

decision,  without  opportunity  to   consider  the   great  injuries  done  by  thus 
virtually  denying  this  sacred  right. 

**2d.  Because  the  spirit  of  our  free  Form  of  Government  is  thus  violated, 
inasmuch  as  it  secures  to  the  lower  judicatories  the  right  of  being  heard  ou 
all  moral  and  religious  subjects,  when  they  present  their  views  in  a  regular 
and  constitutional  manner. 

Samuel  Steel,  John  Burtt, 

David  D.  Dowd,  E.  W.  Thayer, 

James  F.  Murray,         *  David  Lewis." 

"The  [above]  protest  imputes  to  this  Assembly  a  principle  which  it  never 
adopted,  viz.,  the  denial  of  the  right  of  petition.  The  true  reason  of  the 
indefinite  postponement  of  Dr.  Neill's  paper  was,  that  as  no  one  doubted  the 
right  of  petition,  a  further  consideration  of  the  subject  would  consume  time 
by  useless  debate  and  legislation.  The  committee  regard  this  statement  as 
a  sufficient  an.swer  to  the  protest  in  question." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  449. 

(h)  "The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  protest  of  W.  Bushnell 
and  others  in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly  on  certain  petitions 
respecting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  reported,  recommending  the  adoption  of 
the  following  minute. 

"The  General  Assembly  recognizing  the  right  of  inferior  judicatories,  and 
private  members,  iipon  tlieir  oxen  resj^onsihiUti/,  to  memorialize  this  body  on 
any  subject  which  they  may  regard  as  connected  with  the  interests  of  the 
Church,  and  finding  no  fault  with  the  language  of  the  protest,  admit  it  to 
record  without  further  notice." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  376. 

§  97.  Memorial  or  petition  cannot  bring  a  case  before  a  superior  court  for 

judicial  hearing. 

(a)  [The  Assembly  in  reply  to  a  remonstrance  signed  by  Samuel  McAdow 
and  others,  says,]  "Inasmuch  as  you  have  not  regularly  appealed  to  this 
Assembly,  they  do  not  consider  themselves  as  called  on  judicially  to  decide 
on  your  case." — Mimites,  1807,  p.  393. 

[Again,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  the  same  parties] — "  In  your  letter  you 
seem  to  expect  the  Assembly  to  adopt  measures  which  do  not  belong  to 
them,  and  to  afford  you  relief  in  a  case  which  is  not  constitutionally  in  their 
power.  Had  the  matter  in  which  you  are  concerned  come  before  a  former 
Assembly,  in  the  form  of  an  appeal  to  them  from  the  proceedings  and  decis- 
ions of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  and  their  commission,  they  could  have  taken 
it  up  judicially,  and  afforded  you  all  that  relief  to  which  you  should  have 
appeared  entitled.  This  not  having  been  the  case  reduced  the  Assembly 
to  the  necessity  of  adopting  the  only  alternative  which  was  in  their  power, 
namely  that  of  advice  and  persuasion." — Minutes,  1808,  p.  408. 

(6)  "  Mr.  Bourne's  petition  states  a  decision  to  have  passed  against  him 
in  the  Lexington  Presbytery,  which,  by  a  supplementary  paper,  he  says  was 
on  the  27th  of  December  last,  and  contained  a  sentence  of  deposition,  from 
which,  on  the  next  day,  he  gave  notice  to  the  Presbytery  that  he  claimed 
an  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly.  By  his  affidavit,  taken  before  an  Alder- 
man of  this  city,  he  further  declares,  that  he,  by  the  permission  of  the  Pres- 
bytery, transcribed  the  minutes  of  their  proceedings;  that  he  afterwards 
wrote  in  form  what  he  denominates  an  appeal,  (meaning,  it  is  presumed,  his 
causes  of  appeal,)  and  transmitted  it  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery,  with  a 
demand  of  the  copy  of  the  records,  and  of  that  paper;  but  that  he  had 
received  a  letter  from  the  Clerk  refusing  to  remove  them  from  the  post- 
office.  By  his  petition,  he  asks  to  prosecute  his  cause  before  the  Assembly, 
without  having  first  brought  his  case  before  the  Synod  of  Virginia;  and  that 
15 


114  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

if  such  hcarinp;  cannot  be  granted  him  at  present,  that  the  Assembly  will 
assign  him  a  day.      Whereupon,  " 

'^Resolved,  1.  That  inasmuch  as  the  records  of  the  Lexington  Prcsbyteiy, 
the  names  of  the  parties  to  the  suit,  the  charges  made  before  them  in  writing 
against  Mr.  Bourne,  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses,  and  other  written  docu- 
ments, are  not  before  the  Assembly;  and  as  every  principle  of  equity  forbids 
a  process  in  the  absence  of  documents  so  essential  to  its  being  rightly  con- 
ducted— prayer  for  a  hearing  at  this  time  cannot  be  granted. 

"2.  That  inasmuch  as  the  request  of  Mr.  Bourne  to  be  tried  on  an  appeal 
before  the  General  Assembly  rather  than  the  Synod,  may  be  reasonable; 
and  inasmuch  as  the  words  of  our  Constitution,  viz.  '  The  Assembly  shall 
receive  and  issue  all  appeals  and  references  which  may  be  regularly  brought 
before  them  from  the  inferior  judicatures,'  &c.,  have  been  interpreted 
favourably  to  such  a  request ;  the  General  Assembly  do  order,  that  a  certi- 
fied copy  of  the  records  of  the  Lexington  Presbytery  in  this  case  be  duly 
made,  and  transmitted  to  the  next  Assembly,  unless  the  Synod  of  Vir- 
ginia, to  which  the  Assembly  can  have  no  objection,  shall  have  previously 
received  the  appeal. 

''3.  That  by  the  'Forms  of  Processes,'  &c.,  Mr.  Bourne  ought  to  be 
'allowed  copies  of  the  whole  proceedings'  in  his  case;  yet  'the  judicatory 
appealed  from'  is  by  the  same  rules,  '  to  send  authentic  copies  of  the  whole 
process;'  his  copy  therefore,  which  he  says  was  taken  by  himself,  but  is  not 
shown  to  the  Assembly,  is  not  sufficient;  his  affidavit  is  not  required  by  the 
course  of  proceeding  in  this  body;  and  the  three  papers  presented  by  him 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  the  commencement  of  a  cause,  or  the  entiy  of 
an  appeal  in  this  judicatory.  Nevertheless  Mr.  Bourne  shall  not  suffer  any 
inconvenience  which  the  Assembly  can  prevent,  on  the  account  of  any  fail- 
ures of  the  inferior  judicatures,  if  a  default  should  in  future  appear,  on 
their  part,  the  evidence  of  such  circumstance  being  not  as  yet  made  clear 
to  this  Assembly." — Minutes,  1816,  p.  626. 

(r )  [In  answer  to  a  petition  from  the  Ilev.  A.  G.  Fraser]  "  According  to 
the  Book  of  Discipline  of  our  Church  thei"e  qre  but  four  ways  in  which  the 
General  Assembly  can  have  cognizance  of  a  judicial  case.  As  neither  of 
these  ways  is  contemplated  in  the  request  of  Mr.  Fraser,  the  Assembly  can- 
not, without  a  violation  of  constitutional  rules,  take  any  action  in  the  pre- 
mises."— Minutes,  1850,  p.  463. 

Title  14. — Or  Reference. 

§  98.   How  shall  the  testimo7iy  he  taken? 

"1.  The  following  question,  signed  by  William  C.  Davis — 'Whether  tes- 
timony taken  before  a  Session,  and  sent  up  to  the  Presbytery  under  the 
signature  of  moderator  and  clerk,  will  not  be  sufficient  in  references  as  well 
as  appeals  to  render  the  case  thus  referred  both  orderly  and  cognizable  by 
Presbytery,'  was  answered  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes,  1797,  p.  128. 

§  99.  ^  superior  court  may  entertain  a  reference  which  is  not  accompanied 
hy  the  testimony,  and  proceed  itself  to  take  it. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved]  "with  one  exception, 
viz.  According  to  the  record  on  ptige  ()6,  the  Synod  taught  and  acted  on 
the  principle  that  a  Presbytery  acts  irregularly,  which,  upon  the  reference 
of  a  Church  Session,  takes  the  testimony  and  issues  the  case  according  to  its 
bearings,  even  when  the  parties  concerned  agree  to  the  reference.  Your 
Qpmmittee  are  of  opinion  that  this  principle  is  wrong  in  itself,  and  evil  in  its 


Part  II.]  REFERENCE.  115 

tendency,  and  therefore  recommend  this  Assembly  to  express  its  disappro- 
bation of  it." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  455. 

[In  reply  to  a  protest  against  this  decision,  the  Assembly  says:] 

''The  action  condemned  is  not  'in  exact  accordance  with  the  Constitution, 
Discip.  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  2,  Art.  9/  as  asserted  by  the  protestant;  the  article 
referred  to  containing  a  rule,  designed  to  facilitate  business,  but  as  its  lan- 
guage shows  it  does  not  preclude  a  Presbytery  from  taking  original  testimo- 
ny in  certain  cases,  and  it  does  not  appear  from  the  records  that  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Muhlenburg  was  irregular  in  so  doing." — Ilimttes,  1853,  p.  456. 

§  100.  A  reference  may  he  carried  up  ^cilhout passing  through  intermediate 

courts. 

"The  General  Assembly  sympathize  with  you,  [the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony,] in  the  painful  business  detailed  to  them,  and  lament  the  unpleasant 
events  which  have  taken  place  relative  to  Dr.  Kollock.  And  it  would  afford 
the  Assembly  no  small  degree  of  pleasure  fully  to  comply  with  the  request 
of  the  Presbytery,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  remove  their  difficulties  and 
heal  the  wounds  which  have  been  inflicted.  It  will  be  admitted  by  all  that 
the  decisions  of  the  Assembly  should  be  marked  with  correctness  and  wis- 
dom, and  it  will  be  as  generally  admitted  that  it  is  highly  needful  to  enable 
them  to  do  this,  that  they  have  a  correct  and  clear  view  of  the  cases  or  facts 
on  which  they  are  to  decide.  The  Presbytery  of  Harmony  request  the  As- 
sembly to  examine  their  conduct,  and  to  censure  or  support  them,  as  they 
shall  appear  to  have  done  right  or  wrong.  The  Assembly  are  ready  to  do 
this,  and  it  is  believed  will  cheerfully  do  it  as  soon  as  the  records  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony,  which  relate  to  this  subject,  shall  be  fully  before 
them.  In  the  meantime,  it  is  with  pleasure  that  the  Assembly  reflect  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  by  carrying  this  subject  to  the  Synod  of  which 
they  are  a  constituent  part,  may  probably  obtain  a  more  speedy  relief  than 
they  could  receive  in  the  event  of  waiting  for  the  decision  of  the  next  Gene- 
ral Assembly." — Minutes,  1816,  p.  615. 

§  101.   A  Reference  comes  up  saddled  with  Ajipeals  and  Complaints. 

[In  the  course  of  the  Pelagian  controversy,  it  was  a  marked  feature  of  New-school 
tactics  to  preclude  the  decision  of  any  case  by  the  unbroken  vote  of  the  entire  Assembly, 
by  accompanying  all  References  which  involved  disputed  points,  with  a  retinue  of  Appeals 
and  Complaints,  and  then  in  the  Assembly,  merging  the  Reference  altogether  in  them. 
Thus  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  in  1831,  in  regard  to  the  doctrines  of  "The  Plan  of  Sal- 
vation," the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  having  referred  the  case  to  the  General  Assembly 
forbearing,  the  Reference  was  accompanied  by  "A  Complaint  of  the  minority  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia,  against  a  Reference  by  said  Presbytery  of  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Albert 
Barnes;"  "A  Complaint  from  Thomas  Bradford,  Jr.,  Esq.,  against  certain  proceedings  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in  relation  to  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes;"  "  A  Complaint  by 
the  minority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  against  the  proceedings  of  said  Presbytery 
in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes."— (Mirm/cs,  1831,  pp.  159,  160.)  The  Judicial 
Committee  appear  never  to  have  reported  the  Reference  back  to  the  house;  but  upon  the 
Complaints  of  the  minority  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  try  the  whole  merits  of  the  case.] 

"The  .ludicial  Committee  reported  the  Complaint  of  the  minority  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  case  of  the  llev.  Albert  Barnes;  and 
recommended  an  order  to  be  pursued  in  hearing  this  complaint.  This  report 
was  accepted." 

"  The  Assembly  resolved  to  take  up  the  Complaint  of  the  minority  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes.  The  Moderator, 
agreeably  to  a  standing  rule,  aimounced  that  the  Assembly  was  about  to 
pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  business  assigned  for  trial,  and  enjoined  on 
the  members  to  recollect  and  regard  their  high  character  as  judges  of  a  court 


116  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  solemn  duty  in  which  they  were  about  to  act.    The 
Assembly  united  in  prayer  for  direction  in  this  business." 

"The  whole  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case  complained  of,  and 
the  printed  sermon  of  Mr.  Barnes,  entitled  "  The  Way  of  Salvation,"  which 
led  to  these  proceedings,  were  read,"  &c. — Minutes,  1831,  p.  176. 

[In  the  final  decision  upon  this  Complaint,  (see  below,  Book  VII.,  §  109,)  the  Assem- 
bly, 1st,  gave  sentence  upon  the  Reference;  and  2d,  on  the  Complaints;  and  3d,  made  an 
illegitimate  decision  upon  the  question  of  dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  a  mat- 
ter which  was  not  before  them,  anil  in  which  as  well  as  all  involved  in  the  Reference,  the 
members  of  that  Presbytery  had  a  right  to  vote,  equal  with  that  of  any  other  Presbytery 
in  the  body. 

Another  illustration  of  the  same  policy  occurs  in  the  case  of  «  A  Reference  from 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  in  relation  to  the  right  of  Presbyteries  to  require  every 
Minister  or  licentiate  coming  to  them  by  certificate  from  another  Presbytery  or  other 
ecclesiastical  body,  to  submit  to  an  examination  before  he  be  received  ;"  accompanied 
with  "  A  Complaint  of  several  members  of  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1832,  p.  315.J 

§  102.    The  principles  which,  govern  such  cases. 

[1.  A  complaint  or  appeal  against  a  reference  of  a  case  is  illegitimate,  and  should  not  be 
entertained,  because  it  impHes  an  impeachment  of  the  rightful  jurisdiction  of  the  court  of 
reference,  and  because  the  exercise  of  a  constitutional  right  by  the  reference  of  the  case 
being  a  matter  at  the  entire  discretion  of  the  court  referring,  is  no  just  ground  of  com- 
plaint.    See  below,  §  124,  c,  2. 

2.  No  complaint  or  appeal  is  valid  which  assumes  to  bring  before  the  higher  court  the 
merits  of  a  case  which  has  been  referred  to  it.  If  reference  effectuates  the  sending  up 
of  the  case,  it  is  incompetent  in  a  party  to  supersede  that  action,  by  an  attempt  to  take  it 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  referring  court,  and  by  a  conflicting  action  bear  it  to  the  superior 
court.  When  the  inferior  body  has  by  reference  waved  its  jurisdiction,  the  act  precludes 
any  room  to  suppose  injury  done  by  it,  in  so  far  as  the  matter  referred  is  concerned  ;  and 
it  is  therefore  not  allowable  that  the  protective  processes  of  appeal  and  complaint  should  be 
perverted  to  the  overthrow  of  the  prior  and  equally  important  rights  of  the  inferior  body 
in  reference,  and  in  sitting  with  others  upon  the  case  referred. 

3.  The  only  cases  in  which  an  appeal  or  complaint  may  come  in  connection  with  a 
reference  is  when  the  inferior  court  has  come  to  a  decision  of  doubtful  propriety  in  con- 
nection with  the  case;  as,  for  example,  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  entertaining  the  case, 
the  competence  of  certain  testimony,  &c. 

4.  For  maintaining  the  rights  of  all  parties,  and  the  integrity  of  the  Constitution  invio- 
late, it  is  essential  that  all  such  points  should  be  decided  first,  by  a  judicial  process,  in 
which  the  inferior  court  would  be  excluded;  and  then  the  inferior  court  being  admitted, 
the  reference  should  be  taken  up  and  decided  by  the  concurrent  judgment  of  the  whole 
body.  The  opposite  course  blots  the  right  of  reference  to  all  practical  purposes  from  the 
book.] 

Title  15. — The  Kecords. 
§  103.    The  records  should  be  full. 

(a)  ''It  appearing  from  the  official  certificates  of  the  Stated  Clerks  of  all  the 
courts  below,  that  important  documents  in  evidence  before  the  Session  which 
first  tried  the  case  of  Beck  and  McMahon,  were  not  sent  up  to  the  Presby- 
tery and  Synod;  it  is  therefore  ordered  that  this  case  be  sent  back  ta  the 
Presbytery  of  Charleston  for  a  new  trial,  and  that  the  Session  of  the  Church 
of  Columbia  be  directed  to  correct  their  record,  and  to  send  to  the  Presbytery 
an  authentic  copy  of  all  the  evidence  and  all  the  documents  before  them. 
It  is  recommended,  however,  that  the  parties,  if  practicable,  make  an  ami- 
cable and  Christian  settlement,  without  again  submitting  the  same  for  deci- 
sion to  the  judicatories  of  the  Church." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  18(5. 

(b)  "The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved  as  orderly  and  cor- 
rect; excepting  that  the  Presbyterial  reports  are  not  so  fully  recorded  as  to 


PartIL]  THE  RECORDS.  117 

exhibit  in  detail  even  the  changes  which  take  place  from  time  to  time  in  the 
Presbyteries." — Minutes,  1811,  p.  479. 

(c)  ''The  Synod  of  Illinois  have  not  discharged  their  duty.  They  ought 
to  have  spread  upon  their  record  everything  which  influenced  their  judg- 
ment in  the  case." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  303. 

(d^  "  The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  were  approved,  with  the 
following  exceptions,  viz. 

"1st.  That  there  is  no  record  of  absentees  from  the  meeting. 

"  2d.  That  it  appears  from  page  282,  that  an  appeal  and  complaint  was 
issued  in  the  usual  form,  without  any  intimation  of  what  the  sentence  or 
proceeding  was,  against  which  the  complaint  was  made. 

"3d.  That  it  appears  from  page  273,  that  another  complaint  was  issued, 
without  any  record  of  the  proceeding  complained  of,  or  the  body  whose  pro- 
ceeding was  the  subject  of  complaint." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  216. 

(e)  [Records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved,  except  that]  "  on  page 
257  we  read  of  '  a  complaint  of  the  Minority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany 
to  the  Synod;  but  there  is  no  intimation  what  they  complained  of;  and 
when  Synod  took  up  the  business,  there  is  no  evidence  on  record  that  the 
Moderator  gave  notice  that  they  were  about  to  proceed  to  judicial  business, 
as  the  Constitution  requires." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  48.     See  1853.  p.  434. 

(/)  [^'^  ^^^  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie,  among  other  points] 

"2.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  should  have  recorded  the  results 
of  the  interlocutory  meeting  referred  to  in  the  complaint. 

"  4.  That  the  Synod  should  have  placed  on  its  records  the  above-men- 
tioned report,"  [of  the  Judicial  Committee.] — Minutes  1850,  p.  481. 

§  104.  No  document  to  he  recorded  except  hy  direction  of  the  judicatory. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  be  approved,  with 
the  exception,  that  in  two  instances  record  is  made  of  communications, 
which  were  handed  to  the  Stated  Clerk,  and  by  him  inserted,  when  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  was  directed  by  Synod  to  make  such  insertion." — 
3Iinutes,  1828,  p.  239. 

§  105.    The  record  of  a  fact  after  heing  once  approved,  can  he  amended  only 
upon  unanimoios  vote. 

"It  was  moved  to  strike  out  the  exceptions  taken  by  the  committee  to 
the  records  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey.  The  Moderator  suggested  that 
the  motion  was  out  of  order,  but  he  would  put  it  to  the  house;  which 
having  done,  the  motion  was  sustained,  with  the  exception  of  one  No.  The 
Moderator  then  declared  the  motion  lost,  as  a  minute  recording  a  fact  could 
not  be  amended  but  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  house.  An  appeal  was 
taken  from  this  decision,  and  the  decision  was  sustained." — Mimites,  1841, 
p.  424. 

§  106.  Records  not  to  he  mutilated. 

(a)  "  Whereas,  there  was  an  order  of  last  Synod  for  the  expunging  of  a 
minute  in  the  proceedings  of  Synod  of  1781,  the  Synod  now  taking  up  the 
matter,  agree,  that  our  minutes  ought  not  to  be  expunged  in  any  instance, 
and  that  the  said  minute  ought,  therefore,  to  be  now  revived  and  inserted 
in  the  present  records;  accordingly  it  is  hereby  revived,  and  is  as  follows," 
&G.— Minutes,  1783,  p.  498. 

(b)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri  approved  except]  "  The  Synod 
severely  censured  the  Presbytery  [of  Palmyra]  for  expunging  a  part  of  their 
minutes,  when  it  seems  that  the  minutes  referred  to  were  not  a  part  of  the 
Presbyterial  record.     The  committee  think  the  Synod  correct  in  the  prin- 


118  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

ciple  which  they  laid  down,  but  erred  in  its  application."     [Adopted.] — 
Minulcs,  1845,  p.  14. 

§  107.  An  inferior  court  may  not  he  required  to  erase  a  record,  alfhotif/h 

improperly  made. 

"Agreeably  to  the  order  for  the  day,  the  Synod  proceeded  to  consider 
Mr.  Blair's  appeal  from  a  judgment  of  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  by  which 
he  conceives  himself  aggrieved,  and  prays  that  it  may  be  rescinded  or  erased 
from  the  records." 

"After  a  full  and  free  deliberation  on  the  subject,  the  question  was  put, 
'erase  or  not,'  and  was  carried  in  the  negative  by  a  large  majority.  And 
on  further  consideration  of  the  subject,  it  was  moved  and  seconded,  and  on 
the  question  being  put,  was  carried  in  the  affirmative,  and  ordered,  that  the 
following  resolution  be  entered  on  the  register  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, viz. 

"  Though  the  Synod  highly  commend  the  zeal  discovered  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia  for  the  preservation  of  the  truth;  yet,  on  considering 
the  whole  affair,  they  cannot  approve  of  the  form  of  their  proceedings,  which 
are  irregular,  both  in  making  inquiry  by  private  conversation  in  their  Pres- 
byterial  capacity,  and  also  in  putting  proceedings  of  that  nature  on  record, 
and  therefore  remit  to  the  Presbytery  to  commence  a  regular  process  if  they 
shall  find  ground  for  it,  and  recommend  it  to  Mr.  Blair  to  give  every  rea- 
sonable satisfaction  to  his  brethren,  and  not  to  injure  his  character  by  unne- 
cessary reserve." — Minutes,  1788,  p.  546. 

Title  16. — Of  Keview. 

§  108.  Annual  review  imperative. 

(«)  "  Whereas,  It  appeared  in  the  course  of  the  free  conversation  on  reli- 
gion, that  in  one  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  sessional  records  of  the  several  Church  Sessions  were  not  regularly 
called  up  and  examined  every  year  by  the  said  Presbytery,  and  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  other  Presbyteries  had  conducted  in  the  same  manner, 
therefore 

"Rmtili-ed,  That  it  be  and  it  hereby  is  required  of  all  the  Presbyteries 
within  the  bounds  of  the  General  Assembly,  annually  to  call  up  and  examine 
the  sessional  records  of  the  several  Churches  under  their  care,  as  directed 
in  the  Book  of  Discipline." — Minutes,  1809,  p.  429. 

(b)  "The  Assembly,  after  seriously  reviewing  the  order  of  the  last  Assem- 
bly, and  maturely  deliberating  on  the  remonstrance  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  against  it,  can  by  no  means  rescind  the  said  order,  inasmuch 
as  they  consider  it  as  founded  on  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  and  as 
properly  resulting  from  the  obligation  on  the  highest  judicatory  of  the 
Church  to  see  that  the  Constitution  be  duly  regarded;  yet,  as  it  is  alleged, 
that  insisting  on  the  rigid  execution  of  this  order,  with  respect  to  some  of 
the  Church  Sessions,  would  not  be  for  edification,  the  Assembly  are  by  no 
means  disposed  to  urge  any  Presbytery  to  proceed,  under  this  order,  beyond 
what  they  may  consider  prudent  and  useful." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  453. 

(f)  "Whereas,  It  is  an  essential  feature  of  the  government  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  that  the  records  of  all  its  Synods  should  be  transmitted 
annually  to  its  highest  court — the  General  Assembly — for  examination;  and 
whereas,  this  Assembly  has  painful  evidence  that  this  important  regulation 
is,  by  some  of  its  Synods  frequently',  and  by  others  entirely  neglected, 
therefore, 

"liesolved.  That  all  our  Synods  be  enjoined  to  take  such  order  on  this 


Part  II.]  REVIEW.  119 

subject  as  shall  insure,  hereafter,  a  faithful  observance  of  the  above  regula- 
tion. And  in  all  cases  where  the  Stated  Clerks  of  any  of  our  Synods  have 
foiled  this  year,  or  may  hereafter  fail,  to  obey  their  order,  or  the  rule  of  the 
Assembly  respecting  this  matter,  such  Synods  are  hereby  required  to  judge 
of  the  reasons  which  such  clerks  may  ofier  for  tlieir  delincjuency,  and  to 
excuse  or  censure  them,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case." — 
Minutes,  1839,  p.  165. 

§  109.    The  exMbition  of  records  mcii/  he  required. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  approved  with  exceptions]  *  * 
<'2d,  That  on  pages  114 — 116  it  appears  that,  on  a  motion  being  made  to 
require  the  Presbytery  of  Chillicothe  to  produce  the  records  of  their  proceed- 
ings at  their  sessions  in  September,  1837,  (the  month  prior  to  the  meeting 
of  Synod,)  which  recoi'ds  were  reported  to  contain  decisions  demanding  the 
immediate  review  of  the  Synod,  it  was  decided  '  that  as  there  was  no  com- 
plaint nor  appeal  requiring  the  records  in  question,  and  as  the  Presbytery 
have  regularly  presented  their  book  for  review  by  the  Synod,  and  the  com- 
mittee of  review  has  made  no  charge  of  delinquency  in  the  Presbytery,  in 
not  transcribing  the  minutes  of  their  late  meeting,  the  Synod  have  no  right 
to  demand  said  minutes." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  161. 

§  110.    Copies  of  the  originals  accepted  only  in  extraordinary  cases. 

(a)  "  It  is  recommended  to  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  to 
send  attested  copies  of  their  minutes  by  their  delegates  to  the  Assembly 
yearly,  whenever  they  find  it  inconvenient  to  send  their  books." — Minutes, 
1790,  p.  23. 

(b)  "Resolved,  That  the  dispensation  allowed  to  the  Synods  of  Virginia 
and  the  Carolinas  by  the  Assembly  of  1790,  to  send  up  attested  copies  of 
their  records  instead  of  the  records,  be  and  it  is  hereby  rescinded." — Min- 
utes, 1841,  p.  423. 

(c)  "  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee 
reported,  and  their  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.  'That  the 
docviment  presented  to  your  committee  is  not  the  original  book  of  records, 
but  purports  to  be  a  true  copy  from  the  original  record  under  the  hand  of 
the  Stated  Clerk.  Accompanying  this  report  is  a  letter  from  the  Clerk, 
urging  the  acceptance  of  the  transcript,  on  the  ground  of  a  standing  rule  of 
the  Assembly,  authorizing  the  reception  of  a  transcript  when  the  original 
cannot  be  transmitted.  Your  committee  are  not  aware  of  such  a  standing 
rule,  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  document  produced  does  not  come  up  to 
the  requirement  of  the  Constitution.  Your  committee  therefore  cannot 
report  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  records  are  kept.  Your  committee 
recommend  that  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  be  required  to  produce  their 
original  book  of  records  for  examination  at  the  next  General  Assembly." — 
3Iinutes,  1847,  p.  381. 

§  111.   Members  of  a  judicatory  are  excluded  from  voting  upon  review  of 

their  own  records. 

(a)  "A  protest  signed  by  a  number  of  members  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva, 
against  a  decision  of  that  Synod,  excluding  the  Presbyteiy  of  Geneva  from 
voting  on  the  question,  Whether  their  own  records  should  be  attested  by  the 
Moderator  of  the  Synod,  as  approved.  Your  committee  were,  however,  of 
opinion  that  the  decision  of  the  Synod  was  consonant  to  the  prevalent  usage 
of  the  judicatures  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  well  as  to  the  usage  of 
oth6r  analogous  bodies  in  similar  cases,  and  that  it  ought  therefore  to  be 
approved."     [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1816,  p.  611. 


120  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

(h)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved,  except]  "that  the 
members  of  the  West  Lexin<;t()n  I'rosbytery  voted  in  approbation  of  their 
"own  proceedings,  which  is  deemed  to  be  irregular." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  16. 

(f)  "  The  Synod  [of  Mississippi]  acted  unconstitutionally  in  permitting 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  to  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the 
Judicial  Committee  on  the  complaint  of  Kev.  Mr.  Smylie." — Minutes,  1850, 
p.  481. 

§  112.  Reasons  of  exceptions  sJiouId  be  stated. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pitts- 
burgh, reported,  and  the  book  was  approved,  excepting  the  resolution  on 
page  74,  disapproving  of  the  proceedings  of  a  Presbytery  without  assigning 
the  reason." — Minutes,  1820,  p.  728. 

"The  records  [of  the  Synod  of  Ohio]  were  approved  with  the  exception 
of  a  minute  on  page  243,  disapproving  of  a  decision  of  a  Presbytery,  and 
ordering  said  Presbytery  to  reconsider  that  decision,  without  any  reasons 
being  assigned." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  115. 

§  113.  Neglect  of  exceptions,  disorderly. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved,  except  that]  "The  Synod 
claim  and  exercise  the  right  of  disregarding  the  exceptions  to  their  records 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  1847,  which  we  consider  disrespectful  and  dis- 
orderly."— Mimites,  1848,  p.  48. 

§  114.  A  case  may  not  he  issued  judicially  upon  review. 

(a)  "  The  report  of  the  committee  on  the  case  of  the  remonstrants  against 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  was  again  called  up  and  read. 

"On  motion.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  are  not  competent  to  take  up 
at  present  the  subject  referred  to  in  the  report,  to  any  farther  extent  than 
to  examine  and  approve  or  censure  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
and  to  give  such  advices  and  instructions  in  the  case  as  to  them  may  seem 
meet." — iMinutes,  1807,  p.  383. 

(h)  "  The  Assembly  having  maturely  considered  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Davis, 
from  the  proceeding  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  in  his  case.  Resolved, 
That  although  they  highly  approve  of  the  zeal  of  the  Synod  to  preserve  the 
purity  and  peace  of  the  Church  within  their  bounds,  yet  they  cannot  but 
decide  that  in  their  proceedings  in  the  above  case,  in  deciding  that  they 
had  a  right  to  try  Mr.  Davis,  when  there  was  no  reference  or  appeal  in  his 
case  before  them,  they  have  not  strictly  adhered  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church." — 3Iinutes,  181U,  p.  448.  Reafiirmed,  Minutes,  1811, 
p.  468. 

§  115.    The  inferior  court  may  be  required  to  take  up  a  case;  and  the  rule 
of  limitation  of  time  does  not  then  apply. 

"The  committee  to  prepare  a  minute  expressive  of  the  sense  of  the 
Assembly  in  sustaining  the  complaint  of  Ilev.  J.  A.  Smylie  against  the 
Synod  of  Mississippi,  submitted  the  following,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  5.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  erred  in  pleading  the  limitation  of 
time  for  their  noncompliance  with  the  resolution  of  the  Synod,  referring 
this  whole  case  to  them  for  a  full  investigation. 

"6.  That  the  case  be  remanded  to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana,  according 
to  the  resolution  of  the  Synod,  for  such  action  as  is  demanded  by  the  Book 
of  Discipline." — Minutes,  1850,  p.  481. 


Part  II.]  APPEAL   AND   COMPLAINT.  121 

V 

Title  17. — Of  Appeal  and  Complaint. 

§  116.    What  is  the  difference  beticeen  them? 

[Prior  to  the  revision  of  1819  and  1820,  the  Book  of  Discipline  consistcil  of  but  two 
chapters,  occupied  entirely  with  the  rules  of  original  process,  the  one  in  the  case  of  pri- 
vate persons,  the  other  in  that  of  Ministers.  In  the  Constitution  as  it  thus  stood  for  thirty 
years  of  the  history  of  the  General  Assembly,  there  being  no  Directory  on  the  subject,  no 
discrimination  was  used  between  appeals  and  complaints,  the  two  designations  being 
indifferently  used  to  express  the  carrying  of  any  decision,  whether  judicial  or  otherwise,  to 
a  higher  court,  by  whatever  parties.  The  common  formula  was,  "  We  appeal  and  com- 
plain." There  is  hence  a  great  liability  to  err  in  the  application  of  precedents  of  that 
date,  as  they  may  bear  the  designation  of  appeals  when  they  properly  come  under  the 
category  of  complaints  as  now  defined  in  the  Constitution,  and  vice  versa.  This  will  be 
borne  in  mind  in  order  to  account  for  the  apparent  misuse  of  precedents  and  decisions  in 
the  following  Titles;  the  confusion  here  described  having  affected  the  language  and  pro- 
ceedings of  our  judicatories,  more  or  less  to  the  present  time.  Appeal  is  the  recourse  to 
a  higher  court  by  one  of  the  parties,  in  a  judicial  case. — Book  of  Disrifline,  Chap.  vii.  §  3: 
1,2;  and  below,  §  1 17.  Complaint  is  the  similar  recourse  of  any  other  than  the  parties, 
and  may  be  used  against  any  decision,  legislative,  judicial,  or  administrative. — Ibid.  §  4 ;  2. 
The  order  of  proceeding  is  the  same  in  each  process.] 

§  117.  Appeals  limited  to  the  parties. 

"The  Judicial  Committee  also  reported  on  judicial  business,  No.  8,  viz. 
the  appeal  of  Dr.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  and  others,  against  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Beecher,  that  they  have  examined 
the  same,  and  are  of  opinion  that  Dr.  Wilson  and  others  were  not  a  party  in 
the  case,  and  consequently  cannot  constitutionally  appeal;  and  recommend 
that  they  have  leave  to  withdraw  their  appeal.  This  report  was  adopted." 
— Minutes,  18-34,  p.  17. 

"The  Judicial  Committee  reported  a  paper,  signed  by  Dr.  Cathcart  and 
others,  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  purporting  to  be  an  appeal  or 
complaint  relative  to  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  The  com- 
mittee gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  the  subject  could  not  be  taken  up  on  the 
ground  of  an  appeal,  because  these  persons  were  not  one  of  the  original  par- 
ties, but  that  it  might  be  taken  up  in  the  character  of  a  complaint. 

"Resolved,  That  the  consideration  of  this  complaint  be  the  order  of  the 
day  for  next  Tuesday  morning." — Minutes,  1823,  p.  115. 

§  118.    Tlie  memhers  severally  of  an  inferior  court  may  appeal. 

{a)  "Judicial  business,  No.  6,  viz.  appeals  of  the  Session  of  the  Church 
in  Bloomington,  and  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  Wylie,  from  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Indiana  on  the  cases  respecting  Mr.  John  H.  Harney,  was  taken 
up." 

[The  appeals  were  sustained  and  the  decision  reversed.]     See  above,  §  67,  b. 

(l))  "The  order  of  the  day  was  then  taken  up.  The  complaint  of  the 
Session  of  Wooster  Church,  and  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Baird,  [Pastor  of  the 
Church,]  against  the  Synod  of  Ohio.  *  *  *  The  original  parties  were  then 
heard — the  Rev.  James  H.  Baird  for  himself,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Monfort  for  the 
Session,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  McDermott  for  the  Presbytery." — Minutes, 
1854,  p.  19. 

§  119.  Appeals  limited  to  judicial  cases. 

"The  complaint  of  A.  D.  Metcalf,  &c.,  against  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  for 
deciding  that  appeals  may  lie  in  cases  not  judicial,  was  taken  up.  The 
decision  complained  of,  the  reasons  of  complaint  assigned  by  the  complain- 
ants, and  the  whole  record  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  were  read.  The  com- 
plainants were  heard  in  support  of  their  complaint.  The  Synod  were  heard 
16 


122  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

in  defence  of  tlieir  decision.  The  roll  was  called,  that  each  member  of  the 
Assembly  mi^ht  have  an  opportunity  of  expressing  his  opinion.  After 
which,  the  vote  was  taken,  and  the  complaint  was  sustained." — Minutes, 
1889,  p.  160. 

§  120.   Appfal  atjainst  refusal  to  rrconstidei'  mi  unrqijwalcd  decision. 

(a)  [The  following  was  of  doubtful  constitutionality  when  adopted,  and  has  been  super- 
seded by  the  provisions  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  since  framed.  Its  admission  would 
preclude  the  possibility  of  a  case  of  censure  ever  being  finally  settled,  except  at  the  option 
of  the  respondent.  In  reply  to  a  memorial  from  the  members  of  Cumberland  Presby- 
tery, who  had  not  taken  an  appeal,  the  Assembly  says:] 

"We  know  of  no  way  in  which  the  matter  can  be  regularly  brought 
before  the  General  Assembly  so  as  -to  enable  them  to  act  upon  it,  but  by 
your  applying  to  the  Synod  to  review  their  proceedings,  and  to  reverse  what 
is  wrong  in  them;  and  in  case  they  refuse  to  review  or  rectify  them,  you 
know  it  is  your  privilege  to  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  who  will  then 
be  empowered  to  act  judicially  on  it." — Minutes,  1808,  p.  409. 

(6)  "  The  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee,  No.  3,  viz.  the  complaint  of 
Messrs.  Tate,  Mclver,  and  others,  against  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  in 
the  case  aforesaid,  was  taken  up  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"A  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Tate,  Colin  Mclver,  and  others,  was 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  committee,  in  which  they  complain  of  a  decision 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  by  which  they  refused  to  reconsider  cer- 
tain decisions  made  at  a  former  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  touching  the 
case  of  the  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen.  The  committee  are  unanimously  of 
the  opinion  that  the  General  Assembly  cannot  entertain  this  complaint,  inas- 
much as  the  complainants  did  not  avail  themselves  of  their  right  to  complain 
of  the  aforesaid  decisions  within  the  time  and  in  the  manner  specified  in  our 
Book  of  Discipline.  The  committee  believe,  that  it  was  never  intended  that 
those  who  thus  waived  their  right,  should  have  the  right,  at  a  subsequent 
meeting  of  the  Judicatory,  on  a  mere  motion  to  reconsider,  to  bring  the 
whole  previous  action  by  complaint  before  the  higher  Judicatory." — Minutes, 
1846,  p.  202. 

§  121.  Apjical  against  refusal  to   resume  a  case  upon  probable  cause  for 

remo'oing  censure. 

See  McQueen's  case  below,  §  198,  d. 

§  122.    Subjects  to  which  ComiJlaint  ajiplies. 

[Complaint  will  lie  against  any  action  whatever  of  a  Court,  whether  legislative,  judi- 
cial or  executive.  See  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  vii.  §  2;  and  Sec.  4,  Art.  3,  and  the  de- 
cisions of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  Minutes,  passirn.] 

§  123.    Complaint  against  a  refusal  to  rectify  a  disorderly  act. 

"  An  appeal  from,  and  complaint  against,  a  vote  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  the  case  of  Mr.  Ilindman,  was  introduced  before  the  Assembly 
through  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  and  read.     It  was  as  follows,  viz. 

"It  was  overtured  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  that  the  Synod  be 
requested  to  review  the  minute  of  their  last  meeting  on  the  case  of  Mr.  Hind- 
man,  and  also  to  take  into  their  consideration  the  conduct  of  Lewes  Presby- 
tery, in  the  affair  of  his  licensure. 

"  The  vote  being  put  grant  their  request  or  not,  it  was  carried  not. 

"  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  annexed,  dissent  from  the  aforesaid  vote 
of  Synod,  and  complain  of,  and  appeal  therefrom,  to  the  next  General  As- 
eembly,  for  the  following  reasons : 

"  1.  Because,  in  our  apprehension,  the  Synod  have,  by  their  vote  in  this 


Part  II.]  APPEAL   AND    COMPLAINT.  123 

affair,  deprived  aggrieved  members  of  a  privilege  to  wliicli  they  have  a  just 
claim. 

''2.  Because  the  Synod  by  this  vote  have,  in  our  opinion,  refused  to  cor- 
rect the  errors  in  their  proceedings  of  last  year,  which  were  censured  by 
the  General  Assembly,  and  which,  in  consequence  of  that  censure,  ought  to 
be  corrected. 

"3.  Because  the  vote,  as  we  believe,  will,  in  its  effects,  tend  to  keep  alive 
and  increase  uneasiness  in  the  Presbyteries  of  New  Castle  and  Lewes. 

"■  4.  Because  we  believe  that  the  whole  transactions  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, relative  to  this  affair,  have  been  in  direct  violation  of  a  known  and 
wholesome  rule  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  respecting  the 
licensure  of  candidates,  and  contained  in  their  Minutes  of  1764,  pages  78  and 
80.*  And  we  likewise  believe,  that  this  violation  has  a  tendency  to  promote 
irregularity,  deception  and  injury,  both  among  the  Churches  and  judicatures 
of  the  Presbyterian  body." 

[The  complaint  was  entertained  and  the  Synod  censured.] — Minutes,  1792,  pp.  53.  .56. 

§  124.    Com])lamt  will  not  lie  against  a  refusal  to  decide  a  constitutional 

question,  IN  THESI. 

(a)  "  The  Judicial  Committee  having  had  under  consideration  No.  1, 
the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  and 
others,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  quoram 
question;  and  No.  2,  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge, 
D.  I).,  and  others,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  on  the 
question  of  the  imposition  of  hands  in  ordination,  report,  that  in  their 
opinion  the  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
do  not  authorize  the  appellants  and  complainants  to  bring  before  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  either  an  appeal  or  complaint  in  the  cases  referred  to."  The 
report  was  adopted. — Minutes,  1844,  p.  366. 

(6)   Protest  against  this  decision. 

[.\  protest  was  entered  embodying  the  following  reasons.] 

''  1.  It  is  alleged  that  complaints  cannot  lie  except  in  strictly  judicial  cases. 
We  reply,  that  this  is  contrary,  as  we  believe,  to  the  express  language  of 
our  Constitution — that  it  is  certainly  undeniable  that  the  large  majority  of 
cases  of  complaints  tried  by  the  higher  judicatories  of  the  Church  are,  and 
always  have  been,  other  than  strictly  judicial  cases,  and  that  no  complaint 
has  ever  been  thrown  out  of  our  Church  courts  on  the  ground  here  assumed. 

"  2.  It  is  asserted  that  where  no  personal  wrong  is  done,  or  personal 
injury  sustained,  no  one  has  a  right  to  complain.  We  answer  that  this  is 
contrary  to  the  plain  letter  of  our  law,  which  says,  (Chapter  vii.  Section  4, 
Part  8,  of  Book  of  Discipline,)  that  complaints  are  intended  for  cases  in 
which  '  the  judgment  in  question  may  do  no  wrong  to  any  individual.' 
That  this  is  contrary,  too,  to  the  whole  reason  and  policy  of  that  law,  as  well 
as  to  the  whole  course  of  proceeding  in  past  time." 

"3.  It  is  contended  that  the  action  of  the  Synod  in  those  cases  was  purely 
negative — that  nothing  was  decided,  and  therefore  there  could  be  no  com- 
plaint. We  reply,  first,  that  there  is  an  error  of  fact  in  this  statement,  for 
the  form  of  the  vote  shows,  and  the  Synod  itself  positively  declares,  that  it 
did  decide  a  most  important  principle;  and  secondly,  there  is  an  error  of 
reasoning,  for  a  decision  in  the  negative  is  as  really  a  decision  as  one  in  the 
affirmative,  and  may,  therefore,  according  to  our  book,  which  subjects  'every 
kind  of  decision'  to  review,  be  carried  up  by  complaint  before  a  higher 
judicatory.     (Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  2.) 

*  See  Book  n.,  g  58. 


124  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

''4.  It  is  argued  that  the  questions  iu  the  Synod  being  in  the  fonn  of 
overture,  and  the  adopting  or  refusing  to  adopt  an  overture  resting  on  the 
discretion  of  the  iSynod,  the  refusal  of  the  Synod  to  adopt  did  not  aflFord 
ground  of  complaint.  We  answer,  that  every  inferior  court  is  responsible  to 
the  courts  above  it  for  the  proper  exercise  of  its  discretion,  and  therefore 
they  may  be  complained  of  as  regards  its  exercise;  and  whether  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  did  exercise  its  discretion  soundly  or  not,  was  the  very  point 
to  be  tried,  and  which  the  Assembly  refused  to  try. 

''5.  It  is  contended  that  as  there  was  no  law  obliging  the  Synod  to  act  on 
the  subjects  submitted  to  it,  there  could  be  no  transgression  in  its  refusal  to 
do  so,  and  therefore  no  ground  of  complaint.  We  reply,  first,  that  they  did 
act,  and  their  action  was  complained  of;  therefore,  whether  it  was  obliged 
to  act  or  not,  is  not  relevant  in  the  present  state  of  the  case;  secondly,  that 
if  this  argument  be  well  grounded  and  Synod  be  not  obliged  to  act  except  ia 
cases  in  which  it  is  compelled  by  positive  law,  then  Synods  could  not  be 
complained  of  for  even  the  grossest  violations  of  duty,  such  as  refusing  to 
receive  and  issue  appeals  brought  regularly  before  them,  or  refusing  to  redress 
what  has  been  done  by  Presbyteries  contrary  to  order,  for  there  is  no  posi- 
tive command  of  law  requiring  Synods  to  exercise  any  of  their  specified 
powers — and  the  power  of  Synods  to  pass  an  overture  stands  on  exactly  the 
same  basis  with  the  power  to  perform  everything  else  entrusted  to  it.  (Form 
of  Government,  Chap.  xi.  Sec.  4.) 

"6.  It  is  urged  that  if  the  complaints  were  tried,  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia must  be  excluded,  which,  it  is  said,  would  be  most  unjust.  We  reply, 
that  supposing  this  wore  ti'ue,  it  is  an  argument  against  the  Constitution  of 
the  Church,  and  not  against  the  rights  of  the  complainants  in  these  cases. 

"II.  We  further  protest  against  the  refusal  of  the  Assembly  to  hear  the 
complainants  on  the  question  of  the  jurisdiction  of  this  court — which  was 
matter  of  common  right.  We  protest,  also,  against  the  allowance  of  the 
commissioners  from  the  Synod  complained  against,  to  vote  in  every  stage  of 
the  proceedings,  contrary  to  the  common  principle,  that  no  one  should  be 
allowed  to  vote  in  his  own  case,  and  contrary  to  the  express  provision  of 
our  Book  of  Discipline,  (Chap.  vii.  Sec.  4,  Part  7.)  We  protest,  too,  against 
the  whole  decision  of  this  case  in  all  its  parts,  without  the  Assembly  ever 
having  sat  as  a  court,  or  its  members  having  ever  been  charged  by  the 
Moderator. 

"III.  We  contend  that  by  the  plain  law  of  the  Church  as  written,  and  by 
that  law  as  constantly  expounded  until  now,  complaints  have  been  rightly 
considered  as  competent  against  all  sorts  of  action  which  can  be  taken  in  a 
Church  court.  We  consider  this  right  as  far  more  important  in  public  than 
in  private  cases — in  erroneous  decisions  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  govern- 
ment, than  in  wrongs  inflicted  iu  personal  cases.  We  believe  also  that  the 
decision  of  the  Assembly  is  inconsistent  with  the  true  policy  of  the  Church, 
and  that  its  tendency,  if  it  is  adhered  to,  will  be  to  foster  all  kinds  of  diver- 
sity in  practice  and  opinion,  in  the  various  parts  of  the  Church,  for  want  of 
remedy.  It  is,  moreover,  directly  calculated  to  deprive  the  Assembly  of 
important  powers  and  rights  which  belong  to  it,  not  only  under  the  Consti- 
tution, but  in  virtue  of  its  very  existence  and  organization  as  the  court  in 
which  all  the  particular  Churches  are  represented,  and  which  has  all  the 
powers  residing  in  all  other  Church  courts,  except  so  far  as,  for  the  sake  of 
order  and  convenience,  it  is  agreed  in  the  Constitution,  that  it  shall  not 
exercise  those  powers. 

"Wherefore,  upon  the  grounds  thus  set  forth,  and  without  reference  to 
the  merits  of  the  complaints,  we  protest  against  the  refusal  of  the  Assembly 
to  try  these  complaints,  and  ask  that  this  paper  may  be  recorded  on  the 


Part  II.]  APPEAL  AND   COMPLAINT.  125 

minutes  of  the  Assembly,  as  exhibiting  the  fact  and  reasons  of  our  protest 
agtunst  its  decision."  [Signed  by  twenty-eight  members.] — Minutes,  1844, 
p.  380. 

(cj  Answer  to  the  above  Protest. — Adopted  by  the  Assembly.  - 
"The  committee  appointed  to  answer  the  protest  of  J.  C.  Young  and 
others,  against  the  action  of  the  Assembly  refusing  to  try  the  complaints  of 
R.  J.  Breckinridge  and  others  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  beg  leave 
to  report  the  following. 

''A  considerable  part  of  the  protest  is  really  not  a  protest  against  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  refusing  to  entertain  the  complaints  iu  question,  but 
an  answer  to  various  reasons  urged,  or  supposed  to  have  been  urged  by  indi- 
vidual members  in  favour  of  said  action.  Inasmuch  as  the  Assembly  is  in 
no  sense  responsible  for  the  arguments  or  reasons  offered  by  individuals,  that 
part  of  the  protest  which  purports  to  be  an  answer  to  such  arguments,  is 
wholly  out  of  place.  The  protestants,  indeed,  allege,  that  they  are  con- 
strained to  pursue  this  singular  course,  because  the  Judicial  Committee 
failed  to  specify  in  what  respects  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  was  opposed 
to  these  complaints,  or  to  assign  the  reasons  of  the  action  of  this  body.  But 
the  Assembly  are  not  aware  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Judicial  Committee  to 
give  such  specifications  and  reasons.  A  protest,  according  to  our  Book,  'is 
generally  accompanied  with  a  detail  of  the  reasons  on  which  it  is  founded.' 
(Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  viii.  Sec.  2.)  The  appropriate  business  of  the 
protestants,  therefore,  was  simply  to  give  the  reasons  on  which  their  protest 
was  founded,  not  to  answer  the  arguments  offered  by  individuals  in  debate, 
for  which  the  Assembly  is  not  responsible. 

"  In  replying  to  the  protest  iu  question,  little  more  is  necessary  than  to  state 
distinctly  what  was  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  complained  of 
by  R.  J.  Breckinridge  and  others.  Two  papers  were  offered  by  Dr.  Breck- 
inridge, for  the  adoption  of  the  Synod;  the  one  relating  to  the  constitution 
of  a  quoram  in  Presbytery;  the  other,  to  the  imposition  of  hands  by  Ruling 
Elders  in  the  ordination  of  Ministers  of  the  gospel.  In  relation  to  each 
paper  the  question  on  which  the  Synod  voted,  was  in  the  following  words: 
'Shall  this  paper  be  adopted?'  By  a  large  majority  the  Synod  refused  to 
adopt  these  papers.  The  Assembly  know  of  no  law  in  our  Book  of  Disci- 
pline requiring  a  Presbytery  or  a  Synod  to  adopt  any  paper  or  papers  sub- 
mitted to  them  by  any  individual  or  any  number  of  individuals;  and  if  there 
is  no  such  law,  there  could  he.  no  transgression  of  law  or  neglect  of  duty,  and 
consequently,  no  ground  of  complaint. 

"The  papers  in  question  condemn  the  interpretation  of  certain  clauses  in 
our  Constitution,  given  by  the  last  Assembly,  propose  an  opposite  interpre- 
tation, and  overture  this  General  Assembly  to  repeal  the  overtures  adopted 
by  the  last  Assembly,  and  to  adopt  interpretations  of  an  opposite  character. 
In  regard  to  these  papers,  it  is  proper  to  remark, 

"1.  There  was  no  case  before  the  Synod.  No  Elder  complained  that  he 
had  been  deprived  of  what  he  regarded  as  a  constitutional  right.  No  Pres- 
bytery was  charged  with  having  constituted  and  proceeded  to  business  with- 
out a  constitutional  quorum.  The  Synod,  therefore,  was  not  called  upon  to 
uthninister  law,  but  to  interpret  our  Constitution — to  decide  constitutional 
questions  in  thesi.  How  far  it  is  expedient  to  give  expositions  of  our  Con- 
stitution, or  to  decide  constitutional  questions  in  thesi,  it  may  be  difficult  to 
determine;  but  certain  it  is,  that  no  Church  judicatory  is  bound,  in  any  state 
of  case,  to  give  such  decisions.  But,  '  where  there  is  no  law,  there  is  no 
transgression;'  and,  of  course,  there  can  be  no  ground  of  complaint.  The 
protestants  allege,  that  the  Synod  did  act,  and  that  their  action  was  com- 
plained of.     The  answer  is — that  the  only  action  of  the  Synod  in  the  case, 


126  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

was  a  refusal  to  adopt  certain  papers  offered  by  a  member  of  that  body.  To 
this  action,  if  it  be  proper  to  call  it  so,  the  Synod  was  forced  by  the  member 
who  offered  the  papers.  They  were  obliged  either  to  adopt  them  or  to  refuse 
them.  They  deemed  it  wise,  as  they  had  the  perfect  right,  to  do  the  latter. 
"2.  Again:  these  papers,  if  adopted,  required  the  Synod  to  send  to  this 
Assembly  an  overture  or  request  to  give  an  interpretation  of  our  Constitution 
contrary  to  that  given  by  the  last  Assembly.  But,  although  it  is  the  right 
of  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  or  Synods,  to  overture  the  Assembly,  whenever 
they  may  deem  it  wise  to  do  so,  there  is  in  our  Book  no  law  requiring  them 
or  any  one  of  them  to  do  so  in  any  case.  In  declining  to  send  up  an  over- 
ture, therefore,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  violated  no  law,  committed  no 
transgression  against  ecclesiastical  law;  and  consequently  a  complaint  against 
that  body  cannot  lie.  The  very  idea  of  forcing  either  individuals  or  bodies 
to  overture  or  petition,  is  absurd. 

''But  the  protestants  strangely  contend,  that  'every  inferior  court  is 
responsible  to  the  courts  above  it  for  the  proper  exercise  of  its  discretion, 
and  therefore  they  may  be  complained  of  as  regards  its  exercise.'  Where 
there  is  reHponsihiiiti/  there  can  be  no  cliscretio7i.  To  maintain  the  contra- 
ry, is  to  contend  that  an  individual  or  a  body  may  use  their  discretion,  pro- 
vided they  use  it  in  a  certain  way — that  they  may  do  as  they  please, 
provided  they  are  pleased  to  act  in  a  particular  manner!  The  truth  is,  that 
where  ecclesiastical  rights  of  individuals  or  bodies  are  concerned,  there  is  no 
discretion.  All  such  rights  are  guarded  by  our  Constitution,  by  which 
every  Church  court  is  bound.  The  admission  of  the  protestants  that  the 
Synod  had  the  right  to  exercise  its  own  discretion  in  the  matter  complained 
of,  is,  in  effect,  an  admission  that  the  complaint  is  not  legitimate,  and  ought 
not  to  have  been  entertained  by  this  body. 

"  Still  more  strangely,  if  possible,  the  protestants  allege,  that  '  if  the  Synod 
be  not  obliged  to  act,  except  in  cases  in  which  it  is  compelled  by  positive 
law,  then  Synods  could  not  be  complained  of  for  even  the  grossest  violations 
of  duty,  such  as  refusing  to  receive  and  issue  appeals  brought  regularly 
before  them,  or  refusing  to  redress  what  has  been  done  by  Presbyteries  con- 
trary to  order.'  I)o  they,  then,  maintain,  that  it  is  merely  discretionary 
with  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  whether  they  will  receive  and  issue  appeals, 
&e.,  regularly  brought  before  them,  as  they  admit  it  was  with  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  whether  they  would  condemn  the  doings  of  the  last  Assembly, 
and  overture  this  Assembly  to  do  the  same?  But,  say  they,  'there  is  no 
positive  command  or  law  requiring  Synods  to  exercise  any  of  their  specified 
powers.'  To  prove  that  this  statement  is  wholly  incorrect,  it  is  necessary 
only  to  refer  to  Chapter  vii.  Sections  1,  3,  4,  of  our  Book  of  Discipline. 
Section  first  treats  of  the  duties  of  Church  judicatories  in  relation  to  review 
and  control.  Sections  third  and  fourth  treat  of  the  right  to  appeal  and 
complain  in  certain  cases,  &c.  Where  there  are  duties,  there  can  be  no 
discretion;  and  where  there  is  a  right  to  appeal  and  complain,  there  is  posi- 
tive obligation  on  the  part  of  the  judicatory  to  receive  and  issue  such  appeals 
and  complaints.  But  where,  in  our  Constitution,  is  it  said  to  be  the 
duf//  of  any  Church  judicatory  either  to  adopt  papers  that  may  be  offered, 
to  decide  constitutional  questions  in  thesi,  or  to  overture  a  higher  court? 
Or  where  is  the  right  given  to  individuals,  in  any  case,  to  have  their  inter- 
pretations of  our  ('onstitution  adopted?  There  are  no  such  duties  on  the 
one  hand,  or  rights  on  the  other;  and,  consequently,  no  right  of  appeal  or 
complaint. 

"3.  An  additional  objection  to  the  appeals  and  complaints  is — that  were 
they  entertained,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  would,  in  the  final  vote,  be 
excluded  from  voting.     This,  in  the  administration  of  law,  where  the  infe- 


Part  IL]  APPEAL  AND   COMPLAINT.  127 

rior  court  has  decided  the  case,  and  the  appeal  or  complaint  is  against  their 
decision,  would  be  perfectly  proper.  But  in  the  mere  interpretation  of  our 
Constitution,  in  regard  to  which  all  have  a  common  interest,  and,  therefore, 
common  rights,  such  a  course  would  be  unconstitutional  and  grossly  unjust. 
The  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  if  the  complaints  had  been  entertained,  would 
have  been  excluded  as  having  decided  the  questions  involved.  But  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  has  also  given  its  decisions  of  the  same  questions.  Why, 
then,  should  the  one  vote  and  the  other  be  excluded?  Nay,  it  is  believed, 
that  a  large  majority  of  the  members  of  this  Assembly  have,  in  one  form  or 
another,  decided  upon  them.  Why,  then,  permit  them  to  vote  and  exclude 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia?  What  interest  has  this  Synod  more  than  other 
Synods  or  Presbyteries,  i-n  giving  a  wrong  exposition  of  our  Book?  When 
we  interpret  our  Constitution,  the  voice  of  the  whole  Church  should  be 
heard. 

"But  the  protestants  say,  this  is  an  argument  against  our  Constitution. 
In  this,  however,  they  are  mistaken.  It  is  only  an  argument  against  their 
incorrect  interpretation  of  it.  It  gives  no  right  to  appeal  or  complain 
against  a  judicatory  for  declining  to  decide  a  constitutional  question  in  thesi, 
or  to  overture  the  higher  court. 

''  4.  That  the  complaint  is  illegitimate,  is  further  evident  from  the  con- 
sequences which  would  follow  the  adoption  of  the  principle  involved  in  it. 
If  our  Church  courts  are  bound,  in  any  case,  to  decide  constitutional  ques- 
tions in  thesi,  and  to  overture  the  higher  court,  it  follows : 

"  1st.  That  any  member  of  a  Session,  Presbytery,  or  Synod,  can,  at  any 
time,  force  the  Assembly  to  discuss  and  decide,  in  thesi,  any  constitutional 
question  he  may  choose  to  raise,  or  any  number  of  them.  He  has  only  to 
oft'er  his  interpretation  to  the  lower  court,  and  come  up  with  his  complaint, 
which  must  be  regularly  issued. 

"  2d.  The  Assembly  can  be  forced  to  discuss  and  decide  the  same  ques- 
tion repeatedly  at  the  same  session.  The  minority  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky might  have  complained  of  its  action  on  the  same  points;  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  doctrine  of  the  protestants,  the  Assembly  must  have  regularly 
tried  both  complaints,  regularly  hearing  the  parties  from  both  Synods  dis- 
cuss the  same  points,  not  in  relation  to  the  administration  of  law,  where 
both  parties  claim  to  have  been  aggrieved,  but  in  relation  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  law. 

"  3d.  The  Assembly  could  be  forced  to  decide  great  constitutional  ques- 
tions by  only  a  part  of  the  delegates  from  the  Presbyteries — thus  excluding 
a  large  number  of  Presbyteries  from  a  vote  on  the  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  by  which  they  are  to  be  governed. 

''  4th.  The  Assembly,  by  the  exclusion  of  diiferent  Synods,  in  deciding 
the  different  complaints,  might  be  placed  in  the  humiliating  attitude  of  giv- 
ing contradictory  expositions  of  the  Constitution  at  the  same  sessions. 

"Who  will  pretend  that  our  Constitution  is  so  defective,  so  strangely 
inconsistent,  as  to  expose  our  Church  courts  to  difficulties  and  absurdities 
such  as  those  just  mentioned? 

"  In  answer  to  the  third  reason  assigned  by  the  protestants  it  is  sufficient 
to  state,  that  it  has  not  been,  and  we  believe  it  cannot  be  proved,  that  any 
General  Assembly  of  our  Church  ever  entertained  a  complaint  such  as  the 
one  in  question — a  complaint  against  a  Church  judicatory  for  refusing  to 
decide  a  constitutional  question  iii  thesi,  or  to  overture  a  higher  judicatory. 
The  coiuplaint  under  consideration,  is,  so  far  as  this  Assembly  is  informed, 
strictly  sui  generis. 

"  Finally,  our  Constitution  prescribes  the  mode  in  which  constitutional 
questions  may  be  brought  before  the  General  Assembly.    The  proper  course 


128  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

was  pursued  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  in  rep;ard  to  the  matters 
embraced  in  Dr.  Breckinridge's  papers;  and  they  were  broufrht  before  this 
body  uutrammeled  by  judicial  proceedings,  and  the  voice  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Church  decided  on  the  true  meaning  of  the  clauses  in  our  Con- 
stitution concerning  which  there  has  been  a  dift'erence  of  opinion. 

"  In  reply  to  the  complaint  of  the  protestants,  that  the  Assembly  refused  to 
hear  the  complainants  on  the  right  of  jurisdiction,  it  is  sufficient  to  say: 
1st.  That  it  cannot  be  shown  that  our  Book  gives  such  rights.  2d.  The 
adoption  of  the  principle  involved  in  such  a  claim  would  be  followed  by 
most  of  the  difficulties  already  enumerated  as  consequent  upon  entertaining 
the  complaint.  The  Assembly  must  from  year  to  year,  agree  to  hear  every 
member  of  a  Session,  Presbytery,  or  Synod,  who  may  choose  to  try  to  con- 
vince them  that  they  have  jurisdiction  over  all  kinds  of  subjects.  3d.  There 
was  properly  no  question  as  to  right  of  jurisdiction.  The  matter  of  com- 
plaint against  the  Synod,  belongs  not  to  the  department  of  discipline. 

"  In  reply  to  the  complaint  of  the  protestants  that  the  Assembly  did  not 
sit  as  a  court,  and  that  the  members  were  not  charged  by  the  Moderator;  it 
is  sufficient  to  state,  that  as  the  Assembly  could  not  sit  in  a  judicial  capa- 
city, until  the  complaint  was  decided  to  be  orderly  and  legitimate,  the  ob- 
jection is  wholly  without  force. 

*'The  protestants  think  the  course  pursued  by  the  Assembly  calculated  to 
foster  all  kinds  of  diversity  in  practice  and  opinion.  They  seem  not  to  see, 
that  the  course  pursued  by  the  complainants  and  by  themselves,  in  relation 
to  the  decisions  of  the  highest  court  of  our  Church,  to  which  it  properly 
belongs  to  expound  the  Constitution  and  settle  all  controversies,  is  directly 
calculated  to  produce  the  very  result  they  seem  to  deprecate." — Minutes, 
1844,  p.  382. 

§  125.  Evidence  in  jpr oof  of  allegations  against  an  inferior  court,  in  ajjpeal 

or  comjilaint. 

[The  complaint  of  the  minority  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  in  the  case  of 
the  Kev.  George  Beecher]  "sustained  on  the  ground  that  the  Synod  was 
and  is  competent  to  receive  and  examine  witnesses  called  before  them  to 
support  or  to  rebut  the  charges  preferred  by  the  minority  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Cincinnati  against  the  majority  of  said  Presbytery." — Minutes,  1834, 
p.  40. 

§  126.    Time  of  lodging  the  action. 

(a)  "  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  the  appeal  of  K.  Taylor  against 
the  Synod  of  Michigan,  which  was  not  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Clerk  in  the 
constitutional  time.  The  appeal  was  therefore  dismissed." — Minutes,  1837, 
p.  480.     See  also  1834,  p.  14. 

(b)  ''An  appeal  was  in  the  house  in  season,  and  the  persons  to  whom  it 
was  intrusted  were  not  aware  of  the  constitutit)nal  rule  requiring  it  to  be 
lodged  with  the  clerk."  [It  was  lodged  with  the  chairman  of  the  Judicial 
Committee.] 

*'  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly  the  rule  has  been  vir- 
tually complied  with." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  28. 

§  127.  Due  notice  of  the  reasons  of  appeal  or  complaint  must  be  given. 

"The  Assembly  resumed  the  appeal  of  certain  pew  owners  of  the  First 
Church  in  Troy.     After  discussion  it  was 

''Resolved,  That  the  appeal  be  dismissed,  on  the  ground  that  Synod  has 
not  had  the  constitutional  notice  of  the  reasons  of  the  appeal." — Minutes, 
1828,  p.  239. 


Part  II.]  APPEAL   AND   COMPLAINT.  129 

'  [The  Judicial  Committee]  "  recommend  that  said  appeal  [of  the  Church 
of  Bergeu]  be  dismissed  on  the  ground  that  the  only  paper  which  appears 
to  be  intended  as  an  appeal,  is  without  date  or  signature,  or  evidence 
that  it  was  ever  before  the  Synod  of  Gleuessee,  or  lodged  with  the  Moderator 
of  said  Synod." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  17. 

§  128.    The  limitation  of  ten  daijs  has  regard  to  the  date  of  the  transmis- 
sion of  the  notice,  not  of  its  reception  hy  the  court. 

[In  the  case  of  Mr.  Lowry  against  the  Synod  of  Ohio  (below,  §  140,)  the  notice  was 
not  received  at  all  by  the  Synod,  yet  the  Assembly  decided  that  Mr.  Lowry  had  "  com- 
plied with  the  rule  of  the  Book  of  Discipline."  In  which  case  the  limitation  could  not 
be  applied  to  anything  else  than  the  time  within  which  the  notice  was  transmitted.] 

§  129.    Constitution  of  the  court. 
(a)  What  members  may  sit  on  the  trial? 

[Upon  an  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  it  was] 

"Resolved,  That  no  Minister  belonging  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  nor 
Elder,  who  was  a  member  of  the  judicature  when  the  vote  appealed  from 
took  place,  shall  vote  in  the  decision  thereof  by  this  Assembly." — Minutes, 
1792,  p.  56. 

[The  following  decisions  are  of  no  authority,  as  they  were  adopted  for  the  manifest 
purpose  of  giving  additional  strength  to  a  party  pledged  to  the  acquittal  of  the  accused.] 

"  A  question  was  raised  by  Mr.  Cunningham,  an  Elder  from  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  who  was  not  a  member  of  Synod  at  the  meeting  at  which 
the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes  was  tried  and  issued,  whether  he  has  a  right  to  vote 
in  this  case  in  the  Assembly.  After  some  discussion,  the  IModerator  de- 
cided that  Mr.  Cunningham,  and  any  other  members  of  the  Assembly  from 
that  Synod  similarly  situated,  have  a  right  to  vote  in  the  Assembly.  From 
this  decision  of  the  Moderator  an  appeal  was  taken,  when,  by  a  vote  of  the 
Assembly,  the  decision  of  the  Moderator  was  not  sustained,  and  it  was  de- 
cided that  Mr.  Cunningham,  and  others  similarly  situated,  have  no  right 
to  vote  on  the  case  in  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  265. 

"  A  motion  was  made  that  Dr.  Skinner  and  Mr.  Dashiell,  who,  at  the 
time  the  trial  was  commenced  in  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
were  either  not  dismissed  from  that  body,  or  had  not  yet  connected  them- 
selves with  any  other,  though  they  did  not  meet  w.ith  the  Presbytery,  and 
before  the  meeting  of  Synod  were  members  of  other  Presbyteries,  should  not 
sit  in  judgment  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes.  This  motion  was  decided  in  the" 
negative." — Ihid.  266. 

(6)  The  Moderator,  being  a  member  of  the  inferior  court,  may  not  preside. 

"Ordered,  That  the  business  of  the  appeal,  introduced  last  session,  be 
now  resumed.  Whereupon,  the  parties  were  heard  at  full  length;  and  pre- 
vious to  the  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  cause,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  no  Minister  belonging  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  nor 
Elder  who  was  a  member  of  the  judicature  when  the  vote  appealed  from 
took  place,  shall  vote  in  the  decision  thereof  by  this  xVssembly. 

"  The  Moderator,  being  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  with- 
drew, and  Dr.  McKnight  took  the  chair." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  56. 

''The  appeal  of  Mr.  Pope  Bushnell  was  resumed.  The  Moderator,  being 
a  member  of  the  Synod  appealed  from,  Mr.  Jennings,  the  last  Moderator 
present,  took  the  chair.  The  duly  authenticated  documents  present  were 
read.  After  which  the  roll  was  called,  that  each  member  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  expressing  his  opinion,"  &c. — Minutes,  1826,  p.  32. 
17 


130  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

(r)  Members  of  the  inferior  court  excluded  from  voting  on  any  preliminary  question. 

"  That  the  Synod  acted  unconstitutionally  in  permitting  the  Presbytery 
of  Louisiana  to  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee 
on  the  complaint  of  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie." — Minutes,  18.50,  p.  481. 

[This  exclusion  should  be  strictly  limited  to  the  matters  appealed.  See  above,  §  101, 
102,  and  Book  VH.  §  110. 

§  130.  Bars  to  the  process. 
(a)  Death  of  respondent. 

[The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  approved  except]  "  on  page 
277,  it  appears  that  the  Synod  decided  that  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grif- 
fith should  be  no  bar  in  the  way  of  the  prosecution  of  an  appeal  by  his  pro- 
secutor, from  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bedford,  acquitting  Mr. 
Griffith."— Mimtes,  1833,  p.  485. 

(6)  .Appeal  waved  by  submission, 

"Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon  from  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  in  the  ease  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Glenn,  be  dis- 
missed on  the  ground  that  the  substantial  cause  of  appeal  has  been  removed 
by  the  act  of  that  Presbytery,  in  their  receiving  Mr.  Glenn  in  conformity 
with  the  decision  of  the  Synod." — 3Iinutes,  1822,  p.  27. 

(f)  The  decision  previously  authorized  by  the  higher  court. 

"Whereas  the  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen  prosecuted  a  complaint  before 
the  Assembly  of  1845,  against  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  for  refusing  to 
restore  him  to  the  exercise  of  the  gospel  ministry;  and  did  at  the  same  time 
memorialize  that  Assembly  to  decree  his  restoration;  and  whereas  that 
Assembly  did  take  up  and  judicially  entertain  the  said  complaint,  and  pro- 
nounced judgment  in  the  case  by  authorizing  and  recommending  the  Pres- 
bytery to  restore  the  said  Archibald  McQueen  to  the  gospel  ministry,  pro- 
vided that  in  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  it  was  wise  so  to  do;  and 
whereas  the  Presbytery  in  the  exercise  of  the  discretion  thus  confided  to 
them,  did  restore  Mr.  McQueen,  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Colin  Mclver  and  others 
against  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  for  having  sustained  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  in  restoring  the  said  Archibald  McQueen,  in 
accordance  with  the  judicial  decision  of  the  Assembly  of  1845,  cannot  be 
entertained  by  this  House,  and  is  hereby  dismissed. 

''In  making  this  disposition  of  the  above  mentioned  complaint,  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly  wishes  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  they  do  not  mean 
either  to  retract  or  modify  any  judgment  hitherto  expressed  by  any  Assem- 
bly respecting  the  offence  for  which  Mr.  McQueen  was  suspended  from  the 
exercise  of  the  gospel  ministry.  They  simply  declare  that  his  case  cannot 
be  regularly  brought  before  them  by  this  complaint." — Minutes,  1847, 
p.  395. 

(d\  Informality  in  the  process. 

'■'  The  subject  of  the  complaint  of  the  Session  of  Indianapolis  was  taken 
up,  and  aftt;r  considerable  discussion  and  mature  deliberation,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  this  business  be  dismissed  on  account  of  informality." — 
Minutes,  1829,  p.  384. 

(e)  The  case  has  not  been  before  tin  inferior  court. 

"A  letter  from  several  members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
town  of  Ovid,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Oneida,  in  erecting  another  congregation  in  their  neighbour- 


Part  II.]  APPEAL   AND   COMPLAINT.  131 

hood;  also  of  Mr.  Chapman  for  preaching  in  said  congregation,  &c.,  was 
received  and  read. 

"  The  Assembly  having  considered  the  same, 

^'■Resolved,  That  as  the  complainants  have  not  stated  their  grievances  to 
the  Presbytery,  nor  applied  to  it  for  redress,  the  petition  be  returned  to 
them,  and  that  they  be  directed  to  proceed  in  this  case  as  the  Constitution 
presci'ibes." — 3Iimites,  1804,  p.  309. 

(/)    The  case  yet  pending  before  the  lower  court. 

["Sundry  papers  relating  to  the  situation  of  the  Church  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Abingdon"  being  laid  before  the  Assembly,  it  was  decided  that] 

"■  As  it  appears  that  the  business  is  now  pending  before  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  and  there  is  an  adjourned  meeting  of  said  Synod  with  a  view  to 
issue  it,  the  Assembly  ought  not  judicially  to  interfere  in  it  till  it  shall  be 
decided  upon  by  the  Synod,  and  a  regular  appeal  be  made  from  said  decision, 
or  the  whole  matter  be  referred  by  that  judicatory  to  the  Assembly,  and  they 
hereby  recommend  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  to  continue  their  laudable 
and  prudent  endeavours  to  bring  the  present  dispute  to  a  speedy  issue." — 
Minutes,  1797,  p.  127. 

[Upon  an  appeal  against  the  Synod  of  Illinois  and  its  Commission,] 
''Mr.  Dod  moved,  that  the  complaint  so  far  as  the  appointment  of  a 
"  Commission"  on  the  part  of  the  Synod  is  concerned,  be  dismissed  as  irre- 
gular, inasmuch  as  the  legal  notice  of  intention  to  complain  was  not  given 
to  Synod :  and  that  the  complaint  against  the  proceedings  of  the  '  Commis- 
sion' be  dismissed,  inasmuch  as  that  Commission  is  not  known  to  this  body, 
and  the  Synod  cannot  be  called  upon  to  answer  for  the  acts  of  their  Com- 
mission until  they  have  been  reported  and  sanctioned,  nor  then,  without 
legal  notice  of  complaint."  [The  motion  prevailed.] — Minutes,  1841,  pp. 
445.  449. 

(g)    Violation  of  a  compromise. 

"  1.  Whereas,  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  after  having  heard  and  adjudi- 
cated the  appeal  of  Dr.  Solomon  Andrews,  did  pass  a  resolution  which  may 
be  so  carried  out  as  to  remove  the  cause  of  his  appeal  to  this  body.  And 
whereas,  time  has  not  been  afforded  for  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown  to 
learn  officially  whether  their  order  carrying  out  said  resolution  has  been 
complied  with  by  the  Session  of  the  Church  in  Perth  Amboy;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  Dr.  Andrews  be  not  received  by  this 
Assembly. 

''2.  Whereas,  it  appears  from  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  that  Dr.  Andrews  stated  that  he  would  withdraw  his  complaint  if  the 
Session  of  the  Church  at  Perth  Amboy  would  grant  a  certain  letter  of  dis- 
mission, which  was  granted;  and,  as  it  appears  that  Dr.  Andrews  admitted 
the  correctness  of  this  statement  before  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the 
Synod  of  New  Jersey;  and,  as  the  complaint  relates  to  the  non-acting  of 
the  Synod  in  his  case;  therefore 

"  Resolved,  That  the  complaint  be  not  eittertained  by  this  Assembly." — 
Minutes,  1853,  p.  448. 

(/i)    The  appellant  fully  exonerated  by  the  lower  court. 

"  The  unfinished  business  was  resumed.  The  report  of  the  Judicial  Com- 
mittee was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  The  Judicial  Committee  report  that  they  have  examined  certain  papers 
entitled,  '  An  Appeal  and  Complaint  of  W.  H.  Marquess  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Nashville,'  with  other  papers  belonging  thereto:  and  unanimously 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following : 

/ 


132  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

"  1.  That  the  Presbyteiy  of  Nashville  havinp;  fully  exonerated  the  appel- 
lant from  all  blame  in  the  matters  respeetinir  which  he  was  charged  before 
the  Session  of  the  Church  at  Clarksville,  his  character  is  unimpeached,  and 
that  he  is  now,  and  ever  has  been  since  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  in  his 
case,  entitled  to  a  dismission  from  the  Church  at  Clarksville  whenever  ap- 
plied for,  in  order  to  connect  himself  with  any  Church  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
present  residence ;  and  that  there  is  nothing-  in  the  action  of  Presbytery  in 
relation  to  the  charges  preferred  against  him,  which  furnishes  ground  for 
appeal  or  complaint." — Jlinutes,  1849,  p.  236. 

(i)  Hearing  may  not  be  refused  to  an  orderly  case. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved,  except  that]  "the 
Synod  in  dismissing  the  judicial  case  recorded  page  184,  acted  unconstitu- 
tionally, and  established  a  dangerous  precedent. — Minutes,  1854,  p.  38. 

§  131.  Appeals  and  complaints  should  ordinarily  pass  throiujh  the  rer/ular 

series  of  courts. 

(a)  "  Two  appeals  of  Samuel  Lowery,  the  first  from  a  special  decision  of 
the  Session  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cincinnati;  the  second 
from  a  decision  of  the  Presbyteiy  of  Miami.  These  appeals  were  dismissed 
because  the  appellant  had  not  prosecuted  his  appeal  before  the  inferior  judi- 
catures."— Minutes,  1822,  p.  8. 

(Jj)  "  The  appeal  of  Mr.  Charles  Yale,  from  a  sentence  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Bath,  deposing  him  from  the  gospel  ministry,  was  taken  up  and  dis- 
missed, because  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Yale  gave  notice  to  said  Presbytery 
that  he  should  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  several  days  before  he  sig- 
nified his  desire  to  the  Moderator  of  Presbytery  to  appeal  to  the  General 
Assomh\j."—3Iinutes,  1826,  p.  36. 

(c)  "  It  is  a  desirable  thing  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  accumulation  of 
business  before  the  Assembly;  no  good  reason  appears  Avhy  the  Synod  of 
Albany,  who  must  be  entirely  competent,  should  be  passed  by,  and  there- 
fore in  their  judgment  the  matter  [a  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia against  the  Presbytery  of  the  District  of  Columbia]  ought  to  go 
before  that  body." — Minutes,  1828,  p.  234. 

(d'j  [Mr.  Matthew  H.  Rice  having  appealed  from  a  decision  of  East  Hanover  Pres- 
bytery,] 

"  Resolved,  That  the  appellant  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  appeal  on  the 
following  ground,  viz. — No  reasons  are  assigned  by  the  appellant  for  making 
this  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  instead  of  the  Synod." — 3Iinutes, 
1830,  p.  24. 

(/')  [The  Judicial  Committee  reported]  "  the  appeal  of  William  Came- 
ron, from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Upper  Missouri. 

"  The  committee  recommended,  that,  inasmuch  as  the  appellant  has 
brought  his  appeal  directly  to  the  Assembly,  without  first  carrying  it  to  the 
Synod;  and,  inasmuch  as  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  case  may 
be  adjusted  by  the  parties  themselves,  the  papers  be  returned  to  the  appel- 
lant with  the  view  of  presenting  them  to  the  Synod;  and  that  the  Synod  be 
directed  to  consider  the  case  at  their  next  meeting. 

''  The  report  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  435. 

§  132.    Tlicy  may  for  sufficient  cause  he  carried  direct  to  the  Assembly. 

(a)  "  Inasmuch  as  the  request  of  Mr.  Bourne,  to  be  tried  on  an  appeal 
before  the  General  Assembly,  rather  than  the  Synod,  may  be  reasonable; 
and;  inasmuch  as  the  words  of  our  Constitution^  viz.  '  The  Assembly  shall 


Part  II.]  APPEAL  AND   COMPLAINT.  133 

recoive  and  issue  all  appeals  and  references  which  may  be  regularly  brought 
before  them  from  the  inferior  judicatories,  &c.'  have  been  interpreted 
favourably  to  such  a  request;  the  General  Assembly  do  order  that  a  certi- 
fied copy  of  the  records  of  the  Lexington  Presbytery,  in  this  case,  be  duly 
made  and  transmitted  to  the  next  Assembly,  unless  the  Synod  of  Virginia, 
to  which  the  Assembly  can  have  no  objection,  shall  have  previously 
received  the  appeal,  but  that  this  constitutional  question,  as  well  as  the 
merits  of  the  case,  shall  remain  open  for  discussion  at  that  time." — Minutes, 
1816,  p.  626. 

(b)  "Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  be  approved, 
except  their  censure  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  for  allowing  an  appeal 
from  their  decision  directly  to  the  Assembly,  without  noticing  the  supposed 
irregularity  of  such  appeal." — 3Iinutes,  1818,  p.  688. 

§  133.  Personal  attendance  of  the  jjursiier  not  necessary. 

"  The  appeal  of  Dr.  James  Snodgrass  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh,  was  called  up,  and  the  appeal  was  dismissed,  on  the  ground  that 
the  appellant  has  not  appeared  either  in  person  or  by  proxy,  to  prosecute 
said  appeal." — Minutes,  1882,  p.  337. 

"  Personal  attendance  on  the  superior  judicatory  is  not  essential  to  the 
regular  prosecution  of  an  appeal." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  25j  and  1827,  p. 

§  134.  Postponement  may  he  had. 

"  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  an  appeal  by  Mr.  James  Taylor,  from 
a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  that  the  communication  of  Mr. 
Taylor  gave  information  that  by  reason  of  ill  health  he  was  unable  to  attend 
to  prosecute  his  appeal  before  the  present  Assembly. 

^'Resolved,  That  Mr.  Taylor  have  leave  to  prosecute  his  appeal  before  the 
next  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  124. 

[The  Judicial  Committee  reported]  "■  Mr.  Lively  being  unable,  through 
sickness  in  his  family,  to  attend  at  this  time  and  prosecute  his  complaint, 
the  committee  recommend,  that  agreeably  to  his. request,  his  complaint  be 
referred  to  the  next  General  Assembly.     This  report  was  adopted. 

"An  appeal  of  Rev.  Thomas  Davis,  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Memphis,  deposing  him  from  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry.  The  appellant 
being  unable,  by  reason  of  ill-health,  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  present 
Assembly,  and  desiring,  in  consequence,  the  continuance  of  his  cause  until 
the  next  General  Assembly.  The  report  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1851, 
p.  19. 

§  135.    Withdrawal  after  abuse  of  the  inferior  court. 

"Mr.  Ewing  signified  to  the  Synod  that  he  desired  his  appeal  from  the 
judgment  of  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery  might  be  withdrawn.  Dr. 
Alison  moved,  that  if  this  was  agreed  to,  a  protest  might  be  admitted  at  his 
instance,  as  representing  the  said  Presbytery;  the  appeal  was  withdrawn, 
but  the  proceedings  of  that  Presbj'tery  had  been  injuriously  treated  upon 
the  occasion,  both  in  conversation  and  by  papers  put  upon  record,  and  Dr. 
Alison  himself  had  been  particularly  blamed,  and  therefore  the  Synod 
should  not  only  declare  the  appeal  fallen  from,  but  give  him,  Dr.  Alison,  an 
extract  of  this  minute,  that  the  foct  as  it  stands  may  be  recorded  in  the 
Presbytery's  book." — Minutes,  1770,  p.  408. 

§  136.  Failure  to  jn'osecute. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  in  case  of  an  appeal  or  complaint,  entered  in  an 
inferior  judicatory  to  a  superior,  if  the  appellant  or  appellants  do  not  appear 


134  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

at  the  first  meetinp;  of  the  superior  judicatory,  protest  may  be  admitted  at 
the  iustance  of  the  respondents,  at  the  hist  session  of  such  meeting,  that  the 
appeal  is  fallen  from,  and  the  sentence  so  appealed  from  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  final." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  39. 

(b)  "A  protest  was  admitted  in  behalf  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
that  an  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abinodon  from  a  judgment  of  the  said 
Synod  in  October  7th,  1790,  in  the  case  of  Major  Trimble,  and  Mrs.  Cos- 
ser,  was  not  prosecuted,  and  was  therefore  fallen  from,  and  the  judgment 
become  final." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  45. 

(c)  "The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  letter  and  appeal  of  the 
Hev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  reported,  that  after  having  carefully  attended  to 
the  duty  assigned  them,  they  did  not  discover  any  sufficient  reason  why  he 
has  not  come  forward  to  prosecute  his  appeal  before  the  Assembly,  nor  why 
his  case  should  not  now  be  brought  to  issue;  and,  therefore,  recommended 
that  the  representation  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  be  permitted,  if  so 
disposed,  to  enter  their  protest  in  proper  time  against  a  future  prosecution 
of  his  appeal,  and  thus  give  effect  to  a  standing  order  of  the  General 
Assembly,  that  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  be  considered  as  final. 

^''Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  report  be  accepted,  and  that  Mr.  Craig- 
head be  furnished  with  an  attested  copy  of  this  decision  in  his  case. 

"  The  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  brought  forward  their  protest, 
which  being  read  was  accepted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  The  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead  having  appealed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  made  in  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber last,  by  which  decision  the  said  Synod  directed  the  Presbytery  of  Tran- 
sylvania to  depose  the  said  Thomas  B.  Craighead  from  the  gospel  ministry, 
which  was  done  accordingly;  and  whereas,  the  said  Mr.  Craighead  has  not 
prosecuted  his  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  subscribers,  mem- 
bers of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  have  waited  till  the  last  day  of  the  sessions 
of  the  Assembly,  to  afford  opportunity  for  the  prosecution  of  said  appeal, 
we  do,  therefore,  now  protest,  in  our  own  name,  and  on  behalf  of  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky,  against  the  future  prosecution  of  said  appeal,  and  declare  the 
sentence  of  the  Synod  to  be  final,  agreeably  to  a  standing  order  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly." — Minutes,  1811,  p.  481. 

(rf)   Present  rule. 

"Whereas,  Mr.  Thomas  Davis  has  failed  to  appear  before  this  Assembly, 
to  prosecute  his  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  Memphis,  therefore, 

^^Resolved,  In  accordance  with  the  rule  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  in  this 
case  provided,  that  his  appeal  be  dismissed  from  the  further  attention  of  this 
body." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  212. 

§  137.   1/ sufficient  cause  he  shoicn  the  case  may  he  afterward  resumed. 
[See  the  case  of  T.  B.  Craighead,  below,  Book  VII.  §  90.] 

(a)  "The  Assembly,  however,  give  to  Dr.  Snodgrass,  [who  had  failed  to 
prosecute,]  the  privilege  of  prosecuting  his  appeal  before  the  nest  General 
Assembly,  if  he  can  then  show  sufficient  cause  for  its  further  prosecution." 
— Minutes,  1832,  p.  337. 

(Jj)  "The  Judicial  Committee  reported  that  they  have  had  under  consi- 
deration the  letter  of  the  Bev.  A.  G.  Eraser  to  this  General  Assembly.  That 
Mr.  Fraser  states  that  he  has  been  unavoidably  prevented  from  personally 
prosecuting  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  of 
which  due  notice  was  given  that  Synod,  and  requesting  the  General  Assem- 
bly t(j  appoint  a  committee  of  Ministers  and  Elders  to  hear  and  adjudicate 
the  whole  matter,  or  if  such  a  plan  is  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 


Part  II.]  APPEAL  AND   COMPLAINT.  135 

General  Assembly,  that  then  this  matter  of  appeal  stand  over  to  their  next 
stated  meeting. 

"The  committee  recommended  that  the  following  answer  be  given,  viz. 
According  to  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  our  Church,  there  are  but  four  ways 
in  which  the  General  Assembly  can  have  cognizance  of  a  judicial  case.  As 
neither  of  these  ways  is  contemplated  in  the  request  of  Mr.  Fraser,  the 
Assembly  cannot,  without  a  violation  of  constitutional  rules,  take  any  action 
in  the  premises.  In  regard  to  a  future  prosecution  of  his  appeal,  the  appel- 
lant must  present  his  case,  with  reasons  for  previous  failure,  before  the  next 
General  Assembly,  whose  province  it  will  then  be  to  decide  upon  the  whole 
subject.     The  recommendation  was  adopted." — -Minutes,  1850,  p.  463. 

§  138.  The  records  essential  to  a  hearing. 
''The  rules  of  our  Form  of  Government  prescribe  that  before  a  judgment 
is  given,  all  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatories  in  the  case  should 
be  read;  and  it  is  a  sound  maxim,  generally  admitted  in  courts  of  justice, 
that  the  best  evidence  which  the  case  admits  of  should  be  required;  which 
in  all  trials  is  undoubtedly  the  record  of  the  judicatory." — Minutes,  1824, 
p.  213. 

§  139.  If  the  records  are  not  sent  up,  the  case  may  he  postponed. 

(a)  "The  Judicial  Committee  report  that  having  more  thoroughly  inves- 
tigated and  maturely  considered  all  the  papers  brought  up  to  this  Assembly, 
they  find  them  irregular  and  informal,  and  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the 
following  order:  That  the  case  be  remitted  to  the  Synod  [of  Wheeling]  with 
the  injunction  to  that  body  that  they  send  up  to  the  next  General  Assembly, 
full  and  authentic  records  of  all  the  proceedings  and  testimony  in  the  case, 
according  to  the  requirement  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  3, 
Art.  IQ."— Minutes,  1842,  p.  30. 

(h)  "  It  appearing  that  the  record  in  the  case  of  Abigail  Hanna  against 
the  Synod  of  Wheeling  is  incomplete,  although  the  Assembly  are  informed 
that  a  complete  record  was  sent  by  the  Synod;  it  is  ordered  that  the  courts 
below  send  up  a  complete  record  to  the  next  General  Assembly." — Minutes, 
1843,  p.  192. 

(c)  "It  appears  to  the  committee  that  Mr.  Russell  has  conducted  his 
complaint  in  due  form,  but  the  Synod  has  failed  to  furnish  the  documents 
needful  to  its  prosecution.  The  minutes  of  Synod  are  present,  and  com- 
plainant has  furnished  attested  copies  of  minutes  of  Presbytery,  and  of  the 
testimony  of  witnesses  examined.  But  we  haA^e  still  no  attested  copy  of  the 
charges  which  had  been  the  basis  of  the  original  trial,  nor  of  sundry  papers 
referred  to  in  the  Presbytery's  records,  and  which  had  been  received  as  testi- 
mony. The  committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolutions  in  the  case : 

'^Resolved,  1st.  That  the  Synod  of  Georgia  be  directed  to  send  up  to  the 
next  Assembly  authenticated  copies  of  all  their  records,  and  of  the  whole 
testimony  relating  to  the  matter  of  the  complaint,  together  with  their  rea- 
sons for  not  sending  up  the  papers  to  this  Assembly,  unless  the  case  shall 
be  previously  adjusted. 

'■'■Resolved,  2d.  That  the  papers  received  from  complainant  be  returned  to 
his  own  custody.     Adopted." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  212. 

§  140.  Negligence  in  sending  up  the  record  cehs%irable. 
"This  Assembly  are  of  opinion,  that  Mr.  Lowry  complied  with  the  rule  of 
the  Book  of  Discipline,  respecting  the  notice  given  in  the  case  of  his  appeal; 
but  as  this  notice  appears  not  to  have  been  received  by  the  Synod,  they  were 
not  censurable  for  not  sending  up  the  records." — Minutes,  1824,  p.  213. 


136  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

§  141.  A  copy  made  hy  the  purmier  inmfficient. 

"By  'the  forms  of  pi'ocess'  Mr.  Bourne  oui^ht  to  be  allowed  copies  of  the 
whole  proceedings  in  his  case,  yet  the  judicatory  appealed  from,  is,  by  the 
same  niles  'to  send  up  authentic  copies  of  the  whole  process;'  his  copy, 
therefore,  which  he  says  was  taken  by  himself,  but  is  not  shown  to  the  As- 
sembly, is  not  sufficient;  his  affidavit  is  not  required  by  the  course  of  pro- 
ceeding in  this  body,  and  the  three  papers  presented  by  him  are  not  to  be 
considered  as  the  commencement  of  a  cause,  or  the  entry  of  an  appeal  in 
this  judicatory." — Minnies,  1816,  p.  627. 

§  142.  The  neglect  of  the  court  should  not  he  alloioed  to  injure  the  appellant. 

(a)  [Mr.  Bourne  having  brought  in  an  appeal  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Lexington  and  the  record  not  sent  up,  the  Assembly  say  that]  ''Mr.  Bourne 
shall  not  suffer  any  inconvenience  which  the  Assembly  can  prevent,  on 
account  of  any  failures  of  the  inferior  judicatures,  if  a  default  should  in 
future  appear  on  their  part,  the  evidence  of  such  circumstance  being  not  as 
yet  made  clear  to  this  Assembly." — Minutes,  1816,  p.  627. 

(h)  "The  appellant  having  given  due  notice  that  he  did  appeal,  appeared 
regularly  before  the  Assembly,  and  while  the  Presbytery  and  Synod  sent 
up  their  records  in  the  case,  neither  has  forwarded  to  this  Assembly  an 
authentic  copy  of  the  testimony  taken  on  the  trial.  The  Assembly  did, 
therefore,  decide  that  Mr.  Bushnell's  appeal  be  and  it  hereby  is  sustained, 
so  that  he  is  restored  to  all  his  rights  and  privileges  as  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  Christ."  —3Iinutes,  1826,  p.  35. 

§  143.    The  case  sent  hack  for  defect  in  record. 

"  It  appearing  from  the  official  certificates  of  the  Stated  Clerks  of  all 
the  courts  below,  that  important  documents  in  evidence  before  the  Session 
which  first  tried  the  case,  were  not  sent  up  to  the  Presbytery  and  Synod;  it 
is  therefore 

'■^Ordered,  That  this  case  be  sent  back  to  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston, 
for  a  new  trial,  and  that  the  Session  of  the  Church  of  Columbia  be  directed 
to  correct  their  record  and  to  send  to  Presbytery  an  authentic  copy  of  all 
the  evidence,  and  all  the  documents  before  them." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  186. 

§  144.  Matters  foreign  to  the  issue,  may  hy  consent  he  omitted  in  reading. 

"Resolved,  That  in  reading  the  minutes  of  Lexington  Presbytery,  the 
names  of  the  voters  in  calling  the  yeas  and  nays  be  omitted,  unless  called 
for  by  one  or  other  of  the  parties  litigant;  and  that  the  proceedings  of  Pres- 
bytery, in  reference  to  other  matters  foreign  to  the  issue  before  us,  be  also 
omitted,  unless  called  for  specially  by  one  of  the  parties." — Minutes,  1848, 
p.  30. 

§  145.  Important  matter  not  on  the  records  of  the  lower  court,  admitted 
hy  consent  of  parties. 

(a)  "The  following  papers  were  ofi'ered  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
Minutes,  viz. 

"I  offer  to  the  Assembly  the  paper  called  'An  Appendix,'  as  the  records 
furnished  by  the  Presbytery  in  my  case,  and  request  that  it  may  be  read  as 
containing  evidence  which  I  deem  important,  which  was  before  the  Presby- 
tery, and  which  was  not  before  the  Synod.  Albert  Barnes. 

"The  prosecutor  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  and  the  committee  appointed 
by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  to  defend  their  decision  in  the  same  case, 
hereby  agree  to  the  introduction  of  a  document  entitled  'An  appendix,'  &c. 
Not,  however,  as  a  part  of  the  records  of  the  inferior  judicatory,  but  as  tes- 


Part  II.]  APPEAL   AND   COMPLAINT.  loT 

timouy  adduced  by  the  apijellant  to  substantiate  any  statements  lie  has 
made,  or  may  yet  make. 

GrEORGE  JUNKIN,        "^ 

S.  Gr.  Winchester,  [      Committee  of 
G-.  W.  MusGRAVE,     f  Si/nod  of  Fhila' a. 
David  McKinney.  J 
''  The  document  called  the  Appendix,  numbered  from  pp.  1  to  58  inclu- 
sive, containing  the  trial,  testimony  of  the  parties,  Junkin  and  Barnes,  and 
final  decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  said  case  of 
Junkin  and  Barnes,  was  read/' — MiniUes,  1836,  p.  256. 

(h)  "The  decision  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  of  which  J.  Kirkpatrick 
and  others  complain,  was  read,  together  with  the  complainants'  reasons  ot 
complaint.  The  records  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  were  read,  and  it  was 
moved  to  read  a  paper  which  was  not  before  the  Synod,  but  was  admitted 
by  the  parties  to  be  an  original  paper.  After  debate,  it  was  moved  to  remit 
the  whole  case  to  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  with  an  injunction  to  send  up 
a  complete  record;  and  pending  the  motion,  the  court  rose. 

''The  motion  to  remit  the  case  to  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  was  with- 
drawn; when  it  was  agreed  by  the  Court  that  the  paper  olfered  this  morn- 
ing be  read,  which  was  done." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  428. 

§  146.    The  hearing  of  a  voluminous  case  declined. 

[On  the  complaint  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Smylie,  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Scott,  the  Assem- 
bly adopted  the  following  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee.] 

"  There  are  three  ways  in  which  this  complaint  might  be  disposed  of 

"1.  The  Assembly  might  take  it  up,  wade  through  the  testimony,  receive 
the  new  testimony,  that,  it  is  understood,  the  complainant  wishes  to  offer,  to 
decide  the  case.  But  against  this  course,  besides  other  difficulties,  it  may 
be  mentioned  as  a  very  serious  one,  that  the  bare  reading  of  the  records  or 
the  Presbytery  would  consume  four  or  five  days. 

"2.  Another  mode  might  be  adopted,  by  referring  the  case  for  recon- 
sideration to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana,  who  might  be  directed  to  take 
any  new  testimony  that  should  be  properly  ofiered. 

"3.  Or  the  Greneral  Assembly  might  remand  the  case  to  the  Synod  of 
Mississippi,  to  hear  the  complaint,  and  dispose  of  it  in  a  regular  and  consti- 
tutional manner.     This,  it  is  deemed,  wouM  be  the  wisest  course. 

"  But,  were  either  of  these  modes  adopted,  it  would  require  a  great  con- 
sumption of  time,  and  subject  the  judicature  that  might  adjudicate  on  the 
case  to  great  inconvenience,  and  no  inconsiderable  expense;  and  instead  of 
resulting  in  practical  good,  might  produce  great  excitement  and  conse- 
quences injurious  to  the  peace  and  edification  of  an  important  section  of  our 
Church.  The  testimony  is  so  voluminous,  that  to  form  a  correct  judgment 
on  it,  would  require  a  retentive  memory,  patient  attention,  diligent  com- 
parison of  its  several  parts,  as  well  as  a  discriminating  mind.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  the  Presbytery  sanctioned  by  their  authority  the  publication 
of  the  speeches  on  both  sides  of  the  question. 

"The  committee  after  carefully  deliberating  on  the  subject  were  unani- 
mously of  the  opinion,  that  if  the  case  could  be  disposed  of,  consistently 
with  the  rights  of  Mr.  Smylie,  without  remanding  it  to  either  of  the  inferior 
courts,  and  without  the  Assembly's  adjudicating  on  it,  all  the  ends  of  jus- 
tice would  be  gained,  and  the  peace  of  the  Church  would  be  promoted. 
They  therefore  invited  Mr.  Smylie  to  a  friendly  interview,  in  which  they 
expressed  their  opinion,  and  he  stated  his  views.  He  did  not  concur  with 
the  committee  in  regard  to  the  probable  consequences  of  the  case  being 
remanded  to  the  Synod  or  the  Presbytery;  and  stated  that  in  prosecuting 
18 


188  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

his  complaint  he  was  influenced  by  no  personal  feelings  against  Dr.  Scott, 
but  by  a  desire  that  truth  might  be  sustained,  justice  done  to  all  concerned, 
and  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  upheld;  but  if  the  committee  would, 
without  his  concurrence,  assume  the  responsibility  of  recommending  to  the 
General  Assembly  to  terminate  the  case  without  any  further  trial,  and  the 
Assembly  should  determine  to  adopt  this  as  the  wisest  way  of  terminating 
it,  he  would  subniit,  and  feel  that  he  had  discharged  a  duty,  which,  while 
it  was  troublesome  and  painful,  had  put  him  to  no  inconsiderable  expense. 

"It  is  due  to  the  Hev.  IMr.  Smylie  to  say,  that  the  committee  believe,  that 
in  prosecuting  his  complaint,  he  has  been  prompted  by  a  sense  of  duty  and 
a  regard  to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  and  governed  by  what  he  deemed 
its  purity  and  best  interests  required. 

"  The  committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolution : 

^^  Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  representation  of  the  case  given  in  the 
above  statement  by  the  Judicial  Committee,  of  the  voluminous  nature  of  the 
testimony,  and  of  the  difficulties  attending  the  case,  and  believing  that  the 
interests  of  the  Church  will  be  best  promoted  by  adopting  the  course  recom- 
mended by  the  committee,  and  being  willing  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
acting  accordingly,  this  General  Assembly  do  hereby  terminate  this  unhappy 
case  without  any  farther  judicial  trial." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  385. 

§  147.    The  order  ofliearing. 

"The  Judicial  Committee,  in  the  case  of  the  appeal  of  Abby  Hanna 
from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Wheeling,  recommended  the  following 
order  of  procedure,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  1.  The  reading  of  the  sentence  of  the  Session,  suspending  Mrs.  Hanna, 
then  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Washington  on  Mrs.  Hanna's  appeal, 
and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Wheeling  in  the  case. 

"  2.  The  reasons  of  Mrs.  Hanna's  appeal  from  the  Presbytery  of  Wash- 
ington to  the  Synod  of  Wheeling. 

"3.  The  whole  record  of  proceedings  in  the  Session,  the  Presbytery,  and 
the  Synod,  with  the  testimony  and  reasons  of  decision  in  the  case. 

"  4.  To  hear  the  original  parties. 

"  5.  To  hear  any  of  the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatory  in  explanation 
of  the  grounds  of  their  decision  6r  their  dissent." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  360. 

§  148.    The  minoriti/  of  the  lower  court  to  he  heard. 

[The  Assembly,  in  1804,  proposing  a  rule  equivalent  to  the  fifth  clause  of  Chap.  vii.  Sec. 
3,  Art.  8,  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  which  was  subsequently  inserted,  says  in  a  note,] 

"  Those  who  gave  the  judgment  in  the  inferior  judicatory,  become  parties 
against  the  appellant  in  the  superior  court;  and  sometimes  overwhelm  him 
by  weight  of  numbers  and  talents.  This  amendment  is  intended  to  provide 
a  counterpoise,  to  enable  the  minority,  who  may  have  dissented  from  the 
judgment,  to  take  part  with  the  appellant  in  the  superior  judicatory." — 
3Iim(tes,  1804,  p.  305. 

§  149.    Who  are  the  or iyinal parties. 

[There  may  he 

A  responsible  prosecutor  and  the  defendant. 
A  prosecuting  committee  and  defendant. 

Upon  a  fama  clainosa  case  the  cou7't  may  itself,  without  prosecutor  or  committee,  con- 
duct process  against  the  acruscd, 

A  subordinate  court,  under  grievance,  may  enter  complaint  against  a  superior  court. 
A  minority,  or  others,  may  complain  against  the  action  of  a  court. 
A  process  may  be  conducted  by  one  court  against  another. 


Part  II.]  APPEAL   AND   COMPLAINT.  139 

Whatever  aspect  the  case  may  afterwards  assume,  at  every  stage  of  its  process  to  final 
adjudicaiion  before  the  highest  court,  the  parties  above  specified  are  the  original  parties 
in  the  cases  severally.] — Minutes  passim. 

§  150.    Withdrawal  of  the  jiarties. 

(a)  "  The  Moderator  having  decided  that  the  rule  requiring  the  parties 
to  withdraw,  should  be  understood  in  the  obvious  and  literal  sense,  an  appeal 
was  taken  from  his  decision,  and  the  decision  was  sustained  by  a  large  ma- 
jority."— Minutes,  1818,  p.  40. 

(h)  '■^  Judicial  Case,  No.  2,  was  resumed,  and  the  roll  was  called  for  an 
expression  of  opinions,  the  parties,  with  the  appellant's  counsel,  having 
withdrawn  from  the  house." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  262. 

§  151.   Expression  of  opinion  on  calling  the  roll. 

[In  1853,  the  Moderator  determined,  in  accordance  with  a  precedent  cited,  "  that  when 
the  roll  is  called  the  members  shall  be  confined  to  the  giving  of  their  opinion  without 
reasons,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  constitutional  rales."  (^Minutes,  1836,  p.  276.)  An 
appeal  was  taken,  and  the  decision  of  the  chair  reversed  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 
The  expressed  reasons  of  this  decision  were,  that  the  precedent  cited  was  at  variance  with 
the  apparent  intention  of  the  Constitution,  and  with  the  invariable  practice  of  the  Church, 
and  was  in  itself  entitled  to  no  respect,  as  it  emanated  from  an  Assembly,  the  prevailing 
influences  in  which  were  hostile  to  the  Constitution,  and  now  alien  from  the  Church. 
The  action  on  this  point  seems  to  have  escaped  the  Clerks  of  1853.] 

§  152.  After  the  calling  of  the  roll,  hearing  refused  to  a  member  of  the 

inferior  court. 

^'Judicial  Case  No.  2  was  resumed,  and  the  calling  of  the  roll  completed. 
John  F.  Phifer,  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  and  Synod  of 
North  Carolina,  not  having  been  a  member  of  the  Synod  on  the  trial  of  Mr. 
Davies^  and  not  having  been  heard  in  the  Assembly  when  the  members  of 
the  inferior  judicatory  were  called  on,  desired  to  be  heard  now.     On  motion, 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  request  be  not  granted,  as  the  proper  time  had  passed 
by,  and  the  refusal  be  entered  on  the  Minutes." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  262. 

§  153.    There  must  be  a  direct  vote  and  a  definite  decision  on  the  case  at 

issue. 
"Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  the  Synod  of  Indiana  did  not  take  an  express 
vote  on  sustaining  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Harney,  and  the  sentence  on  record  is 
vague  and  inconsistent  with  itself,  the  whole  case  be  remitted  to  the  said 
Synod,  with  an  injunction  to  them  to  reconsider  the  same,  and  pass  a  defi- 
nite, precise  and  just  sentence." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  479. 

§  154.  Form  of  the  question. 

(ci)  "  After  which,  the  Moderator  suggested  that  the  next  step  would  be 
to  take  the  question,  'Whether  the  complaint  were  well  founded/' 

''Dr.  Janeway  moved,  'That  the  complaint  be  dismissed,  and  that  the 
decision  of  the  Synod  be  sustained.' 

"To  which  Mr.  Stevenson  moved  as  an  amendment,  'That  the  complaint 
is  not  well  founded,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  be  confirmed.' 

"When  Mr.  McPhail  moved  as  a  substitute,  'That  in  order  to  obtain  the 
sense  of  the  house,  the  Moderator  do  now  put  the  question,  '  Shall  the  com- 
plaint be  sustained  or  not?' 

"Mr.  McPhail's  motion  prevailed,  and  the  question  being  put,-'' 

"  'Shall  the  complaint  be  sustained  or  not?' 

"It  was  decided  in  the  negative. 

"So  the  court  refused  to  sustain  the  complaint." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  437. 


140  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

(6)  [More  frequently  the  votes  are,  "Sustain,"  "Sustain  in  part,"  and  " Not  sustain." 
In  this  case  those  who  sustain  in  part  are  counted  with  those  who  sustain;  the  efl'ect 
being,  however,  to  modify  the  finding  in  its  details.] 

"The  question  was  taken  on  Judickl  Case  No.  3,  viz.  the  appeal  and 
comphiint  of  John  Skinner,  D.  D.,  against  the  Presbytei-y  of  Lexington,  and 
the  comphiint  of  Rev.  Mr.  Calhoun  against  the  same  Presbytery;  and  the 
result  was  as  follows,  viz.  To  sustain  the  appeal,  40;  to  sustain  in  part,  58; 
not  to  sustain,  07. 

"So  the  appeal  was  sustained,  and  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  revers- 
ed."— 31inutes,  1848,  p.  41. 

Title  18. — TsfE  Final  Issue. 
§  155.    The  pursuer  must  he  sustained  if  the  act  in  question  he  condemned. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  approved]  "with  the  following 
exception,  viz.  That  the  Synod  decided  iiuproperly,  in  saying  that  the  com- 
plaint of  D.  C.  Hopkins  was  not  strictly  sustained,  while  they  at  the  same 
time  say  that  each  and  every  act  of  the  Presbytery  of  Onondaga  complained 
of,  was  irregular  and  improper." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  12. 

§  156.    The  decision  may  fully  confirm  the  action  of  the  inferior  court. 
[See  the  Minutes  passim.'\ 

§  157.  It  may  confirm  in  part  the  action  of  the  inferior  court. 

(a)  "The  Assembly  sustain  the  appeal  of  David  Price  from  the  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  on  the  ground  that  the  charge  of  intoxication  was 
not  sufficiently  supported  by  the  testimony;  although  it  does  appear,  princi- 
pally from  his  own  confession,  that  he  had  made  Un  unbecoming  use  of  ardent 
spirits;  and  that  an  admonition  was  in  the  view  of  the  Assembly  deserved, 
and  would  have  been  sufficient." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  274. 

(h)  "The  Assembly  after  hearing  the  documents  and  the  parties  in  the 
case  of  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Samuel  Lowry  against  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Illinois,  by  which  they  affirmed  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Peoria,  establishing  a  second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  town  of  Peoria,  do 
judge  that  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Samuel  Lowry  be,  and  it  is  hereby  sustained 
•pro  forma,  it  having  been  regularly  conducted,  and  there  appearing  just 
grounds  of  complaint  on  account  of  irregularity,  and  also  on  the  ground  of 
allegations  made  against  Mr.  Lowry,  some  of  which  have  been  disproved, 
and  others  not  sustained  by  evidence.  But  it  is  not  intended  by  this  man- 
ner of  sustaining  the  complaint  to  reverse  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  inas- 
much as  the  Assembly  believes  the  better  way  of  redressing  the  evils  which 
have  arisen  there,  is  not  to  dissolve  the  said  second  Church,  but  to  adopt 
some  mode  of  pacification,  and  prevent,  if  possible,  the  recurrence  of  similar 
disorders." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  802. 

§  158.  It  may  annul  the  action  of  the  lower  courts.  ^ 

(a)  ^^ Resolved,  That  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  be  and  the  same  are 
hereby  sustained;  and  the  act  of  said  Synod,  so  far  as  it  was  intended  to 
unite  the  said  Second  Presbytery  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  is 
hereby  declared  void." — Minutes,  1884,  p.  17. 

(b)  [In  the  case  of  a  complaint,]  "The  Assembly  took  up  the  complaint 
of  the  minority  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  against  a  decision  of  the  majo- 
rity of  said  Synod,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Benedict  H.  Hobbs." 


Part  II.]         I  .  TRIAL  AND   ISSUE.  141 

''After  due  consideration,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  Adz.  That 
the  complaint  be  and  it  is  hereby  sustained,  and  the  judgment  of  the  Synod 
is  reversed." — Minutes^  1831,  p.  194. 

[In  the  complaint  of  T.  B.  Clark  and  others,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Cin- 
cinnati]— 

''The  parties  having  been  heard,  the  Synod  withdrew,  and  the  roll  was 
called  for  the  opinions  of  the  members.  The  question  was  then  put,  '  Is 
the  complaint  well  founded?'  and  it  was  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"And  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  complaint  be  sustained,  and  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Cincinnati  be  reversed,  and  matters  placed  in  the  same  situation 
in  which  they  were,  before  the  Synod  entered  up  its  judgment  in  the  case.'^ 
— Minutes,  18-11,  p.  450. 

§  159.  /;;  mai/  remand  the  cause  for  reconsideration  or  new  trial. 

(a)  "  The  business  left  unfinished  yesterday,  viz.  the  consideration  of  the 
appeal  of  Mr.  Todd  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  affirming  a 
decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  by  which  decision  Mr.  Todd  was 
deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry,  [was,taken  up,]  and  after  considerable  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  of  the  appeal,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  The  Assembly  having  heard  the  documents  in  this  case  wei'e  of  opinion 
that  the  way  is  not  clear  at  present  for  a  reversal  of  the  sentence  of  sus- 
pension; but  as  it  appears  to  the  Assembly  that  Mr.  Todd's  opinions  have 
not  been  perfectly  understood;  and  whereas,  there  appears  to  have  been 
some  irregularity  as  to  the  nature  of  the  testimony  admitted  on  the  trial 
before  the  Presbytery;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  be  directed  to  reconsider 
the  case  of  Mr.  Todd,  to  afford  him  another  opportunity  of  explaining  him- 
self, and  if  they  should  be  satisfied,  to  restore  him  to  his  former  standing." 
—Minutes,  1817,  p.  666. 

(h)  "  The  discussion  left  unfinished  yesterday  afternoon  was  resumed, 
viz.  of  the  motion  to  reverse  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  by 
which  decision  Mr.  George  Bourne  was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry. 
This  motion,  after  it  had  been  amended  and  fully  discussed,  was  determined 
in  the  affirmative,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  Assembly  judge  that  the  charges  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Bourne  were 
not  fully  substantiated,  and  that  if  they  had  been,  the  sentence  was  too 
severe.    Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  deposing 
Mr.  Boui-ne,  be  reversed,  and  it  is  hereby  reversed,  and  that  the  Presbytery 
commence  the  trial  anew." — Minutes,  1817,  p.  646. 

(c)  "  The  complaint  of  the  Church  of  Crab  Apple  against  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh,  was  taken  up  and  referred  to  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville, 
on  the  ground  of  the  development  of  additional  testimony,  and  because  such 
is  the  wish  of  the  complainants;  and  that  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville 
be  instructed  to  take  up  the  matter  de  novo." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  307. 

§  160.   It  may  leave  a  new  tried  optional  to  the  parties. 
[Mr.  Joseph  E.  Bell  having  appealed  from  a  sentence  of  suspension,  the  Assembly] 
"  1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  Mr.  Bell  was  and 
still  continues  to  be  fully  amenable  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord. 

"  That  while  the  Assembly  do  not  wish  to  protect  the  guilty,  they  do 
judge  that  great  caution,  deliberation,  and,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  rules  of 
discipline,  where  ministerial  character  is  impeached,  ought  to  be  strictly 
observed,  and  that  in  this  case  the  informality  was  exceptionable. 


142  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

"  3.  That  if  it  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  good  of  religion  and  the 
honour  of  the  ministerial  character,  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  are  entirely 
competent  to  commence  a  new  trial ;  or  if  Mr.  Bell  shall  desire,  for  his  own 
sake,  a  new  trial,  the  door  is  still  open. 

"  4.  That  in  the  meantime,  Mr.  Bell's  ministerial  standing  shall  be  con- 
sidered regular,  and  if  no  process  shall  be  commenced  by  either  party  within 
the  space  of  six  months  from  the  first  of  June  next,  then  Mr.  Bell  may 
claim  from  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  a  dismission,  declaring  him  to  be  in 
regular  standing." — Minutes,  1828,  p.  238. 

§  161.  Additional  censure  may  not  he  passed  without  a  fxdl  rehearing. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  having  heard  and  considered  in 
detail  the  circumstances  and  merits  of  the  appeal  of  Newton  Hawes,  are  of 
the  opinion  that  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Genessee  in  the  case, 
there  appears  to  be  nothing  irregular  or  censurable  until  they  come  to  their 
last  decision,  in  which  they  pass  a  new  and  severe  censure  on  the  appellant. 
In  this  particular,  the  Assembly  judge  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod 
•were  not  regular,  inasmuch  as  they  inflicted  a  new  censure  without  a  new 
and  regular  trial.  Had  the  Synod  contented  themselves  with  approving  the 
doings  of  the  Church  of  Warsaw,  in  declining  to  restore  the  appellant  to 
their  communion,  and  left  him  in  the  condition  of  a  suspended  member, 
they  would  have  acted  with  entire  regularity;  but  not  pausing  at  this  point, 
the  Assembly  consider  them  as  acting  on  matters  not  regularly  brought  be- 
fore them;  and,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Synod,  requiring  the  appellant  to 
make  a  new  and  second  confession,  be  reversed,  and  it  is  hereby  reversed, 
and  that  the  other  part  of  their  proceedings  and  decision  be  affirmed,  and 
they  are  hereby  affirmed." — llinutes,  1825,  p.  124. 

§  162.  In  reversing  an  excessive  censure,  the  other  extreme  to  he  avoided. 

"  The  Assembly  having  heard  the  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Car- 
lisle against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  the  case  of  William  S.  McDowell, 
with  the  facts  and  arguments  ofi"ered  both  by  the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod, 
judge  that  the  Synod  had  a  constitutional  right  to  reverse  the  decision  of 
the  Presbytery  in  the  case,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  to  them  might 
seem  proper;  but  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  right  the  Synod  have  not  duly 
regarded  the  principles  of  discipline  prescribed  in  the  Constitution;  inas- 
much as  it  appears  by  their  records  that  they  have  removed  all  censure  from 
a  man  whom  they  declare  to  be  deserving  of  rebuke,  without  directing  that 
rebuke  to  be  administered,  and  without  receiving  any  evidence  of  his  peni- 
tence."— Minutes,  1823,  p.  126. 

§  163.  Admonition  to  hoth parties. 

"The  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  John  Skinner,  D.  D.,  against  the 
Presbytery  of  Lexington,  is  snsiamed  jiro  forma  ;  the  sentence  of  the  Pres- 
bytery is  revoked,  and  the  appellant  restored  to  all  the  functions  of  the  min- 
istry of  the  gospel. 

"The  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Calhoun  and  others,  against  the  same 
Presbytery  is  dismissed. 

"  While  the  Assembly  do  fully  restore  the  appellant  to  the  functions  of  the 
ministry,  and  take  pleasure  in  recording  that  for  about  seven  years  he  ex- 
hibited talents  and  zeal  well  adapted  to  edify  the  Church  of  God,  and  while 
they  trust  that  he  will  hereafter  show  the  same  ability  and  fidelity  in  the 
Master's  cause,  they  are  constrained  to  express  their  deep  concern  at  the 
uncharitable  temper  and  litigiousness  exhibited  by  him  before  the  inferior 


Part  II.]  TRIAL   AND   ISSUE.  143 

judicatory,  and  their  disapprobation  of  his  course  in  printing  and  circulating 
his  Lexington  speech,  pending  his  complaint  to  the  Synod  of  Virginia. 

"  Wherefore,  he  is  hereby  solemnly  admonished  in  relation  to  these  matters, 
and  warned  carefully  to  avoid  them  in  future. 

"The  Assembly  regret,  moreover,  that  they  find  no  evidence  that  any  of 
the  parties  have,  at  any  stage  of  this  unhappy  controversy,  resorted  to  the 
more  private  and  fraternal  methods  of  making  peace  among  brethren,  which 
are  suggested  in  the  word  of  God. 

"  And  the  Assembly  do  now  affectionately  and  solemnly  enjoin  on  all 
concerned  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  charity  and  forgiveness,  to  study  the  things 
that  make  for  peace,  and  to  seek  by  importunate  prayer  the  influences  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  that  the  wounds  inflicted  in  the  progress  of  this  painful 
case  may  be  healed,  and  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  Christ  may  prevail  in  the 
region  where  these  brethren  are  called  to  labour." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  49. 

§  164.    A  decision  may  dissolve  a  judicatory  erected  hy  the  subordinate 

court. 

"  The  unfinished  business  of  the  morning  was  resumed,  viz.  The  appeal 
and  complaint  of  Thomas  Bradford,  Esq.,  and  others,  against  a  decision  of 
the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  dividing  the  Pifth  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Philadelphia  into  two  Churches. 

"  The  calling  of  the  roll  was  finished  when  the  final  vote  was  taken.  The 
question  was  put,  Shall  the  appeal  and  complaint  be  sustained?  and  was 
carried  in  the  afiirmative.  Whereupon  it  was  ordered  and  decreed  by  this 
General  Assembly,  that  the  act  and  decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia,  which  divides  the  Fifth  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  into  two  distinct  Churches,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  reversed, 
and  the  said  Presbytery  is  hereby  directed  to  restore  to  the  Session  of  said 
Church,  the  book  of  minutes  of  said  session." — 3Iinutes,  1835,  p.  19. 

"  The  Assembly  after  hearing  the  documents  and  the  parties  in  the  ease 
of  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Samuel  Lowry  against  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Illinois,  by  which  they  afiirmed  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria, 
establishing  a  second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  town  of  Peoria,"  [among 
other  things  declared  that]  "It  is  manifestly  lawful,  but  deemed  by  the 
Assembly  inexpedient,  to  dissolve  the  Second  Church  in  Peoria." — MinuteSf 
1840,  p.  302. 

§  165.  It  may  restore  judicatories  dissolved  hy  the  inferior  court. 

[Upon  complaint  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois] — 

'■'■Resolved,  1.  That  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  and  its  commission,  erred  by 
transcending  their  powers  and  the  directions  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1840,  when  they  dissolved  the  First  Church  of  Peoria.  [The  Assembly  in 
1840  had  determined  in  favour  of  the  First  Church,  and  directed  the  Synod 
to  carry  out  its  decision.] 

"  2.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria  be  and  it  is  hereby  directed  to  restore 
the  name  of  the  aforesaid  First  Church  of  Peoria  to  its  roll,  the  same  being, 
and  it  is  hereby  declared  to  be,  a  constituent  part  of  the  Presbytery  of  Peo- 
ria, and  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  33. 

[On  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,] 

^'Resolved,  That  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia,  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  be  and  the  same  are  here- 
by sustained,  and  the  act  of  said  Synod,  so  tar  as  it  was  intended  to  unite 
the  said  Second  Presbytery  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  is  hereby 
declared  void." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  17. 

"  The  Assembly  took  up  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Gilbert  and  Mr.  Pickands, 


144  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

iu  bolialf  of  themselves  and  other  members  of  the  late  Presbytery  of  Wil- 
minuton,  agaiust  the  8yuod  of  J'hiladclphia,  for  dissolving  them,  and  a 
petition  to  be  restored  to  their  former  state  as  a  Presbytciy."     [It  was] 

'■'■Rewlved,  That  the  complaint  bo  sustained,  and  the  petition  granted, 
and  the  Presbytery  are  hereby  restored  to  the  state  in  which  they  were  at 
the  time  of  their  organization  by  the  Synod,  except  that  the  Church  of  New 
Castle,  if  they  desire  it,  shall  have  the  privilege  of  uniting  with  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  279. 

§  1G6.    Tlie  decision  may  remove  officers  ordained  or  installed  hy  the  inferior 

court. 

(a)  "The  appeal  and  complaint  of  Thomas  Bradford  and  others,  from  a 
decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  the  installa- 
tion of  Mr.  Duffield,  were  taken  up.  The  appeal,  with  the  reasons  of  it, 
and  all  the  documents  in  the  case,  were  read.  The  parties  were  heard,  and 
were  then  considered  as  withdrawn  from  the  House.  The  roll  was  called 
to  give  the  members  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  opinion.  After 
which,  the  final  vote  was  taken,  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  were  sus- 
tained. 

"The  following  resolution  was  then  adopted  as  explanatory  of  the  above 
decision,  viz. 

"That  the  appeal  be  sustained,  and  the  acts  of  the  Presbytery  in  relation 
to  the  call  and  installation  of  Mr.  Duffield,  be  and  they  hereby  are  reversed." 
— Mhmtes,  1835,  p.  33. 

(6)  [In  the  case  of  the  Church  of  St.  Charles] — 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  herein  sustain  the  appeal,  pro  ybrwa,  and 
orders  the  entire  setting  aside  of  all  the  proceedings  in  the  whole  case  in  all 
its  stages,  from  the  time  that  notice  was  first  given  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
Congregation  for  the  election  of  the  three  elders,  and  directs  all  the  parties 
to  stand  precisely  where  they  did  before  any  step  was  taken  in  it." — Min- 
utes, 1838,  p.  19. 

(c)  ^^ Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  understands  the  act  of  the  Assembly 
of  1838,  as  sustaining  the  appeal  of  Rev.  Hiram  Chamberlain,  not  upon  the 
merits  of  the  case,  but  on  account  of  informality  of  the  courts  below, 
and  that  '  in  the  entire  setting  aside  of  all  the  proceedings  in  the  whole 
case,'  they  intended  not  only  to  annul  the  past,  but  also  to  forbid  all  subse- 
quent action  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  regularly  constituted  authorities  of 
that  Church,  and  they  hereby  declare  any  such  unconstitutional  action  that 
may  have  been  had  by  any  person,  or  persons,  in  connection  with  that 
Church,  to  be  null  and  void." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  302. 

§  167.  A  special  decision  m>ay  he  entered  hy  consent  of  parties. 

"The  appeal  of  Joseph  C.  Harrison  was  taken  up,  and  all  the  parties,  viz. 
Mr.  Breckinridge,  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  manage  the  case  on 
behalf  of  Mr.  Harrison;  Dr.  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  on  behalf  the  complainants; 
and  Mr.  Cleland,  appointed  by  this  Assembly  to  defend  the  Synod  of  Cin- 
cinnati; by  common  consent,  requested  the  Assembly  to  enter  up  the  fol- 
lowing as  the  final  minute  in  the  case,  viz. 

"The  complaint  shall  be  sustained,  p?-o/wr??m,  with  the  knowledge  on  the 
part  of  the  Assembly  that  Mr.  Harrison  is  now  a  member  of  a  Presbytery  in 
Kentucky,  and  that  no  principle  involved  in  the  case  is  considered  decided 
by  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  27. 

[In  no  case  should  a  special  decision  or  any  deviation  from  the  regular  order  prescribed 
by  the  Book  be  allowed,  unless  upon  consent  of  all  the  parties,  expressed  in  open  court. 
In  two  memorable  instances  the  opposite  course  was  pursued.     On  the  first  trial  of 


Part  II.]  TRIAL  AND  ISSUE.  145 

Barnes,  (see  Book  VII.  §  109,)  it  is  stated  that  "the  parties  agreed  to  submit  the  case  to 
the  Assembly  without  argument,"  whereas  Mr.  McCalla,  one  of  the  committee  on  behalf 
of  the  Presbytery,  positively  refused  his  consent,  and  addressed  a  note  to  the  Moderator, 
Dr.  Beman,  stating  this  fact.  This  note  the  Moderator  stated  to  the  house  to  be  a  plea  in 
the  case  after  the  agreement  to  submit  it.  By  this  misrepresentation,  the  letter  was  sup- 
pressed, and  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  adopt  the  resolutions  of  the  committee,  the  Mode- 
rator gratuitously  warning  Mr.  M.  that  he  not  being  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  must  not 
attempt  to  open  his  mouth,  and  that  if  he  did,  he  should  be  put  out  of  the  house. 

The  other  case  alluded  to,  was  that  of  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie  in  the  case 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Scott,  (above,  §  146,)  in  which,  had  the  complainant  had  the  opportunity 
of  stating  his  views  to  the  General  Assembly,  as  to  the  matter  of  acquiescence  in  the  pro- 
posed disposition  of  the  case,  it  is  extremely  improbable  that  it  would  have  been  disposed 
of  as  in  the  sequel.] 

§  168.    The  record  of  the  decision  should  state  the  nature  of  the  case. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  approved]  "with  the  exception  of 
pages  215,  224,  229,  rehiting  to  certain  appeals,  in  which  the  nature  of  the 
oflFence  on  which  the  appeals  are  founded,  is  not  specified." — Mlnntes,  1821, 
p.  10. 

"The  records  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  were  approved,"  [except]  "2. 
In  the  record  of  an  appeal,  the  sentence  and  subject  matter  appealed  from, 
are  not  specified." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  434,  and  Minutes,  passim. 

§  169.  Form  of  the  final  minute. 

[There  is  frequently  such  a  deficiency  in  the  record  of  decisions  in  judicial  cases,  as 
well  in  the  Assembly  as  in  the  inferior  courts,  that  the  principles  determined  are  entirely 
lost  for  future  use,  or  what  is  even  worse,  the  record  is  so  obscure  as  to  mislead,  and  even 
give  countenance  to  conclusions  the  very  reverse  of  those  which  were  actually  had.  The 
final  minute  should  contain  a  sufficiently  detailed  history  of  the  case  from  the  beginning 
to  develope  the  full  significance  of  the  decision.  It  ought  also  to  include  a  statement  of 
every  principle  determined  by  the  court.  The  following  is  an  admirable  and  almost  soli- 
tary illustration  of  what  the  record  should  be.] 

"The  committee  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute  in  reference  to  'Judicial 
Case  No.  1,'  report,  first,  the  facts  in  the  case.  A  communicant,  by  the 
name  of  Ambrose  Stone,  in  the  Irish  Grove  Church,  for  a  long  time  abstained 
from  partaking  of  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  He  also,  for  a  long 
time,  ceased  to  worship  God  in  his  family.  He  repeatedly  requested  the 
Session  to  dissolve  his  connection  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  assigning  as 
the  only  reason  for  this  course  of  conduct,  that  he  believed  he  had  never 
been  born  again,  and  that  he  had  no  love  to  Christ.  The  Session  did  eventu- 
ally comply  with  his  request,  and  resolved  that  his  connection  with  the 
Church  be  dissolved. 

"  This  Church  was  under  the  care  of  Sangamon  Presbytery.  The  Pres- 
bytery upon  reviewing  the  records  of  the  Session  of  Irish  Grove  Church, 
considered  this  a  case  of  excommunication,  and  declared  the  action  of  the 
Session  not  only  unconstitutional,  but  also  null  and  void;  and  that  Mr.  Stone 
was  still  a  member  of  the  Irish  Grove  Church.  The  Moderator  and  Elder 
from  that  Session  claimed  the  right  to  vote  in  this  disapproval  of  their 
records,  which  was  refused  by  Presbytery.  The  Session  then  complained  to 
the  Synod  of  Illinois,  of  the  whole  action  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case.  The 
Synod  sustained  and  approved  the  action  of  the  Presbytery. 

"This  case  was  then  brought  before  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Irish 
Grove  Church  Session,  in  the  form  of  a  complaint  against  the  Synod  of  Illi- 
nois, because  it  sustained  the  action  of  the  Presbytery.  The  Assembly 
having  fully  heard  the  parties  in  the  case,  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tions, viz. 

"  1st.  Resolved,  That  no  Church  Session  has  authority  to  dissolve  the 
19 


146  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

connection  of  a  communicant  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  except  by  excom- 
munication, and  that  the  Sessions  of  our  Church  are  bound  to  proceed  accurd- 
ing  to  the  directions  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline,  when  they  do  excom- 
municate a  member.  The  Assembly  does,  therefore,  condemn  the  action  of 
the  Irish  Grove  Session  in  dissolving  the  connection  of  Mr.  Stone  with  the 
Church  of  Christ,  in  the  manner  in  which  it  did,  as  irregular  and  unconsti- 
tutional. 

"2d.  Eesolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Sangamon  acted  correctly  in  not 
permitting  the  members  of  the  Irish  Grove  Session  to  vote  for  approving  or 
disapproving  their  own  records;  that  the  Presbytery  acted  correctly  in  declar- 
ing the  action  of  the  Session,  in  Mr.  Stone's  case,  to  be  irregular  and  uncon- 
stitutional ;  and  that  then  the  Presbyteiy,  without  proceeding  farther,  ought 
to  have  required  the  Session  to  review  and  correct  its  proceedings,  in  this 
case,  according  to  the  directions  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline. 

"  3d.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  ought  to  have  directed  the  Presbytery  to 
require  the  Session  to  review  and  correct  its  proceedings,  according  to  the 
directions  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  33. 

§  170.    The  inferior  court  required  to  publish  the  adverse  decision. 

"  The  Moderator  and  Mr.  Hampton  appointed  to  draw  up  a  form  of  words, 
which  Mr.  Wade  is  to  use  in  the  public  reversing  the  sentence  publicly 
passed  by  him  against  John  Ilsley  and  William  Sharp."  [The  form  adopted 
was  as  follows :] 

"Whereas  some  time  ago,  a  censure  of  too  high  a  nature  has  been  passed 
against  John  Ilsley  and  William  Sharp,  (though  we  cannot  altogether 
excuse  them,  especially  the  former,)  I  do  now,  upon  good  ground  and  satis- 
faction given,  declare  that  the  same  persons,  John  Ilsley  and  William 
Sharp,  are  cleared  from  said  censure,  and  now  received  into  full  communion 
as  formerly,  before  such  censure,  with  this  Church,  and  all  persons  are 
accordingly  to  take  notice  thereof." — Ilinutes,  1711,  p.  22. 

§  171.  Decisions  of  superior  courts  obligator}/  on  the  inferior. 

(a)  "The  Assembly  cannot  but  express  their  disapprobation  of  the  con- 
cluding paragraph  of  the  memorial  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  in  which  they  say, 
'the  Synod  consider  the  judgments  entered  upon  their  records  against 
Samuel  Lowry,  in  October,  1822,  as  remaining  in  full  force,'  &c. 

"This  declaration,  notwithstanding  the  respectful  expressions  of  the 
Synod,  is  apparently  wanting  in  the  respect  due  from  an  inferior  to  a  supe- 
rior judicatory;  and  is  repugnant  to  the  radical  piinciples  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  If  an  inferior  court  has  authority  to 
declare  that  its  own  decisions  are  in  force  after  they  have  been  reversed  by 
a  superior  court,  then  all  appeals  are  nugatory,  and  our  system  as  it  relates 
to  judicial  proceedings,  is  utterly  subverted." — Minutes,  1824,  p.  213. 

(6)  [The  Assembly  having  heard  a  complaint  of  Mr.  Samuel  Lowry  against  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  confirming  the  action  of  the  Pret-bytery  of  Peoria,  which 
established  a  second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  town  of  Peoria,  determined  in  general  in 
favour  of  the  complainants,  but] — 

"In  order  to  bring  matters  back  to  a  state  of  order  and  harmony,  the 
Genei'al  Assembly  hereby  direct  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  at  its  first  meeting, 
to  appoint  a  committee  composed  of  men  known  to  be  of  sound  judgment, 
and  pacific  in  their  characters,  and  not  obnoxious  to  either  of  the  churches 
now  established  in  that  town,  to  visit  said  churches  as  soon  as  practicable 
and  use  their  best  endeavours  to  bring  them  together  in  one  harmonious 
body,  that  they  may  be  able  to  select  and  support  a  pastor,  and  not  as  sepa- 
rate and  feeble  sections  of  the  same  body,  remain  a  reproach  among  their 


Part  II.]  PROCESS   AGAINST   CHURCH   COURTS.  147 

^idversaries.  In  the  meantime,  the  Assembly  enjoin  it  upon  the  members 
and  officers  of  the  said  Churches  to  exercise  mutual  forbearance  and  Chris- 
tian kindness,  that  they  may  be  prepared  to  profit  from  a  visit  by  the  com- 
mittee of  Synod." — Minutes,  184U,  p.  302. 

[The  Synod  appointed  a  commission,  which  dissolved  both  the  Churches  and  organized 
a  new  one.     The  acts  of  the  commission  were  confirmed  by  Synod.     The  Assembly] 

"Hesolned,  1.  That  the  Synod  of  Illinois  and  its  commission  erred  by 
transcending  their  powers  and  the  directions  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1840,  when  they  dissolved  the  First  Church  of  Peoria. 

^'2.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria  be  and  is  hereby  directed  to  restore 
the  name  of  the  aforesaid  First  Church  of  Peoria  to  its  roll,  the  same  being, 
and  it  is  hereby  declared  to  be,  a  constituent  part  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Peoria  and  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  33. 

§  172.    The  inferior  judicatories  may  remonstrate  against  decisions  of  the 

General  Assembly. 

"  K  remonstrance  was  presented  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  against  a  decision  of  the  Assembly  of  last  year,  by  which  they  deter- 
mine that  '  it  is  unconstitutional  for  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jer- 
sey to  enact  that  future  candidates  who  have  the  gospel  ministry  in  view, 
shall  be  required  to  attend  to  the  study  of  divinity  at  least  three  years 
before  licensure.' 

'  "Whereupon  it  was  moved  that  this  Assembly  reconsider  the  above  deci- 
.  sion,  which  was  agreed  to.  And  whereas,  it  appeared  that  there  was  no 
appointment  made  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  of  any  par- 
ticular persons  to  advocate  their  cause,  the  Assembly  desirous  to  receive  all 
the  light  they  can  on  the  subject, 

^^ Resolved,  That  every  member  of  that  Synod  who  may  be  present,  shall 
have  liberty  to  offer  what  he  may  think  necessary  for  or  against  the  remon- 
strance ;  at  the  same  time  it  was 

^'Resolved,  That  this  act  of  the  Assembly  ought  not  to  be  used  as  a  pre- 
cedent."— Minutes,  1793,  p.  72. 

§  173.    The  Assembly  may  reconsider  and  reverse  a  manifestly  erroneous 
decision  of  a  former  Assembly. 

1.  "This  As.sembly  has  no  authority  to  reverse  the  judicial  acts  of  a  for- 
mer General  Assembly,  except  in  cases  of  such  palpable  error  as  would 
manifestly  tend  to  interfere  with  the  substantial  administration  of  justice." 
— Minutes,  1824,  p.  213. 

2.  "Resolved,  That  the  censure  which  was  laid  by  the  Assembly  of  1840 
upon  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kellar,  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria,  and  the  Synod  of  Illi- 
nois, be  and  the  same  is  hereby  removed." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  33. 

[See  also  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead.] 

Title  19. — Process  against  Church  Courts. 

[See  Book  VI.,  §  129.] 

§  174.    The  general  j^rincijiles  of  'personal  process  apply  here. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  proper  steps  be  now  taken  to  cite  to  the  bar  of  the 
next  Assembly,  such  inferior  judicatories  as  are  charged  by  common  fame 
with  irregularities. 

"  2.  That  a  special  committee  be  now  appointed  to  ascertain  what  judicato- 
ries are  thus  charged  by  common  fame;  prepare  charges  and  specifications 
against  them;  and  to  digest  a  suitable  plan  of  procedure  in  the  matter;  and 
that  said  committee  be  requested  to  report  as  soon  as  practicable. 


148  POTESTAS   JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

''  3.  That,  as  citation  on  tlie  foregoino;  plan  is  the  commencement  of  a 
process  involving  the  right  of  membership  in  the  Assembly;  therefore, 

'■'■  Romloed,  That  agreeably  to  a  principle  laid  down  Chap.  v.  Sec.  9,  of 
the  Form  of  Government,  the  members  of  said  judicatories  be  excluded  from 
a  seat  in  the  next  Assembly,  until  their  case  shall  be  decided." — Mimites, 
1837,  p.  425. 

§  175.  Protest  mjdinst  these  resolutions. 

"  1.  We  object  to  the  inode  of  investigation  adopted,  in  the  first  named 
resolutions,  by  the  Assembly.  They  resolve,  in  the  first  place,  '  to  cite  to 
the  bar  of  the  next  Assembly  such  inferior  judicatories  as  are  charged,  by 
common  fame,  with  irregularities.'  The  first  step,  in  our  estimation,  should 
have  been  to  appoint  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  various 
rumours  which  are  said  to  be  afloat,  and  to  report  to  the  Assembly  whether 
there  was  any  cause  for  citation. 

*'  2.  The  committee  was  empowered,  by  the  second  resolution,  merely  to 
ascei'tain  what  judicatories  were  charged  by  common  fame;  whereas,  they 
ought  to  have  been  instructed,  in  this  stiige  of  the  investigation,  to  ascertain 
whether  there  was,  or  was  not,  any  foundation  for  existing  rumours.  It 
seems  to  be  made  imperative,  by  the  resolution,  that  all  judicatories  shall  be 
reported  by  that  committee,  for  citation,  against  which  any  unfavourable 
rumours  are  in  circulation. 

"  3.  The  majority  of  the  committee  recommending  these  measures,  were 
members  of  the  convention  which  originated  all  this  business,  and  brought  it 
into  the  Assembly.  They  acted  upon  it  first  in  the  convention,  then  in  the 
Assembly;  after  that  in  the  committee,  and  then  are  to  pass  a  final  vote  in 
the  Assembly.  They  petition  themselves,  consider  their  own  petition,  and 
then  grant  to  themselves  what  they  themselves  ask. 

"4.  The  investigation  ought  to  have  been  expressly  limited  to  Synods, 
because  the  Book  of  Discipline  makes  provision  for  the  Assembly,  in  cer- 
tain cases,  to  cite  Synods,  but  no  other  judicatories.  (See  Gen.  Rev.  and 
Con.,  VI.) 

''  5.  The  resolution  to  deprive  the  judicatories  to  be  cited,  of  a  seat  in 
the  next  Assembly,  is  in  every  respect  unconstitutional  and  void,  'ah  initio.^ 
This  Assembly  has  no  power,  by  their  vote,  to  deprive  commissioners  duly 
elected,  from  a  seat  in  the  next  Assembly,  because  that  Assembly  has  the 
exclusive  right  of  judging  of  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  and  be- 
cause to  do  so  would  be  to  inflict  a  penalty  before  trial  or  investigation. 
Besides,  the  Assembly  has  power  to  cite  Synods  only;  and  Preshyterles,  and 
not  Synods,  are  represented  on  this  floor.  To  deprive  every  Presbytery  in 
a  whole  Synod,  of  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly,  because  a  Synod,  in  its 
collective  capacity,  may  have  been  irregular,  is  unprecedented  in  ecclesias- 
tical proceedings. 

''  6.  The  provision  in  the  Book  of  Discipline,  referred  to  in  the  third  reso- 
lution, to  justify  the  exclusion  of  members  from  seats  in  the  next  Assembly, 
has  no  application  to  this  case.  It  applies  only  to  a  Minister  of  the  gospel 
when  on  trial  before  his  own  Presbytery,  and  cannot  justify  the  unconstitu- 
tional bearing  of  this  resolution.  Besides,  the  Book  of  Discipline  expressly 
provides  for  those  cases  in  which  an  inferior  judicatory  is  to  be  excluded 
from  a  seat  in  the  superior  judicatory;  and  these  cases  are  trials  of  appeals 
and  complaints  in  which  they  are  interested." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  473. 

§  176.   A7iswer  to  the  2)Totest. 

"The  signers  to  the  protest  object  to  the  mode  of  investigation  adopted 
in  the  first  named  resolution,  and  contend  that  the  first  step  should  have 


Part  II.]  PROCESS  AGAINST   CHURCH   COURTS.  149 

been  to  appoint  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  rumours  which 
are  .said  to  be  afloat,  and  to  report  to  the  Assembly  whether  there  was  any 
cause  for  citation.  The  resolutions  as  to  citation  refer  to  supposed  cases, 
and  the  committee  were  to  cite,  and  designate,  and  report  to  the  Assembly 
for  its  approval  and  further  action.  In  this  aspect  of  the  case,  the  objections 
urged  lose  their  force.  No  wrong  was  done  to  any  Presbytery,  nor  any 
irregular  process  authorized,  nor,  indeed,  any  final  step  to  be  taken  without 
action  in  the  General  Assembly.  Upon  the  report  of  the  committee  to  cite, 
the  house  would  decide  upon  the  foimdation  for  existing  irregularities,  and 
a  wholesome  control  as  to  the  details  of  the  whole  subject  would  be  exercised 
by  the  Assembly  before  the  final  disposition  of  the  several  cases ;  and  the 
signers  of  the  protest  themselves  affirm,  in  a  subsequent  part  of  the  paper, 
and  with  the  design  of  sustaining  another  position,  that  the  citation  con- 
templated by  these  resolutions  was  according  to  the  hook.  Your  committee 
deem  it,  therefore,  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  this  part  of  the  subject,  it 
being  evident  from  the  nature  of  the  resolutions  and  the  admission  of  the 
signers  to  the  protest,  that  the  steps  contemplated  by  these  resolutions 
were  according  to  the  book,  and  within  the  constitutional  power  of  this  As- 
sembly. 

''  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  this  regular  constitutional  action  could  be 
impaired  or  destroyed  by  the  suggestion,  whether  true  or  untrue,  that  the 
committee  recommending  these  measures  were  members  of  the  convention; 
that  they  acted  upon  it  first  in  the  convention,  then  in  the  Assembly,  after 
that  in  the  committee,  and  then  were  to  pass  a  final  vote  in  the  Assembly. 
It  is  even  gravely  charged  as  a  ground  of  objection,  that  '  they  petition 
themselves,  consider  their  own  petition,  and  then  grant  to  themselves  what 
they  themselves  ask.'  It  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  this  objection,  that  the  ma- 
jority of  the  duly  constituted  members  of  this  Assembly  adopted  and  sanc- 
tioned the  incipient  as  well  as  final  steps  in  the  case;  and  the  acts  of  the 
Assembly  are  valid,  until  it  be  shown  that  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
have  been  invaded,  or  that  the  majority  consisted  of  persons  who  were  not 
duly  qualified  commissioners.  The  fact  of  a  majority  or  any  number  of 
members  of  the  Assembly  having  been  members  of  the  convention,  cannot 
invalidate  the  acts  of  the  Assembly.  The  right  of  petition  is  guaranteed  by 
every  well  regulated  government,  whether  civil,  political,  or  ecclesiastical, 
and  it  is  just  as  competent  for  any  number  of  the  individuals  composing  the 
Assembly  to  meet  2)ul>l>cli/  for  consultation,  as  it  would  be  for  any  number  to 
meet i^rivately  for  the  same  object.  In  neither  case  could  the  action  of 
those  members  in  the  Assembly  be  supposed  to  be  purified  or  contaminated 
by  such  consultations. 

"  The  investigation  contemplated  by  these  resolutions  was  designed  to 
apply  to  inferior  judicatories,  which  includes  Synods,  and  may  not  necessa- 
rily mean  Presbyteries;  the  specification  of  such  inferior  judicatory  was  to 
be  reported  by  the  committee,  and  the  fourth  objection,  as  urged  by  the 
signers  of  the  protest,  could  only  be  appropriate  when  a  Presbytery  should 
be  cited.  Any  supposed  restriction  of  the  right  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
cite  any  other  inferior  judicatories  but  Synods,  (which  is  regarded  by  the 
signers  of  the  protest  as  being  derived  ffom  the  sixth  part  of  the  section  of 
General  Review  and  Control,)  is  explained  by  the  comprehensive  character  of 
the  fifth  part,  which  assigns  to  the  superior  judicatory  power  to  '  examine, 
deliberate,  and  judge  in  the  whole  matter,  as  completely  as  if  it  had  been 
recorded,  and  thus  brought  up  by  the  review  of  the  records.'  The  General 
Assembly,  by  its  very  constitution,  is  regarded  as  having  a  general  control 
of  the  whole  Church,  and  in  its  conservative  character  shall  superintend  all 


150  POTESTAS  JURISDICTIONIS.  [Book  III. 

of  its  concerns.  It  is  believed  that  the  initiatory  steps  contemplated  by  the 
resolutii>us  authorizing  a  committee  to  designate  inferior  judicatories  who 
may  have  been  guilty  of  irregularities,  to  cite  them,  and  report  as  soon  as 
practicable  to  this  Assembly,  do  not  infringe  the  spirit  or  letter  of  the  inhe- 
rent powers  of  the  General  Assembly.  And  the  great  principles  of  analogy 
would  obviously  dictate,  that  the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatories  upon 
whom  these  preparatory  measures  are  supposed  to  operate,  should  not  be 
permitted  to  sit  in  the  next  General  Assembly  until  their  cases  should  be 
decided.  If  there  be  any  sound  principle  contained  in  the  clause,  and  the 
uniform  practice  which  excludes  an  interested  judicatory  from  voting,  that 
principle  and  that  practice  should  be  applied  to  the  members  of  such  infe- 
rior judicatories  as  may  be  aifected  by  these  resolutions.  This  view  of  the 
subject  is  exceedingly  strengthened  by  the  fact,  that  express  power  is  vested 
in  our  judicatories  to  exclude  at  will  their  own  members  when  on  trial  be- 
fore them." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  476. 

§  177.  Process  against  a  judicatory,  unless  hy  another  judicatory,  assumes 
the  form  of  complaint. 

"Mr.  Birch  exhibited  the  heads  of  his  complaint  in  four  articles,  as 
follows : 

"  1.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio  rejected  him  in  opposition  to  the  deci- 
sion and  intention  of  the  General  Assembly.  See  Minutes  of  Ohio  Presby- 
tery at  Buffalo,  about  the  first  of  July  last. 

"  2.  That  the  Presbytery  passed  an  unjust  and  defamatory  sentence  against 
said  Birch,  in  an  interloquitur  of  said  Presbytery,  at  the  time  aforesaid,  and 
in  said  Birch's  absence,  on  the  testimony  of  the  Bev.  John  McMillan  and 
William  McComb,  by  which  the  complainant  was  unjustly  subjected  to  the 
charge  of  intemperance;  was  precluded  from  applying  to  another  Presbytery 
according  to  the  intention  of  the  General  Assembly;  and  in  the  course  of 
which  he  was  treated  with  insvilt,  and  threatened  with  violence. 

"3.  That  the  Presbytery  have  rejected  all  offers  of  gospel  accommodation 
with  said  Birch,  whereby  he  has  been  subjected  to  great  trouble,  and  reli- 
gion exposed  to  much  scandal. 

"4.  That  the  Presbytery,  after  subjecting  the  complainant  to  long  delays, 
much  vexation,  and  great  loss,  have  passed  a  corrupt  judgment  in  the  case 
of  the  Rev.  John  McMillan,  who  had  in  a  defamatory  manner  charged  Birch 
with  drunkenness,  used  unchristian  language  respecting  him,  and  denied 
what  he  had  affirmed  to  James  Mahan.  [See  Nos.  2,  3,  4,  of  his  detailed 
complaint,  and  three  depositions  in  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery,  and  for 
which  Birch  has  a  receipt,  and  which  he  requires  to  be  produced  on  the 
table  of  the  Assembly.]  Signed, 

Thomas  L.  Birch." 

"The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  Mr.  Birch's  charges  against 
the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  when,  the  same  being  under  consideration,  on  mo- 
tion, it  was 

'■'■  Rexolved,  That  the  first  charge  against  the  Presbytery  has  not  been 
supported.  ' 

"The  second  charge  being  read,  it  was  also 

"Brsolrrd,  That  this  charge  has  not  been  supported. 

"The  third  charge  being  read  and  discussed,  it  was 

'^Bcsolvt'd,   That  this  charge  has  not  been  supported, 

"The  fourth  and  last  charge  against  the  Presbytery  being  under  conside- 
ration, a  motion  was  made  and  seconded,  that  this  charge  has  not  been 


Part  II.]  PKOCESS   AGAINST   CHUKCH   COURTS.  151 

supported.  After  considerable  discussion  a  question  was  taken  to  agree  to 
the  same,  which  was  determined  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes,  1802, 
p.  246. 

§  178.  Dissolution  of  an  inferior  court  effected  hi/  judicial  process. 

[See  the  case  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  prosecuted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Car 
lisle,  and  dissolved  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.     Below,  Book  VII.  §§  138-141.] 


PART  III. 

COMMON  ORDINANCES. 


Title  1. — Benevolent  Contributions. 
§  179.  Appointments  of  the'  AssemhJy  may  not  he  set  aside. 

(a)  '^Ordered,  That  every  minister,  according  to  our  former  agreement, 
propose  the  collection  for  the  fund  to  his  Congregation,  and  as  it  is  a  Syno- 
dical  appointment,  it  is  inconsistent  with  our  Church  government  to  be 
under  the  check  or  prohibition  of  a  Church  Session ;  they  indeed  may  give 
or  withhold  their  charity,  but  may  not  prevent  a  minister  to  propose  it  pub- 
licly, according  to  our  appointment.  Ordered  likewise,  That  every  Presby- 
tery take  care  of  the  conduct  of  their  members,  how  they  observe  this  agree- 
ment previous  to  their  coming  to  the  Synod,  and  that  they  gather  the 
collection  from  absent  members." — 3Iinutes,  P  ,  1754,  p.  215. 

(h)  "Whereas,  it  appears  that  some  of  the  Congregations  under  the  care 
of  this  Assembly,  though  duly  informed  of  the  injunction  made  at  our  last 
sessions  respecting  the  raising  of  contributions  for  the  support  of  mission- 
aries to  the  frontiers  of  the  country,  have  not  complied  with  the  same;  the 
Assembly  therefore  thought  proper  to  continue  the  above-mentioned  order; 
and  do  hereby  enjoin  it  on  all  the  Presbyteries  to  give  particular  attention 
that  every  Congregation  raise  the  specified  contribution;  and  that  all  the 
contributions  be  sent  forward,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1790,  p.  24. 

(c)  "The  Assembly  took  into  consideration  that  part  of  the  communica- 
tion from  the  Presbytery  of  Oneida,  wherein  they  pray  that  the  Churches 
under  the  care  of  that  Presbytery  may  be  exempted  from  pecuniary  contri- 
butions to  the  funds  of  the  Assembly.     On  motion,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  request  be  not  granted." — Minutes,  1803,  p.  279. 

(d)  "The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  request  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Oneida,  that  they  be  permitted  to  appropriate  their  own  funds  collected 
for  missionary  purposes,  submitted  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted. 

''Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Oneida  be  again  referred  to  the  plan 
proposed  by  the  Board  of  Missions,  and  approved  by  this  Assembly,  with 
instructions  to  conform  to  the  same  on  the  subject  of  their  request." — 
Minutes,  1820,  p.  733. 

§  180.    Contributions  should  be  made  to  a  feio  well  selected  objects. 

"It  is  surprising,  and  in  some  cases  alarming,  to  observe  the  want  of 
united  and  concentrated  efforts  in  promoting  many  of  the  objects  of  benevo- 
lence which  occupy  the  friends  of  religion.  The  funds  raised  are  divided 
and  subdivided,  until  no  single  object  is  well  patronized.  There  is  a  spirit 
of  Christian  enterprise  that  marks  the  day  in  which  we  live,  and  in  which 
the  Assembly  do  rejoice.     Everything  that  promises  to  advance  the  know- 


Part  III.]  BENEVOLENT   CONTRIBUTIONS.  153 

ledge  of  the  Lord,  and  the  salvation  of  man,  will  not  only  be  viewed  with 
approbation  by  a  religious  community,  but  will  be  assisted  and  patronized. 
It  has  however,  sometimes  happened,  that  a  new  mode  of  well-doing  has 
diverted  the  attention  from  well  established  exertions,  and  the  funds  by 
which  they  were  supported  have  been  changed,  so  that  while  a  new  form 
of  mercy  appeared,  there  are  no  new  means  for  its  support." — Minutes, 
1825,  p.  225. 

§  181.  Systematic  Benevolence. — Address  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  to  the  Ministers, 
Churches  and  peojjle,  under  their  care. 

'■^Dear  Brethren — During  the  recent  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  at 
BuflPalo,  New  York,  overtures  on  the  subject  of  Systematic  Benevolence 
were  presented,  from  several  Presbyteries,  requesting  that  the  Assembly 
would  take  some  order  by  which  the  Churches  and  people  of  our  connection 
might  be  led  to  adopt,  and  carry  out  some  efficient  scheme  for  sustaining 
our  benevolent  institutions  by  regular  contributions  to  their  funds.  The 
subject  was  also  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  in  other  prominent 
and  emphatic  modes.  The  reports  of  our  Boards  gave  utterance  to  the 
most  earnest  desire  for  securing  the  hearty  and  general  co-operation  of  the 
Church  in  all  her  courts,  and  by  all  the  members  of  her  communion,  \xx 
the  various  enterprises  with  whose  management  they  have  been  entrusted. 

''Deeply  sensible  of  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  subject  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  earnestly  desirous  to  make  some  suitable  response  to  their 
invitations  to  action,  the  Assembly  at  an  early  stage  of  its  proceedings 
appointed  a  select  committee,  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  Synod 
represented,  to  which  the  overtures  and  other  suggestions  were  referred. 
This  committee  having  carefully  and  maturely  considered  the  whole  subject, 
presented  a  report,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  with  great  cordiality 
and  unanimity. 

<'  Feeling  it  to  be  very  important,  together  with  the  resolutions  based  on 
that  report,  calling  for  action  on  the  part  of  the  lower  courts  of  the  Church, 
and  the  cheerful  co-operation  of  the  people,  to  communicate  also  the  opinions 
and  sentiments  of  the  Assembly  to  all  the  Ministers  and  Churches,  it  was 
determined  in  the  want  of  time  to  recast  the  report  into  the  form  of  an 
address,  to  publish  the  whole  as  adopted  by  the  Assembly,  with  this  brief 
prefatory  statement. 

*'  The  Assembly  solemnly  asks  your  earnest  and  prayerful  consideration  of 
the  views  here  presented,  and  trusts  that  you  will  give  all  diligence  in 
promptly  and  faithfully  executing  the  duties  herein  enjoined  on  the  Churches 
and  Presbyteries." 

§  182.   Report  of  the  Select  Committee  on  contributions  to  benevolent  objects, 
presented  to  the  General  Assembly,  May,  1854. 

(a)  "The  Select  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  general  subject  of 
Contributions  to  objects  of  Benevolence,  beg  leave  to  report  to  the  Assembly, 
as  follows : 

"  That  they  have  carefully  examined  the  various  memorials  and  resolu- 
tions committed  to  them,  and  are  satisfied  that  these  documents  express  the 
sentiments  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Assembly's  Presbyteries  on  the 
subject  of  methodical  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  Christ's  cause  and 
hinydom  at  home  and  abroad. 

*'  Your  committee,  on  reviewing  the  repeated  recommendations  of  the 
Assembly  to  the  Churches  on  the  subject  of  contributing  to  the  different 
causes  of  benevolence  under  its  direction,  are  painfully  reminded  of  the 
20 


154  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

wide-spread  indifference  with  wliicli  these  recommendations  have  been 
regarded;  and  hence  they  feel  a  great  degree  of  embarrassment  in  entering 
upon  the  duty  assigned  them.  They  are  persuaded,  however,  tliat  the 
neglect  with  which  the  Assembly's  action  has  hitherto  been  treated  in  many 
instances,  is  not  so  formidable  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  remedy ;  and  to 
point  out  that  remedy  has  been  the  object  of  earnest  and  prayerful  consider- 
ation on  the  part  of  your  committee. 

"  The  extent  of  this  indifference  to  the  Assembly's  recommendations,  and 
through  them  to  the  Master  whose  stewards  we  are,  is  truly  deplorable  ;  and 
imperatively  demands  the  adoption  of  adequate  measures  for  its  removal. 

(b)  "An  examination  of  the  Assembly's  Minutes  for  1853,  reveals  some 
humiliating  facts  on  this  subject. 

"  The  total  number  of  Churches  reported,  was  2,879. 

"  The  whole  number  of  Churches  reported  as  having  contributed  to  the 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  was  1,322,  being  112  less  than  one-half  the 
whole  nuniber  of  CMirches. 

"  The  number  reported  as  having  contributed  to  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  was  1,063,  being  371  less  than  half,  and  104  over  one-thii-cl  the 
total  number  of  Churches. 

"■  749  Churches  contributed  to  the  Board  of  Education,  being  30  more 
than  one  fourth  of  the  whole. 

''And  440  Churches  made  contributions  to  the  Board  of  Publication, 
being  39  less  than  one-sixth  of  the  whole  number. 

"  Your  committee  had  not  the  statistics  before  them  by  which  to  ascertain 
the  proportion  that  contributed  to  the  Church  Extension  Fund,  another  ob- 
ject of  benevolence  frequently  commended  by  the  Assembly;  but  they  are 
satisfied,  that  the  facts  would  show  a  much  greater  deficiency  on  the  part  of 
the  Churches,  than  the  lowest  figures  above  recorded. 

(c)  "  These  statements  exhibit,  in  the  judgment  of  your  committee,  a 
lamentable  disregard  of  covenant  obligations  by  a  majority  of  the  Assembly's 
Churches.  And  the  force  of  these  statements  would  be  greatly  increased, 
if  the  actual  number  of  contributing  communicants  in  the  honoured  minority 
of  Churches,  could  be  distinguished  from  those  who  give  nothing  to  advance 
the  cause  of  Chi'ist  through  these  channels. 

''  Another  item  will  add  to  these  facts  a  darker  shading.  There  are  many 
non-communicants  in  these  Congregations  whose  donations  materially  increase 
the  revenues  of  our  Boards;  and  just  in  this  proportion  are  the  contributions 
of  our  covenanted  membership  diminished. 

"And  still  another  consideration  deserves  to  be  noticed  here.  The  sums 
paid  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  outside  of  our  Church,  the  legacies 
bequeathed  to  the  different  Boards,  and  the  private  donations  amounting  to 
large  sums  in  the  aggregate,  all  go  to  prove  that  the  collections  taken  up  in 
a  methodical  manner  in  the  contributing  Churches,  constitute  an  annual 
offering  totally  unworthy  of  being  laid  by  220,000  redeemed  sinners  upon 
the  altar  of  consecration  to  Him  who  hath  bought  us  with  his  own  priceless 
blood. 

<'  If  these  facts  could  be  drawn  forth  into  the  definite  array  of  figures,  the 
committee  fear  that  only  an  aggregate  minority  of  communicants  in  the 
contributing  Churches  would  be  found  to  sustain  methodically  and  conscien- 
tiously, the  Assembly's  cherished  instrumentality  of  doing  good  to  souls. 

((Z)  "  But  there  is  another  point  of  view  from  which  any  delinquencies  of 
the  majority  of  our  (Miurches  should  be  examined.  The  degree  of  respon- 
sibility under  any  obligation  is  in  proportion  to  ability  to  discharge  it.  Our 
Master  has  said,  'Unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  be  much 
required;'  and  his  apostle  has  said,  'It  is  accepted  according  to  that  a  man 


Part  III.]  BENEVOLENT   CONTRIBUTIONS.  155 

hath,  and  not  according  to  that  he  hath  not.'  Now,  it  is  notorious  that  a 
vast  amount  of  wealth  is  harvested  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  hoarded 
there,  of  which  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  receives  not  a  tithe.  In  addition 
to  this,  a  large  proportion  of  the  current  funds  which  sustain  the  operations 
of  trade  and  business,  pass  daily  through  the  hands  of  a  numerous  class  of 
our  communicants,  leaving  a  profit  in  their  possession;  or  as  the  rewards  of 
daily  labour,  providing  abundance  of  the  good  things  of  this  life.  From  all 
the  channels  through  which  money  is  acquired  with  manual  labour  and 
without  it,  in  which  the  present  times  have  an  unexampled  distinction,  and 
in  which  our  Churches  largely  share,  how  very  small  must  be  the  propor- 
tion which  flows  into  the  treasuries  of  the  Lord ! 

"  In  the  unparalleled  prosperity  which  waits  upon  production  and  com- 
merce, there  is  a  scriptural  demand  for  an  unparalleled  increase  of  the  funds 
of  organized  benevolence.  But  your  committee  are  constrained  to  say,  that 
they  look  in  vain  for  this  result  in  the  funds  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Assembly's  Boards.  The  enlargement  of  funds  hardly  keeps  pace  with  the 
increase  of  Churches  and  membership,  and  falls  far  behind  the  enlarged 
responsibility  which  accumulating  means  bring  with  them.  In  past  seasons 
of  ordinary  prosperity,  both  the  number  and  amount  of  our  contributions 
should  have  been  greatly  multiplied,  as  we  have  already  seen.  When  God 
bestows  any  good  upon  us,  it  is  a  law  both  of  our  moral  nature  and  of  his 
kingdom,  that  some  expressive  return  should  show  our  grateful  sense  of  his 
mercies ;  and  when  he  pours  upon  us  signal  favours,  he  expects  an  appro- 
priate response.  Your  committee  believe  that  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  response  which  these  times  of 
temporal  prosperity  demand,  has,  ^vith  almost  no  exceptions,  been  unthhcld. 

(e)  "Another  consideration,  and  the  last  one  we  shall  notice  here,  is  the 
daily  enlargement  of  the  great  field  of  Christian  effort.  The  theatre  for 
exertion  in  the  cause  of  Christ  is  as  broad  as  the  world ;  and  access  to  im- 
portant points  at  home  and  abroad,  where  sanctified  labour  may  be  success- 
fully employed  is  opening  rapidly,  but  not  improved.  Many  fields  lie  waste, 
because  God's  people  withhold  from  God's  servants  the  means  to  enter  and 
to  cultivate  them.  When  the  highways  are  cast  up  among  the  nations  by 
the  King  of  Zion,  he  calls  his  servants  to  enter,  and  by  the  same  act  he 
calls  for  the  means  to  sustain  them.  Our  responsibility  therefore  widens 
with  the  expansion  of  the  field  before  us.  The  calls  are  for  the  most  part 
unheeded ;  and  the  glaring  sins  of  indifference  and  covetousness  rest  upon 
the  Churches. 

"  How  can  this  adverse  state  of  things  be  accounted  for?  Your  committee 
might  enlarge  upon  the  causes,  but  prefer  the  less  unpleasant  task  of  sug- 
gesting a  remedy. 

(/)  "But  there  are  to  any  remedy  certain  barriers,  which  must  be 
removed.  One  of  these  we  mention  with  great  reluctance,  and  yet  we 
sincerely  believe  that  there  will  be  found  in  it  a  principal  obstacle.  We 
mean  the  apathy  of  the  teaching  and  riding  Eldership  in  relation  to  this 
entire  subject.  The  criminal  neglect  of  many  Churches  to  honour  the  Lord 
with  their  substance  and  with  the  first  fruits  of  all  their  increase,  is 
occasioned  in  a  great  measure  by  the  neglect  of  their  teachers  to  expound 
faithfully  and  frequently  the  laio  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  relation  to  this 
obvious  and  explicit  duty,  explaining  the  scriptural  method  of  obeying  it, 
and  the  scriptural  motives  to  obedience.  The  word  of  God  on  almost  every 
page  contains  something  in  relation  to  this  law,  its  motive  or  its  method. 
And  in  view  of  this  fact,  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  prevalent  error, 
which  regards  this  duty  more  as  advice  than  precept,  and  more  as  optional 
than  obligatory,  unless  the  solution  is  discovered  in  the  remissness  of  the 


156  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

Ministry,  'rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth'  on  this  particular  point. 
Your  committee  would  repel  the  charge  of  indiscriminately  censuring  our 
brethren  in  the  Lonl,  whom  we  love  and  venerate  as  a  pious,  learned  and 
able  ministry,  to  which  many  of  us  belong;  but  we  appeal  to  the  established 
principle  that  faithful  pastoral  labour  in  the  pulpit,  and  in  the  family,  is 
followed  sooner  or  later  with  commensurate  success;  and  when  applied  to 
the  point  before  us,  the  committee  express  their  firm  conviction,  ibunded 
upon  their  own  experience  and  observation,  that  not  one  of  the  Assembly's 
Churches  which  enjoys  the  stated  means  of  grace,  would  remain  delinquent 
after  receiving  the  faithful  and  affectionate  instructions  of  the  Ministry  on 
the  scriptural  law  of  beneficence,  its  motive  and  its  method.  Grive  the 
people  light,  and  by  the  help  of  God's  Spirit  they  will  walk  in  it.  The 
want  of  information  is,  in  many  minds,  a  greater  obstacle  than  want  of 
disposition.  The  conscience  of  our  people,  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  regulated  by  the  word  of  God,  may  be  safely  trusted  on  this  or 
any  other  subject.  The  clergy  and  the  laity  of  our  beloved  Zion  believe 
that  they  draw  nearer  to  the  great  source  of  Truth  in  doctrine  and  in  polity 
than  any  other  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  If  we  occupy  such  a 
sacred  nearness  to  the  Fountain  of  Infinite  Truth  and  Love,  let  it  be  seen 
that  our  practice  corresponds  with  our  profession,  and  our  progress  with  our 
advantages. 

''  The  committee  quote  from  one  of  the  resolutions  placed  in  their  hands, 
that  '  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  interpreted  by  the  Confession  of  Faith,' 
is  'that  collections  for  pious  uses  are  a  part  of  the  regular  ordinances  of  wor- 
ship on  every  Sabbath.'*  The  truth  should  be  plainly  stated,  that  while 
our  creed  is  orthodox,  the  practice  of  many  of  our  Churches  in  this  depart- 
ment of  Christian  duty  is  heretical;  and  they  are  so  far  guilty  of  '  holding 
the  truth  in  unrighteousness.'  The  question,  whether  covefoiisness,  like  any 
other  sin,  should  not  be  disciplined,  ought  to  engage  in  these  days  of  Christ's 
coming,  the  profound  attention  of  every  Presbytery  and  every  Session ;  and 
no  person,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  should  be  admitted  to  sealing 
ordinances,  whose  views  on  this  subject  are  not  clear  and  scriptural.  Every 
member  of  the  Church  is  under  a  solemn  recorded  obligation  to  do  his  part 
to  sustain  the  cause  of  Christ.  What  his  part  is,  he  is  left  to  determine  in 
prayer  before  God,^and  in  the  light  of  the  divine  word.  He  is  a  labourer 
in  the  vineyard,  and  must  work.  No  excuse  will  justify,  but  absolute  in- 
ability. Whoever  is  able  to  earn  his  living,  is  able  to  give  something  to 
Christ's  cause.  At  convenient  seasons,  he  should  '  lay  by  him  in  store,  as 
God  has  prospered  him,'  a  portion  of  his  earnings  for  thank-offerings,  to 
the  Giver  of  every  good.  Let  it  be  done  with  consistent  liberality;  for  'the 
liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat.'  Let  it  be  done  cheerfully,  for  '  God  loveth 
a  cheerful  giver.'  Every  communicant  who  is  above  the  necessity  of 
receiving  alms,  who  withholds  his  gift,  however  humble,  is  guilty  of  the  sin 
of  '  covetousness,'  which  is  idolatry.  The  Saviour  pointed  out  a  much  loftier 
act  of  self-denial  than  the  foregoing,  when  he  commended  the  poor  widow's 
donation,  and  valued  her  two  mites,  which  were  all  her  living,  above  the 
costlier  contributions  of  ostentatious  alms. 

"The  wealth  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  whatever  form  it  may  exist 
or  circulate,  is  consecrated  wealth.     It  became  so  by  the  act  which  received 

*  Form  of  Govi'rnmcnt,  Chap,  vii.— The  onlinancos  establishoil  by  Christ,  the  Head,  in  a  particular 
Church,  wliich  is  re;-'ularly  consfitutetl  witli  its  iiropci-  officers,  are  prayer,  pinginj;  praises,  re.iding, 
exiiduiulin;,' and  iin'acliintr  the  wcirU  of  God :  adniinisteriuir  haiitism  and  the  Lord's  Supper:  public, 
soIeiLiii  fastiiiK  and  thanks'iivinf;,  cateehizintj,  making  coUrilitiiisJ<ir  the  poor  and  otiier  pious  purposes; 
exercising  diseipliiio,  and  blessint;  tlic  people. 

Director!/  for  Worship,  C/uip.  vi.  Sec.  5. — The  sermon  beinp;  ended,  the  Minister  is  to  pray,  and  return 
thanks  to  God;  then  let  a  psalm  be  sung:  a  adlection  raised  for  the  poor,  and  oilier  purposes  of  the 
Cliurch;  and  the  Assembly  dismissed  with  the  Apostolic  benediction. 


Part  III.]  BENEVOLENT   CONTRIBUTIONS.  157 

its  possessors  into  membership.  And  your  committee  are  convinced,  that 
the  practical  denial  of  this  truth  clearly  reveals  one  great  cause  of  the  de- 
cline of  vital  godliness,  which  extensively  prevails  throughout  all  our  bor- 
ders, and  over  which  this  Assembly  mourns.  The  tithes  and  oti'erings  are 
not  brought  into  the  storehouse ;  and  consequently,  (xod's  blessing  is  not 
poured  out,  and  Zion  languishes.  Powerful  awakenings  are  almost  un- 
known. The  ministry  is  not  adequately  supplied  with  recruits,  nor  ade- 
quately supported.  Sinful  conformity  to  the  customs  and  fashions  of  a 
world  lying  in  wickedness,  and  under  God's  curse,  is  rapidly  levelling  the 
distinctions  which  should  be  preserved  erect  and  prominent,  between  the 
Church  and  the  world.  This  evil  is  the  more  dangerous,  because  its  ap- 
proach is  gradual,  and  its  inroads  covered  by  specious  pretexts  that  wear  the 
garb  of  Christian  propriety,  which  is  a  character  frequently  assumed  by 
covetousness  and  pride. 

(^)  "  In  order  to  arrest  these  destructive  tendencies,  all  scriptural  means 
must  be  employed.  But  your  committee  are  confined  to  one  of  these.  And 
they  would  urge  upon  their  brethren  the  much  disregarded  truth,  that  lihe- 
rality  is  an  indispensable  means  of  grace.  To  employ  it  successfully,  the 
scriptural  motives  to  beneficence  should  be  fixed  in  the  conscience,  and  in- 
fluence the  heart.  These  motives  may  be  variously  expressed;  but  we 
arrange  them,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  into  three  classes : 

"  1.  Philantliropy  is  one  of  these.  But  it  is  the  lowest  motive,  and  may 
be  shared  in  common  by  the  religious  and  the  irreligious.  Where  it  exists 
as  a  controlling  motive,  it  is  guided  more  by  emotion  and  sympathy,  than  by 
principle;  and  often  leads  the  Christian  to  find  in  worldly  associations  the 
ways  of  doing  good,  to  the  partial  or  entire  exclusion  of  the  Church,  which 
is  the  great  benevolent  society  formed  by  Jesus  Christ,  its  Head;  and 
thereby  much  of  the  means  of  usefulness,  which  ought  to  flow  through 
sanctified  channels,  is  expended  upon  measures  of  temporary  or  doubttul 
utility. 

"  jJ.  Love  to  the  souls  of  men  is  another  motive,  which  elevates  the  pre- 
ceding from  the  temporal  to  the  eternal.  It  is  philanthropy  sanctified.  It 
does  not  neglect  the  physical  wants  of  man;  but  it  values  beyond  every  other 
estimate  his  spiritual  necessities.  The  realities  of  death,  judgment,  and 
eternity,  apprehended  as  not  far  distant,  coupled  with  the  awful  fact,  that 
the  day  of  grace  is  hourly  closing  upon  thousands  of  our  fellow-men,  present 
an  overwhelming  motive  to  sanctified  exertion. 

''3.  But  there  is  still  another  motive,  which  absorbs  the  first  and  second, 
as  the  greater  includes  the  less.  It  is  a  supreme  regard  to  the  glory  of 
God.  This  is  the  highest  motive  that  can  be  addressed  to  the  conscience 
and  the  heart.  It  places  all  human  interests  in  their  true  relations  to  our 
Maker.  It  consecrates  time,  talents  and  property,  to  the  service  of  Christ. 
It  sets  out  from  the  right  point  of  exertion,  to  relieve  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  wants  of  man.  It  is  sustained  by  the  approbation  of  conscience 
and  the  favour  of  Grod.  If  the  most  benevolent  plans,  prosecuted  under  this 
paramount  motive,  should  fail  of  success,  and  labour  and  mean's  appear  to 
be  thrown  away,  the  reflection  that  every  act  was  done  for  God's  glory,  will 
extract  the  sting  of  disappointment,  for  God's  will  has  been  done,  and  the 
reward  is  laid  up  in  heaven.  This  motive,  therefore,  supplies  what  no  other 
motive  can.  It  has  less  to  do  with  mere  human  feelings  and  sympathies, 
and  more  to  do  with  divine  principles,  which  should  regulate  all  the  desires 
and  susceptibilities  of  the  soul.  This  is  the  motive  which  should  be  brought 
to  bear  continually  upon  the  Christian  life  and  practice;  and  when  its  influ- 
ence shall  become  paramount  in  all  our  communions,  the  Presbyterian  Church 
will  come  up  with  one  supreme  purpose  to  the  service  of  her  Head,  and  lay 


158  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

her  sons  and  daughters,  and  her  costliest  offerings,  upon  the  altar  of  conse- 
cration to  his  cause. 

(/t)  "  Fully  impressed  by  the  facts  and  principles  thus  briefly  presented, 
we  turn  anxiously  to  inquire,  in  what  way  the  General  Assembly  may,  in 
the  exercise  of  its  legitimate  power,  endeavour  to  remedy  the  evils  on  which 
we  have  animadverted,  and  draw  out  the  resources  of  the  whole  Church,  in 
sustaining  the  enterprises  of  Christian  benevolence,  which  have  been  wisely 
organized  by  the  Assembly  itself,  or  by  other  ecclesiastical  authorities  of 
our  Church. 

"As  a  fair  exposition  of  the  great  pi'inciples  of  a  scriptural  Church  order, 
we  believe  our  Constitution  now  provides  all  the  requisite  organization  for 
efficient  effort  in  every  department  of  such  enterprises. 

"The  Church  is  a  divinely  constituted  missionary  society,  and  its  courts 
are  specific  forms  of  executive  agency,  for  the  work  of  propagating  as  well 
as  preserving  the  truth. 

"To  the  General  Assembly,  as  the  supreme  court  of  the  Church,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  providing  measures,  whose  operations  may  be  co-extensive 
with  our  ecclesiastical  limits,  'for  the  promotion  of  truth,  charity  and  holi- 
ness, in  all  the  Churches,'  properly  belongs  the  work  of  presenting  to  the 
Presbyteries  and  other  subordinate  courts,  and  urging  on  their  adoption  and 
execution,  by  the  moral  power  with  which  it  has  been  intrusted,  wise  and 
practicable  methods  of  procedure  in  all  the  departments  of  service,  necessary 
to  the  fulfilment  of  the  great  obligations  devolving  on  the  Church. 

"This  duty  can  be  performed  without  entrenching  on  any  rights  of  con- 
science, neither  'lording  it  over  God's  heritage'  by  enacting  laws  which 
require  a  blind  and  implicit  obedience,  not  arrogating  to  itself  the  province 
of  the  State,  in  laying  taxes  even  for  the  support  of  the  best  interests  which 
are  connected  with  human  duty  and  destiny.  Its  power  is  moral.  It  is 
that  with  which  the  Church  has  clothed  it.  Though  more  than  advisory,  it 
is  less  than  arbitrary.  To  those  bodies,  the  Presbyteries,  which,  by  com- 
missioners, constitute  the  Assembly  itself,  it  can  address  the  language  of 
requisition  to  the  discharge  of  duties  clearly  recognized  and  cheerfully  ad- 
mitted. The  Presbyteries  sustain  a  similar  relation  to  the  Pastor  and 
Church  Sessions,  the  former  personally,  and  the  latter  by  representatives, 
being  their  constituent  elements.  These,  in  turn,  sustain  a  similar  relation 
to  the  people,  who  have  submitted  themselves,  under  the  laws  of  the  Church 
and  according  to  the  principles  of  a  moral  government,  to  their  authority. 
When,  therefore,  the  various  courts  of  the  Church  have  established  instru- 
mentalities for  the  promotion  of  religious  knowledge,  they  are  not  only  pri- 
vileged, but  bound  to  use  the  authority  with  which  they  have  been  enti-usted 
to  procure  the  means  for  rightly  sustaining  such  instrumentalities,  by  devis- 
ing the  plans  and  diligently  supervising  their  proper  execution. 

"It  is  easily  seen,  that  were  all  the  members  of  our  communion  to  com- 
ply with  the  Scripture  injunction,  to  give  of  their  substance  for  sustaining 
the  cause  of  Christian  benevolence  'as  God  has  prospered  them,'  there  would 
be  a  large  increase  in  the  incomes  of  all  our  schemes,  whether  connected 
with  the  Church  at  large,  as  represented  in  the  Assembly,  or  established  by 
any  of  our  subordinate  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Now,  to  procure  such  con- 
tributions, it  is  not  so  material  that  any  particular  plan  be  urged  on  the 
Churches,  in  whose  details  all  should  agree,  and  according  to  whose  provi- 
sions all  should  act.  All  that  is  properly  demanded  is,  that  the  duty  of 
securing  the  desired  result  should  be  urged,  and  its  execution  enforced.  If 
an  ecclesiastical  court  possesses  the  right  to  prescribe  any  particular  duty,  it 
must  also  possess  the  right  to  inquire  into  its  performance. 


Part  III.]  BENEVOLENT   CONTRIBUTIONS.  159 

§  183. 

'^  According  to  these  plain  and  simple  principles,  which  are  clearly  and 
succinctly  presented  in  the  overture  submitted  by  the  Presbyteries  of  Lex- 
ington and  Elizabethtown,  we  are  prepared  to  recommend  for  the  adoption 
of  the  Assembly  the  following  resolutions,  which  embrace  in  substance  those 
presented  in  that  overture : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  Pastors  of  our 
Churches  to  give  greater  prominence,  in  the  ministration  of  the  word,  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Scripture,  as  interpreted  and  set  forth  in  our  standards^ 
(more  particularly  in  Chap.  xxvi.  Sec.  2,  of  the  Confession  of  Faith;  in 
Question  141  of  the  Larger  Catechism;  in  Chap.  vii.  of  the  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment, and  in  Chap.  iv.  Sec.  5,  of  the  Directory  for  Worship,)  viz.  that 
'Saints,  by  profession,  are  bound  to  maintain  an  holy  fellowship  and  com- 
munion in  relieving  each  other  in  outward  things,  according  to  their  several 
abilities  and  necessities,  which  communion,  as  God  offereth  opportunity,  is 
to  be  extended  unto  all  those  who  in  every  place  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus,' 
'giving  and  lending  freely  according  to  their  abilities;'  and,  in  conformity 
to  this  doctrine,  recognizing  as  one  of  the  ordinances  established  by  Christ, 
in  connection  with  the  sermon,  prayer,  and  praise,  'a  collection  raised  for 
the  poor  and  other  purposes  of  the  Church.' 

''2.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  which  have  not  anticipated  the  pro- 
visions of  this  action  of  the  Assembly  are  most  earnestly  and  affectionately 
enjoined,  1st.  At  their  meetings  following  the  rising  of  this  Assembly,  to 
take  order  that  the  JMinisters  and  Church  Sessions  in  their  bounds  shall  be 
directed  to  adopt  some  practicable  method  by  which  an  opportunity  shall  be 
afforded,  and  an  invitation  given,  to  all  the  members  of  their  Congregations 
to  contribute  regularly  to  the  objects  of  Christian  benevolence  recognized 
by  the  Assembly,  in  the  organization  of  the  Boards  of  the  Church,  and  to 
such  other  institutions  as  to  them  may  seem  right.  2d.  And  at  every  spring 
meeting  to  institute  a  proper  inquiry  into  the  diligence  of  Ministers  and 
Church  Sessions  in  executing  the  provisions  of  such  method. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  are  farther  enjoined  to  enter  on 
record,  and  report  to  the  next  Assembly,  their  action  on  the  first  part  of  the 
foregoing  resolution;  and  also  to  record  at  their  next  and  all  subsequent 
spring  meetings,  the  result  of  the  inquiry  prescribed,  and  report  the  same 
to  the  General  Assembly  with  the  usual  Annual  Presbyterial  Report,  stating 
the  delinquencies  and  diligence  of  Pastors  and  Church  Sessions. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  there  shall  be  appointed  a  standing  committee  on 
Systematic  Benevolence  by  the  Assembly,  which  shall  be  charged  with  the 
reception  and  examination  of  such  reports,  and  the  presentation  to  the 
Assembly  of  their  aggregate  results. 

"5.  Resolved,  That  the  Boards  of  the  Church  are  invited  to  aid  in  the 
proper  execution  of  the  foregoing  arrangements  of  the  Churches  in  such 
official  communications  with  the  Presbyteries,  as  may  seem  proper. 

"6.  Resolved,  That  the  Professors  in  our  theological  seminaries  are 
respectfully  requested  to  give  proper  attention  to  the  right  training  of  the 
future  Pastors  of  the  Church,  in  view  of  the  duties  herein  contemplated. 

"  Fui'ther,  the  committee  recommend  the  following  plans  for  contribution  : 

"1.  A  committee  may  be  appointed  by  the  Session  for  each  object  of 
benevolence,  and  a  particular  month  assigned  in  which  they  are  to  do  their 
work,  by  calling  upon  the  people,  or  otherwise  obtaining  contributions. 

"2.  All  the  objects  to  be  aided  maybe  presented  in  separate  columns, 
and  each  contributor  called  upon  to  say  what  he  will  give  quarterly  or 
annually. 


160  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

"3.  Weekly  or  monthly  colleetions  may  be  taken  iip,  and  thrown  into  a 
benevolent  fund,  which  the  Session  may  divide  among  the  several  objects 
approved  by  them,  in  such  proportion  as  they  think  proper." — Minutes, 
1«54,  p.  87. 

Title  2. — Family  Religion. 

§  184. 

(a)  [As  means]  ''to  revive  the  declining  power  of  godliness,  the  Synod  do 
earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  ovir  3Jiuisters  and  members  to  take  particular 
care  about  ministerial  visiting  of  families,  and  press  family  and  secret 
■worship,  according  to  the  Westminster  Directory;  and  that  they  also  recom- 
mend it  to  every  Presbytery,  at  proper  seasons  to  inquire  concerning  the 
diligence  of  each  of  their  members  in  such  particulars."  [Unanimously 
adopted.] — Minutes,  1733,  p.  105. 

(6)  "  The  Synod  do  not  only  renew  the  order,  but  earnestly  obtest  every  of 
our  brethren  of  the  ministi-y,  conscientiously  and  diligently  to  pursue  the 
good  design  thereof." — Minutes,  1734,  p.  107. 

(c)  "Let  heads  of  families  be  careful  to  instruct  their  children  and  those 
committed  to  their  care  in  the  great  principles  of  our  holy  religion.  Let 
their  morning  and  evening  sacritices  be  daily  offered  up  in  their  families  to 
God." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  178. 

(d)  "Parents,  train  your  children  in  the  'nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord;  your  houses  should  be  temples  of  the  living  God,  in  which  should 
ascend  to  his  mercy -seat  the  continual  incense  of  your  daily  sacrifices.  Pious 
parents  can  most  effectually  preach  to  the  hearts  of  their  children  by  their 
affectionate  precepts,  and  their  holy  example.  Your  instructions  will  best 
prepare  them  to  receive  benefit  from  the  public  ordinances  of  religion.  And 
0 !  can  you  see  these  dearest  portions  of  yourselves  ready  to  perish,  without 
earnestly  reaching  forth  a  hand  to  pluck  them  as  brands  from  the  burnings?" 
—Minutes,  1804,  p.  316. 

"We  have  observed  with  pain,  that  in  some  Presbyteries  the  duties  of 
family  religion,  and  of  catechetical  instruction,  are  neglected.  Truly  it  is 
shameful  in  men,  who  call  themselves  by  the  name  of  Christ,  not  to  honour 
him  before  their  families,  by  worshipping  him  statedly.  Every  head  of  a 
family  is  responsible  for  all  its  members  to  God  and  his  country.  How  can  he 
expect  to  fulfil  his  duty,  if  he  does  not  pray  for  and  with  them,  and  instruct 
them  from  the  word  of  God?  If  he  does  not  honour  God,  it  cannot  be 
expected  his  famihj  will.  And  a  Christian  family  living  without  family 
religion,  is  a  contradiction.  It  argues,  on  the  part  of  such  professors,  an 
awful  declension  and  a  criminal  dereliction  of  duty." — Minutes,  1808,  p.  402, 
and  Minutes,  passim. 

§  185.  Famih/  religion  and  the  SahhatJi- School. 

"Some  of  the  Presbyteries  which  tell  us  of  the  flourishing  condition  of 
their  Sabbath-Schools;  and  many  others,  which  speak  not  so  favourably  on 
the  subject,  report  to  us  that  there  exists  among  their  Church  members  an 
alarming  delinquency  in  the  proper  instruction  of  the  young  at  the  domestic 
hearth,  under  parental  oversight.  There  is,  we  are  assured,  no  necessary 
conflict  between  the  Sabbath-School  and  the  family,  as  institutions  in  which 
this  class  may  be  trained  in  the  knowledge  of  God's  word.  They  may  be 
made  and  ought  to  be  made  mutual  helps  one  to  the  other.  Yet  it  is  not  to 
be  disguised  that  the  eft'ect  of  the  privileges  ofl'ored  by  the  Sabbath-School 
may  be,  in  some  cases,  to  relieve  the  minds  of  parents  from  the  sense  of  the 
personal  responsibility  resting  upon  them.     Hence,  they  are  led  to  consign 


Part  III.]  THE  LOT.  161 

the  religious  instruction  of  their  children  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  to  the  Sab- 
bath-school teacher.  If  such  a  result  were  inevitable,  or  even  general,  then 
should  the  Sabbath-school  institution  be  condemned  as  a  curse  to  the 
Church.  Grod  has  laid  upon  parents  the  command  to  bring  up  their  children 
'in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.'  The  obligation  is  recognized 
as  one  personal  to  themselves,  in  the  covenant  into  which  they  enter  when 
presenting  their  children  to  God  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism.  In  this 
matter  there  can  be  no  transfer  of  responsibilities,  no  substitute  in  the  dis- 
charge of  duties.  The  Sabbath-school  teacher  cannot  answer  for  the  parent 
in  the  day  of  final  reckoning;  neither  should  the  parent's  work  be  commit- 
ted to  his  hands  in  this  life.  The  instruction  of  the  children  is  so  impor- 
tant an  element  of  all  domestic  religion,  that  when  it  is  neglected  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  family  worship,  and  other  kindred  duties,  are  also  but  slightly 
regarded.  As  on  various  occasions  heretofore,  we  would  now  exhort  you, 
brethren,  to  all  diligence  and  fidelity  in  the  whole  duty  of  family  religion, 
not  omitting  the  regular  instraction  of  your  children  in  the  word  of  God, 
and  the  Catechisms  of  the  Church." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  183. 

Title  3. — The  Lot. 

§  186. 

(a)  "The  Synod  look  upon  the  practice  of  submitting  of  congregational 
affairs  to  the  decision  of  a  lot,  though  accompanied  with  sacred  solemnity, 
to  be  unwarrantable,  inasmuch  as  lots  are  only  warrantably  used  to  decide 
matters  that  cannot  be  otherwise  determined  in  a  rational  way;  particularly 
by  applying  to  higher  judicatories." — Mlmifes,  1738,  p.  104. 

(li)  "The  affair  of  Mr.  Nutman  and  the  people  of  Hanover  resumed,  and 
after  reading  our  last  year's  minutes,  and  Mr.  Dickinson  proposing  a 
difficulty  concerning  the  obligation  of  the  determination  by  the  lot  mentioned 
in  said  minutes,  whether  the  obligation  of  the  said  determination  yet  remains 
binding  upon  said  people,  the  Synod  after  much  discourse  and  reasoning 
about  that  matter,  at  length  came  to  a  judgment  in  the  following  pro- 
positions. 

"1.  That  the  Synod  look  upon  the  obligation  of  a  determination  of  a 
difference  by  a  lot,  to  be  sacred  and  binding  upon  the  conscience,  if  the 
matter  so  determined  be  lawful  and  practicable,  and  consequently  to  act 
contrary  thereunto  must  be  a  very  great  sin. 

"2.  That  as  the  foundation  upon  which  a  lot  is  cast  may  cease,  and  the 
practicableness  of  acting  according  to  the  determination  thereof  may,  in 
time,  cease  also,  (though  for  a  time  it  may  continue  practicable,)  in  such  a 
case  we  judge  that  the  obligation  thereof  doth  cease  also,  because  it  can 
never  be  designed  that  such  an  obligation  should  remain  after  the  design 
thereof  becomes  either  impossible,  or  hath  been  fully  obtained. 

"  3.  Our  determination  last  year  relating  to  the  people  of  Hanover,  did 
wholly  go  upon  this  supposition,  that  the  affairs  of  that  people  and  their 
circumstances  were  so  far  altered,  upon  representations  then  made  to  us, 
that  we  supposed  the  foundation  of  said  lot,  and  of  the  people's  acting  upon 
it  were  ceased,  which,  whether  it  be  certainly  so  or  not,  we  do  not  peremp- 
torily determine,  but  leave  parties  to  judge  thereof  as  in  conscience  they  can. 

"4.  That  however,  as  in  our  minutes  last  Synod,  we  disapprove  of  the 
use  of  lots,  without  necessity,  yet  we  are  afraid,  upon  representation,  that 
there  hath  been  much  sin  committed  by  many  if  not  all  that  people,  in  their 
profane  disregard  of  said  lot  in  time  past,  and  therefore  excite  them  to 
reflect  upon  their  past  practices  in  reference  thereunto,  in  order  to  their 
repentance." — Minutes,  1734,  p.  110. 
21 


162  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

(c)  "An  affair  of  the  conEcreiration  of  Tehicken  was  broxij^ht  into  the 
Synod  by  a  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bninswick,  which  the 
Synod  proceeded  to  consider,  and  ordered  the  parties  concerned  to  lay  the 
case  before  them  in  order  to  be  determined,  which  was  accordingly  done; 
and  after  much  was  said,  many  papers  read,  and  all  persons  had  offered  what 
they  thought  proper  with  respect  to  the  matter  in  controversy,  the  Synod 
came  into  the  followin-^  conclusion,  viz.  That  whereas  the  conuregation  of 
Tehicken  is  sadly  divided  about  the  fairness  and  obligation  of  a  lot  made 
use  of  by  them  for  the  determining  the  place  for  their  meeting-house,  the 
Synod,  after  a  full  hearing  of  the  case,  came  unanimously  into  this 
judgment,  viz.  That  though  they  do  by  all  means  discountenance  the  method 
of  ending  such  matters  of  controversy  by  lottery,  yet  as  to  the  lot  under 
debate,  the  Synod  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  fairly  cast,  and  consequently 
binding  upon  the  parties  concerned,  as  also  other  former  agreements  said 
people  have  solemnly  obliged  themselves  to;  and  the  Synod  doth  judge, 
that  they  have  acted  very  sinfully  who  have  broken  through  these  repeated 
solemn  obligations,  and  that  a  solemn  admonition  be  given  unto  them  by 
Mr.  Pembertonin  the  name  of  the  Synod;  which  was  accordingly  done." — 
Minutes,  N.  Y.  1750,  p.  241. 

Title  4. — Miscellaneous  acts  respecting  Marriage. 
§  187.  Inconsiderate  engagements. 

"  An  affair  concerning  promises  of  marriage  between  and  a  young 

woman,  being  laid  before  the  Synod  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  the 

Synod  on  the  consideration  thereof,  and    because   desired  on  some 

accounts  to  be  loosed  from  said  obligation,  and  it  was  found  the  young 
woman  scrupled  the  lawfulness  of  their  being  loosed  from  said  obligation,  the 
first  question  put  in  the  affair  was.  Whether  a  single  man  and  woman  having 
promised  marriage  to  each  other,  may  lawfully  agree  again  to  release  each 
other  from  the  promise ;  and  after  mature  deliberation,  the  Synod  resolved 
the  case,  that  it  was  lawful,  nemine  contradicente. 

" being  called  before  the  Synod  and  asked,  whether  he  had  promised 

to  this  young  woman  marriage,  he  acknowledged  he  had,  and  that  he  was 
culpable  in  entering  into  such  rash  and  unwarrantable  methods  of  engaging. 

''  The  question  was  put,  censure  or  not,  and  it  was  carried  censure. 

"  Another  question  was  put,  what  censure  is  to  be  inflicted  upon  him  for 
his  misconduct  in  the  above  mentioned  affair  ? 

"And  after  serious  consideration  and  much  reasoning  on  this  head,  the 
Synod  came  to  a  resolution,  that  a  rebuke  before  the  Synod  was  necessary 
to  show  our  detestation  of  such  rash  proceedings  in  young  people.  And 
that  Mr.  John  Thompson  admonish  him. 

" being  called,  the  minute  in  respect  to  his  affair  was  read  and  he 

censured  accordingly,  to  which  he  submitted." — Minutes,  1750,  p.  198. 

§  188.  Licentiates  may  solemnize  marriage. 

^^ Resolved ,  That  while  our  Form  of  Government  does  not  recognize  licen- 
tiates as  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  yet  this  Assembly  do  not  consider  them  as 
violating  any  rules  of  the  Church  by  solemnizing  marriages  in  those  States 
where  the  civil  laws  expressly  authorize  them  to  do  it.'' — Minutes,  1844, 
p.  377. 

§  189.    What  is  sufficient  jmhlication  ^ 

"What  is  a  sufficient  publication  of  the  purpose  of  marriage  according  to 
the  second  sentence  of  the  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 
Book  of  Discipline  [the  Directory]  ? 


Part  III.]  MARRIAGE    QUESTIONS.  163 

'■'■  Rewhed,  That  the  following  be  given  as  an  answer  to  this  question, 
viz.  That  the  Presbyteries  are  the  best  judges  in  the  case." — Minutes,  1820, 
p.  740. 

§  190.  A  question  of  bigamy.  ^ 

"A  married  man  left  Ireland  a  number  of  years  ago,  leaving  his  family 
behind  him,  with  hopes  of  providing  better  for  them  in  this  country.  He 
afterwards  returned  to  Ireland  three  sundry  times,  with  an  intention  of 
bringing  in  his  family.  But  by  no  arguments  could  his  wife  be  persuaded 
to  come  with  him;  and  the  last  time  peremptorily  refused  all  farther  cohab- 
itation. He  afterwards  returned,  and  remained  in  single  life  ten  years  in 
this  country.  He  is  since  married,  and  has  children  in  second  marriage  : 
his  wife  and  he  are  desiring  communion. 

'<  This  man  ought  not  to  be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church ; 
because,  although  wilful  and  obstinate  desertion  is  a  legal  cause  of  divorce, 
yet  it  does  not  appear  that  this  man  has  actually  been  divorced  from  his 
wife ;  and  it  is  improper  and  dangerous  to  receive  to  Church  communion 
such  persons  as,  in  the  eye  of  the  civil  law,  are  living  in  vice.  And  although 
a  good  man  may  sometimes  be  oppressed  by  power,  and  prevented  from 
obtaining  a  divorce  where  sufl&cient  causes  exist,  yet  it  does  not  appear  from 
your  representation  that  he  has  used  the  proper  means  to  obtain  a  legal 
divorce,  nor  even  to  authenticate  the  facts  upon  which  he  founds  his  appli- 
cation for  the  privileges  of  the  Church  by  sufficient  evidence  from  Ireland — - 
the  place  in  which  they  happened,  and  where  alone  they  can  be  substan- 
tiated; and  it  is  contrary  to  all  just  rules  of  proceeding  to  take  any  evidence 
or  representation  ex  parte.  But,  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  notwith- 
standing, if  it  shall  appear  that  this  man  has  separated  from  his  wife  by  her 
wilful  and  obstinate  desertion,  and  that  he  has  taken  all  just  means  to 
obtain  a  divorce,  to  which  he  was  lawfully  entitled,  but  was  prevented  and 
oppressed  by  the  power  of  antagonists  or  of  unjust  courts;  and  if  he  shall 
moreover  produce  such  evidence  of  these  facts  from  the  phice  in  which  they 
happened,  as  would  entitle  him  to  a  divorce  by  the  laws  of  this  land  and  of 
this  Church,  then,  in  that  case,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly 
that  such  man  behaving  himself  otherwise  as  a  good  Christian,  may  be 
admitted  to  Church  privileges.  But  in  such  case,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
most  authentic  evidence  be  required  and  great  caution  used,  both  that  the 
proceedings  of  the  Church  may  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  civil  law,  and 
that  a  door  be  not  opened  to  laxness  on  this  important  subject  of  morals." — 
Minutes,  1790,  p.  28. 

§  191.  Clandestine  marriage. 
"  The  Synod  do  recommend  it  to  all  their  members  to  use  the  greatest 
caution  that  they  do  not  countenance  any  clandestine  marriages,  and 
especially  that  they  do  not  marry  any  that  they  have  reason  to  suspect  to  go 
contrary  to  the  minds  of  their  parents  and  guardians  in  seeking  it." — 
Minutes,  1735,  p.  115. 

Title  5. — Affinity  in  Marriage. 

§  192.    Wife's  brother's  daughter. 
[A  case  overtured  in  1770,  was  postponed  till  the  next  meeting.     In  1771  it  was  again 
postponed.     In  1773,  the  following  decision  was  had.] 

''  After  mature  deliberation  the  Synod  declare  their  great  dissatisfection 
with  all  such  marriages  as  are  inconsistent  with  the  Levitical  law,  which  in 
cases  matrimonial  we  understand  is  the  law  of  our  nation,  and  that  persons 
intermarrying  in  the^e  prohibited  degrees,  are  not  only  punishable  by  the 


164  COMMON    ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

laws  of  the  country,  but  ought  to  suflfer  the  censures  of  the  Church ;  and 
further  judge,  though  the  present  case  is  not  a  direct  viohition  of  the  express 
words  of  the  Levitical  law,  yet  as  it  is  contrary  to  the  custom  of  Protestant 
nations  in  general,  and  an  evidence  of  great  untenderness,  and  so  opposite 
to  such  precepts  of  the  gospel  as  require  Christians  to  avoid  things  of  ill 
report,  and  all  appearance  of  evil,  and  what  is  offensive  to  the  Church;  that 
the  persons  referred  to  in  this  instance  ought  to  be  rebuked  by  the  Church 
Session,  and  others  warned  against  such  offensive  conduct;  and  in  case 
these  persons  submit  to  such  rebuke,  and  are  in  other  respects  regular 
professors,  that  they  be  not  debarred  of  Christian  privileges.  And  Mr. 
Hunter  is  ordered  to  read  this  minute  publicly  in  his  Congregation,  where 
the  persons  live,  referred  to  in  the  above  case." — Minutes,  1772,  p.  427. 

§  193.  Wife's  half-brother's  daughter. 
"A  reference  ft-om  the  Synod  of  Virginia  was  received  through  the  Com- 
mittee of  Overtures,  respecting  a  certain  Charles  Mitchel,  who  had  married 
his  former  wife's  half-brother's  daughter,  requesting  the  opinion  of  the 
Assembly  whether  such  persons  may  be  admitted  to  Church  privileges. 
Whereupon, 

'  "Resolved,  That  though  the  Assembly  would  wish  to  discountenance 
imprudent  marriages  or  such  as  tend  in  any  way  to  give  uneasiness  to  serious 
persons,  yet  it  is  their  opinion  that  the  marriage  referred  to  is  not  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  render  it  necessary  to  exclude  the  parties  from  the  privileges  of 
the  Church." — Minutes,  1797,  p.  127. 

§  194.    Wife's  sister's  daughter. 

(a)  "  From  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  a  reference  on  the 
petition  of  John  Latham,  who  has  married  his  deceased  wife's  sister's 
daughter,  praying  a  reconsideration  of  his  case,  which  was  tried  and  issued 
against  him  nine  years  ago  in  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 

"After  matui'e  delibei-atiou,  it  was  resolved  that  the  case  of  John  Latham, 
referred  for  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  be  remitted  to  the  said  Synod,  and  that  they  be  directed  to  review 
the  case,  and  if  they  shall  judge  it  to  be  consistent  with  the  existing  laws 
of  the  State  and  the  peace  of  the  Church,  they  may  admit  the  parties  allu- 
ded to,  to  its  privileges." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  176. 

(6j  [In  a  case  from  the  Church  of  Westminster,  in  Jefferson  county,  Tennessee] — 

^'■Resolved,  That  such  marriages  as  that  in  question  have  been  determined 
both  by  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  by  the  General 
Assembly,  to  be  on  the  one  hand  not  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  God,  and  on 
the  other  hand  to  be  contrary  to  the  general  practice  of  Protestant  Churches, 
and  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  many  serious  Christians  among  ourselves, 
and  on  that  account  to  be  discountenanced,  therefore, 

'^Resolved,  That  when  such  marriages  take  place,  the  Session  of  the 
Church  where  they  happen  are  carefully  to  consider  the  case,  and  if  they 
think  it  expedient,  to  administer  such  discipline  as  they  may  judge  to  be 
deserved,  for  that  want  of  Christian  tenderness  and  forbearance  that  are 
incumbent  on  all  the  professors  of  our  holy  religion,  or  for  violating  any 
municipal  law,  if  this  has  been  done;  and  then  to  admit  or  restore  them  to 
good  standing  in  the  Church.  And  if  the  Session  judge  that  the  state  of 
society  is  such  where  these  marriages  takes  place,  as  that  neither  the  duty 
of  Christian  tenderness  and  forbearance,  nor  the  laws  of  the  State  have 
been  violated,  they  may  admit  the  persons  concerned  to  Christian  privileges 
without  censure." — Minutes,  1802,  p.  248. 

(c)  [In  the  case  of  James  Gaston,]  *'  The  Assembly  having  given  repeat- 


Part  III.]  MARRIAGE   QUESTIONS.  165 

ed  decisions  on  similar  cases,  cannot  advise  to  annul  such  marriages,  or  pro- 
nounce them  to  such  a  degree  unlawful,  as  that  the  parties,  if  otherwise 
worthy,  should  be  debarred  from  the  privileges  of  the  Church.  But  as  great 
diversity  of  opinion  seems  to  exist  on  such  questions  in  different  parts  of 
the  Church,  so  that  no  absolute  rule  can  be  enjoined  with  regard  to  them 
that  shall  be  universally  binding  and  consistent  with  the  peace  of  the 
Church,  and  as  the  caSes  in  question  are  esteemed  to  be  doubtful,  the  Assem- 
bly is  constrained  to  leave  it  to  the  discretion  of  the  inferior  judicatories 
under  their  care,  to  act  according  to  their  own  best  lights  and  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  find  themselves  placed." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  306. 

§  195.    The  relicts  of  a  hrother  and  sister. 
"  That  such  a  marriage,  however  inexpedient  it  be,  yet  as  we  cannot  find 
it  prohibited  by  the  Levitical  law,  is  not  to  be  condemned  as  incestuous." — 
Minutes,  1760,  p.  303. 

§  196.  Half  brother's  ivife,  and  wife's  sister. 

"Though  the  majority  of  the  Synod  think  that  the  marriage  is  incestuous, 
and  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and  the  laud,  and  agree  that  it  is  sinful  and 
of  dangerous  tendency,  yet  inasmuch  as  some  learned  men  are  not  so  clear 
in  this  point,  it  is  agreed  to  resume  the  consideration  hereof  next  year." — 
Minutes,  1760,  pp.  300,  303. 

"As  the  Levitical  law,  enforced  also  by  the  civil  laws  of  the  land,  is  the 
only  rule  by  which  we  are  to  judge  of  marriages,  whoever  marry  within  the 
degrees  of  consanguinity  and  affinity  forbidden  therein,  act  unlawfully,  and 
have  no  right  to  the  distinguishing  privileges  of  the  Churches;  and  as  the 
marriages  in  (question  appear  to  be  within  the  prohibited  degrees,  they  are 
to  be  accouuted  unlawful  and  the  persons  suspended  from  special  commu- 
nion while  they  continue  in  this  relation." — Minutes,  1761,  p.  312. 

§  197.   Brother's  wife. 

(a)  "The  affair  of  Andrew  Van  Dyke,  that  was  referred  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle  to  the  Synod,  came  under  consideration,  and  a  con- 
siderable time  being  spent  in  discoursing  upon  it,  it  was  determined,  nemine 
contradicente,  that  his  marriage  with  his  brother's  wife  or  widow  was  inces- 
tuous and  unlawful,  and  their  Hving  together  as  the  consequence  of  that 
marriage  is  incestuous  and  unlawful;  and  that  so  long  as  they  live  together, 
they  be  debarred  from  all  sealing  ordinances." — 3Iinutes,  1717,  p.  50. 

(h)  [In  the  case  of  William  Adams]  "The  Assembly  having  taken  the 
subject  into  consideration  were  informed  by  some  of  their  members,  who  are 
also  members  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  that  Mr.  Adams's  moral  and  reli- 
gious character  is  perfectly  fair  and  exemplary,  except  in  what  respects  his 
marriage,  which  was  contracted  above  fifteen  years  ago. 

"  Whereas  frequent  decisions  on  marriages  of  a  similar  nature  have  been 
given  by  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  by  the  General 
Assembly;  and  whereas  it  appeared  on  these  occasions  that  while  such 
marriages  are  offensive  to  some,  to  others  they  appear  lawful,  therefore  this 
Assembly  consider  the  subject  doubtful  and  delicate,  and  do  not  think  it 
expedient  to  express  any  opinion  on  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh 
in  the  present  case.  But  in  conformity  to  a  decision  made  by  last  Assem- 
bly on  a  mariage  somewhat  similar,  this  General  Assembly  refers  the  case  of 
Mr.  Adams  to  the  Session  of  the  Church  at  Rocky  Spring,  or  that  of  any 
other  in  which  he  may  be,  and  leave  it  to  their  disci-etion  'to  act  according 
to  their  own  best  light  and  the  circumstances  in  which  they  find  themselves 
placed.'"— i/i/m^es,  1805,  pp.  338,  MO. 


166  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

§  198.    Wi/es  si'ster. 

(o)  "Anthony  Dushane,  wlio  has  married  the  sister  of  his  former  wife, 
and  whose  case  has  been  before  the  Synod  for  two  years  past,  preferred  a 
petition  that  he  might  no  longer  be  debarred  the  privileges  of  the  Church 
on  account  of  said  marriage.  After  full  and  deliberate  discussion  the  ques- 
tion was  put,  Shall  Anthony  Dushane  and  his  wife  be  capable  of  Christian 
privileges,  their  marriage  notwithstanding?  which  was  carried  in  the  affir- 
mative by  a  considerable  majority." 

''Notwithstanding  the  decision  of  last  evening  in  the  particular  case  of 
Anthony  Dushane,  the  Synod,  in  consideration  that  such  marriages  are  of 
ill  report  in  many  parts  of  the  Church,  do  recommend  it  to  their  people,  to 
abstain  from  them  in  order  to  avoid  giving  offence." — Minutes,  1782, 
p.  495. 

(6)  ''A  reference  from  Bethel  Church,  South  Carolina,  was  overtured, 
requesting  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  in  relation  to  a  case  in  which  a  per- 
son had  married  the  sister  of  his  deceased  wife.     On  motion, 

'^Hesohed,  That  this  reference  be  answered  by  the  decision  of  the  Assem- 
bly of  1804."     [Above  §  194,  c.]— i/wmfes,  1810,  p.  456. 

(c)  [In  the  case  of  William  Vance.]  ^'Resolved,  1.  That  in  the  opinion 
of  this  Greneral  Assembly,  the  marriage  of  a  man  to  the  sister  of  his  deceased 
wife  and  all  similar  connections,  are  highly  inexpedient,  unfriendly  to  domes- 
tic purity,  and  exceedingly  offensive  to  a  large  portion  of  our  Churches. 

"2.  That  it  be  and  it  hereby  is  earnestly  enjoined  upon  the  Ministers, 
Elders,  and  Churches  of  our  communion,  to  take  every  proper  occasion  to 
impress  the  sentiments  contained  in  the  foregoing  resolution  on  the  public 
mind,  and  by  all  suitable  means  to  discourage  connections  so  unfavourable 
in  their  influence  on  the  peace  and  edification  of  the  Church. 

"3.  That  while  the  Assembly  adopt  the  opinion  and  would  enforce  the 
injunction  above  expressed,  they  are  by  no  means  prepared  to  decide  that 
such  marriages  as  that  in  question  are  so  plainly  prohibited  in  Scripture, 
and  so  undoubtedly  incestuous,  as  necessarily  to  infer  the  exclusion  of  those 
who  contract  them  from  Church  privileges;  they  therefore  refer  the  case  of 
Mr.  Vance  back  again  to  the  Session  of  the  Church  of  Cross  Creek,  agree- 
ably to  former  decisions  of  the  General  Assembly  in  similar  cases,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  in  such  manner  as  the  said  Session  may  think  most  conducive  to 
the  interests  of  religion." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  15.  [Reaffirmed] — Minutes, 
1822,  p.  17. 

(d)  [The  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen  appealed  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Fayettevilie,  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the  ministry  for  marrying  the  sister  of  his 
deceased  wife.] 

" Shall  the  appeal  be  sustained? — Ayes,  11,  Noes,  68.  Sustain  in  part,  8, 
Excused,  1. 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayettevilie,  in  the 
case  of  Archibald  McQueen,  be  affirmed,  and  that  the  appeal  be  dismissed." 
Minutes,  1842,  p.  44. 

[Upon  a  memorial  against  the  Presbytery  of  Fayettevilie  for  refusal  to  restore  Mr. 
McQueen,] 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  memorialist  be  granted  so  far  as  that 
this  General  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayettevilie  to 
reconsider  their  decision  in  the  case  of  the  Bev.  Archibald  McQueen ;  and 
if  in  their  judgment  it  should  appear  conducive  to  the  peace  of  the  Chvirch 
and  the  promotion  of  religion  in  the  region  around  them,  to  restore  Mr. 
McQueen  to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  exercise  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  gospel  ministry,  on  the  ground  that  iu  his  case  the  ends  of  dis- 


Part  III.]  MARRIAGE   QUESTIONS.  167 

cipline  are  attained  by  the  operation  of  tlie  sentence  under  -wliieh  Mr. 
McQueen  has  been  lying  for  a  period  of  three  years." — Minutes,  1845, 
p.  82. 

[The  Presbytery,  acting  under  the  discretion  thus  conceded,  restored  Mr.  McQueen. 
A  complaint  was  taken.] 

"  Resolved,  That  the  coraphiint  of  the  Rev.  Colin  Mclver  and  others 
against  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  for  having  sustained  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  in  restoring  the  said  Archibald  McQueen,  in 
accordance  with  the  judicial  decision  of  the  Assembly  of  184.5,  cannot  be 
entertained  by  this  house,  and  is  hereby  dismissed. 

'^  In  making  this  disposition  of  the  above-mentioned  complaint,  this 
General  Assembly  wishes  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  they  do  not 
mean  either  to  retract  or  modify  any  judgment  hitherto  expressed  by  any 
Assembly  respecting  the  oifence  for  which  Mr.  McQueen  was  suspended 
from  the  exercise  of  the  gospel  ministry.  They  simply  declare  that  his 
ease  cannot  be  regularly  brought  before  them  by  this  complaint." — Mimites, 
1847,  p.  395. 

§  199.  Proposed  changes  in  ilie  Constitution  on  the  suhject. 

"  The  committee  on  Mr.  McCrimmon's  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  confirming  his  suspension  from  the  communion 
of  the  Church,  for  having  married  his  deceased  wife's  sister,  reported  that 
in  their  opinion  no  relief  can  be  given  to  the  said  McCrimmon  without  an 
alteration  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  [Chap.  xxiv.  Sec.  4,]  the  last  clause  of 
which  declares  that  '  The  man  may  not  marry  any  of  his  wife's  kindred 
nearer  in  blood  than  he  may  of  his  own,  nor  the  woman  of  her  husband's 
kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  of  her  own;'  but  inasmuch  as  a  diversity  of 
opinion  and  practice  obtains  on  this  very  important  subject,  your  committee 
beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

^'Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  be  and  they  are  hereby  directed  to  take 
this  matter  into  serious  consideration,  and  send  up  in  writing  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  an  answer  to  the  question,  whether  the  above  quoted 
clause  of  our  Confession  shall  be  erased.  The  above  report  was  adopted." 
—iMirmfes,  1826,  p.  22. 

[Out  of  88  Presbyteries,  68  reported;  50  against  and  18  in  favour  of  the  erasure.] — 
Minutes,  1827,  p.  132, 

[Eirorts  were  again  used  in  1843  and  1845  to  have  the  above  clause  erased,  but  in 
each  case  the  Assembly  refused  to  send  down  the  proposition  to  the  Presbyteries. — (Mn- 
utes,  1843,  p.  184;   1845,  pp.  26.  31.)     In  1847  the  subject  again  came  up.] 

"  On  motion,  the  order  of  the  day  was  suspended  to  take  up  the  following 
resolution,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  overture  to  the  Presbyteries  the 
following  question,  viz.  Shall  that  part  of  the  fourth  section  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  chapter  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  from  1  to  2,  which  says,  '  Nor 
can  such  incestuous  marriages  ever  be  made  lawful  by  any  law  of  man,  or 
consent  of  parties,  so  as  those  persons  may  live  together  as  man  and  wife,' 
be  stricken  out. 

'*  The  previous  question  being  insisted  on,  the  resolution  was  put  to  the 
vote,  and  lost." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  397. 

§  200.    The  principle  governing  the  preceding  decisions. 

[The  act  of  forming  such  relations  is  criminal,  deserving  censure;  yet  when  constituted 
the  marriage  is  valid,  and  the  parties  are  not  of  necessity  to  be  permanently  debarred  from 
the  privileges  of  the  Church.     See  the  following  minute.] 

''The  Synod  having  again  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  judgment 


168  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

which  they  passed  last  year  concerning  Anthony  Dushane,  declare  their 
dissatisfaction  with  all  such  uiarriai^es  as  are  inconsistent  with  the  Levitieal 
law,  and  persons  inarryintr  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  prohibited  in 
that  law  ought  to  suffer  the  censures  of  the  Church;  and  they  further  judge, 
that  although  the  marriage  of  a  man  to  two  sisters  successively,  viz.  to  the 
one  after  the  death  of  the  other,  may  not  be  a  direct  violation  of  the  express 
words  of  that  law,  yet  as  it  is  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  Protestant 
Churches  in  general,  and  an  evidence  of  great  untenderness  toward  many 
serious  and  well  disposed  Christians,  and  may,  through  the  prejudices  or 
generally  received  opinions  of  the  members  of  our  Church,  be  productive  of 
very  disagreeable  consequences;  the  persons  contracting  such  marriages  are 
highly  censurable,  and  the  practice  ought  to  be  disallowed  in  express  terms 
by  the  Synod,  and  we  do  therefore  condemn  such  marriages  as  impnident 
and  unseasonable.  Yet  as  some  things  may  be  done  very  impnidently  and 
unseasonably,  which  when  done  ought  not  to  be  annulled,  we  are  of  the 
opinion  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  persons  whom  this  judgment  respects, 
to  separate  from  one  another,  yet  they  should  not  be  received  into  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church  without  a  solemn  admonition,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Session  of  the  Congregation  to  which  they  belong;  and  the  Synod  publicly 
recommend  it  to  all  their  members  to  abstain  from  celebrating  such  mar- 
riages, and  to  discountenance  them  by  all  the  proper  means  in  their  power." 
— Minutes,  1783,  p.  500. 

Title  6. — Marriage  of  Missionary  Converts  with  Heathen. 
§  201.  Left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Missionary  Presbyteries. 

"A  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Ningpo,  in  China,  asking  for  advice 
from  this  General  Assembly,  on  the  subject  of  the  marriage  of  professing 
Christians  with  the  heathen. 

''The  committee  recommended  that  it  be  answered  as  follows: 
"In  performing  the  work  of  missions  among  the  heathen,  many  difficul- 
ties will  arise  which  will  require  great  wisdom  and  forbearance,  and  which 
can  only  be  overcome  by  a  wise  application  of  scriptural  rules.  Of  this  kind 
are  the  cases  respecting  marriage,  which  will  frequently  occur  so  long  as  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  are  heathen.  And  this  application  of  these 
niles  must  be  made  with  a  sound  discretion,  and  be  veiy  much  modified  by 
particular  circumstances.  That  the  apostolical  direction,  'be  not  unequally 
yoked  together  with  unbelievers,'  is  the  advice  of  the  Lord  by  the  apostle, 
and  is  to  be  observed  carefully  in  all  cases,  as  far  as  practicable,  is  true. 
But  like  other  divine  injunctions,  it  must  be  applied  in  all  cases  with  due 
consideration  of  circumstances.  It  is  not,  therefore,  in  the  circumstances 
stated  in  the  overture,  to  be  regarded  as  sinful  universally  and  necessarily, 
for  a  Christian  to  marry  a  heathen;  nor  is  a  Christian  to  be  subjected  to  dis- 
cipline on  this  account,  unless  the  circumstances  show  criminality,  and 
require  the  infliction  of  censure;  of  which  circumstances  the  missionaries 
are  the  best  judges."  [The  overture  was]  "referred  back  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Ningpo."— i¥i/m/es,  1850,  pp.  458.  482. 

Title  7. — Sacred  Music. 
§  202.    The  Assembly's  collection. 

^'Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  report  to  the  next  General 
Assembly  upon  the  general  subject  of  Church  music,  with  special  reference 
to  the  preparation  of  a  book  of  tunes  adapted  to  our  present  psalmody.'' — 
Minutes,  1848,  p.  18. 


Part  III.]  SACRED   MUSIC.  169 

[This  committee  next  year  reported  a  selection  of  music] 

"The  principles  by  which  the  committee  were  guided  in  making  the  compilation  now 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  are  such  as  the  following: 

"  1.  To  restore  and  preserve  old  standard  tunes,  and,  as  far  as  practicable,  in  their  ori- 
ginal forms,  both  as  to  air  and  harmony. 

"2.  To  select  from  more  recent  compositions,  such  as  had  been  approved  by  trial  in 
many  places,  or  might  be  suitably  introduced  into  all  their  Churches. 

"3.  To  insert  some  tunes  which  appeared  to  be  favourites  in  some  considerable  sections 
of  the  Church,  notwithstanding  some  fastidiousness  on  the  part  of  the  committee  with 
respect  to  them.  They  desired  not  to  forget  that  they  were  making  provision  for  the  edi- 
fication of  a  large  community  of  various  tastes.  While  they  desired  to  insert  only  music 
of  such  a  character  as  might  elevate  and  improve  the  standard  of  taste  throughout  the 
Church,  they  did  not  feel  at  liberty,  even  while  they  rejected  some  tunes  which  were  sug- 
gested to  them  from  abroad,  as  well  as  some  suggested  by  members  of  the  committee,  to 
discard  such  as,  after  all,  might  be  approved  by  a  better  judgment  than  their  own,  espe- 
cially such  as  were  endeared  by  long  and  hallowed  association,  and  would  be  extensively 
and  painfully  missed  from  the  collection. 

"4.  To  provide  tunes  for  all  the  various  metres  of  our  Psalms  and  Hymns,  and  in  suit- 
able proportion  as  to  their  respective  numbers  and  the  various  character  of  the  words. 
And  also  to  illustrate  the  tunes  by  words  selected  from  our  own  psalmody. 

"5.  To  provide  a  sufficient  body  of  sacred  music  of  such  various  style  and  character, 
that  the  collection  might  serve  for  all  ordinary  purposes;  especially  for  Sunday-schools, 
families,  social  worship,  and  Congregations,  as  these  various  exigencies  may  require. 

"6.  It  is  proposed  to  add  an  appropriate  selection  of  set  pieces  for  special  occasions, 
such  as  Anthems  and  Chants,  both  metrical  and  prose,  adapted  to  our  psalmody,  and  also 
to  portions  of  the  common  prose  version  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  and  other  inspired  lyrics 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.     This  selection  is  not  yet  completed. 

"Should  this  work  be  prosecuted  to  completion,  and  be  approved  by  the  Assembly,  and 
recommended  to  the  Churches,  the  committee  believe  that  it  will  be  of  advantage  in  these 
respects : 

"1.  It  will  embody  in  one  volume,  of  convenient  size,  a  collection  of  tunes,  the  most 
approved  and  in  use  among  our  Churches — to  the  greater  part  of  which,  very  few  indi- 
vidual Churches  have  access  at  present. 

"  2.  It  may  be  enlarged,  if  hereafter  that  should  appear  desirable,  by  an  Appendix  or 
Supplement,  without  displacing  the  book,  or  disturbing  it  in  any  manner. 

"  3.  It  would  serve  to  produce,  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  that  uniformity  in  the 
praises  of  our  Church,  as  a  whole,  which  cannot  but  be  thought  desirable. 

"  4.  It  will  promote  congregational  singing,  and  prevent  its  disuse,  which,  in  part,  at 
least,  arises  from  the  frequent  change  of  books,  and  introduction  of  new  tunes,  many  of 
which  never  become  known  and  domesticated  in  our  public  worship. 

"  .5.  It  will  be  an  appropriate  accompaniment  to  our  authorized  book  of  Psalms  and 
Hymns — prepared  as  it  will  have  been  with  reference  to  that  book  throughout,  and  to  the 
state  of  our  Churches.  It  may  be  too,  that  such  a  work  as  this  may  aid  in  promoting  the 
more  general  use  of  that  book  in  all  our  Congregations." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  393. 

§  203. 

(a)  "  1.  Resolved,  That  said  Committee  on  Church  Music  be  continued, 
and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  go  on,  at  their  discretion,  to  revise, 
change,  or  enlarge  and  complete  the  present  selection  of  tunes  submitted  in 
the  appendix  to  their  report,  to  employ  at  all  necessary  expense  the  proper 
professional  skill  to  arrange  the  harmonies  and  adapt  the  music  to  our 
Psalmody,  and  to  complete  and  print  the  book  through  our  Board  of  Pub- 
lication. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  as  the  original  committee  are  now  in  progress,  our 
Ministers  and  members  individually,  and  the  Presbyteries,  be  still  invited, 
as  before,  to  communicate  freely  with  said  committee,  and  make  such  sug- 
gestions as  may  aid  in  the  completion  of  a  book  which  may,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, be  adapted  to  the  widest  and  most  approved  use  in  our  Churches — 
that  these  suggestions  be  addressed,  post  paid,  before  the  first  day  of  Decem- 
ber next,  to  the  chairman,  Kev.  John  M.  Krebs;  J).  D.,  New  York,  and  the 
22 


170  COMMON    ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

committee  shall  not  put  the  book  to  press  before  that  time." — Minutes, 
184!),  p.  245. 

(J))  "  1.  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Sacred  Music  be  discharged, 
and  their  functions  transferred  to  the  Board  of  Publication. 

"  2.  R('.Aoh'('(l,  That  the  Board  of  Publication,  if  they  shall  find  it  imprac- 
ticable to  procure  the  assent  of  owners  of  copyright,  be  instructed  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  publication  without  such  tunes  as  are  thus  withheld;  and  that 
in  getting  up  the  Book  of  Tunes,  they  bind  with  it  by  way  of  Appendix  a 
sufficient  number  of  blank  pages  of  music  paper,  for  such  manuscript  addi- 
tions as  may  be  desirable  to  purchasers  of  the  work ;  and  that  the  Book  of 
Music  consist  of  the  tunes,  a  list  of  which  was  finally  approved  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  none  others,  omitting  only  those  which  are  held  by  copyright." 
Minutes,  1851,  p.  35. 

§  204.  Edition  of  the  Psalmodist  for  families  and  Sabbath-schools. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  be  directed  to  have  an  edition  of  our  music 
book  published  with  seven  characters;  and  that  they  also  publish  an  abridged 
edition  of  the  Psalmodist,  for  the  use  of  Sabbath-schools,  and  for  family  wor- 
ship, both  in  round  and  shaped  notes,  together  with  a  simple  course  of  in- 
struction for  youth ;  and  the  Assembly  urge  upon  all  the  Presbyteries  and 
Churches,  the  necessity  of  greatly  increased  efibrts  in  the  study  of  sacred 
music." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  43. 

§  205.    Church  Music  is  under  the  control  of  the  Session. 

[In  reply  to  an  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  on  the  subject  of  instrumental 
music,  the  following  minute  was  adopted.] 

''Whereas,  By  our  Constitution  (Form  of  Gov.  Chap.  ix.  Sec.  6,  and  Direc- 
tory for  Worship,  Chap.  iv.  Sec.  4,)  the  whole  internal  arrangement  of  a 
Church,  as  to  worship  and  oi'der,  is  committed  to  the  Minister  and  Session, 
therefore 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  do  not  feel  themselves  called  upon  and 
obliged  to  take  any  further  order  on  this  subject,  but  leave  to  each  Session 
the  delicate  and  important  matter  of  arranging  and  conducting  the  music 
as  to  them  shall  seem  most  for  edification,  recommending  great  caution,  pru- 
dence and  forbearance  in  regard  to  it." — Minutes,  1845,  pp.  21,  22. 

Title  8. — Ministerial  Support. 
§206.   Duty  of  the  Churches. 

(a)  "  That  in  every  Congregation  a  committee  be  appointed  who  shall 
twice  in  every  year  collect  the  Minister's  stipend,  and  lay  his  receipts  be- 
fore the  Presbyteiy  preceding  the  Synod;  and  at  the  same  time  that  Minis- 
ters give  an  account  of  their  diligence  in  visiting  and  catechizing  their 
people. 

The  Synod  recommends  that  a  glebe,  with  a  convenient  house  and  neces- 
sary improvements,  be  provided  for  every  Minister." — Minutes,  1706, 
p.  359. 

(6)  "  As  it  appears  the  interest  of  religion  is  in  danger  of  suffering  greatly 
at  present,  from  the  many  discouragements  under  which  the  Ministers  of 
the  gospel  labimr  from  the  want  of  a  sufficient  support  and  liberal  mainte- 
nance from  the  Congregations  they  serve,  the  Synod  appoint  a  committee  to 
take  this  matter  into  consideration,  and  report  thereon  to  the  next  Synod. 

"  Ordered,  that  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Ewing,  and  Spencer,  be  a  committee 
for  this  purpose." — Minutes,  1782,  p.  495. 


Part  III.]  MINISTERIAL   SUPPORT.  171 

"  Said  committee  brought  in  their  report,  which  was  read  and  considered. 
Whereupon 

"  Ordered,  That  Drs.  Witherspoon  and  Spencer,  with  Mr.  S.  Smith,  be 
a  committee  to  prepare  a  draught  of  a  pastoral  letter  to  the  Congregations, 
under  the  inspection  of  Synod,  as  also  to  prepare  some  resolves  to  be  passed 
by  Synod,  and  accompany  said  letter;  the  whole  to  be  brought  in  to-mor- 
row morning. 

[A  pastoral  letter  was,  in  accordance  with  this  appointment,  prepared  and  pub- 
lished.]—M^iwifs,  1783,  p.  499. 

(c)  [The  Assembly  enjoins  it  upon  all  the  Presbyteries]  ''  that  they  will 
endeavour,  as  far  as  the  state  of  society  in  different  parts  of  our  Church  will 
permit,  to  withdraw  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  from  every  worldly  avoca- 
tion for  the  maintenance  of  themselves  and  families,  that  they  may  devote 
themselves  entirely  to  the  work  of  the  ministry :  and  that  for  this  end,  they 
labour  to  convince  the  people  of  the  advantage  that  will  accrue  to  them- 
selves, from  making  such  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of  their  teach- 
ers and  pastors,  that  they  may  be  employed  wholly  in  their  sacred  calling. 
And  in  those  places  where  it  may  be  found  prudent  and  practicable,  that 
they  devise  means  to  have  the  contracts  between  congregations  and  pastors 
examined  in  the  Presbyteries  at  stated  periods,  inquiries  instituted  with 
regard  to  the  reciprocal  fulfilment  of  duties  and  engagements,  and  endea- 
vours used  to  promote  punctuality  and  fidelity  in  both  parties,  before  distress 
on  one  side,  or  complaint  on  the  other,  grow  to  a  height  unfavourable  to  the 
interests  of  religion." 

"  That  inasmuch  as  the  clergy,  in  many  situations  in  the  counti-y,  have  it 
not  in  their  power  to  furnish  themselves  with  libraries  so  various  and  exten- 
sive as  to  enable  them  to  discharge  their  oifice  in  the  manner  most  useful 
to  the  people,  most  dignified  for  the  pulpit,  and  most  honourable  for  reli- 
gion, it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  to  take  measures  to  promote  the 
establishment  of  congregational  libraries,  under  such  regulations  that  the 
Presbyteries  shall  have  the  principal  direction  in  the  choice  of  the  books 
with  which  those  libraries  shall  be  furnished;  the  Ministers  of  the  respective 
Churches  shall  have  the  immediate  care  and  the  constant  use  of  them,  and 
that  means  be  used  to  make  annual  augmentations  to  them." — MirmteSj 
1799,  p.  181. 

(c?)  "  For  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  settlement  and  support  of  pas- 
tors, and  to  guard  more  effectually  against  the  temptation,  or  almost  neces- 
sity, as  in  some  cases  seems  to  exist,  for  ministers  to  involve  themselves,  to 
the  injury  of  their  usefulness,  in  procuring  accommodations  for  themselves 
and  families, 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  our  churches 
wherever  it  is  expedient  and  practicable,  to  provide  suitable  parsonages  for 
the  accommodation  of  their  Pastors. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  great  care  be  taken  to  have  these  parsonages  so 
guarded  by  legal  arrangements,  as  most  effectually  to  prevent  controversy 
and  secure  their  perpetual  enjoyment  by  the  Churches  providing  them,  for 
the  continued  support  of  the  gospel  through  coming  generations." — Minutes, 
1843,  p.  193. 

§  207.    The  subject  in  the  Assembly  o/1854. 

[A  memorial  from  the  Synod  of  New  York  on  the  subject  of  ministerial  support,  came 
before  the  Assembly  of  1854,  and  was  referred  to  a  committee  to  consist  of  one  member  ' 
from  each  Synod.] 

"  It  was  ordered  further,  that  the  members  of  this  committee  consist 
exclusively  of  Ruling  Elders." 


172  COMMON    ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

''  The  Moderator  announced  the  followinoj  as  the  special  committee  of 
Rulinu'  Elders  on  the  subject  of  Ministerial  Support,  viz.  Messi"s.  John 
Fine,  John  C.  House,  Francis  R.  Masters,  B.  F.  Randolph,  P.  T.  Jones, 
James  Schoonmaker,  Joseph  Henderson,  J.  P.  Safi'ord,  Nehemiah  Wade, 
Matthew  Hcuinf^,  Andrew  Robinson,  James  N.  l^ickson,  Lincoln  (^larke, 
D.  H.  Bishop,  Francis  Snowden,  J.  B.  Anderson,  Giles  Mebanc,  William 
"Williams,  T.  C.  Perrin,  John  Bonner,  J.  A.  Minneice,  George  T.  Swann, 
C.  S.  Palmore,  Daniel  D.  Atcheson." — Minutes,  1854,  pp.  18,  19. 

"Judge  Fine,  from  the  special  committee  on  Ministerial  Support,  pre- 
sented a  report,  which  was  read,  amended,  and  adopted,  the  resolutions 
being  as  follows,  viz. 

''1.  Resolved,  That  we  affectionately  and  earnestly  recommend  to  the 
Churches  under  our  care,  that  they  scrupulously  avoid  holding  out  any 
inducements  to  a  Minister  to  become  their  stated  supply,  or  settled  pastor, 
which  will  not  be  realized. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  recommend  to  every  Presbytery,  that 
unless  suitable  pi'ovision  be  made  for  the  support  of  a  Minister  or  stated 
supply,  they  decline  to  give  their  aid  or  sanction,  as  a  Presbytery,  to  settle 
him  in  any  congregation  which  is  able  to  furnish  such  suitable  provision. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  Elders,  and  Deacons,  and  Trus- 
tees of  our  Churches  and  Congregations,  to  meet  together  on  some  day 
before  the  1st  of  November  next,  and  yearly  thereafter,  or  oftener  if  neces- 
sary, and  institute  the  inquiry  whether  the  Minister  or  stated  supply  is  pro- 
perly and  fully  supported;  and  if  they  find  that  he  is  not  so  supported,  to 
take  immediate  measures  to  increase  his  support,  and  report  to  their  Pres- 
bytery at  its  next  meeting. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  Presbyteries  to  require  of  every 
Minister  to  preach  on  the  subject  of  Ministerial  Support — 'that  laying 
aside  all  false  delicacy,  they  enlighten  their  people  upon  this,  as  upon  any 
other  branch  of  Christian  duty,  pleading  not  for  themselves,  but  for  their 
Master,  if  happily  they  may  reclaim  their  respective  charges  from  a  grievous 
sin,  which  must  bring  down  God's  displeasure ;'  and  that  the  Presbyteries 
call  upon  every  Minister  to  answer  whether  he  has  complied  with  their 
injunction. 

"5.  Resolved,  That  Messrs.  B.  M.  Smith,  Stuart  Robinson,  and  James  N. 
Dickson,  be  appointed  a  committee  to  publish  this  report,  and  that  the  Pas- 
tors be  directed  to  read  it  from  the  pulpit  at  such  time  as  may  be  considered 
most  convenient." — Mumtes,  1854,  p.  40. 

§  208.  Report  adopted  hi/  the  Assemhlj/. 

''  The  late  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  adopted  the 
following  report  on  Ministerial  Support,  prepared  by  a  committee  of  laymen 
appointed  by  that  Assembly,  and  referred  to  the  undersigned  for  publica- 
tion. 

(a)  "The  Committee  on  Ministerial  Support  beg  leave  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  Churches  to  the  fact  that  the  great  body  of  Presbyterian  Ministers 
are  inadequately  supported.  With  the  exception  of  the  prominent  Churches 
in  our  cities,  the  standard  of  ministerial  support  is  a  bare  competence  for 
the  simplest  necessaries  of  life,  while  the  pastors  of  Churches  in  some  of  our 
rural  districts,  receive  less  from  their  respective  Congregations  than  the 
common  labourer  secures  by  his  daily  work.  It  is  the  opinion  of  those  who 
have  instituted  all  necessary  inquiry,  that  the  average  salary  of  country 
Ministers  is  less  than  four  hundred  dollars  per  year;  and  this  in  not  a  few 
instances,  irregularly  paid,  and  sometimes  not  paid  without  aid  from  the 
Board  of  Missions.     According  to  the  report  of  the  Board,  the  average 


Part  III.]  MINISTERIAL   SUPPORT.  173 

appropriation  last  year  to  290  of  500  missionaries,  was  $132;  and  all  that 
tliese  received  from  the  people  to  whom  they  preached,  including  their 
receipts  from  the  Board,  did  not  average  from  each  more  than  ^oT2. 

''It  is  true  that  some  of  the  Churches  within  our  bounds  number  but  few 
members,  and  those  in  very  moderate  circumstances;  but  these  are  excep- 
tions, and  must,  therefore,  if  they  are  to  be  supported  at  all,  be  viewed  as 
mission  Churches;  and  if  their  pastors  are  not  comfortably  sustained,  the 
blame,  if  any,  is  to  be  attached  to  the  Church  at  large,  in  withholding  from 
the  Board  of  Missions  the  requisite  means  for  the  support  of  the  gospel  iu 
destitute  places. 

(h)  "  From  inquiry,  however,  we  are  of  opinion  that  there  are  but  few 
Churches  absolutely  unable  to  raise  more  than  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  do  for  the  support  of  the  gospel.  We  must  look  to  some  other  cause 
than  the  poverty  of  the  Churches,  to  account  for  the  inadequate  support  of 
the  ministry — especially  as  salaries  have  not  been  increased,  though  land 
has  everywhere  risen  in  value,  and  business  is  everywhere  more  active, 
and  money  in  more  general  circulation.  It  cannot  be,  while  within  the 
last  five  years  the  country  at  large  has  been  so  prosperous,  and  so  many 
have  amassed  fortunes,  and  so  many  have  been  engaged  in  successful  opera- 
tions, that  the  supporters  of  the  gospel  have  in  no  degree  participated  in 
the  general  rise  of  property,  and  in  the  unprecedented  success  of  all  trades 
and  occupations. 

It  is  known  and  admitted  that  a  Minister  with  a  family  cannot  live  on  a 
few  hundred  dollars  in  a  city  where  rents  are  high,  and  all  articles  of  food, 
furniture,  and  apparel,  are  sold  at  enormous  prices;  but,  to  a  great  extent, 
the  old  impression  still  obtains,  that  comparatively  little  is  necessary  to  the 
support  of  a  family  in  the  country.  Places  there  are  still,  it  may  be,  where 
but  little  money  is  needed  to  secure  an  abundance  of  the  necessaries  of  life; 
but  they  are  not  found  along  the  line  of  our  railroads,  and  much  less  within 
the  neighbourhood  of  a  city,  which  draws  all  kinds  of  provisions  to  itself  as 
to  a  common  centre. 

(c)  "There  are  Churches  which,  having  been  accustomed  to  give  only  a 
small  salary,  seem  unable  to  divest  themselves  of  the  impression,  that  what 
was  once  sufficient  for  a  pastor's  support,  must  needs  be  so  at  the  present 
day;  or  if  one  cannot  support  himself  on  so  small  an  amount,  another  may 
be  found  who  can ;  and  it  is  a  fact,  that  so  great  at  times  are  the  necessities  of 
candidates,  that  some  one  is  seldom  wanting  who  will  accept  of  a  call  on  the 
most  moderate  terms; — thus,  as  it  were,  underbidding  for  a  situation,  instead 
of  declining  a  call,  as  others  would  and  should  do,  from  the  conviction  that 
the  Church  is  able  to  raise  a  larger  amount,  and  that  the  sum  which  they 
offer  is  clearly  inadequate  to  the  end  proposed  in  their  'call.' 

"In  order  to  secure  the  pastoral  services  of  one  who  has  warmly  com- 
mended himself  to  their  favourable  notice,  some  Congregations  promise  more 
than  they  are  able  to  pay;  and  then  merge  all  sense  of  their  pecuniary 
responsibility  in  their  oppressive  disappointment  that  the  Minister  has  not 
answered  the  expectation  on  which  they  grounded  their  promise. 

(d)  "The  custom  of  annual  giving-vislts,  old  as  it  is,  and  seemingly  pro- 
ductive of  kindly  and  social  feelings,  has  not  been  been  without  its  objec- 
tionable influence  in  either  creating  or  perpetuating  the  impi-ession  that  the 
Minister  is  an  object  for  the  people's  charity — not  their  creditor,  to  whom 
they  owe  a  stipulated  amount  for  services  rendered  in  the  discharge  of  pas- 
toral offices.  Such  visits  have  in  some  cases  been  substituted  for  the  pay- 
ment of  arrearages  of  salary,  or  paid  in  consideration  of  the  Minister's 
necessities. 

(e)  "In  the  fact  of  the  general  silence  of  the  ministry  on  the  subject. 


174  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

may  be  found  one  of  the  principal  reasons  for  the  inadoqiiate  support  of 
IMiuisters  in  many  places.  And  on  the  other  hand,  in  still  more  frequent 
instances,  it  may  be  traced  to  the  want  of  due  consideration  on  the  part  of 
the  people,  and  to  the  want  also,  of  a  deeper  relitrious  sympathy,  and  of  a 
truer  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  gospel  privileges. 

( /")  "Whatever  may  be  the  cause  of  inadefjuate  ministerial  support,  or 
however  these  causes  may  vary  with  different  Congregations,  and  in  diifer- 
ent  parts  of  the  country,  the  evil  is  painfully  apparent,  and  imperiously  calls 
for  a  remedy. 

"The  Christian  ministry  is  of  no  human  origin,  and  for  no  worldly  ends. 
Instituted  by  Christ  himself,  its  design  is  identical  with  that  of  his  mission, 
and  its  continuance  as  essential  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  Church  as  it  was 
to  its  establishment.  It  is  consequently  an  ofBce  of  great  dignity,  as  well 
as  of  great  responsibility;  severely  arduous  in  the  tasks  which  it  imposes, 
and  immeasurably  important  in  the  ends  which  it  contemplates.  Hence  it 
is  variously  termed  the  '  Ministry  of  the  Word,'  the  '  Ministration  of  the 
Spirit,'  the  'Ministration  of  Righteousness,'  and  the  'IMinistry  of  Recon- 
ciliation.' And  all  Ministers  of  the  gospel  are  'Stewards  of  the  Mysteries 
of  God,'  'labourers  together  with  God,'  'Ambassadors  for  Christ;'  the  recep- 
tion or  the  rejection  of  them  being  the  same  as  the  reception  or  the  rejection 
of  Christ  himself.  In  accordance,  therefore,  with  its  nature  and  design,  and 
with  its  different  aspects  and  functions,  the  Christian  ministry  demands  of 
all  who  enter  on  the  discharge  of  its  sacred  duties,  pure  hearts  and  clean 
hands;  and  it  is  to  be  presupposed  that  all  who  are  called  of  God  to  this 
work,  are  swayed  by  none  other  than  the  purest  motives  of  love  to  God,  and 
zeal  for  his  glory  in  the  salvation  of  perishing  men.  A  selfish,  worldly 
spirit,  can  in  no  one  be  so  unbecoming,  so  inconsistent,  so  reprehensible,  so 
fatal  to  all  hopes  of  either  usefulness  or  comfort,  as  in  him  whose  privilege 
it  has  become  to  proclaim  God's  free,  unmerited  grace,  and  whose  duty  it  is 
to  charge  dying  sinners  '  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness.' Hence  the  Saviour,  in  sending  his  disciples  forth  to  preach, 
cautioned  them  against  secularizing  their  high  and  solemn  avocation. 
'Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give.'  'Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver, 
nor  brass  in  your  purses — for  the  workman  is  worthy  of  his  meat.' 

(//)  "Paul  also,  is  equally  explicit  in  warning  Ministers  against  the  love 
of  filthy  lucre  as  being  most  incongruous  with  their  sacred  calling,  and  most 
disastrous  to  their  appropriate  influence. 

"He  himself  found  it  necessary  at  times  to  prove  his  disinterestedness  by 
working  with  his  own  hands;  nor  can  this  fact  in  his  history  be  regarded 
as  a  precedent  for  Ministers  at  the  present  day,  or  be  legitimately  adduced 
as  argument  against  the  support  of  the  ministry,  since  he  has  stated  his 
object  in  doing  so,  which  was,  that  he  might  not  be  burthensome  to  those 
who  were  themselves  destitute  of  property,  and  that  he  might  silence  those 
who  had  impugned  his  motives;  while  it  is  evident  he  accepted  a  present 
from  the  Church  at  Philippi,  and  it  is  by  no  means  probable  that  he  could 
have  taken  so  many  journeys  without  assistance  from  the  Church  at  large. 
But  whatever  his  own  course,  he  could  not  have  meant  to  contravene  the 
principles  which  (Ihrist  had  laid  down  in  relation  to  the  ministry,  that  the 
'labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire;'  nor  by  his  own  example  to  contradict  his 
own  teachings  in  relation  to  the  matter  of  ministerial  support.  'Let  him 
that  is  taught  in  the  word  communicate  unto  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good 
things.'  Gal.  vi.  (5.  'If  we  have  sown  unto  you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a 
great  thing  if  we  shall  reap  your  carnal  things?  If  others  be  partakers  of 
this  power  over  you,  are  not  we  rather?  Nevertheless  we  have  not  used 
this  power,  but  suffered  all  things  lest  we  should  hinder  the  gospel  of  Christ. 


Part  III.]  MINISTERIAL   SUPPORT.  175 

Do  you  not  know  (for  though  you  may  have  neglected  the  duty,  it  is  self- 
evident,)  that  they  which  minister  about  holy  things  live  of  the  things  of 
the  temple?  and  that  they  who  wait  at  the  altar  are  partakers  with  the  altar. 
Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should 
live  of  the  gospel.'   1  Cor.  ix.  11 — 14. 

"As  Paul  did  not  exercise  this  power,  or  avail  himself  of  his  rights,  so 
a  Minister,  and  for  a  similar  reason — lest  he  should  be  the  innocent  occasion 
of  reports  prejudicial  at  once  to  himself  and  the  cause  which  he  represents 
— may  not  see  fit  to  enforce  his  rightful  claims  on  the  people;  he  may  take 
less  than  the  whole  amount  of  his  dues  for  the  whole;  or  he  may  decline 
any  compensation  for  services  rendered,  and  fall  back  on  his  own  resources. 
But  every  Minister  of  the  gospel  has  a  scriptural  claim  to  be  supported  by 
the  Church  which  he  serves  in  the  Lord;  not  a  drone — not  a  man  wholly 
unfitted  for  the  work  he  had  undertaken,  but  every  workman  that  needeth 
not  to  be  ashamed — every  well  qualified,  competent,  trustworthy,  faithful 
labourer  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  is  worthy  of  his  hire;  and  scripturally,  in 
accordance,  with  the  divine  ordinance,  is  entitled  to  all  needful  pecuniary 
support. 

(/i)  "No  man  can  now  alternately  preach  and  work,  and  be  alike  success- 
ful in  'getting  gain'  and  in  'winning  sovtIs.'  Certain  it  is  that  he  who  gives 
to  any  worldly  business  that  degree  of  attention  which  is  indispensable  even 
to  ordinary  success  in  a  state  of  society  where  there  are  so  many  conflicting 
interests,  cannot  long  retain  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  Ministry.  No  one  is 
in  greater  spiritual  danger  than  the  Minister  who  is  directly  opposed  to  the 
insidious  influences  of  secular  pursuits.  If  it  be  difficult  to  keep  the  heart 
always  right,  even  in  the  uninterrupted  exercise  of  the  pastoral  office,  how 
much  more  must  it  be,  when  some  of  its  duties  are  neglected  to  make  need- 
ful provision  for  the  flesh !  To  be  divested  of  worldly  solicitude  is  of  the 
last  importance  both  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  all  pastoral  duties,  and  to 
effective  preparation  for  the  ministration  of  the  word.  The  ministry,  there- 
fore, to  preserve  its  own  appropriate  and  requisite  spirit  intact  from  the 
world,  as  well  as  to  subserve  in  any  marked  degree,  the  great  end  of  its 
appointment,  must  be  adequately  supported;  and  hence  the  express  reason 
assigned  for  a  certain  fixed  sum,  in  the  formulary  of  a  call  from  a  Congre- 
gation to  become  their  Pastor,  is  that  he  '  may  be  free  from  worldly  cares 
and  avocations.' 

"It  were  easy  to  show  the  justice  and  the  reasonableness  of  such  an 
arrangement  on  the  part  of  the  Congregation.  Evidently  he  who  in  the 
spirit  of  self-consecration  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  has  foi-egone  all  worldly 
emoluments  and  honours,  should  not  be  left  by  the  Church  to  supply  his  own 
temporal  wants,  and  much  less  to  contend  with  poverty. 

(i)  "But  it  is  not  only  just  and  right  for  a  people  to  support  their  Minis- 
ter; they  owe  it  to  themselves  to  support  him;  nay  more,  they  owe  it  to 
their  children,  to  their  country,  and  to  the  world.  Confining  our  view  to 
the  rising  generation,  and  to  the  moral  interests  of  the  community,  it  might 
be  made  to  appear  with  all  the  force  of  demonstration  that,  even  in  a  world- 
ly point  of  view,  it  is  the  wisest  economy  for  any  people  to  secixre  and  to 
retain  the  stated  ministration  of  God's  will.  Who  does  not  know  that  the 
influence  of  the  gospel  ministry  is  averse  to  all  that  is  evil,  an<d  in  favour  of 
all  that  is  good?  that  just  in  proportion  as  any  community  has  enjoyed  and 
appreciated  the  benefits  of  the  gospel  ministry,  is  it  characterized  by  intelli- 
gence and  virtue,  by  sobriety  and  industry,  by  the  love  of  law  and  order,  of 
freedom  and  of  good  government,  by  all  that  respects  man's  weal  and  God's 
glory. 

"  If  such  then,  are  the  prominent  reasons  for  the  support  of  the  ministry, 


176  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

it  requires  but  a  moment's  reflection  to  be  able  to  foresee  the  consequences 
of  its  inadequate  support.  They  who  are  so  straitened  in  their  circumstances, 
will  not  be  able  to  procure  suitable  books,  or  to  command  the  requisite  time 
for  study;  and  thus,  whatever  may  have  been  their  preparatory  education 
for  the  ministry,  their  mental  resources  will  become  impoverished,  and  their 
ministrations  monotonous,  uninteresting  and  powerless.  They  will  not  be 
able  to  contribute  to  benevolent  objects  themselves,  nor  have  the  dispositioa 
to  urge  the  claims  of  Christian  benevolence  on  their  people;  and  thus  their 
own  example  Avill  be  wanting  to  influence  others,  and  many  will  withhold 
their  proportionate  aid  from  the  missions  and  charities  of  the  Church.  It 
were  idle  to  expect  that  a  Minister  will  make  any  special  eflFort  to  induce 
his  people  to  do  for  others  what  they  say  they  are  unable  to  do  for  him;  or 
that  any  people  will  abound  in  good  works  when  they  deprive  their  Pastors 
of  the  means  of  doing  any. 

{k)  Under  such  circumstances,  Ministers  too,  will  be  constrained  to  prac- 
tise the  most  pitiful  economy,  to  the  detriment  of  health,  and  it  may  be,  in 
some  instances — for  want  is  a  sore  tempter — to  the  hazard  of  personal  integ- 
rity. They  will  be  weighed  down  by  worldly  cares,  to  the  unhappiness  of 
their  household,  to  the  loss  of  their  spirituality,  and  to  the  heartless  perform- 
ance of  their  incumbent  duties.  Discontented,  restless,  with  afi"ections 
alienated  from  their  people,  and  with  diminished  interest  in  their  work, 
they  will  be  ever  on  the  alert  for  some  other  situation,  or  harassed  by  the 
thought  of  at  last  being  obliged  to  seek  some  independent  employment.  Are 
these  unfounded  surmises,  or  morbid  imaginings  l'  Would  that  they  were. 
But  no;  for  thus  it  is  that  the  ministry  is  fast  ac(iuiriiig  a  changeable  and 
transient  character;  that  so  many  have  already  given  up  the  pastoral  office 
to  become  editors,  and  secretaries,  and  agents,  and  even  keepers  of  boarding- 
houses,  and  otiiicers  under  government.  Other  influences  may  have,  in  a  mea- 
sure, contributed  to  these  transformations  and  changes;  but  if  all  other 
causes  were  wanting,  this  which  is  found  in  the  scanty  support  of  the  minis- 
try, would  of  itself  be  amply  sufficient. 

"If  Ministers  are  to  be  left  to  small  and  irregularly  paid  salaries — to 
support  themselves  and  their  families  on  their  scantiest  means,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  pastoral  office  will  be  held  in  less  estimation — will  be  in  less,  and 
increasingly  less  request;  and  hence  it  is,  that  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
the  number  of  Pastors  has  already  decreased;  while  the  number  of  Ministers 
without  charge  is  constantly  increasing.  Examine  the  Minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1858.  See  how  large  the  proportion  of  those  of  our 
numbers  who  are  without  charge,  or  who  act  as  stated  supplies;  and  behold 
in  this  one  fact  at  once  the  proof  and  the  consequence  of  an  inadequately 
supported  ministry.  And,  what  is  still  more  to  be  deplored,  if  possible,  let 
the  ministry  continue  to  be,  as  a  body,  so  poorly  supported,  and  candidates 
for  admission  will  soon  be  few  and  fewer. 

(l)  "We  do  not  intimate  that  a  regard  to  pecuniary  support  should  ever 
influence  one's  choice  of  the  ministry.  It  is  most  probable  that  the  great 
majority  of  those  who  have  prepared  themselves  for  this  sacred  work,  have 
had  no  reference  to  any  temporal  benefit.  When  one  is  constrained  to 
preach  'Christ  and  him  crucified,'  he  is  willing  to  lay  his  account,  if  need 
be,  with  all  trials  as  well  as  all  toils.  Under  any  circumstances,  the  gospel 
ministry,  if  exercised  in  the  right  spirit,  is  an  office  of  the  severest  self-denial. 
Still,  it  requires  no  very  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature  to  perceive 
that  young  men  will  not  be  so  forward  to  embrace  the  ministry  as  a  prt)fes- 
sion,  with  little  else  before  them  than  the  prospect  of  a  struggle  for  temporal 
subsistence;  that,  though  truly  converted,  they  may  naturally  conclude  that 
they  can  be  quite  as  useful  in  some  other  relation,  iu  which  the  means  may 


Part  III.]  MINISTERIAL   SUPPORT.  177 

be  secured  of  at  once  supporting  themselves  and  doing  good  to  others.  Who 
can  say  how  much  this  consideration  may  not  have  already  weighed  in  the 
minds  of  our  religious  youth,  and  especially  at  this  day,  when  there  are 
opened  on  every  hand  so  many  avenues  to  riches  and  distinction? 

(m)  "If  ever  there  was  a  time  when  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  should  be 
relieved  from  all  unnecessary  burthens,  and  placed  in  circumstances  of  com- 
fortable competence,  it  is  the  present;  when  error,  with  its  hydra  head,  is 
assailing  through  innumerable  mediums  the  truth  of  God ;  and  when  secu- 
larism, with  its  pride  of  science,  and  love  of  self,  and  insensibility  to  wrong, 
and  recklessness  of  the  future,  is  invading  all  departments,  and  permeating 
all  relations :  now,  when  in  consequence  of  the  extension  of  our  territories, 
the  increase  of  our  population,  the  influx  of  foreign  errors  and  superstitions, 
the  insidiousness  of  popery,  and  the  selfishness  of  demagogues,  there  is  only 
the  more  urgent  need  of  all  the  conservative  and  corrective  influences  of 
Grod's  unadulterated  word. 

''Vain  is  it  to  think  that  any  other  agency  can  take  the  place  of  the  living 
ministry.  Do  whatever  else  they  may,  let  the  Churches  fail  to  make  ade- 
quate provision  for  the  support  of  their  Ministers,  and  we  may  bid  farewell 
to  the  hopes  of  the  rising  generation,  farewell  to  the  enjoyment  of  our  civil 
and  religious  freedom,  farewell  to  the  hopes  of  a  dying  world ! 

"But  it  may  not,  cannot  be!  An  effort  must — an  effort  will  be  made  to 
avert  the  evils  which  threaten  the  Church.  We  cannot  for  a  moment  enter- 
tain the  thought  that  there  is  so  little  faith  in  the  Bible,  so  little  apprecia- 
tion of  its  value,  so  little  love  for  the  Church,  that  a  matter  of  so  great  mo- 
ment as  the  adequate  support  of  the  ministry  will  any  longer  be  neglected. 

Stuart  Robinson,  ^ 
B.  M.  Smith,  V  Com.  of  Pnb." 

J.  N.  Dickson,       ) 

§  209.  Aged  and  invalid  Pastors. 

"Mr.  Andrews  having  made  a  motion  to  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 
that  an  assistant  be  allowed  unto  him  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  this 
city;  and  the  committee  after  discoursing  upon  it,  having  recommended  the 
consideration  thereof  to  the  Synod,  upon  this  proviso,  that  if  the  said  motion 
be  allowed  or  approved,  there  be  first  a  sufficient  provision  made  for  an  hon- 
ourable maintenance  of  Mr.  Andrews  during  his  continuance  among  this 
people;  the  Synod  entered  upon  the  consideration  of  said  motion,  and  after 
considerable  discourse  upon  it,  it  was  put  to  the  vote,  whether  Mr.  Andrews 
should  be  allowed  to  have  an  assistant,  if  first  sufficient  provision  be  made 
for  his  honourable  maintenance  during  his  life  among  them,  and  it  was  car- 
ried in  the  affirmative,  nemine  contradicente. 

"It  is  further  ordered,  by  the  Synod,  That  the  Committee  of  Overtures 
meet  this  evening,  and  consult  about  what  may  be  necessary  to  prepare  a 
way  for  putting  the  said  motion  into  execution." — Minutes,  1733,  p.  104. 

"An  overture  being  brought  in  from  the  Committee  of  Overtures  about 
the  ascertaining  Mr.  Andrews  his  maintenance,  in  case  of  an  assistant,  the 
Synod  had  long  discourse  about  the  whole  affair,  and  also  had  conference 
with  some  gentlemen  of  this  Congregation,  and  at  last  agreed  upon  the  fol- 
lowing conclusion. 

"1.  That  the  Congregation  be  allowed  to  call  an  assistant  to  Mr.  An- 
drews. 

"  2.  That  in  order  to  secure  Mr.  Andrews'  maintenance,  those  gentlemen 
who  have  expressed  a  desire  of  an  assistant,  shall  not  diminish,  but  rather 
strive,  and  as  much  as  may  be,  increase  their  own  subscriptions  to  him  on 
their  part :  neither  shall  they  endeavour  to  alienate  any  of  the  present  sub- 


178  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

scriptlon  of  the  Cougreojation  from  Mr.  Andrews.  And  inasmuch  as  the 
present  subscription  appears  scanty,  that  all  care  shall  be  taken  to  get  new 
subscriptions  to  Mr.  Andrews. 

"3.  That  he  shall  also  have  all  the  monthly  collections." — Minutes,  1733, 
p.  105. 

Title  9. — Of  Prayer. 
§  210.  Posture  in  prayer. 

^' While  the  posture  of  standing  in  public  prayer,  and  that  of  kneeling  in 
private  prayer,  are  indicated  by  examples  in  Scripture,  and  the  general  prac- 
tice of  the  ancient  Christian  Church,  the  posture  of  sitting  in  public  prayer 
is  nowhere  mentioned,  and  by  no  usage  allowed;  but  on  the  contrary,  was 
universally  regarded  by  the  early  Church  as  heathenish  and  irreverent;  and 
is  still,  even  in  the  customs  of  modern  and  western  nations,  an  attitude 
obviously  wanting  in  the  due  expression  of  reverence :  therefore  this  (xene- 
ral  Assembly  Resolve,  that  the  practice  in  question  be  considered  grievously 
improper,  whenever  the  infirmities  of  the  worshipper  do  not  render  it  neces- 
sary; and  that  Ministers  be  required  to  reprove  it  with  earnest  and  persever- 
ing admonition." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  255. 

§  211.  Rulers  to  he  remembered. 

"That  our  Ministers  and  people  be,  and  they  hereby  are  earnestly  exhorted, 
particularly  and  constantly,  agreeably  to  the  injunctions  of  the  word  of  God, 
to  remember  our  civil  rulers  in  their  prayers." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  431. 

§  212.    Social  prayer-meetings. 

(a)  "  Overtured,  That  it  be  recommended  to  every  Minister  of  the  Pres- 
bytery to  set  on  foot  and  encourage  private  Christian  societies."  [Adojited.] 
— 3Iinutes,  1707,  p.  10. 

(6)  Special  seasons  recommended. 

"The  General  Assembly,  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  general 
aspect  of  religion,  the  great  decay  of  vital  piety,  and  the  prevalence  of  infi- 
delity and  immorality,  and  being  deeply  affected  thereby,  (especially  consi- 
dering the  many  blessings  which  as  a  nation  and  a  people  we  enjoy,)  agreed 
to  urge,  in  the  most  earnest  manner,  upon  all  their  members,  the  utmost 
diligence,  perseverance  and  zeal,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  .their 
offices  and  stations;  and  that  they  prosecute  those  measures  agreeably  to  the 
word  of  God,  which  they  may  judge  most  conducive  to  counteract  the  exist- 
ing evils,  and  most  effectually  serve  the  interests  of  evangelical  principles, 
and  of  true  and  undefiled  religion ;  and  would  recommend  that  some  particu- 
lar times  be  set  apart  as  special  seasons  of  prayer  with  respect  to  those 
objects,  as  may  be  found  most  convenient  in  their  respective  circumstances." 
— Minutes,  1796,  p.  116. 

(r)    The  duty  urged. 

"Let  those  who  fear  the  Lord  speak  often  to  one  another.  Let  them 
individually  and  in  a  social  capacity  importune  the  throne  of  grace,  and 
according  to  his  own  glorious  and  condescending  language,  give  God  no  rest 
until  he  appear  in  his  glory  and  build  up  Zion." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  178. 

"  That  they  [Pastors]  endeavour  where  it  is  prudent  and  practicable  to 
institute  private  societies  for  reading,  prayer,  and  pious  conversation." — 
Ibid.  p.  182. 

(c/)    Revivals  consequent. 

"The  Assembly  consider  it  as  worthy  of  particular  attention,  that  most 
of  the  accounts  of  revivals  communicated  to  them,  stated  that  the  institu- 


Part  III.]  OF  PRAYER.  179 

tion  of  praying  societies,  or  seasons  of  special  prayer  to  God  for  tlie  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit,  generally  preceded  the  remarkable  displays  of  divine 
grace  with  which  our  land  has  been  recently  fiivoured.  In  most  cases,  pre- 
paratory to  the  signal  effusions  of  the  Holy  Grhost,  the  pious  have  been 
stirred  up  to  cry  fervently  and  importunately  that  Grod  would  appear  and 
vindicate  his  own  cause.  The  Assembly  see  in  this  a  confirmation  of  the 
word  of  Grod,  and  an  ample  encouragement  of  the  prayers  and  hopes  of  the 
pious,  for  future  and  more  extensive  manifestations  of  divine  power.  And 
they  trust  that  the  Churches  under  their  care,  while  they  see  cause  of  abun- 
dant thankfulness  for  this  dispensation,  will  also  perceive,  that  it  presents 
new  motives  to  zeal  and  fervour  in  applications  to  that  throne  of  grace  from 
which  every  good  and  perfect  gift  cometh." — Minutes,  1803,  p.  275,  also 
1808,  p.  401;  1810,  p.  443,  &c. 

§  213.  Female  praying  societies. 

"Meetings  of  pious  women  by  themselves,  for  conversation  and  prayer, 
whenever  they  can  conveniently  be  held,  we  entirely  approve.  But  let  not 
the  inspired  prohibitions  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  as  found  in 
his  epistles  to  the  Corinthians  and  to  Timoth,"^-^  violated.  To  teach  and 
exhort,  or  to  lead  in  prayer,  in  public  and  pre  i«Suous  assemblies,  is  clearly 
forbidden  to  women  in  the  holy  oracles."—  7  fites,  1832,  p.  348. 
§  214.  Monthly  co'n^^H. 

(a)  "Whereas,  The  King  and  the  Head  of  the  Church  has  during  the 
last  year  poured  out  his  Spirit  in  a  remarkable  and  glorious  manner  on  many 
of  the  Churches  within  our  bounds,  and  has  manifestly  succeeded  the  efforts 
of  Christians  in  past  years,  in  their  endeavours  to  diffvise  the  light  of  reveal- 
ed truth  among  the  heathen;  and  has  hereby  encouraged  and  urged  the 
pious  to  united  and  importunate  wrestling  at  the  throne  of  grace;  and 
whereas  many  Christians  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe,  have  agreed  to  set 
apart  the  first  Monday  evening  of  every  month,  that  they  may  meet  together, 
and  say  with  one  heart,  to  the  prayer-hearing  God,  'Thy  kingdom  come; 
come  Lord  Jesus,  and  fill  the  world  with  thy  glory' — Therefore, 

'■'■Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  do  approve  of  concerts  of  prayer 
for  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  do  recommend  it  to 
the  friends  of  Zion  in  their  connection,  as  far  as  may  be  convenient,  to 
spend  the  first  Monday  in  every  month  in  special  prayer  to  God,  for  the 
coming  and  glorious  reign  of  Christ  on  earth." — Minutes,  1815,  p.  601. 

(6)  [A  pastoral  letter  on  the  Monthly  Concert,  issued  in  1830,  closes  as  follows] — 

"We  exhort  you  therefore,  brethren,  that  in  your  closets,  and  families, 
and  praying  associations,  and  the  sanctuary  of  God,  and  the  monthly  con- 
cert, there  be  an  earnest  cry,  and  an  earnest  effort  for  the  revival  of  the  spirit 
of  prayer.  In  regard  to  the  concert,  let  those  professors  of  religion,  who 
have  hitherto  neglected  it,  be  entreated  by  a  regard  to  the  consistency  of 
their  Christian  profession,  by  a  consideration  of  the  example  which  they  are 
bound  to  set  before  others;  as  they  would  encourage  and  not  grieve  the 
hearts  of  their  fellow  Christians;  as  they  would  promote  their  own  growth 
in  grace,  and  spiritual  peace  and  comfort;  as  they  love  the  Redeemer  that 
died  for  them;  as  they  love  their  country,  exposed  on  account  of  abounding 
iniquity,  to  the  sore  judgments  of  Heaven;  and  as  they  wish  to  share  in  the 
happiness  and  the  reward  of  those  who  promote  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
his  declarative  glory  in  the  world — in  view  of  all  these  motives  let  them  be 
entreated  to  take  part  with  their  brethren  in  the  sacred  duty  of  praying  for 
the  speedy  accomplishment  of  the  promise  that  'the  earth  shall  be  full  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.' " — Minutes  1830, 
p.  42. 


180  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

§  215.    Change  to  the  first  Sabbath  of  the  m&nfh. 

(rt)  "Whereas,  it  has  appeared  from  the  reports  of  the  Church  for  many 
years  that  there  has  been  a  very  lamentable  neglect  of  the  Monthly  Concert 
for  Prayer;  and  as  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  owing  partly  to  the 
time  of  its  observation;  and  as  there  is  a  strong  probability  that  a  change 
might  be  made  which  would  subserve  the  great  interests  involved;  and 
whereas,  it  is  the  solemn  and  imperious  duty  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  especially  at  the  present  juncture,  to  promote  with  renewed  vigour  the 
kingdom  of  her  Lord  and  Master,  and  for  this  purpose  to  avail  herself  of 
any  facility  in  compassing  her  object:  therefore, 

^'Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended,  1.  That  the  Monthly  Concert  be 
observed  hereafter  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  every  month;  and, 

"2.  That  collections  be  taken  up  at  the  close  of  every  concert,  in  aid  of 
the  Foreign  Missionary  operations  of  our  own  Church." — Minutes,  1838, 
p.  45. 

(b)  "  We  learn  with  much  pleasure,  that  in  a  large  number  of  our 
Congregations  the  Month!  v*^  ,ncert  of  Prayer  is  more  numerously  attended 
than  it  has  been  at  any  ',  ^.  jr  period.  As  this  change  is  ascribed  to  the 
transfer  of  the  concert  to  .r  -.  Airst  Sabbath  of  the  month,  we  advise  all  our 
Churches  to  consider  the  e.  ''ency  of  adopting  this  arrangement;  while 
at  the  same  time  we  leave  ai-'^^Ohurches  which  may  prefer  it,  at  full  liberty 
to  adhere  to  the  original  pnivtice  of  celebrating  this  interesting  service  on 
the  first  Monday  evening  of  the  month." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  309. 

§  216.  Prayer  for  tlie  overthrow  of  the  Papacy. 

"  A  resolution  from  the  Presbytery  of  Steuben,  asking  the  Assembly  to 
recommend  to  the  Churches  to  observe  a  general  concert  of  prayer  to 
Almighty  God,  against  Romanism. 

^'  The  following  minute  was  adopted  in  this  case : 

"Resolved,  That  while  this  subject  should  occupy  a  prominent  place  in 
the  supplications  of  Grod's  people,  especially  at  the  Monthly  Missionary 
Concert,  the  Assembly  deem  it  inexpedient  to  multiply  special  occasions  of 
prayer  for  particular  objects." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  220. 

Title  10. — Psalmody. 
§  217.  Early  acts. — Introduction  of  Watts' s  Psalms.     , 

(a)  "  It  being  moved  to  the  Synod  whether  a  Chur'ch  Session  hath  power 
to  introduce  a  new  version  of  Psalms  into  the  Congregation  to  which  they 
belong  without  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  said  Congregation ;  it  was 
voted  in  the  negative,  nemine  contradicente." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1753, 
p.  255. 

(ft)  "That  as  there  is  a  number  of  the  Congregations  [of  New  York] 
much  dissatisfied  with  the  constant  use  of  Dr.  Watts's  version  of  the  Psalms, 
and  earnestly  desirous  that  the  Scotch  version  should  be  used,  and  as  mutual 
forbearance  and  condescension  in  such  cases  is  a  duty  which  Christians  owe 
to  one  another,  and  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  peace  of  society,  the  Synod 
determine  that  the  Scotch  version  be  used  equally  with  the  other  in  the 
stated  public  worship  on  the  Lord's  days." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1755,  p.  267. 

(c)  "That  as  to  the  singing  of  Dr.  Watts's  version  of  the  Psalms,  though 
the  conduct  of  the  Congregation  in  their  adhering  to  them,  contrary  to 
Synodical  appointment,  without  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  obtain  a 
repeal  of  said  appointment,  was  not  regular;  yet  as  the  said  Psalms  are 
orthodox,  and  no  particular  version  is  of  divine  authority,  and  that  the 
using  them  is  earnestly  desired  by  a  great  majority  of  said  Congregation, 
contrary  to  the  view  we  had  of  the  case  the  last  year,  the  Synod,  for  the  sake 


Part  III.]  OF  PSALMODY.  181 

of  their  peace,  do  permit  the  use  of  said  version  unto  them :  and  determine 
that  this  judgment  shall  be  finally  decisive  as  to  this  affair." — Minutes,  N.  Y. 
1756,  p.  275. 

(d)  "  A  query  was  brought  in,  in  these  words :  '  As  sundry  members 
and  Congregations  within  the  bounds  of  our  Synod,  judge  it  most  for  their 
edification  to  sing  Dr.  Watts's  imitation  of  David's  Psalms,  does  the  Synod 
so  far  approve  said  imitation  of  David's  Psalms  as  to  allow  such  Ministers 
and  their  Congregations  the  liberty  of  using  them  V 

"  As  a  great  number  of  this  body  have  never  particularly  considered  Dr. 
Watts's  imitation,  they  are  not  prepared  to  give  a  full  answer  to  the  question. 
Yet  as  it  is  well  approved  by  many  of  this  body,  the  Synod  have  no  objec- 
tion to  the  use  of  said  imitation  by  such  Ministers  and  Congregations  as 
incline  to  use  it,  until  the  matter  of  psalmody  be  further  considered.  And 
it  is  recommended  to  the  members  of  this  body  to  be  prepared  to  give  their 
sentiments  respecting  this  subject  at  our  next  meeting." — Minutes,  1763, 
p.  331. 

(e)  "  After  some  consideration  of  the  query  concerning  the  use  of  Dr. 
Watts's  imitation  of  the  Psalms,  the  Synod  judged  it  best,  in  present  cir- 
cumstances, only  to  declare  that  they  look  ou  the  inspired  Psalms  in 
Scripture,  to  be  proper  matter  to  be  sung  in  divine  worship,  according  to 
their  original  design  and  the  practice  of  the  Christian  Churches,  yet  will 
not  forbid  those  to  use  the  imitation  of  them  whose  judgment  and  inclina- 
tion leads  them  to  do  so." — Minutes,  1765,  p.  345. 

(/)  *'  The  committee  appointed  to  converse  with  the  parties  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  diff"ering  about  Psalmody,  report,  '  That  they 
have  taken  opportunities  of  conversing  with  both  parties,  so  far  as  the  time 
and  circumstances  would  permit,  and  that  they  do  not  think  the  Synod 
should  directly  judge  of  the  merits  of  the  appeal,  so  as  to  affirm  or  disap- 
prove the  several  distinct  propositions  laid  down  by  the  Presbytery  in  their 
judgment;  but  as  there  is  not  now  time  to  consider  fully  the  diff"erent 
versions  of  the  Psalms  in  question,  and  there  are  minutes  of  Synod  formerly 
which  countenance  Congregations  in  determining  this  matter  according  to 
their  own  choice,  they  cannot  make  any  order  to  forbid  the  Congregation  to 
continue  the  practice  now  begun.'  Which  being  considered,  was  approved; 
and  the  Synod  on  this  occasion  think  proper  earnestly  to  recommend  to  both 
parties  peace  and  harmony,  and  to  forbear  all  harsh  sentiments  and  expres- 
sions, and  in  particular  that  neither  of  them  intimate  that  either  of  the 
versions  in  question  is  unfit  to  be  sung  in  Christian  worship. — Minutes, 
1773,  p.  448. 

(^)  "  A  motion  was  made  in  the  following  terms,  viz.  <  Whereas  the 
nearest  uniformity  that  is  practicable  in  the  external  modes  of  divine  wor- 
ship is  to  be  desired,  and  the  using  different  books  of  psalmody  is  matter  of 
off"ence,  not  only  to  Presbyterians  of  diff"ereut  denominations,  but  also  to 
many  Congregations  under  our  care;  it  is  queried,  if  the  Synod  might  not 
choose  out,  and  order  some  of  their  number  to  take  the  assistance  of  all  the 
versions  in  our  power,  and  compose  for  us  a  version  more  suitable  to  our 
circumstances  and  taste  than  any  we  yet  have;'  which,  having  been  read, 
and  seconded,  after  some  conversation  thereon,  the  question  was  put,  whether 
to  appoint  a  committee,  or  defer,  and  was  carried  by  a  small  majority  to 
appoint.  Whereupon  Dr.  Alison,  Dr.  Davidson,  Dr.  Ewing,  Mr.  Blair,  and 
Mr.  Jones,  were  appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose,  who  are  to  make 
report  of  their  diligence  herein  at  our  next  meeting." — Minutes,  1785, 
p.  513. 

[Apparently  in  consequence  of  this  appointment  the  following  minute  was  adopted:] 

"  The  Synod  did  allow,  and  do  hereby  allow,  that  Dr.  Watt&'s  imitation  of 


182  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

David's  Psalms,  as  revised  by  Mr.  Barlow,  be  sung  in  tbe  churches  and 
families  under  their  care." — Minutes,  1787,  p.  535. 

(li)  "In  respect  to  the  psalmody,  the  Synod  have  allowed  the  use  of  the 
imitation  of  the  Psalms  of  David  for  many  years,  to  such  Congregations  as 
choose  them,  and  still  all<iw  of  the  same,  but  they  are  far  from  disapproving 
of  House's  version,  commonly  called  the  Old  Psalms,  in  those  who  were  in 
the  use  of  them  and  chose  them,  but  are  of  opinion  that  either  may  be  used 
by  the  Churches,  as  each  Congregation  may  judge  most  for  their  peace  and 
edification,  and  therefore  highly  disapprove  of  public,  severe,  and  unchristian 
censures  being  passed  upon  either  of  the  systems  of  psalmody,  and  recom- 
mend it  to  all  Ministers  in  those  parts  of  the  Church,  to  be  more  tender  and 
charitable  on  these  heads." — Minutes,  1787,  p.  537. 

§  218.    Conscientious  scruples. 

"  The  following  query,  signed  by  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transyl- 
vania, was  overtured  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures. 

'*  Qitere;  Whether  the  Churches  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly 
have  not  by  the  countenance  and  allowance  of  the  late  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia,  foUen  into  a  great  and  pernicious  error,  in  the  public  wor- 
ship of  Grod,  by  disusing  Rouse's  versification  of  David's  Psalms,  and  adopt- 
ing in  the  room  of  it,  Watts's  imitation?  Conscience  is  the  motive  that  has 
induced  me  to  make  the  above  inquiry,  and  I  trust  I  shall  be  heard  on  the 
subject  with  candour.  Adam  Kankin." 

"  The  General  Assembly  having  heard  Mr.  Rankin  at  great  length,  and 
endeavoured  to  relieve  his  mind  from  the  difficulty  he  appears  to  labour 
under,  are  sorry  to  find  that  all  their  efforts  have  been  in  vain;  and  there- 
fore, only  recommend  to  him  that  exercise  of  Christian  charity  towards  those 
who  differ  from  him  in  their  views  of  this  matter,  which  is  exercised  towards 
himself;  and  that  he  be  carefully  guarded  against  disturbing  the  peace  of 
the  Church  on  this  head." — Minutes,  1789,  p.  11. 

§  219.    }Yatts''s  Hymns  alloiced. 

"  Whereas,  The  version  of  the  Psalms  made  by  Dr.  Watts,  has  heretofore 
been  allowed  in  the  Congregations  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly, 
it  is  now  thought  expedient  that  the  Hymns  of  Dr.  Watts  be  also  allowed;  and 
they  are  accordingly  hereby  allowed  in  such  Congregations  as  may  think  it 
expedient  to  use  them  in  public  and  social  worship;  and  whereas,  the  llev. 
Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  by  order  of  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut, 
has  revised  the  version  of  the  Psalms  made  by  Dr.  Watts,  and  versified  a 
number  omitted  by  him,  and  has  also  made  a  selection  of  Hymns  from 
various  authors,  which,  together  with  the  Psalms,  were  intended  to  furnish  a 
system  of  Psalmody  for  the  use  of  Churches  and  families,  which  system  has 
been  revised  and  recommended  by  a  joint  committee  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  heretofore  appointed,  as 
well  as  examined  and  approved  by  a  committee  of  this  present  Assembly; 
the  said  system  is  hereby  cheerfully  allowed  in  such  Congregations  and 
Churches  as  may  think  it  for  edification  to  adopt  and  use  the  same." — Min- 
utes, 1802,  p.  249. 

§  220.    The  use  of  frivolous  or  heretical  Psalmodi/  censurahlc. 

[The  Presbytery  of  Ohio  sent  up  the  following  question  :] 

"Did  the  General  Assembly,  in  the  recommendation  and  allowance  of 
those  Psalms  and  Hymns  Avhich  they  have  recommended  and  allowed  to  be 
sung  in  the  Churches,  intend  that  the  Churches  should  be  confined  to  them 
alone,  and  is  it  irregular  and  censurable  to  use  others  in  public  or  family 
worship  ?" 


Part  III.]  OF   PSALMODY.  183 

"Your  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  tlie  General  Assembly  of  the  year 
1802,  in  their  resolution  on  this  subject,  did  not  intend  that  the  Churches 
under  their  care  should  use  no  other  Psalms  and  Hymns  than  those  speci- 
fied in  the  resolution.  It  is  further  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  that 
when  any  families  or  Congregations  in  their  religious  worship  make  use  of 
hymns  containing  erroneous  doctrine  or  trivial  matter,  it  becomes  the  duty 
of  Churcli  Sessions  and  Presbyteries  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  act  as 
the  case  may  require."     [Approved.] — Minutes,  1806,  pp.  359,  3G0. 

§  221.    The  Assembly' s  first  collection  of  Hymns. 

[Upon  a  proposition  which  was  made  in  1819,  for  an  enlarged  system  of  Psalmody, 
and  referred  to  the  next  Assembly,  the  following  report  was  adopted.] 

''Psalmody  has  in  all  ages  been  considered  a  most  important  part  of  the 
worship  of  God.  The  Church,  therefore,  has  ever  been  careful  to  preserve 
its  purity  for  the  edification  of  her  members;  whilst  they  who  have  departed 
from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  have  availed  themselves  of  it  to 
accomplish  their  divisive  plans  with  the  best  success.  Mindful  of  their 
duty  in  this  matter,  the  General  Assembly  have,  from  time  to  time,  autho- 
rized the  use  of  Rouse's  version  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  Watts's  imitation  of 
the  Psalms  of  David,  with  his  three  books  of  Hymns,  Barlow's  alterations  of, 
and  additions  to  Watts's  imitation,  and  Dwight's  revision  of  Watts,  with  his 
additional  versifications  and  collection  of  hymns,  in  the  Churches  under  their 
care. 

"Whilst  the  committee  grant  that  each  of  these  systems  of  Psalmody  has 
its  excellencies,  they  respectfully  recommend  that  one  uniform  system  of 
Psalmody  be  prepared,  under  the  direction  of  the  Assembly,  for  the  use  of 
the  Churches  under  their  care.  They  believe  that  the  time  has  come  when 
such  a  measure  may  be  adopted  without  offending  any  of  our  Churches,  and 
with  the  prospect  of  complete  success. 

"If  they  are  correct  in  this  belief,  of  which  the  Assembly  must  judge,  it 
appears  to  them  that  uniformity  in  this  matter  will  furnish  a  strong  bond  of 
peace  and  harmony  between  the  different  sections  of  our  Church. 

"The  committee  further  recommend  that  this  uniform  system  of  Psalmody 
consist  of  two  parts,  viz. 

"  I.  A  compilation  of  metrical  versions  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  adhering 
to  the  order  and  connection  of  the  same  as  far  as  practicable. 

"  In  this  compilation  the  preference  ought  to  be  given  to  the-  authorized 
versions  now  in  use,  so  far  as  the  poetry  and  conformity  to  the  text  allow. 
The  committee,  in  recommending  this  compilation,  disavow  any  design  of 
committing  the  Assembly  on  the  difierence  of  opinion  which  exists  about 
the  book  of  Psalms.  They  also  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that 
they  do  not  disapprove  of  Watts.  But  they  think  that  a  compilation,  such 
as  is  recommended,  if  judiciously  executed,  will  satisfy  the  friends  of  Dr. 
Watts's  imitation,  and  the  advocates  of  the  exclusive  authority  of  the  book 
of  Psalms. 

"II.  A  copious  collection  of  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs  from  various 
authors,  giving  the  preference  to  those  now  authorized,  so  far  as  good  taste, 
sound  sense,  and  enlightened  piety  admit. 

"  Such  a  system  of  Psalmody,  the  committee  think,  besides  producing 
harmony  among  ourselves  in  this  part  of  public  worship,  will  tend  to  enlarge 
that  growing  disposition  among  Christians  of  diiferent  denominations,  to 
union  of  exertions  for  promoting  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
"They  therefore  submit  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 
"  1.  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  digest  and  prepare  a  unifonn  sys- 
tem of  Psalmody,  as  recommended  in  this  report;  the  whole,  when  prepared 


184  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

agreeably  to  the  views  of  the  committee,  to  be  submitted  to  the  General 
Assembly  for  their  adoption. 

"2.  That  the  committee  appointed  to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect,  be 
authorized  to  procure  at  the  expense  of  the  Assembly  such  versions  of  the 
book  of  Psalms,  and  such  collections  of  Hymns  and  Sacred  Songs  as  they 
may  deem  necessary. 

"The  Assembly  appointed  Drs.  Romeyn,  Alexander,  Nott,  Blatchford, 
and  Spring,  a  committee  to  prepare  and  digest  a  system  of  Psalmody,  as 
recommended  in  the  foregoing  report." — Minutes,  1820,  p.  740. 

[This  committee,  increased  from  lime  to  time  by  additional  appointments,  at  length 
reported  to  the  Assembly  of  1829  a  book  of  Psalms  and  Hymns,  which  was  recommitted 
to  the  same  committee  for  further  revision.  {^Minutes,  1829,  p.  387.)  Next  year  the 
following  action  was  had.] 

"The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Psalmody  was  taken  up,  when  it  was 

"■Resolved,  That  the  book  of  Psalms  and  Hymns,  with  the  alterations  and 
additions  submitted  by  the  committee,  be  approved  by  the  Assembly,  and 
its  use  in  the  worship  of  God  be  authorized  in  all  the  Churches  under  their 
care." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  32. 

§  222.   The  Assemhli/' s  present  collection. 

[A  committee  was  appointed  in  1838]  "to  revise  the  Assembly's  edition 
of  the  Psalms  and  Hymns,  and  to  suggest  and  report  such  alterations,  cor- 
rections, and  additions,  for  the  consideration  of  the  next  General  Assembly, 
as  they  may  think  proper." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  43. 

"The  first  meeting  of  this  committee  was  held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  18th 
of  October,  1839;  present,  the  Kev.  Drs.  Cuyler,  and  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  together  with 
Messrs.  Alexander  and  Gray.  After  prayer  to  the  great  Head  of  Zion  for  direction  in 
this  important  matter,  and  serious  consultation,  the  committee  settled  the  leading  princi- 
ples upon  which  they  thought  it  desirable  to  proceed,  viz. 

"1.  A  collation  and  revision  of  all  the  English  versions  of  the  Psalms. 

«2.  A  careful  examination  of  the  Hymns  now  in  use,  and  an  inquiry  whether  some, 
and  if  any,  which  of  them  ought  to  be  omitted  on  account  of  incorrectness  in  doctrine,  on 
account  of  their  unsuitableness  as  Hymns,  and  on  account  of  the  inferiority  of  their 
poetry. 

"  3.  The  restoration  of  the  Hymns  to  be  retained  in  the  revised  edition,  from  the  modern 
emendations  to  which  they  have  been  subjected. 

"4.  The  selection  of  an  additional  number  of  Hymns. 

"  5.  A  special  regard  to  the  devotional  character  of  all  the  Hymns. 

«6.  A  suitable  arrangement  and  copious  index  of  the  whole  book. 

"These  subjects  thus  determined  on,  were  severally  apportioned  to  the  members  of  the 
committee,  each  having  a  special  part  designated  to  himself,  while  each  and  all  were 
requested  to  have  a  general  charge  and  supervision  of  the  whole.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
secretary  was  ordered  to  write  to  the  absent  members  of  the  committee,  apprizing  them  of 
our  doings,  apportioning  to  them  certain  subjects,  and  requesting  those  whose  distance 
might  prevent  their  attendance  at  future  meetings,  to  communicate  with  the  committee  by 
letter.  In  order  to  have  time  for  the  prosecution  of  a  work  of  so  much  magnitude  and 
importance,  the  committee  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  January, 
1840;  but  owing  partly  to  the  inclemency  of  the  season,  the  condition  of  the  roads,  and 
the  necessity  for  more  time  in  private  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  amount  of  labour 
apportioned  to  the  members  of  the  committee,  they  did  not  meet  till  the  19th  of  May, 
1840,  and  on  the  26th  of  that  month  made  a  report  of  their  progress  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, having  adjourned  to  meet  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  on  the  25th  of  August  next  ensu- 
ing. At  this  meeting  of  the  committee,  the  Rev.  James  W.  Alexander  resigned  his  seat ; 
and  the  Assembly  on  being  advised  thereof,  filled  the  vacancy  by  the  appointment  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Potts,  of  the  city  of  New  Vork.  The  only  members  of  the  committee  then  in 
attendance,  were  Drs.  Cuyler,  Phillips,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  and  Rev.  J.  Gray. 

"  In  pursuance  of  the  aforesaid  adjournment,  the  committee  met  in  Princeton,  N.  J., 
August  25th,  1840;  present,  Drs.  Cuyler,  Phillips,  J.  Breckinridge,  R.J.  Breckinridge, 
and  the  Rev.  J.  Gray.    The  committee  at  this  meeting  continued  in  session  for  several 


Part  III.]  OF  PSALMODY.  185 

(lays;  spending  on  an  average  nine  hours  per  day  in  the  prosecution  of  the  duties  assign- 
ed them,  not  only  reporting  the  results  of  their  private  and  individual  labours,  but  as  a 
committee,  criticising,  and  thereby  receiving  or  rejecting  these  reports,  as  well  as  pushing 
our  inquiries  still  further  forward.  During  this  long  and  laborious  session,  all  the  Hymns 
of  our  present  book,  after  determining  to  take  up  the  Hymns  and  dispose  of  them  first, 
were  read  seriatim:  and  after  a  critical  examination  by  the  committee  as  a  whole,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  previous  individual  revision  by  the  memliers,  about  25  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
was  rejected,  in  accordance  with  the  canons  of  criticism  formerly  laid  down,  presented  to 
and  approved  by  the  AssembI}'  of  1840.  Having,  in  addition  to  this,  devised  and  agreed 
upon  a  suitable  arrangement  and  a  copious  index  of  subjects,  and  distributed  the  four 
hundred  approved  Hymns  among  the  members  of  the  committee  then  present,  to  be  pro- 
perly arranged  according  to  said  index,  it  was  resolved  that  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
additional  Hymns  be  selected,  in  order  to  complete  that  portion  of  the  book.  In  order 
that  these  additional  Hymns  be  wisely  selected,  the  committee,  now  worn  and  fatigued  by 
their  labour,  resolved  to  adjourn,  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  on  the  second  Tues- 
day of  January,  1841.  And  as  an  additional  precaution  and  security,  it  was  resolved  that 
public  invitation  be  given  through  the  religious  press  to  the  whole  Church,  to  communi- 
cate to  the  committee,  or  any  member  thereof,  on  or  previous  to  the  said  second  Tuesday 
of  January,  such  Hymns  as  any  one  of  them  might  desire  to  see  inserted  in  the  forthcom- 
ing book.  In  order  that  the  Church  might  have  as  full  and  correct  knowledge  as  possible 
of  their  proceedings,  it  was  also  agreed  that  the  doings  of  this  meeting  be  published,  as  far 
as  it  was  necessary  to  exhibit  the  Hymns  rejected  and  retained,  together  with  the  proposed 
arrangement  of  subjects  and  index. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  above  mentioned  adjournment,  the  committee  met  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1841.  This  meeting  was  attended  by  Drs.  Cuy- 
ler,  Phillips,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  and  Rev.  J.  Gray.  Part  of  two  weeks  was  spent  at  this 
meeting  in  selecting,  by  the  committee,  from  the  individual  selections  made  by  the  mem- 
bers during  the  adjournment,  or  received  from  their  correspondents.  Hymns  of  a  suitable 
character  for  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  edification  of  the  Church.  The  index  previous- 
ly attended  to,  was  at  this  meeting  enlarged  and  amended — a  more  complete  arrangement 
and  classification  of  subjects  made,  and  a  publication  ordered,  containing  the  chapters  and 
sections  agreed  on,  with  the  retained  Hymns  arranged  by  their  numbers,  together  with 
the  first  lines  of  the  Hymns  now  agreed  to  be  added,  in  their  alphabetical  order,  as  well 
as  a  list  of  those  previously  omitted.  But  while  the  committee,  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
work,  had  proceeded  so  far  as  to  publish  to  the  Churches  the  Hymns  agreed  upon,  by  their 
first  lines,  as  it  regarded  retention,  omission,  and  addition,  they  wish  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood,  that  they  have  reserved  to  themselves  another  and  a  final  revision,  after  receiv- 
ing, as  they  have  thus  solicited,  the  advice,  judgment,  and  criticism  of  their  Christian 
fathers  and  brethren." — Report  of  the  Committee,  Minutes,  1841,  p.  477. 

(6)  [To  the  Assembly  of  1842,  the  committee  reported  as  follows:] 

"  Agreeably  to  the  expectation  held  out  in  their  report  to  the  last  Assembly,  they  have 
at  length  been  enabled  to  complete  the  work,  and  to  pass  their  final  and  unanimous  vote 
thereon  in  so  far  as  relates  to  the  selection  and  compilation  of  a  book  of  Hymns.  These 
are  six  hundred  and  seventy  in  number,  besides  the  necessary  Doxologies;  and  in  making 
the  selection,  the  committee  have  consulted  every  similar  work  to  which  they  could  gain 
access,  and  have  agreed  to  admit  only  such  as  after  mature  deliberation  received  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  committee.  It  is  hoped  that  the  book  thus  carefully  and  toilfully 
prepared,  will  be  found  worthy  of  the  Assembly's  approbation,  containing  as  it  is  believed 
in  great  variety  of  metre  a  very  copious  variety  of  evangelical  Hymns  on  every  topic 
appropriate  to  the  exigencies  of  private,  family,  social  and  public  worship.  This  book  is 
now  herewith  presented  to  the  Assembly.  Having  received  authority  from  the  last  Assembly 
to  print  an  edition  so  soon  as  they  should  be  ready,  the  committee  have  caused  a  sufficient 
number  of  copies  to  be  printed  and  bound,  to  put  into  the  hands  of  every  member  of  the 
Assembly  a  specimen  of  the  work.  *»•*•* 

The  committee  intimated  in  their  report  last  year,  which  was  approved  by  the  Assembly, 
that  the  complete  revision  of  the  book  of  Psalms  might  require  until  May,  1843.  That 
expectation  has  now  become  a  certainty.  In  order  fully  to  meet  and  do  justice  to  the 
subject  entrusted  to  them,  they  feel  after  the  consideration  and  experience  they  have 
already  had,  that  in  so  important  a  work  as  the  full  revision  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  already 
authorized  and  in  use,  and  in  the  settlement  of  the  principles  upon  which  a  book  is  to  be 
composed,  which  is  intended  to  meet  the  wants  of  a  communion  so  various  and  extensive 
as  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  designed  for  the  use  of  generations  to  come,  they  do 

24 


186  COMMON  ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

need  the  entire  amount  of  time  proposed.  No  one  who  has  not  made  the  experiment,  can 
well  conceive  the  delicacy,  difficulty  and  toil  of  such  a  work.  Yet  the  committee  are  also 
satisfied  that,  with  the  leave  of  Providence,  they  will  be  able  to  make  a  final  report  upon 
the  book  of  Psalms  by  next  May.  That  this  delay  is  not  unreasonable  will  be  further 
apparent,  when  it  is  considered  how  many  books  are  to  be  consulted,  and  existing  versions 
compared  with  each  other,  and  with  the  inspired  Psalms;  that  this  is  first  to  be  done,  by 
each  member  of  the  committee  individually;  and  that  afterward,  journeys  are  to  be  per- 
formed, and  meetings  held  wherein  there  is  to  be  a  full  interchange  and  comparison  of 
views,  in  order  to  secure  which  so  large  a  committee  was  appointed — and  that  all  this 
labour  is  to  be  performed  amid  the  pressing  cares  and  duties  pertaining  to  the  employment 
of  the  members  of  the  committee  in  the  pastoral  office."  *  *  *  * 

(c)  [The  Assembly]  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  book  of  Hymns  be  referred 
back  to  the  committee  on  Psahnody,  with  directions  to  make  such  alterations 
as  their  own  judgment  or  the  suggestions  of  others  may  dictate,  and  to 
report  it  together  with  the  book  of  Psalms  to  the  next  Assembly. — Minutes, 
1842,  pp.  55.  31. 

(rf)  [The  next  year]  "The  Committee  on  Psalmody  report  that  in  compliance  with  the 
resolution  of  the  last  Assembly,  they  met  early  in  January  of  the  present  year,  and  con- 
tinued  in  session  until  they  had  completed  the  work  which  had  been  assigned  them. 
Communications  were  received  from  one  Synod,  fourteen  Presbyteries,  and  six  individuals 
located  in  different  parts  of  the  Church.  *  *  *  *  * 

"  Taking  into  consideration  the  great  variety  of  tastes  to  be  consulted,  and  the  fact  that 
a  number  of  Hymns,  though  possessing  little  intrinsic  excellence,  have  become  endeared 
to  many  of  our  people  by  their  long  use  of  them,  or  it  may  be,  by  the  recollection  of  some 
peculiar  circumstances  under  which  they  were  read  or  sung,  they  have  aimed  to  make  a 
selection,  which  as  a  whole  may  be  generally  acceptable  and  supersede  the  use  of  the 
many  different  Hymn-books  which  have  been  introduced  into  our  Churches,  lecture-rooms 
and  families.  They  have  especially  restored  those  Hymns  of  Watts  which  were  urgently 
called  for  by  almost  all  who  sent  in  any  communication  on  the  subject.  The  committee 
have  done  this  the  more  readily  because  such  restoration  was  one  design  of  their  first 
appointment.  *  *  *  The  selection  as  it  is  now  presented  is  as  much  the  selection  of  the 
Church  as  of  the  committee.  *  *  * 

"  With  regard  to  the  Psalms;  after  mature  deliberation  and  full  examination  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  committee  were  of  opinion  that  an  acceptable,  literal,  and  metrical  version  of 
them,  however  desirable,  could  not  at  present  be  obtained.  The  versions  of  Psalms  to 
which  they  have  had  access  do  not  furnish  such  a  number  of  superior  merit  as  to  justify 
the  attempt  to  alter  the  book  now  in  use. 

"  It  has  occurred  to  them  that  very  important  ends  might  be  answered  by  having  the 
received  prose  translation  of  the  Psalms  set  to  music,  and  so  prepared  as  to  be  conveni- 
ently used  in  all  our  Churches.  This  might  satisfy  those  who  desire  to  use  no  other 
than  a  literal  translation  of  the  Psalms;  would  constitute'*a  uniform  and  identical  Psalm- 
ody for  all  Presbyterian  Churches;  and  would  secure  a  solemn,  peculiar  and  appropriate 
Church  music,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  those  tunes  which  have  been  composed  from  light, 
secular  and  profane  songs,  and  whose  use  is  necessarily  attended  with  improper  associa- 
tions in  the  worship  of  God.  They  therefore  earnestly  recommend  this  subject  to  the 
'consideration  of  the  Assembly. 

"  The  committee  having  now  finished  their  gratuitous  labours,  beg  to  be  discharged. 

Signed, 
W.  W.  Phillips,  Chairman,  John  Gray, 

R.  J.  Breckinridge,  C.  C.  Cutler, 

W.  M.  En^lks,  J.  M.  Krebs." 

[The  Rev.  Drs.  George  A.  Baxter  and  John  Breckinridge,  members  of  the  committee, 
were  removed  by  death  during  the  progress  of  its  labours.] 

(e)  ''The  report  of  the  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the 
standing  Committee  on  Psalmody  was  taken  up,  amended  and  adopted,  as 
follows,  viz. 

"  That  the  said  committee  appear  to  have  discharged  the  duty  assigned 
them  with  zeal  and  ability;  and  that  they  are  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  this 
Assembly. 

^^Rewlved,  That  the  book  of  Psalms  ^and  Hymns  reported  by  the  Com- 


Part  III.]  ^    TRAINING  THE  YOUNG.  187 

mittee  of  Psalmody,  be  approved,  and  authorized  to  "be  used  in  all  our 
Churches. 

''That  such  portion  of  our  standards  be  appended  to  such  portion  of  any 
future  edition  of  the  book  of  Psalmody  as  shall  be  deemed  expedient  by 
the  Board  of  Publication. 

"That  the  whole,  or  such  portion  of  the  common  translation  of  the 
Psalms,  without  note  or  comment,  accompanied  as  far  as  may  be  by  appro- 
priate music,  be  appended  to  such  portion  of  one  edition  of  said  book  of 
Psalmody  as  may  appear  expedient  to  the  Board  of  Publication." — Minutes, 
1843,  pp.  194.  218. 

§  223.    Overture  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod. 

"  The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported 

''  Overture  No.  14.  The  communication  of  the  Rev.  H.  Connelly,  accom- 
panied with  a  copy  of  his  book ;  also  a  communication  from  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Joseph  Claybaugh,  James  Prestley,  and  David  R.  Kerr,  a  commit- 
tee on  behalf  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  in 
the  West,  inviting  this  Assembly  to  co-operate  with  them  in  obtaining  an 
improved  version  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  vari- 
rious  Presbyterian  bodies  in  our  country,  accompanied  with  a  statement  of 
the  principle  to  be  observed  in  making  such  a  version ;  the  committee  hav- 
ing been  satisfied,  on  an  examination  of  these  principles,  that  a  book  of 
Psalmody,  prepared  in  view  of  them,  would  not  meet  the  wants  of  our  Church, 
recommend  the  resolution,  that  although  the  General  Assembly  recognizes 
the  right  of  our  Churches  and  members  to  use  the  version  of  Psalms  com- 
monly called  Rouse's,  if  they  prefer  it,  yet  it  respectfully  declines  the  invi- 
tation to  co-operate  in  the  projected  work,  while  it  desires,  at  the  same  time, 
to  express  the  strongest  sentiments  of  fraternal  affection  for  the  brethren  of 
the  Associate  Reformed  Church  of  the  West,  and  pray  that  the  Great  Head 
of  the  Church  may  ever  guide  and  bless  them,  and  prosper  them  in  the 
work  committed  to  their  hands.     Adopted." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  31. 

Title  11. — Thanksgiving  Days. 

§  224. 

''In  this  connection,  the  Committee  further  recommend  that  this  Assem- 
bly sanction  and  approve  the  practice  of  particular  Churches  observing,  with 
appropriate  worship,  days  of  thanksgiving,  recommended  in  proclamation 
by  the  Governors  of  Commonwealths  in  which  they  are  located. 

''The  recommendations  were  adopted." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  266. 

Title  12. — Special  instruction  of  baptized  Children. 

§  225.  Injunction  on  Presbyteries. 

"Whereas,  The  Book  of  Discipline  states  that  children  born  within  the 
pale  of  the  visible  Church,  and  dedicated  to  God  in  baptism,  are  under  the 
inspection  and  government  of  the  Church,  and  specifies  various  important 
particulars  in  which  that  inspection  and  government  should  be  exercised,  as 
also  directs  the  mode  in  which  they  shall  be  treated  if  they  do  not  perform 
the  duties  of  church  members;  and  whereas,  there  is  reason  to  apprehend 
that  many  of  our  Congregations  neglect  to  catechize  the  children  that  have 
been  admitted  to  the  sealing  ordinance  of  baptism,  and  do  not  exercise  suit- 
able discipline  over  them,  therefore, 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  dift'erent  Presbyteries  within  our  bounds  are  hereby 
directed  to  inquire  of  the  different  Sessions,  whether  a  proper  pastoral  care 


188  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

be  exercised  over  the  baptized  children  in  their  Congrec^ations,  that  they 
learn  the  principles  of  relijiion,  and  walk  in  newness  of  life  before  God,  and 
that  said  Presbyteries  do  direct  all  Sessions  delinquent  in  this  respect,  to 
attend  to  it  carefully  and  without  delay." — Minutes,  1^09,  p.  481. 

§  226.  Dull/  of  the  Church. 

(a)  "Attention  to  the  young  and  rising  generation  has  evidently  increased 
during  the  past  year.  Baptized  children  are  more  generally  objects  of 
special  care.  Catechetical  instruction  is  administered  to  them  iu  most  of 
our  Congregations,  and  in  some,  measures  are  taking  to  introduce  a  system 
of  discipline  in  regard  to  them,  suitable  to  the  relation  they  sustain  to  the 
Church,  and  to  the  duty  which  the  Church  owes  to  them.  We  tnist  our 
brethren  will  go  on  in  this  good  work.  Much  remains  to  be  done.  The 
children  which  the  Lord  has  committed  to  our  care,  ought  not  to  be  thrust 
into  the  world  without  defence.  The  mere  elements  of  religion  are  not  suf- 
ficient for  their  use.  They  ought  to  be  instructed  in  the  higher  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  to  be  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  Scripture,  and  furnish- 
ed with  the  evidences  which  demonstrate  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures. 
Churches,  as  well  as  parents,  have  a  solemn  account  to  render  to  God  for 
the  manner  iu  which  the  children,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  have 
been  treated.  They  are  reaping  the  fruits  of  their  negligence,  in  the  care- 
lessness and  protaneuess  of  multitudes  of  their  youth.  These,  though  dedi- 
cated to  God  iu  baptism,  have  been  suffered  to  wander  at  large  with  no  suit- 
able restraint  exercised  over  them.  On  whom  then  must  the  blame  chiefly 
descend?  We  shudder  at  the  truth.  We  hope,  however,  that  the  future  will 
exhibit  a  different  picture.  Present  exertions  promise  such  an  issue.  We 
leave  the  subject  with  God,  commending  it  to  his  blessing." — Minutes, 
1811,  p.  484. 

(6)  "Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  recommend,  and  they  do 
hereby  recommend  to  the  Pastors  and  Sessions  of  the  diflFerent  Churches 
under  their  care,  to  assemble  as  often  as  they  may  deem  necessary  during  the 
year,  the  baptized  children,  with  their  parents,  to  recommend  said  children 
to  God  in  prayer,  explain  to  them  the  nature  and  obligations  of  their  bap- 
tism, and  the  relation  they  sustain  to  the  Church." — Minutes,  1818,  p.  691. 

§  227.  Neglect  in  consequence  of  Sahhath-school  facilities. 

"But  few  of  the  Presbyteries  have  reported  specifically  on  the  subject  of 
the  treatment  of  the  baptized  children  of  the  Church.  This  fact  is  both 
painful  and  alarming.  The  institution  of  Sabbath-schools  is  doubtless  one 
of  the  most  important  means  of  moral  influence  which  God  is  employing  to 
destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  subject  the  family  of  man  to  the  obedi- 
ence and  authority  of  Christ;  but  is  it  not  to  be  feared,  that  family  instruction 
and  the  instruction  of  the  baptized  children  of  the  Church  as  persons  hold- 
ing relations,  and  lying  under  responsibilities,  which  do  not  appertain  to 
unbaptized  children,  have  given  place  to  a  considerable  extent,  to  the  exer- 
cises of  the  Sabbath-school,  or  have  been  wholly  abandoned?  The  attention 
of  the  Ministers  and  Elders  of  our  Churches  is  invited  to  this  subject;  that 
a  course  of  instruction  may  be  instituted  for  our  baptized  children,  appro- 
priate to  the  nature  of  that  relation  which  they  hold,  by  divine  covenant 
arrangement,  to  the  visible  kingdom  of  Christ." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  43.  See 
1830,  p.  29. 

§  228. 

"In  consequence  of  but  little  being  said  [in  the  Presbyterial  narratives] 
in  regard  to  the  care  and  instruction  of  the  baptized  children  of  the  Church, 
the  Assembly  feara  that  there  is  a  lamentable  deficiency  in  this  respect. 


Part  III.]  TRAINING   THE   YOUNG.  189 

Let  us,  as  we  value  that  covenant  whicli  makes  the  promise  not  only  ours 
but  our  children's,  take  a  more  diligent  oversight  of  these  youthful  mem- 
bers of  our  Church.  Too  often  are  they  left  to  wander  unrestrained  and 
forgotten  in  the  paths  of  error  and  of  sin.  Can  the  Church  answer  to  her 
great  Head,  if  this  neglect  of  duty  be  not  mourned  over  and  corrected?" — 
Minutes,  1835,  p.  37. 

§  229.    Children  should  he  trained  in  the  faith  of  our  fathers. 

"We  have  two  suggestions  to  make  to  Christian  parents  on  this  general 
subject.  One  is,  that  they  cause  their  children  to  be  brought  up  in  the 
faith  of  their  fathers.  We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  our  youth  should  be 
prevented  from  following  out  their  honest  convictions  of  duty;  but  that  they 
should  be  dissuaded  from  uniting  with  other  denominations  from  mere 
caprice  or  childish  fancies.  We  consider  the  conduct  of  those  parents  who 
suffer  their  children  to  abandon  our  own  Church  without  any  adequate  rea- 
son, as  in  a  high  degree  reprehensible,  and  calculated  to  inflict  a  serious 
injury  both  on  the  Church  and  on  their  divided  households." — 3Iinutes, 
1840,  p.  310.  / 

§230. 

"It  is  evident  that  the  duty  of  indoctrinating  the  young  in  the  truths  of 
the  gospel,  as  set  forth  in  our  invaluable  standards,  is  much  more  deeply 
felt  than  in  former  years.  In  many  of  our  Churches  where  the  religious 
instructioi}  of  children  had  been  formerly  entrusted  entirely  to  the  Sabbath- 
school,  they  are  now  regularly  assembled  by  Ministers  and  Elders  for  the 
purpose  of  catechetical  instruction ;  and  in  many  families  there  has  been  a 
revival  of  the  ancient  and  honoured  practice  of  family  instruction,  on  every 
Sabbath-day,  in  the  formularies  of  our  Church.  Whenever  the  Church, 
fully  awake  to  her  duty  in  this  respect,  shall  sow  with  a  faithful  and 
unsparing  hand  the  seeds  of  religious  knowledge  in  the  minds  of  the  chil- 
dren committed  to  her  care,  we  cannot  doubt  that  God  will  reward  her  with 
an  abundant  harvest.  Let  every  child  be  taught,  upon  its  parents'  knees 
and  by  the  voices  that  it  most  loves,  that  form  of  sound  words  which  our 
Church  is  commissioned  to  teach;  and  in  the  family  and  the  Church,  as 
well  as  in  the  Sabbath-school,  let  the  mind  be  imbued,  by  line  upon  line 
and  precept  upon  precept,  with  the  truths  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  our 
Lord,  and  we  shall  find  in  the  early  conversion  of  multitudes  among  our 
youth,  and  in  their  steadfast  adherence  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  the 
rich  reward  of  our  labours.  The  General  Assembly  have,  this  year,  adopted 
and  sent  down  to  their  Churches  a  report  upon  this  subject,  prepared  by  a 
committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  by  the  Assembly  of  1839,  which  they 
hope  may  be  the  means  of  enlisting  still  more  largely  the  prayers  and  labours 
of  the  Church,  in  the  religious  education  of  her  youth." — Minutes,  1841, 
p.  452. 

§  231. 

^'Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  regard  Christian  training  at  all  periods  of 
youth,  and  by  all  practicable  methods,  especially  by  parents  at  home,  by 
teachers  in  institutions  of  learning,  and  by  Pastors  through  catechetical  and 
Bible-classes,  as  binding  upon  the  Church,  according  to  the  injunction, 
'Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,'  and  as  having  a  vital  connection 
with  the  increase  of  the  numbers  and  efficiency  of  the  ministry,  and  of  the 
stability  and  purity  of  the  Church." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  30. 

§  232.    Consecration  of  children  to  the  ministry. 
"  We  suggest  to  Christian  parents  the  important  duty  of  dedicating  their 
children  to  God,  and  especially  of  pleading  continually  with  the  Most  High, 


190  COMMON   ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

in  subordination  to  liis  holy  will,  to  sanctify  their  sons,  and  prepare  them 
for  the  sacred  miiiisti-y.  Our  feelings  have  been  deeply  enlisted  in  this 
subject  by  the  statements  laid  before  us  from  the  lioard  of  Education,  which 
show  that  the  number  of  our  candidates  for  the  ministry  is  decreasing.  We 
call  upon  all  the  pious  parents  in  our  communion  to  consider  this  affecting 
circumstance.  We  have  hundreds  of  vacant  Churches  in  our  connection ; 
several  millions  of  the  population  of  the  Union  are  believed  to  be  destitute 
of  the  stated  means  of  grace;  the  heathen  world,  spread  out  before  us  as 
one  vast  scene  of  crime,  and  cnielty,  and  woe,  appeals  to  us  with  an  un- 
yielding and  soul-piercing  importunity  to  send  them  relief.  And  yet  our 
candidates  for  the  ministry  are  fewer  now  than  they  have  been  for  five 
years.  Will  you  not  lay  this  to  heart?  Will  you  not  bring  your  sons,  and 
consecrate  them  anew  to  your  covenant  God  ?  Will  you  not  give  over  seek- 
ing for  them  the  transitory  honours  and  riches  of  the  world,  and  pray  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  if  it  seem  good  in  his  sight,  to  anoint  them  with  his 
Spirit  and  send  them  forth  into  his  harvest,  which  is  perishing  for  lack  of 
labourers?" — Minutes,  1840,  p.  310. 

Title  13. — Op  Catechizing. 
§  233.    Catechizing  enjoined. 

(a)  ''The  Synod  does  recommend  unanimously  to  all  our  Presbyteries 
*  *  *  *  particularly  that  each  Presbytery  do,  at  least  once  a  year,  examine 
into  the  manner  of  each  minister's  preaching  *  *  *  *  whether  he  do,  and 
how  he  doth  discharge  his  duty  toward  the  young  people  and  children  of 
his  Congregation,  in  a  way  of  catechizing  and  familiar  instruction.  *  *  *  * 

"  And  in  case  any  Minister  within  our  bounds  shall  be  found  defective  in 
any  of  the  above-mentioned  cases,  he  shall  be  subject  to  the  censure  of  the 
Presbytery,  and  if  he  refuse  subjection  to  such  censure,  the  Presbytery  are 
hereby  directed  to  represent  his  case  to  the  next  Synod.  And  the  Synod 
recommends  to  each  of  the  Ministers  within  our  bounds  to  be  as  much  in 
catechetical  doctrines  as  they  in  prudence  may  think  proper." — Minutes, 
1734,  p.  111. 

(h)  "  The  Synod  considering  the  education  of  youth,  and  their  being 
early  instructed  in  just  principles  of  religion,  as  one  of  the  most  useful 
means  of  promoting  the  influence  of  the  gospel  in  our  Churches, 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  every  Presbytery,  in  appointing  sup- 
plies to  their  vacant  Congregations,  to  take  order  that  every  vacant  Congre- 
gation within  their  limits  be  carefully  catechized  at  least  once  in  the  year,  in 
the  same  manner  as  is  required  by  the  order  of  our  Church,  in  Congregations 
supplied  with  regular  Pastors,  and  that  the  Ministers  appointed  to  this  duty 
be  required  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  to  render  an  account  of 
their  fidelity  in  this  respect,  and  that  the  Presbyteries  be  required  to  ren- 
der an  account  of  their  attention  to  this  order  at  the  next  meeting  of 
Synod."— Minutes,  1785,  p.  513. 

(c)  "  Resolved,  That  as  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  Catechisms 
of  this  Church  have  not  in  some  parts  of  our  Zion  received  that  measure  of 
attention  to  which  their  excellence  entitles  them,  it  be,  and  hereby  is  recom- 
mended to  Pastors,  Sessions,  heads  of  families,  superintendents  of  Sab- 
bath-schools, and  all  charged  with  the  education  of  youth,  in  our  connec- 
tion, to  give  these  admirable  summaries  of  Christian  truth  and  duty  a 
prominent  place  in  their  instructions  to  the  youth  and  children  under  their 
care." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  29.     See  also  1832,  p.  331,  and  Minutes  passim. 

§  234.   Pastoral  catechizing. 
"  The  Assembly  have  reason  to  fear  that  whilst  Sabbath-schools  are  doing 
good,  they  have  in  many  instances  superseded   eutirely  the  Catechetical 


Part  III.]  TRAINING   THE   YOUNG.  191 

instructions  of  the  Pastor.  This  is  to  be  regretted.  The  Pastors  of  our 
Churches  should,  and  if  their  influence  is  to  be  permanent,  must  come  into 
frec(uent  and  familiar  contact  with  the  young.  What,  moreover,  in  these 
days  of  excitement  and  innovation,  can  so  effectually  secure  the  mind  from 
the  influence  of  a  zeal  without  knowledge,  and  furnish  the  groundwork  of  a 
consistent  and  intelligent  piety,  as  a  faithful  inculcation  of  our  excellent 
Catechism?" — Minutes,  1885,  p.  37. 

Title  14. — Op  Sabbath-schools. 
§  235.  Recommendation. 
"  In  all  parts  of  the  Church  Sunday-schools  are  established,  and  there  is 
but  one  sentiment  respecting  them.  The  Assembly  consider  them  as  among 
the  most  useful  and  blessed  institutions  of  the  present  day.  They  have  a 
most  extensive  reforming  influence.  They  apply  a  powerful  corrective  to 
the  most  inaccessible  portions  of  the  community.  They  begin  moral  educa- 
tion at  the  right  time,  in  the  best  manner,  and  under  the  most  promising 
circumstances.  They  act  indirectly  but  most  powerfully  upon  teachers  and 
parents,  and  frequently  become  the  means  of  bringing  them  to  the  Church, 
and  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the  truth.  Sunday-schools  are  highly 
useful  everywhere ;  but  they  are  particularly  adapted  to  new  and  destitute 
regions  of  the  Church.  The  plan  is  simple,  and  easily  accomplished.  It 
requires  comparatively  little  knowledge  and  experience  to  conduct  them 
with  ability.  Very  much  good  has  been  accomplished  by  the  instrumen- 
tality of  young  ladies  and  gentlemen.  The  pleasing  scene  is  often  witnessed 
in  some  of  our  new  settlements,  of  large  meetings  of  children  on  the  Lord's 
day,  in  school-houses,  or  beneath  the  shade  of  the  original  forest." — Minutes, 
1824,  p.  226. 

§  236.    Only  auxiliaries  to  parental  instruction. 

"We  are  pleased  find  that  our  Sabbath-school  system  appears  to  be  gain- 
ing upon  the  confidence  of  the  Churches ;  but  we  caution  heads  of  families 
against  the  idea  that  their  duties  may  be  delegated  to  the  Sabbath-school 
teacher.  The  obligations  of  parents  are  intransferable.  The  teacher  is  not 
the  parents'  substitute,  but  his  helper ;  and  it  is  equally  the  duty  of  the 
parent  to  superintend  the  insti'uction  of  his  family,  as  though  there  were  no 
such  thing  as  a  Sabbath-school. 

"These  schools,  it  may  be  remarked  here,  should  always  be  under  the 
direction  of  the  Pastor  and  Session;  and  they  should  see  to  it,  that  our 
Catechisms  constitute  in  all  cases  a  part  of  the  regular  course  of  instruc- 
tion.— Minutes,  1840,  p.  310. 

"The  Assembly  would  earnestly  exhort  every  Christian  to  remember  that 
Sunday-school  and  other  teachers  are  but  auxiliaries  in  the  work  of  a  pious 
education ;  while  parents  are,  by  the  authority  of  God,  appointed  the  prin- 
cipals in  this  matter,  and  should  they  prove  delinquent  in  the  discharge  of 
their  solemn  trust,  they  cannot  reasonably  expect  the  divine  blessing  upon 
any  other  means  which  may  have  supplanted  them." — Minutes,  184C,  p.  221. 

§  237.  The  Catechism  in  Sabbath-schools. 
"The  reports  before  us  afford  gratifying  proof  of  a  growing  interest 
among  our  Churches  generally,  on  behalf  of  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
young  in  the  Sabbath-school.  The  Catechisms  of  the  Church,  which  at 
one  time  were  so  commonly  banished  or  omitted  from  the  ordinary  routine 
of  studies  pursued  in  this  institution,  have  been  to  a  great  extent  restored  to 
their  proper  position.  From  their  use  in  all  our  Sabbath-schools  we  hazard 
nothing  iu  predicting  that  the  piety  of  our  children  and  youth,  to  whom 


192  COMMON  ORDINANCES.  [Book  III. 

God  should  sanctify  the  knowledge  derived  from  their  study,  would  be  at 
once  enlightened,  syninietrical,  and  robust,  eminently  qualifying  the  rising 
generation  of  Christians  for  the  arduous  conflict  with  error  and  iniquity 
which  awaits  the  Church  at  no  distant  day.  We  should  hail  it  as  an  infal- 
lible omen  of  good  to  all  future  times,  if  even  to  a  greater  extent  than  can 
now  be  claimed,  these  incomparable  manuals  should  supersede  in  all  our 
methods  and  schemes  for  the  instruction  of  the  young,  the  numerous  works 
Buperficial  in  character,  avowedly,  and  sometimes  boastingly,  negative  in 
doctrine,  and  often  enervating  both  mentally  and  morally,  by  which  our 
Catechisms  themselves  have  been  supplanted." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  183. 

§  238.   Bible-classes. 

"Resolved,  1.  That  it  be  recommended,  and  it  is  hereby  recommended, 
earnestly  to  the  Ministers  and  Sessions  which  are  in  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly,  to  pay  especial  attention  to  this  subject,  and  provide 
without  delay  for  the  stated  instruction  of  the  children  and  youth  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures  within  their  respective  Congregations. 

"2.  That  although  the  particular  manner  of  instruction  and  recitation  in 
the  Congregations  ought  to  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  their  Ministers  and 
Sessions  respectively;  yet  as  some  degree  of  uniformity  is  desirable  in  a 
business  of  so  much  magnitude,  it  is  recommended  as  the  most  effectual 
means  of  promoting  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  in  all  our 
Churches,  classes  be  formed  of  the  youth  to  recite  the  Scriptures  in  regular 
order;  that  the  recitations,  if  convenient,  be  as  often  as  once  a  week,  and 
from  two  to  five  chapters  appointed  for  each  recitation;  that  the  youth  be 
examined  on, 

"1.  The  history  of  the  world,  but  more  especially  of  the  Church  of  God, 
and  of  the  heathen  nations  who  were  God's  agents  in  accomplishing  his 
purposes  towards  his  Church. 

"2.  Persons  noted  for  their  piety  or  ungodliness,  and  the  effects  of  their 
example  in  promoting  or  injuring  the  best  interests  of  mankind. 

''3.  Doctrines  and  precepts,  or  'what  man  is  to  believe  concerning  God, 
and  what  duty  God  requires  of  man.' 

"4.  Positive  ordinances,  or  the  directions  which  God  has  given  as  to  the 
way  in  which  he  is  to  be  worshipped  acceptably. 

'^5.  The  particular  features  of  character  of  which  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
given  notice,  both  in  wicked  and  good  persons;  in  the  last  particularly 
regarding  those  who  were  types  of  Christ,  and  in  what  the  typical  resem- 
blance consisted. 

"6.  The  gradual  increase  from  time  to  time  of  information  concerning; 
the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Scriptures;  noting  the  admirable  adaptation 
of  every  new  revelation  of  doctrine  to  the  increased  maturity  of  the  Church. 
The  nature  of  God's  law,  its  immutability,  as  constituting  an  everlasting  rule 
of  right  and  wrong,  the  full  and  perfect  illustration  of  its  precepts  given  by 
Christ. 

"  7.  The  change  which  God  has  made  from  time  to  time  in  the  positive 
ordinances,  together  with  the  reasons  of  that  change.  The  difference 
between  the  moral  law,  and  those  laws  which  are  positive. 

"8.  The  illustrations  of  the  divine  perfections  in  the  history,  biography, 
doctrines  and  precepts,  together  with  the  positive  ordinances  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

"9.  The  practical  lessons  to  regulate  our  conduct  in  the  various  relations 
of  life. 

''On  all  these  particulars  the  meaning  of  the  words  used  in  Scripture 
must  be  ascertained,  that  thus  we  may  understand  what  we  read. 


Part  III.]  THE  ORDINANCES  IN  VACANT  CHURCHES.  193 

"Resolved,  3.  That  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly  be 
directed  to  take  order  on  this  subject,  and  they  are  hereby  informed  that 
this  is  not  to  come  in  the  place  of  learning  the  Catechism  of  our  Church,  but 
to  be  added  to  it,  as  an  important  branch  of  religious  education," — 3IinuteSf 
1816,  p.  627. 

Title  15. — Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb. 
§  239. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  8,  viz.  'A  communi- 
cation from  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb/  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"It  appears  from  the  above  named  communication,  that  an  appropriation 
has  been  made  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  instruction  in 
this  institution  of  fifty  indigent  deaf  and  dumb  persons;  by  the  Legislature 
of  Maryland  for  twenty;  and  by  that  of  New  Jersey  for  twelve; — that  the 
proper  age  for  their  reception  is  from  ten  to  twenty-five  years;  and  that  not- 
withstanding this  liberal  provision,  many  through  ignorance  or  indiiference, 
neglect  to  avail  themselves  of  the  charitable  aid  thus  proffered  for  their 
children. 

"In  view  of  these  statements,  and  of  the  fact  that  similar  institutions 
have  been  established  in  diiferent  States,  and  similar  provision  made  for  the 
gratuitous  instruction  of  the  indigent  of  this  class  of  our  fellow-beings,  the 
Assembly  would  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  of  calling  the  attention 
of  the  public  in  general,  and  especially  of  JMinisters  of  the  gospel,  and  those 
parents  whose  children  may  need  the  instruction  of  such  schools,  to  this 
truly  benevolent  and  Christian  charity." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  381.  See  also, 
1828,  p.  258,  &c. 

Title  16. — The  Ordinances  in  Vacant  Churches. 
§  240.    Congregations  should  meet  for  social  devotion. 

(«)  "  In  consequence  of  an  overture  which  was  brought  in,  the  Synod 
earnestly  recommend  to  all  the  vacant  Congregations  under  their  care,  to 
meet  together  every  Lord's  day,  at  one  or  more  places,  for  the  purpose  of 
prayer  and  praise,  and  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,  together  with  the  works 
of  such  approved  divines  as  they  may  be  able  to  procure,  and  that  the  Elders 
be  the  persons  who  shall  pray,  and  select  the  portions  of  Scripture  and  other 
books,  to  be  read  by  any  proper  person  whom  they  may  appoint." — 31inutesj 
1786,  p.  526. 

(6)  The  Elders  to  be  interrogated  on  this  subject. 

"An  overture  to  inquire  whether  Ruling  Elders  representing  such  Con- 
gregations should  be  interrogated  concerning  the  observance  of  the  recom- 
mendations contained  in  Chapter  xxi.  of  the  Form  of  Government : 

"Answered  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  401. 

§241.   Pastoral  letter  to  frontier  Churches. 

"  As  our  aim  has  not  been  to  proselyte  from  other  communities  to  our 
denomination,  we  have  charged  our  missionaries  to  avoid  all  doubtful  dis- 
putations, to  abstain  from  unfriendly  censures  or  reflections  on  other  reli- 
gious persuasions,  and,  adhering  strictly  to  the  great  doctrines  of  our  holy 
religion,  which  influence  the  heart  and  life  in  the  ways  of  godliness,  to  fol- 
low after  the  things  that  make  for  peace  and  general  edification. 

"From  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  your  situation,  we  think  it  ovir  duty 
to  exhort  you  to  attend  particularly  to  the  catechetical  instruction  of  your 
children.     We  fear  there  is  a  sad  and  too  general  neglect  of  this  duty. 


194  THE   ORDINANCES   IN   VACANT   CHURCHES.       [Book  III. 

Dear  brethren,  we  wish  you  to  remember  that  the  neglect  of  this  duty  natu- 
rally leads  to  the  most  serious  and  awful  consequences.  Your  children  will 
grow  up  in  sad  ignorance  of  their  spiritual  and  everlasting  concerns;  this 
ignorance  will  prove  the  fruitful  parent  of  immorality  and  licentiousness; 
instead  of  knowing  Scripture  truth  from  their  childhood,  and  being  estab- 
lished therein,  they  will  lie  exposed  to  be  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried 
about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men,  and  cunning  craf- 
tiness whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive:  the  prospect  of  the  rising 
Churches,  and  growing  interests  of  religion  amongst  you  will  probably  be 
blasted;  and  we  cannot  help  but  call  to  your  view  the  awful  account  you 
must  give  to  God,  if  by  your  neglect  of  so  important  a  duty  you  should 
prove  the  occasion  of  so  much  mischief  to  your  dear  offspring,  and  endanger 
the  interests  of  our  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

<'The  profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  and  the  neglect  of  those  religious 
exercises  which  humanize  and  sanctify  the  heart,  we  are  apprehensive  may 
be  too  prevalent  among  you.  We  know  that,  from  your  peculiarly  destitute 
and  unsettled  circumstances,  you  cannot  spend  your  Sabbaths  as  many 
among  you  no  doubt  wish :  we  therefore  earnestly  recommend  to  you,  while 
in  your  present  circumstances,  to  form  small  societies,  in  which  you  may 
meet  every  Lord's  day,  for  the  purpose  of  social  prayer  and  praise,  reading 
the  Scriptures,  and  sermons  of  some  of  our  most  approved  and  pious 
divines.  Where  you  have  not  Elders  and  Deacons,  regularly  ordained,  who 
may  lead  your  worship,  we  think  you  ought  to  choose  from  among  yourselves 
those  whose  knowledge,  talents,  and  religious  deportment  are  most  conspicu- 
ous. By  this  method  your  social  attachments  will  be  cherished,  your  habits 
of  worship  improved,  and  you  will  be  gradually  ripening  for  the  full  estab- 
lishment of  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel. 

''We  hear  with  pain  that  you  are  peculiarly  exposed  to  visits  from  men 
unauthorized  by  the  Churches,  unsound  in  faith,  and  of  unholy  and  immoral 
lives,  who  call  themselves  preachers.  We  exhort  you  to  be  very  careful 
neither  to  admit  nor  encourage  preachers  with  whose  principles,  connections, 
and  characters  you  are  unacquainted." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  91. 

§  242.    Control  of  vacant  puJjnts. 

[That  vacant  pulpits  are  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  Church 
belongs,  see  Book  II.  §  93,  IV.] 


PART    lY. 

REVIVALS. 


Title  1. — Testimony  to  the  Revival  of  1801-1804. 

§  243. 
"In  many  of  the  southern  and  western  Presbyteries,  revivals  more 
extensive,  and  of  a  more  extraordinaiy  nature,  have  taken  place,  "While 
many  within  the  bounds  of  those  Presbyteries  have  been,  as  is  hoped,  effec- 
tually called,  without  any  exercises  other  than  those  which,  have  generally 
attended  the  progress  of  vital  piety,  there  have  been  multitudes  of  instances 
in  which  great  bodily  agitations,  and  other  circumstances  out  of  the  usual 
course  of  religious  exercise,  have  attended  the  work.  As  these  extraordi- 
nary appearances  have  been  before  announced  to  the  Assembly,  as  the  know- 
ledge of  them  is  generally  diffused  throughout  the  American  Churches,  it  is 
not  judged  necessary  to  enter  into  minute  details  on  the  subject.  The 
Assembly  would  only  observe,  that  although  they  forbear  to  express  any 
opinion  as  to  the  origin  and  nature  of  some  of  those  circumstances  which 
have  attended  the  southern  and  western  revivals,  and  which  have  attracted 
so  much  of  the  attention  of  the  religious  world,  yet  they  are  constrained  to 
acknowledge  with  thankfulness,  that  the  last  year,  while  it  presented  a  con- 
tinuance and  great  extension  of  this  extraordinary  work,  furnished  also 
increasing  evidence  that  it  is  indeed  the  work  of  God,  for  which  /the  friends 
of  piety  are  bound  to  praise  his  holy  name." — Minutes,  1803,  p.  274. 

§  244. 

"  The  Assembly,  moreover,  have  the  unspeakable  satisfaction  to  announce 
that  the  extraordinary  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit  have,  since  the  last 
year,  been  spread  over  new  and  very  extensive  countries  still  farther  to  the 
South  and  West.  To  the  North-west  and  North,  from  the  Ohio  river  to  the 
lakes,  a  vast  region  which  a  few  years  ago  was  an  uninhabited  wilderness, 
new  Churches  are  forming  with  astonishing  rapidity,  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
seems  to  be  remarkably  poured  out,  and  to  accompany  the  word  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel  with  the  most  solemn  and  affecting  impressions. 

"The  same  spirit  appears  to  prevail  through  a  large  portion  of  the  Synod 
of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  the  Synod  of  Albany.  Its  effects, 
though  more  silent,  seem  to  be  not  less  deep,  or  consoling  to  the  friends  of 
true  religion.  Sinners  are  convinced,  and  sincere  believers  comforted  and 
established  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel.  Trophies  are  continually 
raised  to  the  grace  of  the  Redeemer,  and  numbers  are  almost  daily  added  to 
the  Church,  of  such,  we  trust,  as  shall  be  saved.  In  the  Churches  in  which 
these  extraordinary  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit  are  not  so  conspicuous, 
the  power,  and  the  salutary  effects  of  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  seem, 
notwithstanding,  to  be  visibly  progressing.  That  inattention  to  the  things 
of  religion;  that  neglect  of  its  institutions;   that  tendency  to  iutidelity,  or 


196  TESTIMONY   REGARDIXa  [Book  III. 

to  skepticism  in  principle,  and  to  dissoluteness  of  manners,  •which,  a  few 
years  since,  the  truly  pious  had  so  much  reason  to  deplore,  are  in  most 
places  evidently  arrested,  and  the  tide  of  public  sentiment  is  happily 
begun  to  flow  in  a  contrary  direction.  Places  of  divine  worship  are  in 
general  more  frequented;  the  institutions  of  religion  are  held  in  higher 
honour,  and  attended  with  greater  solemnity  and  apparent  devotion." — 
Minutes,  1804,  p.  308. 

Title  2. — Disorders  in  that  KE^avAL. 

§245. 

"With  not  less  regret  have  we  heard  of  certain  extravagancies  in  the 
exercises  and  agitations  of  many  persons,  who  in  this  work,  otherwise  so 
desirable,  have  once  been  the  subjects  of  strong  religious  impressions. 
That  the  sudden  blaze  of  divine  truth  upon  a  mind  hitherto  covered  with  thick 
darkness;  that  a  deep  conviction  of  guilt  and  sense  of  the  wrath  of  God 
against  an  ofiendiug  worm  of  the  dust,  especially  when  these  apprehensions 
are  raised  to  the  highest  pitch  by  the  power  of  sympathy,  and  the  panic 
excited  by  the  emotions  of  a  vast  assembly,  should  often  produce  strong 
bodily  aft'ections,  is  not  surprising  to  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
human  economy;  that  the  ti'ansports  of  a  mind  suddenly  brought  out  of 
darkness  into  God's  marvellous  light,  suddenly  raised  from  the  borders  of 
despair  to  the  ecstacies"of  religious  hope  and  joy,  should  be  accompanied 
with  a  similar  influence  on  the  nervous  system,  is  not  incredible. 

"  The  preceding  are  not  pretended  to  be  assigned  as  the  certain  or  the 
sole  reasons  of  many  extraordinary  appearances  in  some  of  our  southern 
Churches.  It  is  sufilcient  to  answer  the  views  of  the  Assembly,  to  show 
that  causes  are  adequate  to  the  production  of  the  highest  effects  of  this  kind, 
in  order  to  preserve  them  from  the  unjust  imputation  of  a  fanatical,  or 
demoniacal  influence.  But  when  bodily  agitations,  which  in  most  instances 
disturb  the  serious,  sober,  and  rational  exercises  of  the  mind,  instead  of 
being  soothed  and  restrained  within  the  bounds  of  decency,  are  encouraged 
and  excited  by  those  who  lead  the  worship,  and  some  who  join  in  it,  they 
very  easily  run  into  excesses  highly  reproachful  to  religion.  When  they  go 
into  antic  gestures,  ridiculous  contortions,  to  movements  of  apparent  levity, 
and  contrary  to  propriety  and  religious  order,  and  which  resemble  the  effects 
of  delirium,  or  of  a  spirit  very  different  from  the  spirit  of  the  gospel;  these 
are  the  evidences  of  a  wild  enthusiasm,  whose  extravagancies  are  infinitely 
various  and  unaccountable.  When  each  person  has  a  psalm,  a  prayer,  a 
triumphant  exultation,  in  the  public  worship  of  God,  is  not  this  the  very 
evil  which  once  took  place  in  the  Corinthian  Church,  which  the  apostle 
severely  reproves;  saying,  'God  is  not  a  God  of  confusion,  but  of  order?' 
In  genuine  and  rational  religion,  however  high  and  fervent  maybe  its  aff"ec- 
tions,  '  the  spirits  of  the  prophets  are  subject  to  the  prophets.'  And  if  so, 
surely  this  power  is  still  more  necessary  for  the  sake  of  order,  in  every  ordi- 
nary Christian. 

"  We  strongly  bear  our  testimony  against  those  persons  who  pretend  to 
immediate  impulses  and  retelations  from  heaven;  those  divine  communica- 
tions which  were  given  only  to  the  prophets  and  apostles,  who  were  appoint- 
ed by  God  to  reveal  to  mankind  the  way  of  eternal  life.  AVhen  nien  pre- 
sume that  the  Holy  Spirit,  contrary  to  the  established  order  of  providence, 
interferes  by  particular  impulse  to  direct  them  in  all  the  common  affairs  of 
life;  when  they  deem  themselves  to  be  impelled  by  him  to  particular  acts,  or 
particular  religious  exercises,  contrary  to  the  established  order  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  obvious  duties  of  the  moment;  when  finally,  they  pretend  to  mirac- 


Part  IV.]  THE  REVIVAL  OF  1801-1804.  197 

ulous  powers  or  prophetic  influences,  and  the  foretelling  of  future  events,  all 
these  are  evidences  of  a  wild  enthusiastic  spirit,  and  tend  eventually  to 
destroy  the  authority  of  the  word  of  God,  as  the  sole  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice. Ecclesiastical  history  furnishes  us  with  many  examples  of  such 
enthusiastic  impulses  following  great  revivals  of  religion,  which  have  ever 
been  strongly  and  uniformly  condemned  by  the  voice  of  the  whole  Church, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  French  prophets,  the  fanatics  of  Munster,  and  we  may 
add,  the  fanatical  Jews  who  sprung  up  in  such  numbers,  and  persevered 
with  such  obstinacy,  even  while  the  disasters  of  their  city  and  their  temple 
were  daily  refuting  their  predictions.  And  it  will  be  a  subject  of  sincere 
lamentation  to  us  if  any  Ministers  in  our  communion  should  unhappily  be 
found  to  encourage  such  great  evils.  But  we  hope  better  things  of  you, 
though  we  thus  speak. 

'<  l)ear  brethren,  and  fellow  labourers  in  the  gospel  of  our  common  Lord, 
study  to  prevent  excesses  so  dishonourable,  and  contrary  to  the  beautiful 
order  of  the  Chui'ch  of  Christ,  or  zealously  endeavour  to  repress  them 
wherever  they  begin  to  appear.  In  a  great  and  general  inflammation  of  the 
human  mind,  we  ought  not  to  be  astonished  if  these  fervours,  operating 
sometimes  on  weakness,  sometimes  on  an  enthusiastic  temperament,  should 
impel  a  few  men  to  very  considerable  errors  and  excesses.  Such  have  hap- 
pened in  every  revival  of  religion,  and  in  even  every  great  political  commo- 
tion ;  and  such  especially  happened  in  various  instances  in  the  memorable 
and  glorious  Reformation  of  the  Christian  Church,  from  the  spiritual  thral- 
dom and  the  errors  of  popery.  By  common  concert  and  counsel  endeavour 
to  restrain  every  irregularity  in  the  worship  of  God,  at  its  very  commence- 
ment. Disorders  of  an  enthusiastic  spirit  may  often  be  checked  in  the 
beginning  with  facility,  which  when  suffered  to  progress,  come  at  length  to 
overleap  all  the  barriers  of  authority,  and  burst  through  all  the  bounds  of 
order  and  of  decency.  Solemnly  bear  in  mind,  brethren,  how  much  the 
great  Head  of  the  Church  has  committed  his  glory,  and  the  glory  of  his 
holy  cause  in  the  world,  to  your  activity  and  your  faithfulness,  to  your 
pnidence,  as  well  as  your  zeal." — 3Iiimtes,  1804,  p.  315. 

§246. 

"■  Whilst  there  is  satisfactory  evidence  fD  believe  that  there  has  been  a 
great  and  glorious  work  of  God  carried  on  throughout  a  widely  extended 
portion  of  country  to  the  South  and  West  within  the  bounds  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  that  many  souls  have  been  savingly  brought  home  to  God,  it 
is  proper  to  observe  that  in  general  this  has  been  accompanied  with  very 
uncommon  and  extraordinary  effects  on  the  body.  There  appears  also  reason 
to  believe  that  in  certain  places  some  instances  of  these  bodily  aflections  have 
been  of  such  a  nature,  and  proceeded  to  such  lengths  as  greatly  tended  to 
impede  the  progress  and  to  tarnish  the  glory  of  what,  in  its  first  stages,  was 
so  highly  promising.  That  God  has  all  the  powers  both  of  our  mortal  and 
immortal  part,  absolutely  under  his  direction  and  subject  to  his  control,  and 
can  influence  and  affect  them  according  to  his  sovereign  pleasure,  will  not 
be  doubted  by  any  who  acknowledge  him  as  the  framer  of  our  bodies,  and 
the  Father  of  our  spirits;  and  that  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being. 

"  Experience  and  the  very  reason  and  nature  of  things,  also  manifest  that 
human  nature  may  be  deeply  affected,  and  even  overpowered  by  particular 
views  and  impressions  of  spiritual  and  divine  things.  But  it  is  equally  mani- 
fest that  these  effects  may  be,  in  a  considerable  degree,  produced  by  natural 
causes,  or  by  the  agency  of  spiritual  and  subordinate  beings.     Satan  may 


198  REVIVAL  OF  1801-1804.  [Book  III. 

transform  himself  now,  as  well  as  formerly,  into  an  angel  of  light.  It  is 
enjoined  upon  iis  not  to  believe  every  spirit,  but  to  try  the  spirits  whether 
they  be  of  God.  As  the  magicians  endeavoured  by  their  enchantments  to 
imitate  and  discredit  the  miracles  performed  by  Moses,  so  has  it  been  an 
artifice  of  Satan  in  eyery  period  of  the  Church,  to  endeavour  to  obstruct  and 
bring  a  reproach  upon  a  revival  of  religion,  by  counterfeiting  the  operations 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  exciting  those  who  were  concerned  in  such  revival, 
to  extravagant  and  disorderly  proceedings.  True  religion  is  a  most  rational 
and  scriptural  thing.  One  of  the  unhappy  circumstances  usually  attending 
a  revival  of  religion  is,  that  some  who  are  engaged  in  it  are  prone  to  con- 
sider all  its  concomitants,  and  everything  connected  with  it,  as  sacred. 
This  aflFords  the  adversaiy  an  opportunity  unsuspected,  of  sowing  tares 
among  the  wheat,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  the  approaching  harvest.  In 
times  of  the  revival  of  religion,  it  highly  concerns  us  carefully  to  guard 
against  grieving  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  provoking  him  to  suspend  or 
withdraw  his  gracious  influences,  either  by  resisting,  or  not  duly  improving 
his  operations,  or  by  yielding  to  the  suggestions  and  influences  of  Satan.  All 
religious  experience  is  to  be  brought  to  the  test  of  divine  truth.  To  the  law 
and  to  the  testimony,  if  it  be  not  conformable  to  these,  it  is  because  it  is 
spurious.  God  is  a  God  of  order  and  not  of  confusion;  and  whatever  tends  to 
destroy  the  comely  order  of  his  worship,  is  not  from  him,  for  he  is  consist- 
ent with  himself.  Whilst  then  the  General  Assembly  mourn  over  and 
lament  those  irregular  and  disorderly  proceedings  which  have  taken  place  iu 
some  parts,  and  which  have  tended  to  obscure  and  tarnish  the  glory  of  this 
good  work  of  God,  they  rejoice  that  in  general  they  appear  to  subside,  that 
the  minds  of  the  people  are  reverting  to  more  rational  and  spiritual  views 
and  exercises;  that  but  few  of  the  Ministers  in  their  connection  have  coun- 
tenanced or  encouraged  these  wild  extravagancies,  or  considered  any  bodily 
exercises  as  a  criterion  by  which  to  form  a  judgment  of  a  person's  character 
or  state,  but  have  formed  their  opinion  in  this  case  from  the  conformity  of 
their  views  and  exercises  to  the  word  of  God." — Minutes,  1805,  p.  334. 

§  247.  Uxjilanation  of  the  preceding  language. 

"  The  Assembly  answer  to  the  request  of  the  Presbytery  [of  Concord]  to 
explain  a  minute  of  the  Assembly  of  1804,  that  this  Assembly  deem  it  pre- 
suming to  explain  the  meaning  of  a  former  Assembly,  otherwise  than  their 
own  language  expresses,  nor  is  the  explanation  necessary.  This  Assembly's 
sentiments  on  the  subject,  are  expressly  given  in  the  detailed  account  of  the 
result  of  the  free  conversation  on  the  present  state  of  religion,  which  will 
appear  in  the  printed  extracts  of  this  year,  to  which  the  Assembly  would 
refer  the  Presbytery  of  Concord. 

''By  adverting  to  the  sentiments  therein  expressed,  the  Presbytery  will 
perceive  that  the  Assembly  devoutly  rejoice  in  the  late  glorious  revival;  that 
far  from  questioning  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  many  who  have  been 
the  subjects  of  unusual  bodily  afiections,  they  merely  wish  to  caution  their 
brethren  against  giving  countenance  and  encouragement  to  those  extravagant 
and  indecent  outi'ages  against  (/hristian  decorum,  which  tend  to  interrupt  the 
devotion  of  worshipping  assemblies,  and  to  mar  that  beautiful  order  which 
should  always  be  maintained  in  the  house  of  God.  Surely  God  is  not  the 
God  of  confusion,  but  of  order;  and  in  the  genuine  efi'usions  of  the  most 
fervent  piety,  'the  spirits  of  the  prophets  are  subject  to  the  prophets.'" — 
Minutes,  1806,  p.  364. 


Part  IV.]  DANGERS   OF   REVIVALS.  199 


Title  3. — Dangers  to  be  avoided  in  Revivals. 

§  248.    The   General  Assemhli/  of  the  Presbyterian    Church  in  the    United 
States,  to  the  Ministers  and  Churches  under  their  care: 

(a)  "  Dearly  Beloved  Brethren  : — You  will  perceive  by  the  narrative  of 
the  state  of  religion  which  we  this  year  publish,  that  the  God  of  all  grace 
has  been  pleased,  during  the  last  year,  to  pour  out  more  copiously  his 
blessed  Spirit  on  the  people  of  our  denomination  in  this  land,  than  perhaps 
in  any  period  of  e((ual  extent  in  former  times.  For  this  signal  and  inef- 
fable benefit,  we  desire  that  you  may  unite  with  us  in  ascribing  humble  and 
fervent  thanksgivings  to  Him  from  whom  we  have  received  this  transcendent 
mercy,  and  '  from  whom  cometh  down  every  good  and  every  perfect  gift.' 

(h)  "  And  suffer  us  to  remind  you,  dear  brethren,  that  one  of  the  best 
and  most  acceptable  expressions  of  gratitude  to  God  for  the  unspeakable 
favour  we  have  received,  is  to  be  exceedingly  careful  not  to  abuse  it.  It  is 
of  more  importance  than  we  know  how  to  express,  that  we  should,  together 
with  much  prayer  for  direction  and  aid  from  on  high,  use  all  our  influence 
and  put  forth  our  best  eff'orts,  to  preserve  the  glorious  revivals  of  religion 
with  which  we  have  been  blessed,  from  all  that  may  mar  their  beauty  and 
prevent  their  extension;  and  where  anything  of  an  injurious  tendency  has 
already  taken  place,  that  we  should  labour  to  correct  the  evil  as  speedily  as 
possible. 

(c)  "  Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  we  would  willingly  say  any- 
thing that  might  encourage  or  countenance  those  who  condemn  all  revivals 
of  religion — condemn  them  because  they  may  be  attended  by  some  errors 
and  irregularities,  which,  it  is  readily  admitted,  ought  to  be  deplored  and 
avoided.  Far,  very  far,  be  this  from  us.  Those  who  cherish  an  aversion 
to  revivals  of  religion,  because  they  are  accompanied  by  imperfections  and 
are  liable  to  abuse,  should  recollect  that  there  is  nothing  with  which  the 
human  powers  and  passions  have  to  do,  whatever  be  its  general  excellence, 
that  is  not  open  to  the  same  objection.  In  revivals  of  religion  in  which 
there  are  confessedly  some  things  to  be  lamented — as  there  was  in  the  abuse 
of  the  miraculous  gift  of  tongues  in  the  primitive  Church  of  Corinth — there 
may  still  be  numerous  and  sound  conversions  of  sinners  unto  God :  and 
'what  is  the  chaff"  to  the  wheat,  saith  the  Lord?'  There  remain  in  our  land, 
and  in  our  beloved  Church,  many  Congregations  in  which  formality  and  a 
Laodiocean  spirit  are  mournfully  prevalent.  Little  reason  have  they  to  feli- 
citate themselves,  that  they  are  free  from  all  the  extravagancies  which  they 
censure  in  others,  and  which  it  is  not  denied  do  exist  in  certain  places,  and  to 
a  limited  extent.  Let  them  rather  remember,  that  a  Congregation  in  which 
many  souls  are  born  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  although  some  false  preten- 
sions to  piety  and  some  censurable  practices  appear,  is  on  the  whole,  in  a 
state  infinitely  preferable  to  that  of  a  Congregation  in  which  hundreds  are 
going  quietly  down  to  eternal  perdition,  and  in  which  the  wise  virgins  are 
slumbering  and  sleeping  with  the  foolish.  Let  Congregations  of  this  latter 
description  be  exhorted  to  arouse  themselves  from  their  spiritual  lethargy, 
make  use  of  the  means  and  efforts  which  God  is  wont  to  bless,  and  cry 
mightily  to  him,  that  they  may  partake  in  those  gracious  visitations  with 
which  others  are  so  remarkably  blessed  and  distinguished — partake  of  them, 
purified  from  all  that  is  justly  offensive  either  to  God  or  man. 

"  Having  thus  endeavoured  to  guard  against  a  misconstruction  of  our  pur- 
pose, we  desire,  with  parental  solicitude  and  affection,  to  caution  and  warn 
the  Ministers  and  Churches  of  our  communion,  against  some  of  the  most 
common  errors  and  improprieties  to  which  revivals  of  religion  are  exposed, 


200  PASTORAL   LETTER   ON   REVIVALS.  [Book  III. 

and  from  which,  we  grieve  to  say,  some  of  the  Congregations  within  our 
bounds  cannot  plead  an  entire  exemption. 

"1.  In  a  time  of  the  revival  of  religion  let  it  be  remembered,  that  while 
all  proper  means  are  to  be  used  to  deepen  and  cherish  serious  impressions, 
and  to  awaken  and  alarm  the  sinfully  secure,  (ui  undue  excitement  should  he 
carefully  avoided.  Here  is  the  fruitful  source  to  which  may  be  traced  near- 
ly all  the  abuses  which  so  often  mar,  and  deform,  and  bring  into  disrepute 
the  work  of  (lod,  when  sinners  are  awakened  in  clusters,  and  led  to  inf[uire 
with  great  anxiety  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  If,  instead  of  distin- 
guishing between  deep,  and  genuine,  and  salutary  convictions  of  sin,  and 
the  mere  eifusions  of  animal  passions  and  nervous  sensibility,  the  latter  are 
encouraged  and  stimulated,  as  leading  to  a  desirable  issue,  the  most  baneful 
effects  are  likely  to  ensue — effects,  multiform  in  appearance  and  character, 
but  in  all,  deplorable  and  pernicious.     Therefore, 

'*2.  We  advise,  that  with  tenderness,  but  yet  with  unshaken  firmness,  all 
hodili/  agitations  and  noisy  outcries,  especially  in  worshipping  assemblies, 
be  discouraged,  and  as  far  as  possible  prevented.  Inculcate  the  truth  that 
every  appearance  of  this  description  is  a  weakness,  or  an  error,  which,  so  far 
from  promising  anything  beneficial,  is  likely  to  lead  to  the  most  disastrous 
results — so  far  from  deserving  to  be  cherished  and  applauded,  is  to  be  dis- 
countenanced and  deprecated,  and  as  speedily  as  may  consist  with  Christian 
kindness  and  forbearance,  entirely  suppressed. 

"3.  Guard  against  every  species  of  indecorum  in  social  voi-shij) — such, 
particularly,  as  is  manifestly  apparent,  when  several  individuals  pray,  or 
exhort,  or  converse,  at  the  same  time.  This  is  an  irregularity  pointedly 
rebuked  and  forbidden  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  his 
first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians;  and  his  summary  and  repeated  injunction  is, 
'Let  all  things  be  done  to  edifying — Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in 
order."  But  besides  the  particular  irregularity  specified,  we  would  dissuade 
our  brethren  in  the  ministry  and  the  eldership  of  our  Churches  from  intro- 
ducing or  countenancing  any  practice  in  their  public  religious  assemblies 
which  savours  of  ostentation,  or  which  may  have  a  tendency  to  ulterior  evils 
that  they  would  themselves  deprecate  and  seek  to  avoid.  We  designedly 
leave  this  as  a  general  but  important  monition ;  the  application  of  which  to 
particular  instances  or  cases,  our  brethren  must  judge  of  for  themselves. 

"4.  There  may  be,  in  a  revival  of  religion,  an  excess  of  social  meetings  and 
exercises.  That  such  meetings  should  be  frequent  in  the  time  of  a  revival, 
we  not  only  admit,  but  recommend.  Yet  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  that 
they  may  be  carried  to  a  hurtful  extreme;  and  such  an  extreme  they  cer- 
tainly reach,  when  they  encroach,  to  any  considerable  extent,  on  the  ordi- 
nary duties  of  life;  or  when  they  leave  very  little  time  to  the  thoughtful 
and  inquiring  for  private  meditation,  self-reflection,  and  examination,  secret 
prayer,  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  other  books  of  instruction,  direc- 
tion, and  serious  exhortation,  which,  as  they  have  opportunity,  they  ought 
to  peruse. 

'■5.  Meetings  of  pious  women  hy  themselves,  for  conversation  and  prayer, 
whenever  they  can  conveniently  be  held,  we  entirely  approve.  But  let  not 
the  inspired  prohibitions  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  gentiles,  as  found  in 
his  epistles  to  the  Corinthians  and  to  Timothy,  be  violated.  To  teach  and 
exhort,  or  to  lead  in  prayer,  in  public  and  promiscuous  assemblies,  is  clearly 
forbidden  to  women  in  the  Holy  Oracles. 

"  6.  Let  not  the  settled,  order  of  Churches  be  disturbed.  Let  official  Elders 
bo  respected,  and  in  the  absence  of  Pastors,  or  other  authorized  Ministers  of 
the  gospel,  let  the  Elders,  or  Deacons,  or  other  Christians  of  standing  and 


Part  IV.]  DANGERS   OF   REVIVALS.    ^  201 

experience,  ratter  than  young  converts,  take  the  lead  in  the  social  exercises 
of  religion. 

"7.  Listen  to  no  self-sent  or  irregidor  preachers,  whatever  may  be  their 
pretensions  to  knowledge,  piety,  and  zeal 

"  8.  Let  no  doctrine,  inconsistent  with  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  explained 
and  summarily  taught  in  the  doctrinal  standards  of  our  Church,  be  pro- 
niulged  and  favoured  in  any  of  our  Churches.  That  the  word  of  God  con- 
tained in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  is  a  sacred  principle  which  we  steadfastly  maintain.  But  when 
almost  every  description  of  persons  who  profess  any  regard  to  Christianity, 
are  ready  to  declare  their  adherence  to  the  same  principle,  it  becomes  indis- 
pensable for  Christians  who  would  walk  together  in  the  peace,  and  order, 
and  comfort  of  the  gospel,  to  state  in  what  manner  they  understand  the 
great  truths  of  divine  revelation.  This  has  been  done  by  our  Church,  in 
our  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms;  and  he  who  teaches  any  doctrine 
plainly  and  palpably  inconsistent  with  the  evident  meaning  of  these  excel- 
lent formularies,  should  be  regarded  by  Presbyterians  as  an  errorist,  whom 
they  ought  not  to  encourage,  but  to  discountenance,  reject,  and  avoid. 

"9.  Let  not  apparent  converts  be  hurried  into  the  Church,  and  brought  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord,  without  a  careful  examination ;  nor,  ordinarily,  with- 
out a  suitable  period  of  probation,  by  which  the  reality  of  their  religion  may 
be  better  judged  of  than  it  can  be  by  any  sudden  indications,  however 
plausible. 

'^Nothing  is  more  directly  calculated  to  injure  ultimately  the  cause  of 
Grod  and  the  credit  of  our  holy  religion,  than  urging  or  j^ermitfing  indivi- 
duals to  make  a  puhlic  profession  of  religion,  as  soon  as  they  have  experi- 
enced some  serious  impressions,  and  flatter  themselves  that  they  have  been 
renewed  in  the  temper  of  their  minds.  All  experience  shows  that  such  per- 
sons often  and  speedily  dishonour  the  profession,  and  not  unfrequently  be- 
come open  apostates,  and  sometimes  avowed  infidels.  We  know  and  admit, 
that  after  all  possible  care  which  the  Churches  can  take,  instances  of  decep- 
tion will  occur;  for  it  is  the  prerogative  of  God  alone  to  search  the  heart. 
But  to  use  all  proper  means  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  Church,  and  save 
religion  from  reproach,  is  a  sacred  duty,  incumbent  on  all  Church  officers : 
and  it  is  a  duty  which,  when  faithfully  performed,  will,  to  a  great  extent, 
secure  its  object — the  Church  will  rarely  be  disgraced  by  self-deceived  hypo- 
crites, and  eventual  apostates.  As  well  might  men  pretend  that  no  care 
should  be  taken  to  preserve  their  health,  because  disease  cannot  always  and 
certainly  be  avoided,  as  that  no  care  should  be  taken  to  preserve  a  sound 
state  of  the  visible  Church,  because  its  members  and  its  Ministers  do  in 
some  instances,  and  in  despite  of  all  precaution,  become  profligates  and  a 
public  scandal.     Let  the  Church  do  its  duty,  and  leave  the  event  to  God. 

"10.  Finally — let  no  measures  for  the  jyromcjtion  of  religious  revivals  be 
adopted,  which  are  not  sanctioned  by  some  example,  or  precept,  or  fair  and 
sober  inference,  drawn  from  the  word  of  God.  This  is  a  safe  general  rule, 
applicable  to  numerous  particular  cases,  which  we  have  neither  time  nor 
inclination  to  specify.  Some  variety  of  opinion  will  exist,  and  may  lawful- 
ly and  properly  be  indulged,  in  regard  to  the  measures  which  are  best  calcu- 
lated to  produce  revivals,  and  to  conduct  them,  where  they  exist,  to  a  happy 
result.  But  we  earnestly  counsel,  that  for  every  measure  contemplated,  a 
warrant  be  carefully  and  impartially  sought  in  God's  unerring  word.  If 
such  a  warrant  can  be  fairly  made  out,  let  the  measure  be  adopted;  but 
otherwise,  let  it  be  promptly  abandoned;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
Bible  contains  not  only  a  safe,  but  a  complete  rule  of  duty. 

{d)  "Thus,  beloved  brethren,  we  have  raised  our  warning  voice,  to  cautiou 
26 


202  PASTORAL   LETTER   ON   REVIVALS.  [Book  III. 

you  ajjainst  certain  things,  by  which  those  displays  of  God's  special  grace 
which  wc  denominate  revivals  o/  rcliijion,  may  be  clouded  and  counteracted  j 
and  the  incalculable  benefits  which  might  otherwise  be  derived  from  them, 
may  be  finally  and  irretrievably  lost.  Let  us  receive  instruction  from  past 
times — let  us  for  a  moment  turn  away  our  attention  from  all  that  is  now 
passing  in  our  country,  to  what  was  witnessed  in  the  days  of  the  celebrated 
evangelist  Whitefield,  and  at  a  still  later  period,  in  the  southwestern  parts  of 
our  land. 

(e)  "  In  both  these  instances,  there  was  certainly  a  most  powerful  and 
promising  religious  awakening;  and  for  a  time  the  happiest  efi'ects  were 
experienced.  Numerous  conversions  of  a  solid  and  lasting  character  took 
place,  and  many  and  most  desirable  additions  were  made  to  the  Church  of 
Christ.  But  through  the  subtilty  of  Satan,  and  the  inflamed  and  misguided 
passions  of  men,  doctrines  were  at  length  taught,  and  measures  adopted — 
"with  a  view,  as  it  was  loudly  proclaimed,  to  promote  and  extend  the  revivals 
— which  was  speedily  followed  by  the  most  disastrous  consequences.  The 
Holy  Spirit  was  grieved  away;  excesses  which  shocked  all  sober  minds  suc- 
ceeded; every  form  of  fanaticism  and  religious  error  appeared;  soon  the 
passions  which  had  been  raised  to  their  highest  tone,  subsided  into  apathy, 
and  carelessness  in  regard  to  all  religion ;  a  season  of  the  most  lamentable 
spiritual  declension  and  deadness  followed;  infidels  multiplied,  and  infidelity 
proclaimed  its  triumphs ;  revivals  of  religion  were  reproached  and  ridiculed, 
and  a  deep  prejudice  against  them  was  excited  and  fostered,  which  in  some 
places  and  in  many  minds  has  not  yet  been  removed. 

(y)  "  It  is,  dear  brethren,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  evils  as  these, 
that  with  great  solicitude  for  your  welfare,  we  entreat  you  to  be  on  your 
guard.  Think  not  that  vigilance,  caution,  and  prayer,  in  relation  to  the 
abuse  of  revivals,  is  superfluous.  Hear,  on  this  subject,  the  eminent  and 
justly  venerated  President  Edwards.  He  remarks,  that  in  a  time  of  revival, 
the  chief  exertions  of  the  great  adversary  will  be  likely  to  be  made  with  the 
friends  and  promoters  of  the  work,  to  drive  them  into  such  excesses  and 
extravagances  as  shall  I'uin  its  credit,  and  ultimately  bring  all  religion  into 
disgrace.  And  in  this  his  success  will  be  rendered  the  more  probable,  if  he 
can  first  persuade  such  persons  that  they  are  in  no  danger  on  that  side.  It 
was,  'while  men  slept,'  that  the  enemy  came  and  'sowed  tares;'  not  while 
they  were  in  a  state  of  indifl'erence,  but  while  they  were  not  watching  against 
his  devices.  It  is  not  while  men  are  in  a  state  of  indifl'erence  that  the 
false  conversions,  represented  by  the  tares,  are  brought  in  ;  but  while  men 
are  asleep  in  a  far  difl'erent  sense — while  their  passions  are  in  such  a  state  of 
excitement  as  blinds  their  minds  to  the  danger.  Then  the  great  deceiver 
can  work  to  the  best  advantage,  both  in  promoting  false  conversions,  and  in 
leading  into  dangerous  extremes  those  who  are  zealous  promoters  of  the 
work. 

"  Such  is  the  monitory  language,  of  at  once  the  most  powerful  defender 
of  revivals  of  religion,  and  the  ablest  corrector  of  their  abuses,  which  our 
country  has  ever  seen.  Let  us  hear  and  regard  his  voice,  uttered  as  it  is  in 
concert  with  the  voices  of  men  the  most  distinguished  for  wisdom,  piety,  and 
prudence,  from  the  period  of  the  Protestant  Keformation  to  the  present  hour. 
Doing  thus,  and  looking  earnestly  to  our  covenant-keeping  God  to  crown  our 
endeavours  with  success,  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  hope,  that  revivals  of  reli- 
gicm  will  spread  throughout  our  whole  land,  and  that  their  heavenly  influ- 
ence and  lustre  will  contiTme  and  increase,  till  they  mingle  with  the  noon- 
tide splendour  of  the  millennial  day. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Assembly, 

June  1,  183^.  James  Hoge,  Moderator." 

—Minutes,  1832,  p.  346. 


Part  IV.]  MEANS   OP  PROMOTING   REVIVALS.  203 

Title  4. — Means  of  promoting  Revivals. 
§  249.  A  Pastoral  Letter. 

(a)  "Dear  hretJiren — With  pious  delight  your  fathers  have  often  told  you 
of  the  wonders  which  God  wrought  in  their  day,  when  he  poured  out  his 
spirit  on  Ministers  and  people.  Yea,  many  of  you  have  been  eye-witnesses 
of  his  majesty  and  grace,  in  his  visits  to  the  Churches.  You  can  remember 
the  time  when  well  authenticated  accounts  of  glorious  revivals  were  found  in 
almost  every  number  of  our  best  religious  journals.  It  has  caused  deep 
.sorrow  to  lively  Christians,  that  for  several  years  past  comparatively  few 
extensive  and  powerful  revivals  of  religion  have  been  reported  to  the 
Assembly.  With  gratitude  to  God,  we  acknowledge  that  he  has  not  utterly 
forsaken  us,  nor  left  us  to  an  entirely  fruitless  ministry  and  barren  ordi- 
nances; but  still  the  ways  of  Zion  have  mourned,  and  few  have  come  to  her 
solemn  feasts.  We  are  happy  to  say  that  for  a  few  months  past  tokens  for 
good  have  appeared  in  various  quarters.  Some  of  the  Presbyteries  report 
that  God  is  with  them  of  a  truth.  These  mercies,  so  rich  and  so  seasonable, 
have  turned  our  attention  with  renewed  hope  to  the  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises  of  God.  They  recall  to  our  mind  those  gracious  chidings 
of  our  Heavenly  Father — '  0  thou  that  art  named  the  house  of  Jacob,  is  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  straitened  ?  Are  these  his  doings  ?  Hast  thou  not  known, 
hast  thou  not  heard,  that  the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary  ?  He  giveth  power  to  the 
faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  he  increaseth  strength."  W^e  doubt 
not  that  these  and  similar  admonitions  of  God's  word,  together  with  some 
recent  revivals,  were  designed  to  rebuke  our  unbelief,  and  to  encourage  in 
us  the  hope  of  more  copious  blessings.  This  is  the  manner  of  God  with  his 
people,  as  may  be  seen  in  many  parts  of  Scripture.  Thus  he  said  to  the 
Jewish  Church,  '  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt;  open  thy  mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it.'  Thus,  too,  when 
by  examining  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah,  Daniel,  then  a  captive  in  Babylon, 
learned  that  God  had  purposes  of  mercy  to  his  people,  and  was  about  to 
deliver  them,  he  was  greatly  encouraged,  and  '  set  his  face  unto  the  Lord  God, 
to  seek  by  prayer  and  supplications,  with  fastings,  and  sackcloth  and  ashes.' 

(b)  "  In  like  manner,  we  live  in  a  time  when  there  is  much  to  deplore, 
and  yet  much  to  hope  for.  The  very  dispensation  under  which  we  live,  is 
by  inspired  men  called  '  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit.'  LTnder  it  the  Church 
may  well  pray  in  hope  for  blessed  effusions  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  by 
Christ  himself  called  '  the  promise  of  the  Father.'  Many  large  prophecies 
concerning  the  latter-day  glory  are  now  fulfilling,  and  others,  yet  more  ample, 
must  soon  be  fulfilled.  After  a  long  period  of  coldness,  a  renewed 
warmth  of  love  and  zeal,  and  activity,  has  been  granted  to  some.  We 
Lope  it  will  soon  be  extended  to  many.  For  God  has  said,  *  I  will 
assemble  her  that  halteth,  and  I  will  gather  her  that  is  driven  out,  and  her 
that  I  have  afflicted.'  It  was  specially  to  the  gentile  Church  that  God  said, 
*Thy  Maker  is  thy  husband;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name;  and  thy  Re- 
deemer the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken  thee; 
but  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee.  In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  my  face 
from  thee  for  a  moment;  but  with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have  mercy 
on  thee.'     In  view  of  these  things  we  now  address  you. 

(cO  '*  Yovi  will  not  misunderstand  us  as  exhorting  you  to  do  anything  by 
which  a  spirit  of  fanaticism  should  spread  among  us.  Nothing  is  further 
from  our  wishes.  A  wild  enthusiasm,  just  so  far  as  it  prevails,  will  mar  or 
ruin  the  interests  of  vital  piety.     It  begets  the  very  worst  state  of  things. 


204  PASTORAL   LETTER   ON   REVIVALS.  [Book  III. 

It  finally  induces  skepticism,  laxity  of  morals,  a  forsaking  of  the  house  of 
God,  and  general  irreligion.  We  tlierefore  hope  that  you  will  do  and  seek 
nothing  inconsistent  with  the  sobriety  of  the  gospel,  the  decorum  of  public 
worship,  and  the  gravity  and  gentleness  which  the  word  of  God  everywhere 
enjoins.  We  seek  to  promote,  not  confusion,  but  order;  not  blind  and 
bitter,  but  wise  and  benevolent  zeal.  A  pure  revival  will  always  be  marked 
by  '  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above,  which  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gen- 
tle, and  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  par- 
tiality, and  without  hypocrisy.'  '  The  fniit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in 
peace  of  them  tlnit  make  peace.'  If  the  King,  most  Mighty,  shall  '  ride 
prosperously'  in  the  earth,  it  will  be  *  because  of  truth  and  meekness  and 
righteovisness.' 

(d)  "  Having  thus  guarded  against  misconstruction,  we  beseech  you, 
brethren,  to  remember  that  a  state  of  indifference  to  spiritual  things  is  a 
great  offence  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  is,  indeed,  the  very  core  of  depravity. 
Not  to  be  greatly  affected  by  divine  things  may  be  consistent  with  a  decent 
profession  of  religion  in  a  low  state  of  the  Church  •  but  it  is  a  great  sin 
against  God.  How  terrible  are  the  rebukes  of  the  Almighty  to  the  luke- 
warm. He  says  he  '  will  spew'  them  out.  He  says  :  '  Woe  to  them  that  are 
at  ease  in  Zion.'  All  persons,  who  promote  this  state  of  things  in  the 
Church,  are  very  offensive  to  God.  He  says :  '  Woe  unto  the  women  [cer- 
tain prophetesses]  that  sow  pillows  to  all  armholes.'  Deplorable  indeed  is 
the  state  of  any  people,  whose  watchmen  cry  peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no 
peace.  Deaduess,  negligence,  earthly  mindedness,  and  vanity  in  Ministers, 
Elders,  Deacons,  or  private  Christians,  are  extremely  abominable  to  God.  A 
supine  carelessness,  and  a  vain,  carnal,  worldly  spirit  in  Ministers  or  people, 
is  the  worst  madness  and  distraction  in  the  sight  of  God.  Sound,  sober 
discretion  is  always  to  be  sought,  but  worldly  policy  is  the  bane  of  godli- 
ness. Carnal  pi'udence  is  the  plague  of  any  Church,  into  which  it  gains 
admission.  When  there  is  none  that  '  stirreth  himself  up  to  take  hold  of 
God,'  he  hides  his  face,  and  consumes  us  because  of  our  iniquities.  Proper 
means  are  therefore  to  be  used,  and  in  a  proper  spirit  too;  especially, 

(e)  " Frai/er.  How  full  are  the  Scriptures  on  this  point!  'Call  upon  me 
in  the  day  of  trouble :  I  will  deliver  thee;  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me.'  '  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you.'  It  is  as  true  now  as  in  the  days  of  Elijah,  or  of  James, 
that '  the  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much.'  '  If  ye, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more 
shall  your  Heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him.' 
Here  '  the  Holy  Spirit,'  the  very  blessing  which  we  need  in  all  our  bounds, 
to  enlighten,  renew,  sanctify,  and  comfort,  is  sweetly  and  assuredly  promised 
to  them  that  ask.  Let  us  humbly,  fervently,  importunately,  and  in  full  assur- 
ance of  faith,  cry  to  God  for  so  great  a  mercy.  Yea,  let  us  all  thus  pray. 
The  apostles  devolved  the  actual  distribution  of  alms  on  deacons  chosen  for 
the  purpose,  but  they  no  more  thought  of  giving  up  prayer  than  preaching. 
Indeed,  the  very  reason  they  assign  for  wishing  to  be  relieved  from  serving 
tables  is,  that  they  may  '  give  themselves  continually  to  prayer,  and  to  the 
ministry  of  the  word.'  If  any  man  ceases  to  pray  fervently,  he  ought  to 
lay  aside  all  other  functions  in  the  Church  of  God,  for  he  is  wholly  unfit  for 
any  of  them.  We  do  not  deem  it  for  edification  to  designate  any  particular 
days  or  times  when  special  prayer  shall  be  made,  but  we  beseech  you  in  your 
ejaculations,  in  your  closets,  in  your  families,  in  your  social  meetings,  and 
in  your  large  assemblies,  to  make  unceasing  prayer  to  God  for  seasons  of 
merciful  visitation.  Should  any  times  of  special  prayer,  in  addition  to  those 
already  agreed  upon,  be  deemed  proper,  you  will  appoint  them  yourselves. 


Part  IV.]  MEANS   OF  PROMOTING  REVIVALS.  205 

But  we  entreat  you  not  to  permit  anything  to  prevent  your  daily  and  earnest 
cries  to  God  for  mercy  and  salvation  to  descend  on  all  our  Churches.     '  Ye, 
that  make  mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence,  and  give  him  no  rest,  till . 
he  establish,  and  till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth.'     To  prayer 
it  is  proper  to  add, 

(/)  "  Fasting.  When  our  Lord  was  yet  with  us,  he  said,  that  when  he 
should  be  taken  away,  his  disciples  should  fast.  Pious  men  in  every  age  have 
united  fasting  with  prayer  in  times  of  distress,  even  if  speedy  deliverance  was 
hoped  for.  So  did  Daniel  in  the  case  already  cited.  So  did  Ezra  and  all  the 
Jews  at  the  river  Ahava,  on  their  return  from  Babylon,  and  just  before  the 
great  revival  of  God's  work  among  them.  Like  prayer,  fasting  has  been  a 
part  of  every  system  of  religion  known  among  men.  Some  indeed,  even  in 
Christian  countries,  have  carried  it  to  the  length  of  superstition,  and  have 
thereby  impaired  their  health.  Others,  who  pretended  to  fast,  only  exchange 
one  kind  of  sumptuous  eating  for  another,  and  thus  mock  God.  We  com- 
mend not,  but  rather  reprove  all  such  practices.  Yet  we  fear  that  some 
among  us  seldom,  if  ever,  fast  at  all.  We  trust  this  matter  will  be  inquired 
into,  and  if  there  has  been  a  departure  from  divine  teachings,  there  will  be 
a  speedy  return  to  this  scriptural  duty.  The  nature  of  an  acceptable  fast, 
and  the  blessings  attending  it,  are  clearly  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  fifty-eighth  chapter  of  Isaiah.     To  prayer  and  fasting  add, 

{g)  '■^Alms-giving.  'The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you,  and  whensoever 
ye  will,  ye  may  do  them  good.'  If  they  need  not  shelter,  they  may  need 
fuel,  or  food,  or  clothing,  or  medicine.  If  they  have  all  these,  they  or  their 
children  may  need  instruction,  warning,  or  encouragement.  If  there  be  no 
poor  near  you,  think  of  those  who  are  perishing  elsewhere,  if  not  in  a  famine 
of  bread,  yet  in  a  famine  of  the  word  of  God,  whether  written  or  preached. 
Help  them.  Be  both  liberal  and  systematic  in  your  charities.  *  Remember 
the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive.'  It  was  when  the  prayers  of  Cornelius  were  united  with  his  alms 
that  they  came  up  for  a  memorial  before  God.  Separate  not  prayer  and 
fasting  from  alms-giving.  God  has  joined  them  together.  One  benefit  of 
fasting  is  that  it  affords  or  increases  the  means  of  giving  to  those  who  are 
more  needy  than  ourselves.  Beware  of  covetousness.  Beware  of  the  spirit 
of  hoarding.  Many,  in  our  day,  think  they  do  well,  if  they  give  even  one- 
tenth  of  their  increase.  But  the  ancient  Jewish  Church  gave  far  more  than 
that.  The  gospel  settles  nothing  as  to  the  proportion  to  be  given ;  but  it 
says:  'As  ye  abound  in  everything,  in  faith,  and  utterance,  and  knowledge, 
and  in  all  diligence,  and  in  your  love  to  us,  see  that  ye  abound  in  this  grace 
also.'  The  motives  it  urges  are  of  the  highest  kind.  Every  believer  must 
feel  their  force.  'Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye,  through  his  poverty, 
might  be  rich."  Surely  with  superior  privileges,  Christians  should  have  a 
higher  standard  of  liberality,  than  those  who  lived  under  a  darker  dispensa- 
tion. Yet  even  to  the  Jewish  Church  God  said :  '  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes 
into  the  storehouse,  that  there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house;  and  prove  me 
now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  the  windows  of 
heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to 
receive  it." 

"  Brethren,  will  you  not  'prove'  the  Lord  ?  You  shall  find  him  faithful. 
If  from  right  motives  you  practise  a  proper  liberality,  '  all  nations  shall  call 
you  blessed :  for  ye  shall  be  a  delightsome  land,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.' 
To  these  things  unite 

(h)  " Praise.  This  duty  is  much  insisted  on  in  Scripture.  If  we  had 
praised  God  more  for  favours  received,  we  should  have  received  more  favours 


206  PASTORAL   LETTER   ON  REVIVALS.  [Book  III. 

to  praise  God  for.  In  heaven  there  is  joy  over  one,  even  one  sinner  that 
repeiiteth.  It  should  be  so  on  earth.  '  Whoso  offereth  praise  gloriMeth  me.' 
Even  in  the  jail  at  Philippi,  Paul  and  Silas  to  prayer  added  the  *  sinking  of 
praises.'  It  has  long  been  observed  that  precious  revivals  are  not  only  accom- 
panied, but  preceded  also  by  an  increased  disposition  to  make  thankful  men- 
tion of  God's  mercies.  Thus,  the  time  that  elapsed  between  the  ascension  of 
our  Saviour  and  the  day  of  Pentecost,  was  in  some  respects  a  dark  season. 
Yet  blessings  had  been  received,  and  greater  ones  were  expected.  In  the 
first  chapter  of  Acts,  Luke  tells  us  that  during  this  time  the  disciples  'all  con- 
tinued with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication.'  But  in  his  gospel,  Luke 
says,  <  They  were  continually  in  the  temple  praising  and  blessing  God.' 
There  is  no  contrariety  between  these  statements,  because  there  is  no  con- 
trariety between  prayer  and  praise.  So,  when  the  glorious  revival  com- 
menced in  Jerusalem,  and  many  thousands  were  converted  to  God,  '  they 
continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  from 
house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart, 
praising  God,  and  having  favour  with  all  the  people,  and  the  Lord  added  to 
the  Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved.'  When  a  Church  finds  itself  but 
little  inclined  to  the  work  of  praise,  it  is  certain  that  the  work  of  God  is  not 
likely  to  prosper  greatly.  It  must  have  forgotten  much  of  its  obligations  to 
Christ.  '  By  him,  therefore,  let  us  offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God  con- 
tinually, that  is,  the  fruit  of  our  lips,  giving  thanks  to  his  name.'  Thus 
shall  we  at  least  be  prepared  to  own  and  profit  by  any  new  mercy  which 
the  head  of  the  Church  may  vouchsafe  to  us.  Besides  these  things,  let  us 
call  your  attention  to  a 

(i)  "  Patient  waiting  for  the  Lord.  Hardly  anything  is  more  insisted 
on  in  Scripture  as  requisite  to  a  right  state  of  mind  and  heart.  It  is 
true  that  some,  who  give  great  prominence  to  other  duties  of  religion, 
seldom  speak  of  this.  But  the  Scriptures,  and  not  the  example  of  even 
good  men,  are  our  rule  of  faith  and  life.  The  word  of  God  dwells  much 
on  this  subject.  Thus  says  one,  'I  wait  for  the  Lord;  my  soul  doth 
wait,  and  in  his  word  do  I  hope.  My  soul  waiteth  for  the  Lord  more 
than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning;  I  say,  more  than  they  that  watch 
for  the  morning.'  Again,  'as  the  eyes  of  servants  look  unto  the  hands 
of  their  masters,  and  as  the  eyes  of  a  maiden  unto  the  hand  of  her 
mistress ;  so  our  eyes  wait  upon  the  Lord  our  God,  until  he  have  mercy 
upon  us.'  The  same  state  of  mind  is  beautifully  described  by  the  Church 
in  Solomon's  Song,  where  she  says:  'I  charge  you,  0  ye  daughters  of  Jem- 
salem,  by  the  roes,  and  the  hinds  of  the  field,  that  ye  stir  not  up,  nor  awake 
my  love,  till  he  pleases.'  Let  us  not,  therefore,  suppose  that  we  shall  please 
God,  by  a  tumultuous,  much  less  by  an  imperious  state  of  mind.  A  judicious 
parent  gives  nothing  to  a  child  when  in  a  turbulent  state  of  mind,  however 
loudly  and  earnestly  it  may  call  for  it.  Neither  will  our  Heavenly  Father 
hear  our  cries,  unless  our  spirits  be  subdued  and  submissive.  The  Psalmist 
says :  '  Surely  I  have  behaved  and  quieted  myself,  as  a  child  that  is  weaned 
of  his  mother :  my  soul  is  even  as  a  weaned  child.'  Nor  does  he  regard 
this  as  a  ground  of  discouragement,  but  rather  of  hope,  for  his  next  words 
are,  '  Let  Israel  hope  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  and  for  ever.'  So  also 
whether  we  apply  the  fortieth  Ps;dm  to  Christ  or  to  his  people,  it  teaches 
the  same  thing  :  '  I  waited  patiently  for  the  Lord;  and  he  inclined  unto  me, 
and  heard  my  cry.'     We  also  call  your  attention  to 

(./)  "  Rcligiom  conversation,  lias  not  a  sad  decline  in  this  respect  been 
manifest  of  late  years  ?  Many  speak  much  of  some  things  concerning 
religion,  but  how  few  delight  in  speaking  of  the  great  things  of  God,  and 
particularly  of  experimental  religion !     We  would  be  very  far  from  encour- 


Part  IV.]  MEANS   OF   PROMOTINa   REVIVALS.  207 

aging  an  ostentatious  display  of  personal  feelings.  But  proper  conversa- 
tion is  as  much  opposed  to  ostentation  as  to  coldness.  It  was  an  inspired 
man  who  said,  '  Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will  declare 
what  he  hath  done  for  my  soul.'  Many  of  the  Psalms,  such  as  the  thirty- 
second,  the  forty-second,  and  the  fifty-first,  are  full  of  declarations  of  religious 
experience.  The  seventh  chapter  of  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  most 
precious  to  the  saints,  chiefly  because  it  reveals  the  internal  conflicts  of  that 
servant  of  God.  Nor  should  pious  conversation  be  confined  to  times  of  pros- 
perity in  the  Church.  The  prophet  Malachi  lived  in  times  of  open  wicked- 
ness and  sad  apostacy.  But  few  remained  steadfast.  Yet  even  then  '  they 
that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another;  and  the  Lord  hearkened, 
and  heard  it,  and  a  book  of  remembrance  was  written  before  him  for  them 
that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his  name.  And  they  shall  be 
mine,  saith  the  Lord,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels;  and  I  will 
spare  them  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son,  that  serveth  him."  Indeed,  he 
who  would  condemn  a  truthful  and  modest  recital  of  the  dealings  of  God 
with  one's  soul,  must  not  only  condemn  such  works  as  Augustine's  Confes- 
sions, Bunyan's  Grace  Abounding,  Newton's  Authentic  Narrative,  and 
Scott's  Force  of  Truth,  but  also  the  conduct  of  Paul,  who  often  declared 
the  particulars  of  his  conversion,  and  the  conduct  of  very  many  of  the 
inspired  writers  also.  We  do,  therefore,  commend  this  matter  to  your  serious 
attention. 

(7c)  ''  They,  tcho  icould  enjoy  extensive  and  poiverful  revivals  of  religion, 
must  also  jmt  a  high  estimate  upon  them.  The  Holy  Spirit,  no  less  than  the 
Father,  or  the  Son,  says:  'Them  that  honour  me,  will  I  honour;  and  they 
that  despise  me,  shall  be  lightly  esteemed.'  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  sole 
author  of  genuine  revivals.  Would  we  secure  his  gracious  presence  ?  Let 
us  prize  it  above  all  earthly  good.  His  love  is  better  than  wine.  He  is  the 
true  oil  of  gladness.  Only  when  he,  like  the  wind,  blows  on  his  garden,  do 
the  spices  thereof  flow  out.  Nothing  that  man  can  do,  is  any  substitute  for 
his  gracious  presence.  And  no  labours  that  man  can  perform,  are  a  substi- 
tute for  a  high  estimate  of  the  value  and  glory  of  the  Spirit's  presence. 

(/)  "  1/ our  estimate  of  such  blessings  be  really  high,  it  vnll  lead  to  a 
forsaking  of  all  that  might  in  our  judgment  displease  God.  It  will  produce 
great  heart^searchings ;  it  will  lead  us  to  remove  every  stumbling-block  out 
of  the  way,  and  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Dear  brethren,  let  us  lay 
aside  all  malice,  and  all  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies,  and  all  evil 
speakings.  Let  us  heal  every  breach  of  charity.  The  visible  form  in  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  descended  on  our  Saviour,  was  that  of  a  dove,  the  very  emblem 
of  gentleness,  a  bird  that  never  dwells  with  birds  of  prey,  nor  amidst  noise 
and  strife.  Paul  says,  '  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  are 
sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption ;'  and  immediately  adds,  'Let  all  bitter- 
ness, and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamour,  and  evil  speaking  be  put  away 
from  you,  with  all  malice;  and  be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  for- 
giving one  another,  even  as  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  has  forgiven  you.'  If  our 
Churches  are  in  a  cold  state,  it  is  by  reason  of  sin.  'Your  iniquities  have 
separated  between  you  and  your  God.'  How  solemn  are  these  words  of 
God  to  his  ancient  Church :  '  I  will  go  and  return  to  my  place,  till  they 
acknowledge  their  offence,  and  seek  my  face ;  in  their  affliction  they  will 
seek  me  early.'  Let  us  prove  that  we  are  his  people  by  confessing  and  for- 
saking all  our  offences. 

{in)  "  We  suggest  whether  the  practice  of  assembling  the  people  for  several 
consecutive  days  for  prayer ,  and  praise,  and  preaching,  might  not  be  hap- 
pily revived.  In  some  places  it  has  been  continued,  and  with  good  effect; 
but  in  others,  we  fear,  it  has  fallen  into  general  disuse.     Prudence  should 


208  PASTORAL   LETTER   ON   REVIVALS.  [Book  III. 

be  exercised  as  to  the  time  when,  and  how  long  such  meotinirs  should  be 
held.  That  they  are  not  novelties,  is  plain  from  the  Directory  for  Worship, 
Chapter  viii.  §  6.  A  favourite  method  of  noticing  the  preachino;  of  the 
gospel  in  the  New  Testament  is  that  of  bearing  testimony.  And  we  all 
know  how  mightily  the  power  of  testimony  over  the  human  mind  is  increased 
by  two  or  more  agreeing  witnesses;  so  that  by  the  mouth  of  two  or  three 
witnesses  every  word  is  established.  This  principle  of  our  nature  was  con- 
sulted by  our  Lord  in  sending  out  his  apostles,  and  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves. Under  the  divine  blessing,  on  their  united  testimony  borne  to  the 
same  people,  the  great  work  of  grace  on  and  after  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
accomplished. 

(»)  "  We  have  no  new  exjiedients  to  commend  to  yon.  We  fear  all  such. 
The  Bible  indicates  all  the  means  to  be  used.  W^e  have  noticed  the  chief 
of  them.  We  beseech  you  to  use,  with  zeal  and  perseverance,  all  such 
means  as  God  has  appointed  for  reviving  his  work.  Brethren,  be  not  sloth- 
ful, but  be  ye  filled  with  the  Spirit.  'Be  ye  steadflist,  uumovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour 
is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.' 

(o)  "  The  necessity  of  copious  effusions  of  the  Holy  Sp>irit  xoiU  not  he 
questioned.  In  vain  are  all  our  efforts  until  the  Spirit  be  poured  from  on 
high.  No  improvements  in  agriculture  can  render  the  dew  and  the  rain 
unnecessary  to  the  growth  of  grain.  No  amount  of  canvass  will  give  speed 
to  a  vessel  unless  the  wind  blows.  So  no  endeavours  of  man,  unaided  by 
divine  influence,  can  save  a  Church  from  spiritual  death.  If  we  are  not  mis- 
taken, there  is  a  loud  call  at  this  time  on  all  of  us  to  look  away  from  instru- 
ments and  means  to  God  alone.  The  number  of  candidates  for  the  Minis- 
try, though  really  considerable,  is  very  small  compared  with  the  present  and 
prospective  wants  of  even  our  own  country.  Our  country  is  growing  at  a 
rate  that  almost  staggers  belief.  More  than  a  million  of  souls  were  added 
to  her  population  the  last  year;  a  still  larger  number  will  probably  be  added 
this  year.  Many  foreigners,  both  ignorant  and  superstitious,  come  amongst 
us.  But  many  are  also  the  excellent  of  the  earth.  Let  us  receive  all  with 
kindness,  and  seek  to  do  them  good.  If  God  will  but  pour  out  his  Spirit 
on  the  least  instructed  among  them,  they  will  be  incalculable  blessi,ngs  to  us. 
In  some  places,  where  once  existed  Churches  famous  for  their  piety,  the 
things  that  remain  are  ready  to  die.  What  shall  we  do  but  go  to  God,  with 
whom  is  the  residue  of  the  Spirit?  He  has  said:  'Fear  not,  0  Jacob,  my 
servant;  and  thou,  Jeshurun,  whom  I  have  chosen.  For  I  will  pour  water 
upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground;  I  will  pour  my 
Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring:  and  they  shall 
spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the  water  courses.  One  shall 
gay,  I  am  the  Lord's;  and  another  shall  call  himself  by  the  name  of  Jacob; 
and  another  shall  subscribe  with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord,  and  surname  him- 
self by  the  name  of  Israel.'  'Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened, 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  shall  be  unstopped.  Then  shall  the  lame  man  leap 
as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  sing;  for  in  the  wilderness  shall 
waters  break  out,  and  streams  in  the  desert.  And  the  parched  ground  shall 
become  a  pool,  and  the  thirsty  land  springs  of  water.  In  the  habitation  of 
dragons,  where  each  lay,  shall  be  grass  with  reeds  and  rushes.  And  an  high- 
way shall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  l\oliness.' 
The  erection  of  Churches,  the  establishment  of  schools,  the  distribution  of 
the  word  of  God,  the  instruction  of  children,  the  settlement  of  Ministers, 
and  even  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  are  not  ends.  They  are  only  means 
to  an  end.  That  end  is  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  This 
ealvation  will  never  be  effiected  without  the  pouring  out  of  God's  Spirit  on 


Part  IV.]  MEANS   OF   PROMOTING   REVIVALS.  209 

the  hearts  of  the  people.  And  as  in  our  country  there  are  many  people, 
and  the  number  rapidly  increasing,  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  death,  it 
is  plain  that  myriads  must  die  in  their  sins  and  for  ever  perish,  unless  God's 
Spirit  be  poured  out  in  very  large  measure  on  Ministers  and  people,  and 
that  speedily. 

(p)  "  What  a  hlcssilig  siich  a  season  would  be!  What  blessings  it  would 
bring  with  it!  Such  times  are  in  Scripture  well  called  Himes  of  refreshing.' 
They  refresh  Ministers.  They  refresh  older  Christians.  To  the  young 
converts  they  are  life  from  the  dead.  When  under  Philip's  preaching  in 
Samaria,  many  were  converted  to  God,  'there  was  great  joy  in  that  city.' 
It  was  so  in  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  for  some  time  after.  It 
always  has  been  so.  It  always  must  be  so.  If  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
a  good  hope  through  grace,  and  seeing  sinners  flying  as  a  cloud  to  Christ, 
will  not  make  a  ministry  and  a  people  truly  blessed,  nothing  can.  '0  God 
of  our  salvation,  wilt  thou  not  revive  us  again,  that  thy  people  may  rejoice 
in  thee?'  'Return,  return,  0  Shulamite;  return,  return,  that  we  may  look 
upon  thee.' 

"We  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye 
present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is 
your  reasonable  service;  and  that  you  call  upon  your  souls  and  all  that  is 
within  you  to  awake  to  righteousness,  and  so  much  the  more  as  ye  see  the 
day  of  deliverance  and  triumph  approaching.  By  the  love  ye  bear  to  the 
great  Redeemer  and  the  souls  of  men,  we  pray  you  to  shake  off  the  spirit  of 
slmuber,  wherever  it  rests.  One  of  the  burning  and  shining  lights  of  the 
Church  said  in  his  day,  '  Little  do  we  know  what  many  a  soul  may  now  be 
suffering  in  hell  through  our  neglect  or  coldness.'  Our  opportunities  to 
serve  God  in  the  Church  below  will  soon  be  past  for  ever.  Soon  we  can 
pray  no  more,  preach  no  more,  and  no  more  beseech  sinners  to  be  reconciled 
to  God.  The  time  is  short.  The  Judge  standeth  before  the  door.  The 
night  Cometh  when  no  man  can  work.  Brethren,  put  on  bowels  of  mercy 
and  compassion,  and  devote  your  remaining  days  to  proper  eiforts  to  save 
men  from  the  coming  wrath,  and  thus  bring  glory  to  your  Divine  Redeemer, 
who  is  over  all  God  blessed  for  ever. 

Nicholas  Murray,  Moderator. 

''Pittsburgh,  May,  1849." 

— Minutes,  1849,  p.  424. 


27 


BOOK    IV. 

THE  CHURCH  COURTS, 


PAET  I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES. 


§  1.    The  radical  principles  of  Presbytery. 

''The  radical  principles  of  Presbyterian  Churcli  government  and  disci- 
pline, are :  That  the  several  different  Congregations  of  believers,  taken  col- 
lectively, constitute  one  Church  of  Christ,  called  emphatically  the  Church; 
that  a  larger  part  of  the  Church,  or  a  representation  of  it,  should  govern  a 
smaller,  or  determine  matters  of  controversy  which  arise  therein; — that  in 
like  manner  a  representation  of  the  whole  should  govern  and  determine  in 
regard  to  every  part,  and  to  all  the  parts  united;  that  is,  that  a  majority 
shall  govern;  and  consequently,  that  appeals  may  be  carried  from  lower  to 
higher  judicatories,  till  they  be  finally  decided  by  the  collected  wisdom  and 
united  voice  of  the  whole  Church.  For  these  principles  and  this  procedure, 
the  example  of  the  apostles,  and  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church  are 
considered  as  authority.  See  Acts  xv.  to  the  29th  verse;  and  the  proofs 
adduced  under  the  three  last  chaptei's." — Form  of  Gov.,  Chap,  xii.,  note. 
[For  the  authority  of  this  note,  see  above,  Book  I.  §  44.] 

§  2.  Change  of  the  time  or  place  of  a  stated  meeting,  by  the  Moderator. 

(a')  "Ordered,  by  the  Presbytery,  that  the  time  appointed  for  their  meet- 
ing be  in  nowise  prorogued  for  the  future." — Mlmites,  1708,  p.  12. 

{J))  "The  Continental  Congress  having  appointed  a  general  fast  to  be 
kept  on  the  17th  of  this  instant,  several  members  from  different  Presbyte- 
ries applied  to  the  IModerator,  requesting  him  to  give  public  notice  for  the 
postponing  the  meeting  of  Synod  until  the  fourth  Wednesday  of  this  month, 
in  order  that  the  Ministers  might  attend  with  their  Congregations  on  said 
fast  day,  with  which  the  IModerator  complied;  and  accordingly,  the  Synod 
have  now  convened,  and  however  the  Synod  judge  and  hereby  declare,  that 
the  Synodical  Moderator  has  not  authority,  either  with  or  without  the  con- 
currence of  particular  members,  to  alter  the  time  of  meeting  to  which  the 
Synod  stands  adjourned,  yet  in  the  present  extracu'dinary  case  they  approve 
of  what  the  Moderator  has  done." — Minutes,  1776,  p.  471. 


Part  I.]  GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  211 

(c)  ''Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  be 
approved,  with  the  exception  of  the  postponement  of  the  regular  meeting  of 
Synod  by  the  Moderator;  which  this  Assembly  consider  irregular." — Min- 
uk's,  1848,  p.  36. 

§  3.  ^  superior  court  iniay  mahe  the  change. 
"A  request  from  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri,  that  the  Assembly  will 
change  the  place  of  the  next  stated  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri.  The 
committee  recommended  that  the  request  be  granted,  and  that  the  next 
stated  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri  be  held  at  Boonville  instead  of 
Jefferson  City,  to  which  place  it  now  stands  adjourned,  which  was  adopted.'' 
—Minutes,  1842,  p.  16. 

[On  the  same  page  is  a  similar  action  changing  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina.] 

§  4.  J.  pro  re  nata  meeting  may  do  it. 

[The  time  or  place  may  be  changed  by  calling  a  pro  re  nala  meeting  for  the  purpose. 
See  below,  §  10,] 

§  5.  Pro  re  nata  meetings,  when  proper. 

"The  Synod  judge,  that  meetings  of  judicatures,  pro  re  nata,  can  only  be 
necessary  on  account  of  important  occurrences  unknown  at  their  last  meet- 
ing, and  which  cannot  be  safely  deferred  till  their  stated  meeting,  such  as 
scandal  raised  on  a  Minister's  character,  tending  to  destroy  his  usefulness, 
and  bring  reproach  on  religion;  or  feuds  in  a  Congregation  threatening  its 
dissolution;  or  some  dangerous  error,  or  heresy  broached;  but  not  for  mat- 
ters judicially  deferred  by  the  judicature,  except  some  unforeseen  circum- 
stance occurs,  which  makes  it  appear  that  some  principal  things  on  which 
the  judgment  depends  may  then  be  had,  and  cannot  be  obtained  if  it  is 
deferred  till  their  stated  meeting;  nor,  for  any  matters  that  ordinarily  come 
in  at  their  stated  meetings." — Minutes,  1760,  p.  305. 

§  6.    Tlie  Churches  ought  to  provide  for  the  expense  of  attendance  on  CJmrch 

courts. 
"Whereas,  the  Synod  is  deeply  affected  that  the  judicatures  of  the 
Church  are  so  exceedingly  neglected,  both  by  Ministers  and  Elders,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  and  taking  this  matter  into  serious  consideration,  and  appre- 
hending that  one  reason  of  this  nonatteudance,  particularly  on  the  sessions 
of  Synod,  arises  from  the  Congregations  making  no  provision  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  Ministers  and  Elders,  do  therefore  request  the  Presbyteries 
to  direct  their  members  to  recommend  it  to  their  respective  Congregations 
to  make  contributions  for  this  purpose ;  and  the  Synod  do  further  request, 
that  the  Presbyteries  take  every  proper  measure  to  excite  their  members  to 
attend  upon  this  judicature." — Minutes,  1781,  p.  491. 

§  7.    When    there  is    not  a  quorum,   all  proceedings   invalid,  except    the 
appointment  of  time  and  place  for  the  next  meeting. 

"It  appears  from  the  record,  that  certain  members  of  the  Synod  of  West 
Tennessee,  met  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  Oct.  12,  1848,  and  constituted 
themselves  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee,  contrary  to  the  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment, Chap.  xi.  Sec.  2,  there  being  seven  Ministers  present,  but  four  of 
them  were  from  one  Presbytery. 

"1st.  The  Assembly  declare  all  proceedings  and  acts  of  those  members  of 
the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee,  found  recorded  on  pp.  214-230,  unconstitu- 
tional and  invalid,  except  so  fiir  as  relates  to  the  appointment  of  the  time 
and  place  for  the  next  meeting  of  Synod. 

"2d.  That  the  Synod  be  directed  to  review,  at  its  first  regular  meeting 


212  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

hereafter,  the  proceedings  and  acis  of  said  members  of  the  Synod,  and  that 
they  adopt  or  reject  the  same  in  whole,  or  in  part,  as  they  may  sec  lit. 

''od.  The  records  not  having  had  the  sanction  of  the  Synod  of  West 
Tennessee,  this  Assembly  does  not  pronounce  any  further  opinion  upon 
them." — Minutes,  184U,  p.  248. 

§  8.  Quorum  obtained  hy  adjournment  of  a  pro  re  nata  meeting,  competent. 
"An  overture  from  Lake  Presbytery,  inquiring  whether  a  pro  re  nata 
meeting  for  an  ordination,  adjourned  for  six  weeks,  by  two  members,  for 
want  of  a  quorum,  was  unconstitutional  and  the  ordination  void,"  [answered 
in  the  negative.] — Minutes,  1849,  p.  240. 

§  9.    The  stated  meeting  failing,  the  com-t  reassembled  at  the  call  of  the 

3Ioderator. 
"Eesolved,  As  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly,  that  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  two  or  more  members  of  any  judicatory,  meeting  according  to  adjourn- 
ment, may  adjourn  from  day  to  day  until  a  sufficient  number  attend  for  the 
transacting  of  business;  and  in  case  a  quorum  should  not  attend  within  a 
reasonable  time,  that  the  Moderator  shall  be  considered  as  competent  to  fix 
any  time  and  place  he  may  judge  proper  for  convening  the  body;  and  if  he 
be  absent,  that  the  members  assembled  shall  represent  the  matter  speedily 
to  him,  that  he  may  act  accordingly." — Minutes,  1796,  p.  113. 

§  10.    Called  by  a  pro  re  nata  meeting. 
"They  are  competent  themselves  to  secure  this  object  by  calling  a  pro  re 
nata  in  order  to   fix   the   time  for   a   regular  meeting." — Minutes,  1849, 
p.  247. 

§  11.  By  appointment  of  a  superior  Court. 

Resolved,  "  That  whilst  it  is  competent  for  the  Moderator  of  the  Synod, 
under  the  above  circumstances,  to  appoint  a  meeting  of  Synod,  yet  that  the 
request  of  the  Synod  be  granted,  and  that  the  Synod  of  Memphis  be  direct- 
ed to  meet  at  the  time  and  place  stated  in  the  overture." — Minutes,  1850, 
p.  466.     See  also  Minutes,  1840,  p.  294. 

§  12.   Absentees  to  be  called  to  ansicer. 
(a)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  approved,  except  a  resolution] 
"in  which  the  Synod  determined  to  discontinue  the  practice  of  calling  upon 
their  members  for  the  reasons  of  their  absence  from  its  meetings." — Min- 
utes, 1825,  p.  257. 

§  13.  Members  withdrawing  loithout  leave. 
"Whereas,  Messrs.  Read,  Carmichael,  and  Enoch  Green,  left  the  Synod 
/last  year  without  asking  leave,  the  Synod  cannot  but  disapprove  of  the 
same,  and  do  judge  that  such  a  conduct  ip  their  members  is  contrary  to  the 
design,  and  destructive  to  the  very  nature  of  such  judicatures,  who  are 
always  to  be  supposed  to  give  leave  when  sufficient  reasons  are  oifered." — 
Minutes,  1764,  p.  335,  and^jasstm. 

§  14.    The  ecclesiastical   connection  of  corresponding  members   should    be 
stated  on  the  record. 

(a)  "The  proceedings  of  the  Synod  [of  Albany]  approved,  with  the 
exception  of  having  invited  several  Ministers  to  take  their  seats  as  corres- 
ponding members  without  describing  the  ecclesiastical  body  to  which  such 
Ministers  belong." — Minutes,  1815,  p.  578. 

(b)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  approved,  except] — "'The 
Rev.  Messrs.  James  H.  Dickey,  Dewey,  Whitney,  and  W.  Comstock,  Min- 
isters of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  being  present,  were  invited  to  sit  as 
correspending  members' — the  bodies  to  which  these  Ministers  respectively 
belong  not  being  mentioned." — Minutes^  1840,  p.  296. 


TART  11. 

OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  COMMISSIONS. 


Title  1. — Of  the  nature  of  Commissions. 
§  15.    What  is  a  commission^ 

(a)  [A  commission  is  an  extraordinary  committee  of  a  Church  Court,  appointed  either 
for  some  special  business,  or  to  take  cognizance  of  such  as  may  arise  during  the  vacations 
of  the  Court.  It  differs  from  an  ordinary  committee  in  that  it  is  empowered  not  only  to 
inquire  and  prepare  business  for  the  action  of  the  court,  but  also  provisionally  to  come  to 
any  such  determinations,  and  enforce  any  such  decisions,  as  would  be  within  the  compe- 
tence of  the  court  itself.  It  diflers  from  a  court,  as  its  decisions  and  determinations  are 
merely  provisional,  and  of  force  ad  interim  ;  and  must  be  subjected  to  the  revision  and 
ultimate  determination  of  the  court,  by  which  they  may  be  set  aside  and  annulled,  and 
which  alone  can  by  its  sanction  give  them  permanent  authority.  It  differs  from  a  court 
further,  in  the  fact  that  from  its  decisions  there  can  be  no  appeal,  in  the  technical  sense  of 
that  word  ;  since  an  appeal  supposes  an  inferior  court  and  a  definitive  sentence,  neither 
of  which  here  exists.  An  aggrieved  party  may  bring  a  complaint  against  the  acts  of  the 
commission,  and  they  will  of  necessity  be  brought  up  for  the  revision  of  the  court.  But 
upon  neither  process,  do  the  questions  arise  which  occur  in  reviewing  the  records  of  an 
inferior  court,  or  hearing  an  appeal  from  its  sentence — whether  the  court  has  kept  within 
the  limits  of  its  competence  under  the  Constitution ;  and  whether  its  sentence  shall  be 
reversed"!  On  the  contrary,  the  question  which  arises  upon  review  of  the  acts  of  a  com- 
mission, is  whether  the  court  will  recognize  as  its  own  the  decrees  provisionally  passed  in 
its  name]  Should  this  question  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  decisions  in  question 
are  at  once  vested  with  all  the  authority  of  the  court;  if  in  the  negative,  they  are  render- 
ed null  and  void  from  the  beginning.  A  further  difference  between  a  commission  and  a 
court  appears  in  the  fact  that  whatever  issues  may  arise,  or  questions  be  decided  upon  the 
acts  of  a  commision,  its  members  sit,  deliberate  and  vote  on  perfect  equality  of  right  with 
other  members  of  the  court. 

A  commission  is  sometimes  described  as  being  in  fact  the  court  itself,  acting  in  the 
person  of  a  part  of  its  members.  This  is  not  only  contrary  to  the  facts  above  stated,  but 
is  at  variance  with  correct  principles  as  to  the  limitations  of  delegated  powers.  Whether 
we  view  the  authority  of  the  several  Church  courts  as  derived  from  the  Constitution,  or 
more  properly  as  received  from  the  Head  of  the  Church,  and  defined  in  her  standards,  in 
either  case  the  powers  appropriated, are  vested  in  specific  bodies;  and  neither  in  the  Con- 
stitution nor  the  word  of  God  is  there  the  trace  of  a  provision  to  authorize  their  aliena- 
tion by  their  defined  subjects  to  any  other,  much  less  to  a  body  smaller,  and  hence  pre- 
sumably less  capable  to  exercise  them  wisely  and  well.  So  long  as  commissions  are  used 
as  merely  committees  vested  with  special  powers  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  the 
Church,  ancj  subordinate  to  the  ultimate  action  of  the  appropriate  courts,  the  due  respon- 
sibility rests  upon  and  is  sustained  by  the  latter;  but  the  attempt  to  endow  a  part  of  the 
members  with  the  authority  and  prerogatives  of  the  whole  body  involves  a  predeterminate 
sanction  of  whatever  the  former  may  do,  and  justly  subjects  the  court  to  the  charge  of  an 
improvident  and  unfaithful  surrender  of  rights  and  responsibilities,  for  the  exercise  of 
which  an  account  will  not  be  accepted  at  second  hand — of  usurpation  in  attempting 
to  exercise  one  of  the  peculiar  prerogatives  of  the  Son  of  God,  that  of  defining  and  erect- 
ing the  courts  by  which  the  Church  shall  be  governed ;  and  of  oppression  in  attempting 
to  subject  the  consciences  of  God's  people  to  decisions  and  a  tribunal  not  appointed  by 
her  Head.] 


214  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

From  the  mist!»ken  idea  that  a  commission  is  in  fact  the  court  itself,  an  equally  errone- 
ous inference  has  been  drawn — that  its  members  must  be  equal  to  a  quorum  of  the  ciiurt. 
The  principles  already  stated  will  make  it  apparent  that  no  such  condition  is  theoretically 
essential,  and  the  whole  history  of  such  appointments  in  our  Church,  shows  that  practi- 
cally no  regard  has  been  paid  to  it.  The  number  com[)Osing  commissions  has  been  deter- 
mined by  the  convenience  of  the  members  and  the  importance  of  the  business.  Members 
of  the  court  who  are  not  nominated  on  the  commission,  though  present,  may  not  sit  as 
members  of  the  commission,  but  only  as  correspondents.*  In  addition  to  the  examples  of 
commissions  presented  in  the  following  sections,  reference  may  be  had  to  Book  II.  §  56, 
Book  III.  §  75,  Book  V.  §  67,  Book  VI.  §  6,  Book  VII.  §§  46.  53.  68-70] 

[S'ince  the  above  was  written,  the  editor  has  received  from  Europe  a  copy  of  "A  Com- 
pendium of  the  laws  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,"  by  Alexander  Peterkin,  Esq.,  editv^r  of 
»'The  Booke  of  the  Universale  Kirk;"  and  "The  Records  of  the  Kirk."  Some  extracts  are 
here  given.] 

§  16.    ScofcJi  drjinitinns  and  iUiistrntions. 

(rj)  "From  the  first  introduction  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  1560,  both  before  it  was 
established  in  1567,  and  the  Presbyterian  platform  was  ratified  in  1592,  the  General  As- 
semblies were  in  the  constant  practice  of  appointing  commissions  or  committees,  (these 
being  convertible  terms,  and  frequently  employed  as  synonymous,)  for  a  great  variety  of 
purposes — to  prepare  business  for  the  Assembly — to  carry  on  negotiations  with  the  State, 
and  to  judge  in  matters  remitted  to  them;  their  powers  being  regulated  by  the  terms  of 
their  appointment,  and  their  proceedings  being  invariably  subject  to  the  review  of  the 
subsequent  Assembly,  unless  they  were  empowered  to  decide  any  matter  '  finally.' 

"After  the  re-establishment  of  Presbytery  in  1690,  and  from  that  period  till  the  present 
day,  the  General  Assemblies  have  almost  always  before  they  dissolved,  named  commis- 
sions to  act  in  particular  matters  remitted  to  them,  and  to  attend  to  the  general  interests 
of  the  Kirk  during  the  interval  betwixt  successive  Assemblies.  Until  a  comparatively 
recent  period,  these  commissions  consisted  sometimes  of  a  limited  number  of  members 
selected  from  the  roll  of  the  Assembly  which  appointed  it;  and  for  a  long  while  since  the 
Revolution,  each  Synod  chose  a  portion  of  their  respective  members,  who  were  strictly 
required  to  give  attendance  as  members  of  the  commission  at  its  four  stated  meetings.  *  * 

"For  a  considerable  period,  however,  all  the  members  of  Assembly,  with  the  addition  of 
one  clergyman  not  a  member  of  it,  have  been  named  in  what  may  be  called  the  general 
commission,  in  contradistinction  to  special  committees  on  the  royal  bounty,  &c.  *  *  *  * 
Perhaps  a  recurrence  to  the  former  practice  of  subdividing  this  committee  into  several 
commissions,  such  as  a  committee  for  the  northern  and  southern,  as  well  as  the  central 
districts,  might  be  expedient,  as  it  would  be  more  constitutional;  and  thus  a  prevalent 
mistake  would  be  practically  corrected,  viz.  that  the  commission  of  Assembly  is  of  coequal 
authority  with  the  Assembly  itself. 

"  There  are  two  prominent  characteristics  which  discriminate  the  Assembly  from  its  com- 
mission. 1st.  That  the  commission  is  not  one  of  the  judicatories  of  the  Church  esta- 
blished by  the  act  of  Parliament  1592,  or  any  other  statutes;  and  it  possesses,  therefore, 
no  original  authority  sanctioned  by  the  law  of  the  land.  2dly.  Every  commission  from 
the  earliest  times  of  the  Church,  has  derived  its  entire  powers  by  delegation  from  the  As- 
sembly, and  was  declared  to  be  accountable  for  its  actings  to  the  subsequent  Assembly. 
And  accordingly,  its  register  is  annually  brought  up  to  that  Assembly,  remitted  to  a  com- 
mittee for  examination;  and  on  the  report  of  that  committee,  or  on  the  complaint  of  any 
parties  aggrieved  by  its  proceedings,  these  are  reviewed  and  approved  or  reversed,  accord- 
ing to  the  judgment  of  the  next  Assembly." — Contp.  Lutvs  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  Part 
II.  pp.  435,  436,  437.] 

(6)  [We  might  here  cite  Scotch  precedents  parallel  to  nearly  every  example  which  we 
give  below  of  our  own  Church.  The  following  case  shows  one  point  of  deviation,  the 
members  of  commission  being  precluded  from  a  vote  upon  the  revision  of  its  acts.] 

"  1726,  May  II.  Petitions  by  some  people  of  Aberdeen,  by  the  Synod  of  Murray,  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Torres,  and  by  the  Kirk  Session  and  heritors  of  Dyke,  complaining  of 
the  late  commission  for  their  transferring  Mr.  Ja.  Chalmers  from  Dyke  to  Aberdeen,  and 
craving  the  settlement  to  be  reversed." 

"May  12.  The  commission's  book  approved — reserving  what  relates  to  Mr.  Chal- 
mers' settlement. 

•  E.  g.,  Book  V.  2  130,  c.  d. 


Part  II.]  ECCLESIASTICAL   COMMISSIONS.  215 

"  3Iay  14.  The  question  about  the  late  commission's  proceedings  in  planting  of 
Aberdeen,  being  again  moved  in  order  to  a  determination,  a  brother  who  was  not  only  a 
member  of  the  Commission,  but  by  the  Commission's  appointment,  executed  their  sen- 
tence in  this  cause,  was  removed  with  the  other  parties,  though  he  was  not  present  in  the 
Commission  at  any  diet  whenever  this  matter  was  transacted  ;  and  then  the  Assembly  did 
by  a  vote  disapprove  of  the  Commission's  proceedings  in  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Chalmers 
at  Aberdeen,  upon  these  grounds — that  they  acted  disagreeably  to  the  injunctions  of  the 
last  Assembly,  particularly  in  not  having  due  regard  unto  the  inclinations  of  the  people, 
and  because  of  their  too  great  precipitancy  in  proceeding  to  a  sentence,  when  the  time 
fixed  for  the  meeting  of  this  Assembly  was  so  near ;  but  by  another  vote  they  refused  to 
rescind  the  Commission's  sentence  settling  Mr.  Chalmers  at  Aberdeen,  or  to  loose  his 
relation  to  his  charge  in  that  town." — Ibid.  p.  446. 

(c)  [The  following  more  recent  decision  is  opposed  to  the  above,  and  corresponds  with 
the  practice  of  our  own  Church.] 

"1813,  May  28.  Upon  a  complaint  by  Mr.  Alexander  Davie,  against  a  judgment  of 
the  Commission  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  connection  with  a  variety  of  complicated  pro* 
ceedings  '  the  vote  being  called  for,  an  objection  was  made  to  those  members  of  the  Assem- 
bly voting  upon  this  point  who  had  been  members  of  last  General  Assembly,  and  conse- 
quently were  members  of  the  Commission,  and  were  present  when  the  Commission  gave 
judgment  in  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Davie.  The  Assembly  unanimously  agreed  to  overrule 
the  objection,  and  to  call  for  the  votes  of  all  who  are  members  of  the  present  Assembly, 
whether  they  were  members  of  the  Commission  or  not.  The  Assembly  then  agreed  that 
the  state  of  the  vote  shall  be,  Dismiss!  or  Sustain]  and  the  roll  being  called,  and  votes 
marked,  it  carried  by  a  great  majority.  Dismiss;  and  therefore  the  Assembly  dismissed  the 
said  complaint,  inasmuch  as  the  Assembly  judge  the  Commission  have  not  exceeded  their 
powers." — Compare  Part  2,  p.  611. 

§  17.  Practice  of  the  Waldenses.  ■ 

"  As  there  is  considerable  expense  in  getting  from  the  government  the  necessary  permit 
to  hold  a  Synod,  and  sometimes  this  permit  is  withheld  entirely  for  a  time;  the  Waldenses 
have  delegated  the  executive  powers  of  the  Synod  to  a  sort  of  committee  ad  interim,  called 
the  Board  or  Table.  This  committee  consists  of  the  Moderator,  the  assistant  Moderator, 
the  Secretary,  and  two  Elders  elected  by  the  Synod.  They  carry  into  effect  the  decisions 
of  the  Synod  in  the  intervals  of  its  meetings;  superintend  the  Churches  and  Schools,  inclu- 
ding the  conduct  of  both  Pastors  and  Teachers  ;  carry  on  the  foreign  and  domestic  corres. 
pondence;  choose  the  deputations  to  foreign  countries;  suspend  unworthy  Pastors  and 
Schoolmasters;  examine  and  ordain  candidates  for  the  Ministry;  superintend  the  young 
men  who  are  studying  for  the  Ministry  ;  settle  difficulties  between  Ministers  and  their 
Congregations,  &c.'' — "  The  Waldenses"  by  the  Board  of  Publication,  p.  374. 

[When  the  Synod  meets,  the  first  business  is  to  hear  and  decide  upon  the  report  of  the 
Commission.] 

Title  1. — Commissions  op  the  General  Synod. 
§  18.    Occasional  Commissions. 
(a)  ./3  Commission  to  ordain. 
"  Ordered  by  the  Presbytery  that,  upon  the  desire  of  Mr.  Smith  and  the 
people  of  Cohanzy,  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Andrews,  and  Mr.  Boyd,  shall  wait 
upon  them  at  Cohanzy,  in  order  to  his  ordination,  and  the  people  are  to  pre- 
sent them  a  call  to  the  said  Mr.  Smith. 

*'  The  trials  appointed  by  the  Presbytery  to  Mr.  Smith,  an  fides  solum 
jvstificet,  for  sermon,  John  vi.  37,  last  part  of  the  verse.  Mr.  Andrews  to 
be  Moderator,  and  the  people  are  to  give  three  weeks'  advertisement." — 
Minutes,  1708,  p.  11.     See  also  1718,  p.  52. 

[Other  instances  occur,  in  the  Minutes,  1713,  p.  34;  1714,  p.  36;  1715,  p.  39;  1716, 
pp.  44,  45;  and  above,  Book  II.  §  56.] 

(6)  Jl  Commission  to  license  a  candidate. 
^^  Agreed  that  the  most  proper  method  for  advancinf;;;  David  Evan  in 
necessary  literature  to  prepare  him  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  is,  that  he 
lay  aside  all  other  business  for  a  twelve  month,  and  apply  himself  closely  to 


216  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

learning  and  stiuly,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Andrews,  and  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  Wilson  and  Anderson,  and  that  it  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the 
said  Ministers  when  to  put  said  Evan  on  trials,  and  license  him  publicly  to 
teach  or  preach." — Minutes,  171U,  p.  18. 

(f)  Jl  Commission  to  translate  a  Pastor. 

"  This  day  a  call  from  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  New  York  being 
given  in  to  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  in  order  to  be  pi"e- 
sented  to  Mr.  James  Anderson;  after  they  had  considered  of  the  same, 
together  with  Mr.  Anderson's  reasons  for  refusal,  did  refer  the  whole  affair 
to  the  Synod. 

"  The  Synod  taking  into  consideration  the  abovesaid  business,  ordered, 
that  a  committee  of  their  number  be  appointed  to  receive  and  audit  the 
reasons  of  the  people  of  New  Castle,  if  they  have  any  to  offer,  against  the 
removal  of  Mr.  Anderson  to  New  York,  or  any  other  place ;  and  that  the  said 
committee  do  fully  determine  in  that  affair.  Which  committee  is  to  con- 
sist of  Messrs.  McNish,  Gillespie,  Wotherspoon,  Evans,  Pumi-y,  and  Thom- 
son, and  to  meet  on  Tuesday  next,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  New 
Castle,  and  that  there  be  a  letter  writ  to  the  people  of  New  Castle  by  Masters 
Jones,  Pumry,  and  Braduer,  and  to  bring  it  against  the  next  sederunt." — 
Minutes,  1717,  p.  49. 

"  The  committee  reported  the  case  concerning  Mr.  Anderson,  viz.  that 
they  transported  him  from  New  Castle  to  New  York,  having  had  power 
lodged  in  them  by  the  Synod  to  determine  that  affair." — Minutes,  1718, 
p.  51. 

[See  the  similar  case  of  Mr.  Bostwick  in  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Synod  of  New 
York,  17.5.5,  p.  267.] 

(rf)   ^  Commission  to  continue  or  remove  a  susjiension. 

"  The  above-mentioned  question  relating  to  the  suspension  or  non-sus- 
pension of  Mr.  Hook,  being  proposed,  it  was,  by  a  great  majority  of  votes 
carried  in  the  affirmative.  It  being  again  questioned,  whether  his  suspen- 
sion should  be  limited  or  indefinite,  it  was  by  a  majority  of  votes  carried 
indefinite. 

''  Upon  the  whole,  the  Synod  have  appointed,  that  Mr.  Daniel  McGill, 
Mr.  Jedediah  Andrews,  Mr.  James  Morgan,  and  Mr.  Robert  Cross,  do  meet 
at  Fairfield  meeting-house  upon  the  third  Thursday  of  October  next  ensu- 
ing, and  then  and  there  they  or  any  one  of  them,  have  power  to  take  off  the 
suspension,  if  no  sufficient  reason  to  the  contrary  appears.  And  further,  it 
is  ordered  that  one  of  the  said  Ministers  do  preach  at  the  said  meeting-house, 
and  also,  that  the  said  Ministers  do  publicly  read  a  full  extract  of  the  Synod's 
minutes  relating  to  Mr.  Hook,  and  that  Mr.  Hook  make  his  public  acknow- 
ledgment viva  voce  or  in  writing,  as  he  thinks  tit,  in  order  to  his  being- 
absolved  as  aforesaid." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  73.  [See  similar  cases  in  the 
Mintites,  1723,  p.  76;  1738,  p.  137.] 

(e)  ^n  extraordinary  Commission, 

"  The  Synod  being  informed  that  there  is  a  probability  of  Mr.  McNish 
his  going  to  Britain  upon  some  important  business,  and  considering  that  he 
may  do  some  service  to  the  common  interest  of  religion  in  these  parts  of  the 
world;  that  he  may  the  better  succeed  in  his  endeavoiirs  to  serve  that  de- 
sign, the  Synod  thinks  fit  that  he  be  enabled  by  the  Synod,  with  proper 
recommendations  fron.  them.  The  Synod,  therefore,  for  his  encouraging  in 
so  good  a  design  and  undertaking,  do  appoint  for  a  committee  of  the  Synod, 
Masters  .Tones,  Andrews,  Anderson,  Dickinson,  and  Pierson,  with  as  many 
others  as  can  attend,  to  meet  at  Woodbridge,  at  such  a  time  as  the  above 


Part  II.]  ECCLESIASTICAL   COMMISSIONS.  217 

said  Mr,  McNish  shall  appoint,  he  giving  the  said  members  a  month's 
notice,  giving  them  full  power  to  concert  all  such  proper  methods  and  ways, 
to  enable  Mr.  McNish  to  imdertake  and  act  for  us  and  in  our  name,  and  to 
the  general  good  of  religion  as  they  shall  judge  fitting.  It  is  also  appointed 
that  the  said  committee  do  furnish  the  said  Mr.  McNish  with  proper  cre- 
dentials and  all  such  instructions  as  they  shall  think  fit  for  answering  the 
end  abovesaid." — Minutes,  1718,  p.  55. 

"  The  business  with  respect  to  Mr.  McNish  his  going  to  Britain,  men- 
tioned in  the  last  year's  minutes,  was  dropped." — 3Iinu(es,  1719,  p.  55. 

(^f^  A  Commission  to  settle  difficulties  in  Newark. 

"Mr.  Webb  giving  account  of  some  difiiculties  in  his  Congi-egation,  which 
he  hoped  might  be  healed  by  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod,  it  was 
(in  compliance  with  his  desire,)  ordered,  that  Messrs.  Morgan,  Anderson, 
Cross,  Pierson,  Gelston,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  and  Andrews,  should  be  the 
said  committee,  and  meet  at  Newark  on  the  fourth  Wednesday  of  October 
next,  to  act  with  the  full  power  of  the  Synod  in  all  matters  that  may  be  laid 
before  them,  with  respect  to  that  Congregation,  and  bring  an  account  of  what 
they  do  to  the  next  Synod." — Minutes,  1726,  p.  85. 

"  The  transactions  of  the  committee  last  year  appointed  to  meet  at  New- 
ark were  brought  in  and  approved." — Minutes,  1727,  p.  86.  [See  similar 
case  Minutes,  1739,  p.  145.] 

(g)  A  Commission  to  settle  difficulties  in  New  York. 

[See  Book  VL  §  7.] 

"The  minutes  of  the  committee  that  met  at  New  York,  November  15, 
1727. 

^'Neio  York,  November  15,  1727. 

"According  to  the  appointment  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  com- 
mittee for  the  affair  of  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  at  New  York,  con- 
vened at  New  York  the  time  above  mentioned,  ubi  post  preces  sederunt 
Messrs.  Morgan,  Pierson,  Webb,  and  Jonathan  Dickinson.  Mr.  Pierson 
chosen  Moderator,  and  Mr.  Dickinson  clerk. 

"  Mr.  Webb  having  at  the  Synod  last  sitting  at  Philadelphia,  signed  a 
protestation  and  withal  declared  his  purpose  to  join  no  more  with  the  Synod, 
he  does  now  before  this  committee  retract  that  his  declai-ation  of  withdrawal 
from  the  Synod,  and  declare  his  future  purpose  of  continuing  a  member  of 
and  joining  with  the  Synod. 

"Adjourned  till  five  o'clock, post  merid. 

******** 

"The  committee  having  used  their  endeavours  to  procure  a  reconciliation 
between  Dr.  Nicoll  and  Masters  Liddle,  Blake,  and  Ingliss,  and  to  have  the 
differences  between  them  relating  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  New  York 
amicably  healed,  have  the  satisfaction  and  comfort  of  their  coming  now  into 
an  happy  agreement  on  these  following  terms. 

******** 

"Mr.  Pemberton  appearing  before  this  committee  and  desiring  admission, 
as  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  promised  upon  such  admission 
all  subjection  to  the  said  Syn^d  in  the  Lord;  the  committee  can  see  no  rea- 
son why  such  admission  should  be  refused  or  delayed,  and  do  therefore 
admit  him  as  a  member  of  the  said  Synod. 

"The  committee  having  received  a  letter  from  the  commission  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  wrote  an  answer  thereunto, 
representing  thereby  the  present  state  of  the  Congregation  of  New  York, 
and  then  concluded." — Minutes,  1728,  p.  89. 
28 


218  CHURCH   COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

fh)  Some  of  its  proceedings  disallowed  by  Synod. 

''The  committee  appointed  last  Synod  to  meet  at  New  York,  in  order  to 
inspect  into  the  affairs  of  that  Congregation,  as  also  to  consult  about  Mr. 
Pemberton's  admission  as  a  member  of  the  Synod,  having  produced  their 
minutes,  and  the  said  minutes  being  read  and  considered,  the  following 
questions  were  proposed  to  the  vote  of  the  Synod. 

"1.  Whether  the  committee  had  authority  from  the  Synod  to  consider  the 
admission  of  Mr.  Pemberton  as  a  member  of  the  Synod,  without  previou.sly 
considering  what  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island  had  to  offer  in  that  affair? 
Carried  in  the  negative  by  a  great  majority. 

''2.  Whether  the  Synod  approve  of  the  conduct  of  the  committee  with 
relation  to  the  divisions  of  the  said  Congregation?  Carried  in  the  affirma- 
tive nemine  contradicente. 

"3.  Whether  Mr.  Pemberton  be  allowed  as  a  member  of  this  Synod  by 
virtue  of  what  the  committee  has  done  ?     Carried  in  the  negative. 

"4.  Whether,  notwithstanding  of  all  the  irregularity  that  was  in  the 
accession  of  Mr.  Pemberton  to  New  York,  the  Synod  do  now  accept  him  as 
a  member?  Carried  in  the  affirmative  nemine  contradicente.  And  it  is 
left  to  Mr.  Pemberton  and  the  Congregation  to  join  what  Presbytery  they 
shall  see  fit." — Minutes,  1728,  p.  90. 

(i)  Commission  on  difficulties  at  Bedford, 
"A  supplication  was  also  brought  in  and  read  from  Bedford,  in  West 
Chester  county,  praying  that  a  committee  of  this  Synod  may  be  appointed 
to  meet  at  said  place  to  settle  all  differences  in  the  Congregation,  and  after 
due  deliberation,  the  Synod  do  appoint  the  following  gentlemen  to  be  a 
committee  of  this  Synod  to  meet  at  Bedford  the  last  Wednesday  of  August, 
to  hear  all  affairs  relative  to  both  the  above  petitions,  and  finally  settle  all 
differences,  viz.  Messrs.  John  Rodgers,  Caldwell,  McWhorter,  William 
Tennent,  Lewis,  Mills,  Close,  Kerr,  Reeve,  Jones,  Hait,  and  Joseph  Treat." 
—Minutes,  1768,  p.  338. 

(/)  Some  of  its  acts  reversed. 
''The  committee  appointed  to  meet  at  Bedford,  report,  they  accordingly 
met,  and  their  minutes  being  produced  were  read,  and  the  Synod  approve 
of  what  they  did,  except  that  part  of  their  judgment  which  disunited  Mr. 
Sacket  from  the  Presbytery  of  Dutchess  and  annexed  him  to  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  the  propriety  of  which  being  debated,  the  question  was  put 
approve  or  not?  which  was  carried  in  the  negative  by  a  great  majority;  and 
Mr.  Sacket  is  therefore  returned  to  the  Presbytery  of  Dutchess  countj^." — 
Minutes,  1769,  p.  392.  [See  similar  commissions  appointed  by  the  Synod 
of  New  York  to  settle  difficulties  in  Churches.] — Minutes,  1752,  p.  250, 
and  1753,  p.  255. 

(Jc)  A  Commission  to  release  a  Pastor, 

"The  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  applied  to  the  Synod,  that  whereas  Mr. 
Hector  Alison  had  laid  certain  grievances  before  them,  and  sued  for  a  dis- 
mission from  his  pastoral  charge,  and  as  the  affair  appeared  to  be  of  great 
importance,  and  required  a  final  decision  at  their  next  meeting,  humbly 
requests  that  the  Synod  would  join  some  members  out  of  the  other  Presby- 
teries with  them,  to  judge  of  that  affair;  and  that  said  Presbytery,  with  such 
members,  be  appointed  to  act  as  a  commission  of  the  Synod,  and  in  that 
capacity  judge  that  affair. 

<'The  Synod  granted  said  request." — Minutes,  1753,  p.  210. 
(?)  ^  Commission  of  the  Sytwd  of  New  York. 

"A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  concerning  some  matters 


Part  II.]  ECCLESIASTICAL   COMMISSIONS.  219 

of  difference  among  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  New 
York,  which  were  laid  before  said  Presbytery,  was  brought  into  the  Synod, 
and  after  hearing  many  things  in  relation  thereto,  the  Synod  deferred  the 
further  examination  thereof  till  the  next  sederunt." 

'^  The  affisiir  of  New  York  referred  to  the  Synod  as  before  mentioned,  and 
heard  at  length,  reassumed  in  order  to  a  judgment,  and  the  Synod  having 
seriously  and  deliberately  considered  the  sundry  articles  of  debate  and  com- 
plaint laid  before  them,  came  to  the  following  conclusions : 

"That  the  building,  ground,  &c.,  conveyed  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  to  the  Presbyterian  Society  in  New  York,  belong  to 
the  Presbyterians  without  distinction  of  name  or  nation,  who  conform  to  the 
general  plan  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as  practised  by  the  Synod  of  New 
York. 

"2.  That  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  Presbyterian  plan  of  government, 
nor  the  institution  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  trustees,  or  a  committee 
chosen  by  the  Congregation,  should  have  the  disposal  and  application  of  the 
public  money  raised  by  said  Congregation,  to  the  uses  for  which  it  is  design- 
ed; provided  that  they  leave  in  the  hands  and  to  the  management  of  the 
Deacons,  what  is  collected  for  the  Lord's  table  and  the  poor;  and  that  Min- 
isters of  the  gospel,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  have  no  right  to  sit  with  or 
preside  over  such  trustees  or  committees. 

''3.  That  it  appears  to  the  Synod  that  the  trustees  of  said  Church  have 
faithfully  discharged  the  trust  reposed  in  them  with  respect  to  its  tempo- 
ralities, much  to  its  advantage. 

"4.  That  as  to  the  articles  of  complaint  brought  against  Mr.  Gumming, 
it  appears  to  the  Synod,  that  he  has  been  necessarily  hindered  from  per- 
forming his  part  in  public  service,  by  his  low  state  of  health;  but  they  judge 
it  his  duty  to  discharge  it  according  to  his  call  when  his  health  will  admit; 
and  when  he  is  disabled,  he  should  desire  Mr.  Pemberton  to  officiate  in  his 
room.  That  his  insisting  on  a  right  to  sit  with  the  Trustees  in  their  conven- 
tions about  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  Congregation,  was  not  a  violation  of 
his  ordination  vows,  which  respect  only  the  work  of  the  ministry,  although 
they  judge  he  acted  imprudently  in  so  doing.  That  he  is  to  be  commended 
for  insisting  on  persons  praying  in  their  families,  who  present  their  children 
to  baptism;  but  inasmuch  as  it  appears  expedient,  that  the  same  form  of 
covenanting  should  be  used  in  the  same  Church,  the  Synod  do,  therefore, 
recommend  it  to  Mr.  Pemberton  and  Mr.  Cumming,  to  consult  with  the 
committee  hereafter  to  be  mentioned  about  a  form  that  they  can  both 
agree  in. 

"5.  That  the  said  Church  proceed  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  the  choice  of 
Elders,  to  join  with  their  Ministers  in  the  government  and  discipline  of  the 
Church;  and  that  the  committee  hereafter  to  be  appointed  do  nominate  the 
persons  to  be  chosen,  and  determine  the  number. 

"  6.  That  as  to  the  methods  taken  to  introduce  a  new  version  of  the  Psalms 
in  the  public  worship,  the  Synod  judge  it  to  be  disorderly,  and  always  to  be 
discountenanced,  when  the  parties  in  matters  of  debate  in  a  Church  do 
carry  about  private  subscriptions. 

"7.  That  as  to  the  introduction  of  a  new  version  of  Psalms,  the  Synod 
hath  not  light  at  present  to  determine,  but  do  impower  the  committee  to 
recommend  Dr.  Watts's  version,  if  upon  observation  of  circumstances  they 
think  it  proper. 

"And  the  Synod  do  appoint  the  Kev.  Messrs.  Samuel  Davis,  Samuel 
Finly,  and  Charles  Beatty,  to  be  a  committee  to  go  immediately  to  New 
York,  and  direct  and  assist  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  New  York  in 


220  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

such  affairs  as  may  contribute  to  their  peace  and  edification." — Minutes, 
1752,  pp.  248,  249. 

(m)  "The  committee  appointed  by  the  last  Synod  to  go  to  New  York  to 
direct  and  assist  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  in  affairs  relating  to  their 
peace  and  edification,  make  report  of  their  compliance  with  said  appointment. 
The  minutes  of  their  proceedings  being  laid  before  the  Synod,  are  approved, 
and  are  as  follows,  viz. 

''New  York,  October  2d,  1752. 

"The  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  to  direct  and  assist  the  Presby- 
terian Congregation  of  New  York  in  such  affairs  as  contribute  to  their  peace 
and  satisfaction,  met  uhi  post  preces  sederunt,  Messrs.  Samuel  Finly,  Charles 
Beatty,  and  Samuel  Davis. 

"Mr.  Finly  was  chosen  Moderator,  and  Mr.  Davis  clerk. 

''Ordered,  That  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  containing  their  conclusions 
concerning  the  affair  referred  unto  them  by  the  Presbytery  be  read. 

"The  committee  after  the  best  inquiry  they  coiild  make  into  the  circum- 
stances of  the  Congregation,  do  conclude  that  but  two  persons  should  at  pre- 
sent be  chosen  to  sustain  the  office  of  Elders,  and  that  Messrs.  David  Van- 
horn,  and  Israel  Horsfield,  are  proper  persons  for  that  purpose,  and  they  do 
accordingly  nominate  the  said  persons  to  that  office;  and  give  public  notice, 
that  if  any  of  the  members  of  said  Congregation  have  any  sufficient  objec- 
tions against  either  of  them,  they  would  bring  them  into  the  committee  in 
the  afternoon. 

"Adjourned  to  three  of  the  clock,  P.  M.     Concluded  with  prayer. 

"  Three  of  the  clock,  P.  M.     Post  preces  sederunt  qui  supra. 

"Ordered,  The  minutes  of  the  last  sederunt  be  read. 

"Messrs.  Vanhorn  and  Horsfield  being  spoken  unto  by  the  committee, 
and  the  peculiar  exigency  of  the  case  being  represented  unto  them,  they 
consented  to  accept  of  the  office  for  which  they  are  nominated;  and  the 
Congregation  brought  in  no  objections  against  them,  but  signified  their  con- 
sent by  holding  up  their  hands. 

"The  committee  after  careful  inquiry  and  deliberation,  do  conclude,  from 
the  best  views  of  the  present  disposition  of  affairs  they  can  attain,  that  it  is 
not  expedient  at  pi'esent,  judicially  to  recommend  a  change  of  the  version  of 
Psalms,  lest  the  animosities  in  the  Congregation  should  be  more  inflamed; 
but  they  most  earnestly  recommend  moderation,  forbearance,  and  condescen- 
sion to  both  parties,  till  such  times  as  by  the  use  of  proper  measures,  they 
shall  come  to  an  agreement  among  themselves.  Concluded  with  prayer." — 
Minutes,  1753,  p.  252. 

§  19.  Judicial  Commissions. 

(a)  "The  affair  between  Mr.  Bradner  and  Samuel  Nealy  was  reassumed,and 
after  long  reasoning  upon  it,  the  Synod  came  to  this  conclusion :  That  not- 
withstanding a  former  minute  of  the  Synod,  whereby  that  affair  was  deter- 
mined as  things  then  appeared,  yet  they  have,  for  sundry  good  reasons, 
j  udged  it  expedient,  that  there  being  a  hearing  of  that  matter  again  upon 
the  spot;  and  therefore  appointed  a  committee  of  the  Synod  to  go  to  Goshen 
with  the  full  power  of  the  Synod  to  hear  and  determine  that  business.  The 
persons  appointed  for  said  committee  are  Mr.  Andrews,  Mr.  Cross,  Mr.  Dick- 
inson, Mr.  IMerson,  Mr.  Webb,  Mr.  Pumry,  and  Mr.  Pemberton,  or  any  three 
of  them,  though  it  is  expected  they  will  all  use  their  diligence  to  go.  The 
time  of  meeting  to  be  the  third  Wednesday  of  May  next." — Minutes,  1731, 
p.  101. 

(h)  "A  supplication  being  brought  into  the  Synod  by  John  Boyd,  by  way 


Part  II.]  ECCLESIASTICAL   COMMISSIONS.  221 

of  an  appeal  from  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  in  a  complaint  against 
Samuel  Jack;  the  Synod  do  commit  it  to  Messrs.  Andrews,  Treat,  David 
Evans,  Grillespie,  Houston,  and  Thomas  Evans  to  go  to  the  Upper  Octorara 
the  last  Tuesday  of  October,  and  consider  and  determine  of  the  business, 
and  that  any  three  of  these  be  a  quorum ;  and  it  is  recommended  to  the 
Ministers  to  take  Elders  with  them  if  they  can." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  121. 
[See  similar  appointments,  1761,  p.  312;  1764,  p.  340;  1765,  p.  348;  and  1766, 
p.  360.] 

(c)   The  proceedings  reviewed  in  Synod. 

"An  appeal  from  a  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  by  a  certain 
Elizabeth  McClelland,  was  laid  before  the  Synod.  An  appeal  from  the 
judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  respecting  a  certain  person  offered 
as  an  evidence,  was  brought  in  by  a  member  of  that  Presbytery. 

[Upon  these  appeals  a  committee  was  appointed]  "to  meet  at  Chestnut 
Level,  the  first  Wednesday  of  September,  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  that 
they  shall  have  full  liberty  to  consider  the  case  fully,  and  determine  as  they 
shall  obtain  light;  and  that  seven  be  a  quorum." — Minutes,  1762,  p.  320. 
"The  committee  met  at  Chestnut  Level,  according  to  appointment,  and 
their  minutes  were  read,  as  also  the  minutes  of  Donegal  Presbytery  respect- 
ing the  affair  which  the  committee  were  to  consider." 

"The  affair  depending  between  some  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  and 
the  committee  of  the  Synod  that  met  at  Chestnut  Level,  came  under  con- 
sideration; and  after  much  time  spent  in  debating  the  first  report  of  the 
committee  respecting  the  evidence  given  by  Margaret  McClelland,  it  was  put 
to  the  vote,  whether  the  Synod  do  approve  the  judgment  of  the  committee 
or  not,  and  it  was  carried  approved,  by  a  great  majority. 

"  The  article  relating  to  Agnes  McKnight,  who  was  not  allowed  by  the 
committee  to  give  her  evidence,  was  considered,  and  voted  approve  the  con- 
duct of  the  committee  or  not;  and  there  were  ten  non  liquets;  but  the  com- 
mittee's judgment  was  disapproved  by  a  great  majority." 

"The  Synod  proceeded  to  consider  the  affair  of  the  committee,  and  the 
appeal  of  some  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  from  their  judgment, 
and  after  mature  consideration  thereof  they  agreed  nemine  contradicente, 
in  the  following  judgment: 

"1.  That  the  committee  had  a  proper  right  and  authority  to  hear  and  try 
the  case  between  Elizabeth  McClelland  and  Mr.  Sampson  Smith,  so  far  as 
the  Presbytery  had  closed  their  judgment  thereupon. 

"2.  The  Synod  judge  that  the  committee  justly  disapproved  the  conduct 
of  the  Presbytery  in  the  manner  of  taking  evidences  by  question  and 
answer,  respecting  the  affair  of  Tuesday  night;  judging  that  every  proper 
method  should  be  taken  to  bring  out  the  whole  truth  in  the  matter  depend- 
ing; which  sometimes  can  best  be  done  by  way  of  narrative,  and  by  requi- 
ring the  witnesses  to  tell  the  whole  truth  in  relation  thereto,  as  well  as 
nothing  but  the  truth. 

"3.  "That  the  Synod  do  approve  the  judgment  of  the  committee  with 
respect  to  Jean  Richey's  being  admitted  as  an  evidence. 

"4.  That  as  to  the  judgment  of  the  committee  with  respect  to  William 
Richey  and  Mrs.  Thoms,  the  Synod  do  not  determine  anything  positively 
concerning  them,  but  refer  the  decision  thereof  to  the  committee  to  be 
appointed  to  sit  on  the  whole  affair. 

"5.  Therefore  the  Synod  do  re-appoint  the  same  members  to  be  a  com- 
mittee, who  met  last  year  in  Chestnut  Level,  with  full  power  and  authority 
to  begin  and  examine  the  whole  affair  between  Mr.  Smith  and  Elizabeth 
McClelland,  de  novo,  and  issue  and   determine   the  same  as  they  think 


222  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

proper;  provided,  always,  that  they  reject  not  such  evidences  upon  such 
grounds  as  the  Synod  have  jud<2;ed  insufficient,  and  provided  also  they  do 
not  enter  on  the  consideration  of  any  particular  instances  of  charge  not  yet 
specified.  But  this  proviso  is  by  no  means  to  restrict  the  committee  from 
receiving  and  admitting  any  new  evidence  offered  for  the  support  of  the 
particular  instances  of  the  charge  already  brought,  or  in  point  of  defence. 
And  the  Synod  do  appoint  said  committee  to  meet  at  Little  Britain  meeting- 
house, at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  the  last  Wednesday  of  July  next,  for  this  pur- 
pose, that  six  be  a  quorum,  and  that  the  clerk  give  the  parties  notice  of  the 
matter  to  be  issued,  with  the  time  and  place  of  meeting,  and  summonses  for 
the  evidences." — Minutes,  1763,  pp.  325,  326,  328. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  meet  at  Little  Britain  to  try  the  appeals 
from  the  judgment  of  Donegal  Presbytery,  with  respect  to  Messrs.  Sampson 
Smith  and  William  Edmiston,  report  that  they  met  and  formed  thq  follow- 
ing judgment.     The  further  consideration  of  it  deferred  till  next  sederunt." 

"After  mature  deliberation,  though  we  do  not  doubt  the  committee  acted 
with  the  utmost  integrity,  nevertheless,  we  judge  the  censure  they  inflicted 
on  Mr.  Sampson  Smith  was  not  adequate  to  the  crimes  stated  in  their  judg- 
ment."    [The  judgment  is  not  recorded.] — Minutes,  1764,,  pp.  338,  339. 

§  20.    Standing  Commission  of  the  General  Synod. 

"  Overtured,  That  a  Commission  of  the  Synod  be  appointed  to  act  in  the 
name,  and  with  the  whole  authority  of  the  Synod,  in  all  affairs  that  shall 
come  before  them,  and  particularly  that  the  whole  affair  of  the  fund  be  left 
to  their  conduct,  and  that  they  be  accountable  to  the  Synod;  which  over- 
ture was  approved  by  the  Synod.  Masters  Jones,  Andrews,  McNish,  Ander- 
son, Dickinson,  and  Evans,  appointed  for  said  Commission,  any  three  where- 
of to  be  a  quorum." — Minutes,  1720,  p.  64. 

[Next  year.]  ^^  Ordered,  That  the  Commissioners  of  the  Synod,  do  bring 
in  an  account  to-morrow  morning  of  what  they  have  done  in  the  Synod's 
name,  since  last  meeting." — Minutes,  1721,  p.  65. 

"The  Commission  of  the  Synod  appointed  last  year,  continued  with  the 
same  powers  until  the  next  Synod. 

"The  review  of  the  minutes  of  this  present  Synod,  and  all  the  affairs  of 
the  fund,  with  whatever  emergencies  may  occur,  referred  to  the  said  Com- 
mission."— Minutes,  1722,  p.  74. 

[From  this  time  a  commission  was  with  few  exceptions,  annually  appointed,  and  its 
proceedings  revised.  The  quorum  was  three  for  fifteen  years,  it  then  rose  to  five  or  six, 
and  after  17.59,  fluctuated  between  that  number  and  twenty-two.] 

§  21.  Standing  Commission  of  the  Synod  of  New  YorJc. 
[At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,]  "  Messrs.  Pierson,  Gilbert  Tennent, 
William  Tennent,  Burr,  Samuel  Blair,  Finley,  Pemberton,  and  the  Moderator,  are  appoint- 
ed to  be  a  Commission  of  the  Synod  for  the  ensuing  year." — Minutes,  1745,  p.  234.  [A 
commission  was  annually  appointed  until  the  reunion  with  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 
The  quorum  is  never  stated.] 

§  22.  Revision  of  the  jiroceedings  of  the  Standing  Commission. 

"The  Commission  of  the  Synod  for  the  last  year  reported  that  they  had 
met,  and  they  laid  before  the  Synod  the  minutes  of  their  proceedings ;  after 
the  reading  of  said  minutes,  Mr.  Montgomery,  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Commission  who  dissented  from  their  first  judgment  prayed  leave  to  bring 
in  his  complaint  against  said  judgment,  which,  after  mature  consideration, 
was  carried  in  the  negative." 

"The  Synod  proceeded  to  consider  the  report  of  the  commission  of  the 
Synod. 

"  Mr.  Ewing  brought  in  a  complaint  against  the  judgment  of  the  said 


Part  II.]  ECCLESIASTICAL   COMMISSIONS.  223 

commission,  which  was  in  part  debated,  and  the  further  consideration  of  it 
was  deferred  until  to-morrow  morning." 

"The  first  clause  of  the  judgment  of  the  commission,  which  is  in  the  fol- 
lowing words,  '  that  Mr.  Ewing  has,  to  several  persons,  called  Mr.  Eakin  a 
liar,  a  dirty  liar,  or  some  such  opprobrious  terms,  that  he  did  this  without 
being  able  to  assign  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  same,'  was  maturely  consid- 
ered, and  after  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  evidence  laid  before  us,  the 
Synod  concludes  that  there  was  sufficient  foundation  for  this  first  clause  in 
the  commission's  judgment,  and  therefore  they  approve  the  same. 

"  The  second  clause  in  the  aforesaid  judgment,  which  is  as  follows,  *  that 
he  has  shown  in  this  matter  so  much  unteuderness  towards  the  truth,  as  to 
give  too  much  ground  to  impeach  his  veracity,'  was  also  maturely  considered, 
an4  all  the  evidence  laid  before  us  duly  weighed,  and  upon  the  whole  it 
does  not  appear  to  the  Synod  that  there  is  sufficient  reason  to  impeach  Mr. 
Ewing's  veracity.     Therefore  this  clause  of  the  judgment  is  not  approved. 

'*  The  third  clause  in  the  aforesaid  judgment,  which  is  in  the  following 
words; — 'that  he  has  shown  a  degree  of  resentment  which  the  Commission 
highly  disapprove,'  was  also  duly  considered,  and  approved. 

"And  therefore,  although-  there  does  not  appear  sufficient  reason  to 
impeach  Mr.  Ewing's  veracity,  yet  it  is  the  unanimous  judgment  of  this 
Synod,  that  Mr.  Ewing  has,  by  his  unchristian  treatment  of  Mr.  Eakin,  and 
the  resentment  he  has  shown  in  this  affair,  merited  the  censure  of  this  body, 
and  they  appoint  the  Moderator  to  admonish  him  from  the  chair." 

"The  gentlemen  of  the  Commission  and  Mr.  Ewing  were  called  in,  and 
the  judgment  of  the  Synod  respecting  Mr.  Ewing's  complaint  was  read  to 
them.  All  concerned  acquiesced  in  the  judgment,  except  Mr.  Ewing,  and 
he  is  allowed  time,  till  the  beginning  of  next  sederunt,  to  deliberate  on  this 
affair."  [Mr.  Ewing  submitted,  and  was  admonished  accordingly.] — 3Iinutes, 
1770,  pp.  401,  406 — 408.  [See  similar  revisions,  Minutes,  1785,  p.  113 ; 
1736,  p.  124.] 

§  23.  Nature  of  tJie  Commission  defined. 

"  It  was  moved  and  seconded,  and  came  to  be  considered,  whether  a  Com- 
mission of  Synod  should  be  appointed  and  their  powers  defined;  or  the  prac- 
tice of  appointing  a  Commission  discontinued,  and  after  reasoning  thereon, 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Treat,  Dr.  Rodgers,  McWhorter,  Hunter  and  John  Miller, 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepai'e  an  overture  to  be  laid  before  the 
Synod  next  Monday  morning,  ascertaining  the  powers  of  the  Commission  in 
case  it  should  be  continued." 

"  A  member  of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  an  overture  respect- 
ing a  Commission  of  Synod  brought  in  a  draught,  which  being  read  and 
amended,  was  put  to  vote  and  carried  by  a  large  majority,  and  is  as  follows : 

"Whereas  there  have  arisen  doubts  in  the  minds  of  some  members 
respecting  the  utility  and  powers  of  what  is  called  by  us  The  Commission, 
the  Synod  proceeded  to  take  this  matter  into  consideration,  and  after  due 
deliberation,  in  order  to  remove  any  scruples  upon  this  head  and  prevent  all 
future  difficulties  in  this  matter,  do  determine  that  the  Commission  shall 
continue  and  meet  whensoever  called  by  the  Moderator  at  the  request  of  the 
first  nine  on  the  roll  of  the  Commission,  or  a  major  part  of  the  first  nine 
Ministers;  and  when  met,  that  it  shall  be  invested  with  all  the  powers  of 
the  Synod,  to  sit  by  their  own  adjournments  from  time  to  time ;  and  let  it 
also  be  duly  attended  to,  that  there  can  lie  no  appeal  from  the  judgment  of 
the  Commission,  as  there  can  be  none  from  the  judgment  of  the  Synod;  but 
there  may  be  a  review  of  their  proceedings  and  judgments  by  the  Synod; 
and  whensoever  this  is  done,  those  who  were  members  of  the  Commission 


224  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

shall  be  present  and  assist  in  fonuinij;  all  such  judgments  as  the  Synod  may 
think  proper  to  make  upon  any  such  review. — Minutes,  1774,  pp.  452,  459. 

Title  2. — Commissions  op  Inferior  Courts. 
§  24.  A  svperior  Court  may  not  ajij^oint  a  CoTnniission  of  an  inferior. 

"xV  judgment  of  the  Session  of  Salem  was  confirmed  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Abingdon,  and  brought  by  appeal,  before  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  who 
remitted  the  cause  to  a  select  Session,  *  *  *  *  which  appears  to  have  been 
irregular." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  42. 

§  25.    Commissions  of  Presbytery. 

(a)  [On  the  10th  of  November,  1785,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  David  Rice,  Edward  Crawford, 
and  Charles  Cumming,  met  in  Danville,  Kentucky,  as  a  Commission  sent  by  the  Prefby- 
tery  of  Hanover,  in  Virginia,  and  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  Messrs,  James 
Crawford  and  Terah  Templin.] — Memoir  of  the  Rev.  David  Rice,  p.  159. 

(6)  [Some  gross  disorders  and  fanatical  extravagancies  having  broke  out  in  the  Churches 
of  Knob  Creek  and  Long  Creek,  North  Carolina,  in  connection  with  the  great  revival  in 
1804,  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  sent  the  Rev.  Messrs.  iS.  C.  Caldwell,  John  M.  Wilson, 
and  Humphrey  Hunter,  with  Elders  John  McNitt  Alexander,  Thomas  Harris,  Jacob  Alex- 
ander, Isaac  Alexander,  Hugh  Parks,  and  Robert  Stephenson,  as  a  Commission  to  visit 
the  Churches  and  correct  their  disorders.  They  found  laymen  under  pretence  of  inspira- 
tion, claiming  to  administer  the  sacraments,  and  perform  the  other  functions  of  the  minis- 
try, justified  in  the  disorder  by  a  divine  impulse.  Numbers  were  suspended  by  the  Com- 
mission, and  the  Churches  were  ultimately  reclaimed.] — See  Foote's  N.  C,  p.  465. 

§  26.  A  decision  on  the  constitutionality  of  Preshyterial  Commissions  waived. 

[The  Presbyteries  of  Winchester  and  Lexington  having  been  censured  by  the  Synod  of 
Virginia,  for  appointing  Commissions  in  certain  cases,  the  Assembly  in  reviewing  the 
records  of  the  Synod  adopted  the  following  resolution:] 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  be  approved;  while 
in  so  doing  the  Assembly  would  be  understood  as  expressing  no  opinion  on 
the  question,  decided  by  the  Synod,  in  reference  to  the  authority  of  the 
Presbyteries  of  Winchester  and  Lexington,  to  appoint  Commissions  in  the 
cases  alluded  to  in  the  records  of  the  Synod." — iMinutes,  1846,  p.  210. 

"The  following  resolution  was  offered,  and  referred  to  a  committee,  con- 
sisting of  Drs.  Hodge,  Lindsley,  Musgrave,  McFarland,  and  McDowell,  to 
report  to  the  next  Assembly. 

^'■Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  it  is  contrary  to  the 
Constitution  and  uniform  practice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  for  any  ecclesiastical  judicatory  to  appoint  a  Commission  to  determine 
judicially  any  case  whatever." — Minutes,  1846,  p.  216. 

[The  report  of  this  committee  presented  next  year,  concluded  as  follows:]  "In  view 
therefore,  of  the  original  rights  of  our  judicatories,  of  the  long-continued  practice  of  the 
Church,  and  of  the  great  value  of  the  right,  on  due  occasions  of  acting  by  commissions, 
the  hope  is  respectfully  expressed  that  the  Assembly  may  do  nothing,  which  may  have 
the  effect  of  calling  that  right  in  question." — Piinceton  Review,  1847,  p.  407. 

"On  motion,  the  original  resolution  recommended  by  the  committee  on 
the  subject  of  the  power  of  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  appoint  judicial  Commis- 
sions, was  laid  on  the  table  to  take  up  the  following,  viz. 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  resolution  declaring  it  to  be  'contrary  to  the  Consti- 
tution and  uniform  practice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  for  any  ecclesiastical  judicatory  to  appoint  a  Commission  to  determine 
judicially  any  case  whatever,'  referred  by  the  last  Assembly  to  this  Assem- 
bly, be  iudetii\itely  postponed. 

"After  some  discussion,  the  whole  subject  was,  on  motion,  indefinitely 
postponed." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  384. 


Part  II.]  ECCLESIASTICAL  COMMISSIONS.  225 

§  27.    Commissions  of  Synods. 

(a)  The  Commissions  of  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  Pittsburgh. 

[At  the  second  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  a  Standing  Commission  of  Synod  was 
appointed  for  the  management  of  the  whole  business  of  missions.  As  the  Synod  grew 
larger,  a  second  Commission  was  erected  west  of  the  mountains,  and  within  the  region 
which  upon  a  division  of  the  Synod  was  assigned  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh.  By  the 
Synod  of  Pittsburgh  this  Commission  was  continued,  and  under  the  style  of  The  Board  of 
Trust  for  Missions,  became  its  agency  of  operation  in  conducting  its  Home  and  Indian 
missions.  These  Commissions  were  recognized  by  the  Assembly,  and  reports  of  their 
operations  annually  required.] — Foote's  Virginia,  p.  .525 ;  Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Pitts- 
burgh, p.  1 1 ;  see  below,  Book  V.  §  67. 

(6)  Standing  Commission  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  following  Ministers  and  Elders  be  a  Standing  Commission  of  Sy- 
nod  [of  North  Carolina]  and  particularly  to  take  up  and  issue  the  affair  of  Mr.  Cossan,  if 
not  issued  by  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  viz.  the  Rev.  Samuel  E.  McCorkle,  Moderator, 
James  Hall,  James  Templeton,  James  McRee,  Robert  Hall,  W.  C.  Davies,  and  Charles 
Cummins ;  with  Elders  John  Dickey,  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  Adam  Beard,  William 
Cathey,  William  Anderson,  Joseph  Feemster,  and  John  Nelson.  The  Moderator's  coun- 
cil to  consist  of  one  Minister  besides  himself,  and  one  Elder.  Two  Ministers  besides  the 
Moderator,  and  as  many  Elders  as  may  be  present,  to  constitute  a  quorum." 

[From  the  date  of  this  appointment  (1791)  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  with  occa- 
sional exceptions,  annually  appointed  a  Commission.  By  it  some  of  the  most  important 
judicial  business  was  transacted,  and  its  decisions  were  final] — Footers  North  Carolina, 
p.  285. 

[The  judicial  authority  of  this  Commission  was  distinctly  recognized  by  the  Assembly. 
See  Book  VII.  §§  53,  58.] 

(c)   Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
[In  Book  VII.  ^§  68-70,  will  be  found  the  appointment  and  proceedings  of  this  body  in 
the  case  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery.     The  Synod  was,  after  mature  and  full  investiga- 
tion, fully  sustained  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  particular  on  no  hand  was  the  com- 
petence of  the  Commission  questioned.] 

((/)   Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois. 

[The  Assembly  having  directed  the  Synod  of  Illinois  to  send  a  committee  to  Peoria  for 
the  purpose  of  endeavouring  to  heal  certain  divisions  in  the  Church  there,  the  Synod 
appointed  a  Commission  which  met  at  Peoria,  and  dissolved  both  the  First  and  Second 
Churches,  and  erected  a  new  one.  The  position  of  the  First  Church  had  been  approved 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  the  judicial  decision  under  which  the  Commission  was  ap- 
pointed. The  action  of  the  Commission  was  approved  by  the  Synod,  and  came  up  by 
appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  decided  "  that  the  Synod  of  Illinois  and  its  Com- 
mission erred  by  transcending  their  powers,  and  the  directions  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1840,  when  they  dissolved  the  First  Church  of  Peoria;"  and  the  Presbytery  was  ordered 
to  restore  its  name  to  her  roll.     The  Assembly,  however,  further] 

'' Resolved,  That  to  prevent  all  future  misconstruction,  the  Church  of 
Peoria  created  by  the  Commission  as  approved  by  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  be 
and  it  is  hereby  recognized  and  declared  to  be  the  Second  Church  of  Peoria." 
— Minutes,  1842,  p.  33. 

Title  3. — Commission  of  the  General  Assembly. 
§  28.  Proposals  to  create  a  Judicial  Commission. 

(a)  "  A  memorial  from  East  Hanover  Presbytery,  requesting  the  General 
Assembly  to  overture  the  Presbyteries  on  the  subject  of  a  Commission,  con- 
sisting of  one  Minister  and  one  Elder  from  each  Synod,  to  try  all  judicial 
cases, 

"Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  deem  it  inexpedient  to  comply  with  the 
recommendation  at  present." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  237. 
29 


226  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  rv. 

(6)  In  the  Assembly  of  1854,  upon  an  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  the  whole 
subject  was  discussed  at  great  length,  propositions  on  the  one  hand  being  made  to  appoint 
8uch  a  Uoinraission,  and  on  the  other  to  send  down  an  overture  to  the  Presbyteries.  The 
subject  was  at  length  laid  on  the  table.] — Minutes,  1854,  p.  45. 

§  29.   The  Boards  are  Commissions. 

[The  four  benevolent  Boards  of  the  General  Assembly  are  properly  Commissions,  with 
powers  limited  severally  to  a  specific  subject,  but  in  the  whole  comprehending  the  very 
business  for  which  especially  the  Standing  Commission  of  the  General  Synod  was  origi- 
nally created — the  management  and  disposal  of  the  fund  for  pious  uses.  See  above,  §  20, 
and  Book  V.  §  78.] 


PART  III. 

CHURCH  SESSIONS. 


§  30.    Quorum  of  Session. 

(a)  "  The  inquiry  which  is  in  these  words :  Can  a  Minister  with  one  Elder 
form  a  Session  capable  of  transacting  judicial  business? — is  sufficiently 
answered  in  the  Constitution,  (Form  of  Grovernment,  Ch.  ix.,Sec.  2,)  where 
it  seems  to  be  implied  that  cases  may  occur  with  infant  or  feeble  Churches, 
in  which  it  would  be  impracticable  for  a  time  to  have^more  than  one  Elder, 
and  yet  be  necessary  to  perform  acts  of  a  judicial  character.  For  such,  the 
Constitution  provides ;  but  if  there  be  more  than  one  Elder,  then  two  at 
least,  with  a  Minister,  are  necessary  to  form  a  Session." — Minutes,  1836, 
p.  263. 

(h)  "A  request  from  the  Presbytery  of  Muncie,,that  the  Assembly  take 
the  necessary  steps  for  procuring  such  an  alteration  in  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, as  will  enable  a  Minister  and  one  Elder  to  perform  Sessional  acts,  when 
the  other  Elder  shall,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery,  be  from  any  cause 
incompetent  to  act  in  the  case. 

^^  Resolved,  That  no  alteration  of  our  constitutional  rules  is  needful  to 
secure  the  ends  of  discipline,  in  the  premises." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  210. 

§  31.  A  Special  Session  appointed  hy  a  superior  Court. 

(a)  "  The  Presbytery  of  Miami  did  appoint  a  Special  Session  composed 
of  Elders  belonging  to  diiferent  Congregations  for  the  purpose  of  trying  Mr. 
Lowrey,  and  the  decision  of  such  a  special  Session  was  affirmed  by  the  Synod 
of  Ohio ',  therefore 

"Eesolved,  That  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Lowrey  be  sustained,  and  that  all  the 
proceedings  in  the  case  be,  and  they  hereby  are  reversed,  on  the  ground 
that  the  appointment  of  such  a  Special  Session  is  entirely  unconstitutional; 
and  if  Mr.  Lowrey  has  done  anything  oifensive,  he  ought  to  be  tried  by  the 
Courts  that  have  been  instituted  by  the  Constitution  of  our  Church." — 
Minutes,  1823,  p.  149.     See  also  above,  §  24. 

(h)  "Having  heard  the  memorial  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  complaining  of 
the  decision  of  the  last  Assembly,  after  mature  deliberation,  this  Assembly 
concurs  in  opinion  with  the  last  General  Assembly,  that  the  Special  Session 
appointed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Miami,  for  the  trial  of  S.  Lowrey,  was  an 
unconstitutional  court,  and  that  all  the  proceedings  of  that  body  in  this  case 
and  of  the  Presbytery  of  Miami,  and  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  sanctioning  the 
acts  of  that  body,  are  irregular.  And  the  allegation  of  the  Synod,  in  their 
memorial,  that  this  body,  though  called  a  Session,  was  in  reality  no  more 
than  a  committee  of  Presbytery,  is  incorrect ;  for  they  are  not  only  denomi- 
nated a  Session,  but  they  performed  the  acts  which  belong  peculiarly  to  a 
Church  Session;  they  sat  in  judgment  on  a  member  of  the  Church,  and  an 
Elder,  and  condemned  and  suspended  him;  but  no  Presbytery  has  authority 


228  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

according  to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  to  delegate  to  a  committee  a 
power  to  perform  such  acts  as  these." — Minutes,  1824,  p.  213. 

§  32.   Moderator  of  Session. 

(a)  "From  the  Presbytery  of  Tombeckbee,  the  question:  Is  it  orderly 
that  a  member  of  one  Presbytery  moderate  a  Church  Session  of  another 
Presbytery? — which  question  the  Assembly  answered  in  the  affirmative." — 
Minutes,  1843,  p.  198. 

(b)  "  1st.  Is  it  orderly  for  a  Session  under  the  care  of  one  Presbjrtery,  to 
request  a  Minister  of  another  Presbytery  to  moderate  them,  without  first 
obtaining  leave  from  their  Presbytery? 

"2d.  Is  it  constitutional  for  a  Minister  to  moderate  a  Session  under  the 
care  of  a  different  Presbytery  from  his  own,  without  first  asking  and  obtain- 
ing leave  of  the  Presbytery  having  jurisdiction  over  said  Session  ? 

''Resolved,  That  the  last  Assembly  in  deciding  that  a  Session  may  invite 
a  Minister  of  another  Presbytery  to  sit  as  their  Moderator,  did  not  include 
any  of  those  cases  in  which  it  is  required  either  in  express  terms,  or  by 
plain  implication,  (Form  of  Gov.,  Chap,  ix.,  Sec.  3  and  4,)  that  the  Mode- 
rator shall  be  of  the  same  Presbytery  as  the  Congregation ;  but  are  of  opinion 
that  in  cases  of  a  different  kind,  for  which  no  provision  is  made,  a  member 
of  another  Presbytery  may  be  invited  to  act  as  Moderator,  if  it  be  found  to 
be  expedient." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  359. 

§  33.  Representation  in  the  superior  courts  requii'ed. 

(a)  "  Mr.  McNish's  reasons  for  not  bringing  an  Elder  or  representative 
with  him,  were  heard  and  sustained. 

"  Mr.  Henry's  representative  of  the  Congregation  being  absent,  and  his 
reasons  for  not  coming  being  inquired  into,  he  said  the  present  condition  of 
his  people  made  it  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  particular  collection 
made  by  the  Congregation  for  defraying  the  charges  of  the  representative  to 
the  Presbytery,  and  it  was  allowed  that  there  should. 

"  The  reasons  of  Mr.  Pumry's  Elder's  absence  were  inquired  into  and  sus- 
tained."— Minutes,  1816,  p.  43. 

(h)  "  The  Synod  do  recommend  it  to  the  several  Presbyteries  belonging 
to  their  body  to  call  those  Sessions  to  account  that  do  not  send  Elders  to 
attend  upon  the  Synod  and  Presbyteries,  and  to  enjoin  these  Sessions  to  call 
those  Elders  to  account  that  do  not  attend  upon  judicatories,  when  sent  by 
them." — Minutes,  1753,  p.  25G. 

§  34.    The  Session  represented  in  the  ahsence  of  the  Pastor. 

tioned,  [Messrs.  Henry,  Anderson  and  Morgan]  three  Elders  more  sat  in  the 
[At  first  the  balance  was  carefully  maintained  by  holding  the  seats  of  Elders  dependent 
upon  the  presence  of  their  Ministers,  e.  g.] 

"  3Ieniorandum — Upon  the  admission  of  these  Ministers  above-men- 
Presbytery,  namely,  Mr.  Pierce  Bray,  Mr.  John  Foord,  and  Mr.  Leonard 
Van  Degrift." — Minutes,  1710,  p.  17.  [This  plan  was,  however,  soon  set 
aside.] 

"  Mr.  Edmundson  being  present  as  a  representative  of  the  Congregation 
of  Patuxent,  and  their  Minister  absent,  it  was  put  to  the  vote  whether 
the  said  Mr.  Edmundson  should  act  here  as  a  representative,  notwithstand- 
ing the  Mini.ster's  absence ;  and  carried  iu  the  aflirmative,  nemine  contradi- 
cente." — Minutes,  1716,  p.  42. 

§  35.    Vacant  Congregations. 
(a)  " '  Should  every  Congregation  be  considered  as  vacant  which  is  not 
united  to  any  Minister  in  the  pastoral  relation  ?  and  if  it  should,  is  not  every 


Part  III.]  CHURCH  SESSION.  229 

such  Congregation  entitled  to  be  represented  by  a  Ruling  Elder  in  Pres- 
bytery ?' 

"  Resolved,  That  from  a  comparison  of  Sections  3  and  5  of  Chap,  x.,  Form 
of  Government,  it  is  evident  that  every  Congregation  without  a  Pastor  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  vacant  Congregation,  and  consequently  if  regularly  organ- 
ized, is  entitled  to  be  represented  by  a  Ruling  Elder  in  a  Presbytery." — 
3£inutes,  1843,  pp.  190,  196. 

(i)  ''  Where  one  Minister  is  supplying  two  Congregations,  in  one  of  which 
he  labours  as  installed  Pastor,  and  in  the  other  as  Stated  Supply,  has  each  of 
these  Congregations  a  right  to  be  represented  by  a  Ruling  Elder  at  the  same 
meeting  of  Presbytery? 

'■^Resolved,  That  the  question  be  answered  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes, 
1847;  p.  377. 

§  36.    United  Congregations. 

"  An  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  asking,  'When  two  or  more 
Congregations  have  separately  called  one  and  the  same  Minister  to  become 
the  Pastor  of  each  Church,  and  he  accepts  these  calls,  and  is  installed  over 
these  Congregations  as  Pastor,  are  these  Churches  entitled  to  one  or  more 
Elders  to  represent  them  in  Presbytery?'  The  committee  recommended  the 
following  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  question  be  answered  in  the  negative." — Minutes, 
1847,  p.  377. 

§  37.  Elders  of  vacant  Congregations  in  Synod. 

"  '  Has  an  Elder  whom  the  discipline  of  our  Church  authorizes  to  sit  as  a 
member  in  Presbytery  from  a  vacant  Congregation,  or  united  Congregations, 
a  right  by  that  discipline  to  sit  in  Synod  as  a  representative  of  such  Congre- 
gation or  Congregations?' 

"  The  vote  being  taken,  it  was  decided  in  the  affirmative." — Minutes, 
1808,  p.  403. 

§  38.  Attendance  on  the  superior  courts  enforced. 
(a)  "  Upon  calling  over  the  roll  it  being  found  that  many  of  the  Elders 
have  gone  home  without  leaving  any  reasons  for  their  so  doing,  the  Synod 
do  order  that  such  Elders  as  do  withdraw  from  the  Synod  without  leave, 
shall  be  left  to  the  censure  of  their  Sessions,  and  report  made  thereof  to  the 
next  Synod.  And  the  Synod  do  recommend  it  to  the  several  Congregations 
to  defray  the  necessary  charges  that  their  Elders  be  at,  during  their  attend- 
ance upon  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  117. 

(6)  Elders  to  be  questioned  for  tardiness. 
[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  approved,  except,]  "  1st. 
That  at  page  131,  the  Synod  did  not  call  an  Elder  to  assign  reasons  for  tar- 
diness."—Mnzt^es,  1838,  p.  27. 


PAET  lY. 

THE  PRESBYTERY. 


§  39.    Chronological  Table  of  Presbyteries. 

[There  are  probably  some  slight  inaccuracies  in  the  following  table,  as  in  some  instances 
the  facts  are  predicated  upon  defective  reports.  The  figures  prefixed  indicate  the  order 
of  seniority  among  the  existing  Presbyteries.  Those  annexed,  the  number  of  Ministers 
originally  composing  them  severally.  Those  marked  with  an  asterisk,  were  erected  by 
the  General  Assembly,  and  usually  have  six  months  precedence  of  those  of  the  same  year 
erected  by  the  Synods.  The  letters  occasionally  occurring  refer  to  notes  at  the  end  of  the 
table. 


TEAR  OF 

NAMES  OF   PRESBTTERIES. 

PRESBYTERIES   OUT    OF   WHICH 

PARENT  SYNOD. 

DISSOLU- 

ORIGIN. 

rORMED. 

TION. 

1716 

1.  Philadelphia,           "] 

2.  New  Castle,              1 
Snow  Hill,  Md.,  (fl)     j 

Created  by  the  subdivi- 
sion of  the   General 
Presbytery. 

1717 

it 

Long  Island,  (1.)        J 

1738 

1732 

Donegal, 

L<few  Castle, 

1786 

1733 

East  Jersey, 

Philadelphia, 

1738 

1735 

Lewes, 

New  Castle, 

1838 

1738 

3.  New  York, 

Union  of  East  Jersey  & 
Long  Island. 

t> 

4.  New  Brunswick, 

N.  York  and  Philada. 

1748 

Suffolk, 

See  Book  VI.  §  96. 

1790 

1751 

Abington, 

New  Brunswick, 

1758 

1755 

Hanover, 

New  Castle, 

1829 

1762 

Second  Philadelphla,(l.) 

Philadelphia, 

1786 

1765 

it 

Carlisle,  (1.) 
Lancaster,  Pa. 

Donegal, 

Union  of  New  Castle  & 
Donegal, 

1766 

1766 

Dutchess,  N.  Y. 

See  Book  VI.  §  97. 

1796 

1770 

5.  Orange, 

Hanover. 

1781 

6.  Redstone, 

Missionaries. 

1784 

South  Carolina, 

Orange, 

1799 

1785 

Abingdon, 

Hanover, 

1838 

1786 

7.  Transylvania,  5, 

8.  Lexington,  12, 

Abingdon. 
Hanover. 

li 

9.  Baltimore,  6,           } 

10.  Carlisle,  (2.)  22,     \ 

Division  of  Donegal. 

1790 

11.  Albany,  7,               ( 

12.  Long  Island,  12,    \ 

Division  of  Suffolk, 

New  York  &.  New  Jersey. 

1793 

13.  The  Ohio,  5, 

Redstone, 

Virginia. 

1794 

14.  Huntingdon,  10, 

Carlisle, 

Philadelphia. 

» 

15.  Winchester,  5, 

Lexington, 

Virginia. 

1795 

16.  Hudson,  7, 

Dutchess  &  New  York, 

NewYork&,  New  Jersey. 

II 

17.  Concord.  N.C.,  12, 

Orange, 

Carolinas. 

1796 

18.  Hopewell,  5, 

South  Carolina, 

Do. 

1797 

Union,  N.  C,  5, 

Abingdon, 

Do. 

1838 

1799 

19. W.  Lexington.  Ky.  9, 

Transylvania, 

Virginia. 

" 

20.  Washington,  i  - 
Chillicothe,           \    ' 

Transylvania, 

Do. 

1821 

Name  changed. 

Part  J 

v.] 

PRESBYTERY. 

231 

TEAR  OF 

NAUES  OF   PBESBTTERIES. 

PRESBYTEBIES    OUT  OF  WHICH 

PARENT  SYNOD. 

DISSOLU- 

ORIGIN. 

FORMED. 

TION. 

1799 

First  S.  Carolina,  10, 

)  Division  of  South  Ca- 
^      rolina, 

Carolinas, 

1810 

« 

21.  Second  S.  Car.,  >  g 
South  Carolina,        ^    ' 

Do. 

1810 

Vame  changed. 

1800 

jrreenville.  Ten.,  4, 

Abingdon, 

IJarolinas, 

1804 

1801 

22.  Erie,  Pa.,  5, 

Redstone  and  Ohio, 

Virginia. 

1802 

23.  Columbia,*  3, 

Albany,  l4.  Y. 

Ve  w  York  &  New  Jersey. 

>t 

Oneida,*  6, 

Do. 

Do.               do. 

1837 

<( 

Cumberland,  Ky.,  11, 

Transylvania, 

Kentucky, 

1806 

1805 

Geneva,  N.  Y. 

Oneida, 

Albany, 

1837 

1808 

24.  Hartford,  >  g 
Beaver,           \    ' 

Erie, 

Pittsburgh. 

1833 

Vame  changed. 

1808 

24.  Lancaster,  0.  P  e 
Zanesville,             \    ' 

Ohio, 

Pittsburgh. 

1843 

!^ame  changed. 

1809 

25.  Londonderry,  11, 

Connecticut, 

Albany. 

t( 

Middle  Association,  18, 

See  Book  VI.  §116. 

Do. 

1810 

" 

Jersey,  26, 

>few  York, 

!^ew  York  &,  New  Jersey, 

1824 

<i 

26.  Harmony,  4, 

First  South  Carolina, 

Carolinas. 

1810 

Cayuga,  N.  Y.,  8,        ) 
Onondaga,  12,              ^ 

Division  of  the  Middle 

Albany, 

1837 

i( 

Association, 

" 

" 

West  Tennessee,  4, 

Transylvania, 

Kentucky, 

1849 

n 

27.  Muhlenberg,  Ky.9, 

Do. 

Do. 

u 

28.  Miami,  0,  5, 

Washington,  0. 

Do. 

1811 

29,  Northumberland, 

Pa.,  5, 

Philadelphia. 

1812 

30.FayettevilIe,N.C.,9, 

Orange, 

Carolinas. 

1814 

Grand  River,  0.,  4, 

Hartford, 

Pittsburgh. 

u 

Champlain,  7, 

Albany, 

1838 

1815 

31.  Louisville, 

Transylvania, 

Kentucky. 

i> 

32.  Mississippi, 

West  Tennessee, 

Do. 

u 

Shiloh, 

West    Tennessee    and 
Muhlenberg, 

Do. 

1838 

1816 

St.  Lawrence,  )  N.Y.,5, 
Watertown,     ^ 

Oneida, 

Albany, 

J  1837 

1828 

Name  changed, 

1817 

Niagara,  3, 

Geneva, 

Geneva, 

1837 

11 

Ontario,  N.  Y.,  19, 

Do. 

Do. 

>i 

>( 

Bath,  N.  Y.,  6, 

Do. 

Do. 

u 

i( 

33.  Richland,  C,  6, 

Lancaster, 

Ohio. 

" 

34.  Newton,  N.  J. 

New  Brunswick, 

New  York  &  New  Jersey. 

1818 

Portage,  0.,  7, 

Grand  River, 

Pittsburgh, 

1837 

" 

35.  Missouri, 

Tennessee. 

1819 

Otsego,  N.  Y.,  7, 

Oneida, 

Albany, 

1837 

Genessee,  N.  Y. 

Ontario, 

Geneva, 

1837 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  8, 

Do. 

Do. 

1837 

36.  Steubenville,  8, 

Ohio, 

Pittsburgh. 

37.  Washington,  Pa.,  9, 

Do. 

Do. 

1820 

38.  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Columbia, 

Albany. 

39.  North  River, 

Hudson, 

Do. 

40.  Allegheny,  Pa. 

Erie, 

Pittsburgh. 

41.  Ebenezer,  Ky. 

West  Lexington, 

Kentucky. 

1821 

42.  Susquehanna,  Pa. 

New  Jersey. 

>t 

43.  Columbus,  0. 

Ohio. 

1826 

44.  Alabama,               ) 
South  Alabama,           ^ 

Name  changed. 

SouthCarolina&Georgia. 

1821 

45.  Georgia, 

Hopewell, 

Do.             do. 

u 

46.  Cincinnati, 

Miami, 

Ohio. 

tt 

Ogdensburgh,N.Y.  )  ^ 
St.  Lawrence,          ^    ' 

Champlain, 

Albany, 

1837 

1829 

Name  changed. 

1822 

47.  Second  New  York, 

Associate  Reformed. 

11 

Second  Philadelphia,(2.) 

Do. 

1825 

it 

Oswego,  N.  Y.,  5, 

Oneida, 

Albany, 

1837 

u 

46.  Athens,  O. 

Lancaster, 

Ohio. 

1823 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Niagara, 

Genessee, 

1837 

*  Those  marked  with  an  asterisk  were  erected  by  the  AsBembly. 


232 


CHURCH   COURTS. 


[Book  IV. 


TEAR  OF 
ORIOIPi. 


1823 


1848 
1823 
1839 

1824 


1825 


1830 
1825 
1826 


1827 
1828 


1829 


1830 


1831 


1832 

1834 
1832 

1833 


1835 
1833 

1834 


NAMES  OF  PREBBTTERIES. 


PBESBTTEBIE8    OUT   OF  WHICH 
FORMED. 


District  of  Columbia, 
Huron,  O. 

49.  Salem,  la. 
New  Albany, 

50.  Charleston  Union, 
Charleston, 
51,Nevvark.  N.  J.,  20, 

52.  Elizabcthfown,  17, 

53.  North  Alabama,  9, 
Mechlinburgh,  N.C.  8,  Concord, 

54.  Bethel,  S.C,  8, 
Cortland,  N.  Y. 
French  Broad, Ten. 

55.  Madison,  la. 

56.  Wabash,  la.  ) 
Vincennes,  ^ 
Newburyport,  Mass. 
Chenango,  N.  Y.,  11, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  5, 

57.  Holston,  Ten.,  7, 
Trumbull,  O.,  11, 
Angelica,  N.  Y.,  6, 
Centre  of  Illinois,  10, 

58.  Tombigbee,  Miss.,  7 

59.  Bedford,  N.  Y.,  12, 
Tioga,  N.Y.,  11, 

60.  Oxford,  O.,  11, 
ei.Crawfordsville.Ia  9, 

62.  East  Hanover,  12, 

63.  West  Hanover,  21, 

64.  Western  District,  5, 
Third,  New  York,  15, 

65.  Blairsville,  Pa.  13, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  14, 

66.  Indianapolis,  la.  7, 


Baltimore, 
Portage, 
Louisville, 
Name  changed. 

Name  changed. 
i  Division  of  Jersey, 


Onondaga, 
Union, 
Salem, 
Do, 
Name  changed. 
Londonderry, 
Otsego  and  others, 


Illinois,  10,  1 

67.  Kaskaskia,  7,        > 

68.  Sangamon,  5,        3 
Delaware,  N.  Y.,  8, 

69.  St.  Louis,  5, 
St.  Charles,  5, 
Tabor,  Ky.,  7, 
Clinton,  Miss.,  6, 

Second  Philadelphia*  1 
(Assembly's)  16,  > 
Third  Philadelphia,  S 
Second  Long  Island,  7, 
Montrose,  Pa.,  10, 

70.  Schuyler,  III.,  5, 

71.  Palestine,  111.  5, 

72.  Second  Philadelphia 
(Synodical)  11, 

Wilmington,  Del,,  10, 

73.  Good  Hope,Ga.  ) 
Flint  River,  \ 
St.  Joseph's,  Mich.,  4, 
Monroe,  IVIich.,  7, 
Ottawa,  III, 

174.  Nashville,  Tenn. 


Abingdon, 

Grand  River, 

Bath, 

Wabash, 

Missionaries  to  the  In 

dians, 
North  River  and  others, 
Cayuga, 
Cincinnati, 
Wabash, 

)  Division  of  Hanover, 
(     Va. 

West  Tennessee, 
New  York, 
Redstone, 
Huron, 
Madison  &  Crawfords 

ville, 

Division    of  Centre  of 
Illinois, 

Chenango, 
Missouri, 


PARENT  8TN0D. 


Philadelphia, 

Pittsburgh, 

Kentucky. 

SouthCarolina&Georgia. 

New  Jersey. 

Do. 

SouthCarolina&Georgia 
North  Carolina, 

Do. 
Geneva, 
Tennessee, 
Kentucky, 
Da. 

Albany, 

Do. 
Western  Reserve, 
Tennessee. 
Western  Reserve, 
Geneva, 
Indiana, 
West  Tennessee. 


DISSOLU- 
TION. 


1838 
1837 


New  York. 

Geneva, 

Ohio. 

Indiana. 

Virginia. 

Do. 
West  Tennessee. 
New  York, 
Pittsburgh. 
Western  Reserve, 
Indiana. 


11 


Ebenezer  and  others, 
Mississippi, 

Philadelphia, 


Geneva, 
Illinois, 

Kentucky, 

Mississippi    and    South 
Alabama, 


Name  changed. 
Long  Island, 
Susquehanna, 
Illinois  and  Sangamon, 
Crawfordsville  &   Kas. 

kaskia. 
Philadelphia, 

New  Castle, 
Hopewell, 
Name  changed. 
Detroit,  8. 

Sangamon  &  Schuyler, 
West  Tennessee, 


New  York, 
New  Jersey, 
Illinois. 


Philadelphia. 


South  CaroIina&Georgia 

Western  Reserve, 

Illinois, 

I  West  Tennessee. 


1828 

1837 
1838 


1838 
1837 
1838 

1837 

1830 


1837 


1838 
1837 

1838 

1837 

1840 
1834 
1849 

1837 


1841 

1838 


1838 
1838 


Part  IV.] 


PRESBYTERY. 


233 


NAMES   OF    PRESBTETKIES. 


75.  Arkansas,  (c) 


76.  Tuscaloosa,  Ala. 

77.  Wooster,  Ohio, 

78.  Marion, Ohio,  8, 

79.  Logansport,  la,,  5, 
Roanoake,  7, 
Morgaiitown,N.C.,  5, 

80.  Amite,  >   - 
Louisiana,  \      ' 
C  hemung,  N.  ¥.,  14, 
Maumee,  Ohio, 
Loraine,  Ohio, 
Medina,  Ohio,  10, 

81.  Sidney,  Ohio,  7, 

82.  Peoria,  111.,  7. 
Alton,  III. 

83.  Greenbriar,  Va.,  10, 
Caledonia,  N.Y.,8, 

84.  New  Lisbon,  O.,  8,  Beaver, 

85.  St.  Cluirsville,  0.12.jSteubenville, 

86.  Ogdensburgh,N.Y. 3,  Disowned  Synods, 


PRESBYTERIES    OUT   OF  WHICH 
FORMED. 


PARENT  STNOD. 


DISSOLU- 
TION. 


Mississippi, 


South  Alabama, 

Richland, 

Columbus, 

Crawfordsville, 

Orange, 

Concord, 

Mississippi, 

Name  ol'Amite  changed 

Bath, 


Miami, 


Lexington, 
Disowned  Synods, 


Mississippi    and    South 

Alabama. 
«i 

Ohio. 

Indiana. 
North  Carolina, 

Mississippi. 

Geneva, 
Western  Reserve, 


87.  West  Jersey,  12, 

88.  Raritan,  N.  J.,9, 
8!i.  Florida, 

90.  Michigan,  3, 

91.  Palmyra,  Mo.,  9. 

92.  Iowa,  6. 

93   Indian,  I.Ter,,  (e) 

94.  Lodiana,*  (6),4, 

95.  Furrukhabad,«4 

96.  Allahabad,*  6, 

97.  Holly  Springs, 
Miss. 

Chickasaw, 

98.  Clarion,  Pa.,  6, 

99.  East  Alabama,  1 1 , 
Steuben,  N.  Y.,  7, 
Wyoming,  N.  Y.  12 

100.  Donegal,  Pa.,  12, 

101.  Lake,  la.,  6, 

102.  Luzerne,  Pa.,  9, 

103.  Cherokee,  Ga,  4, 


Philadelphia, 

Newton, 

Georgia, 


.( 


Schuyler, 
Arkansas, 

The  Missions  in  North- 
ern India. 

Clinton, 

Name  changed. 
Allegheny, 
South  Alabama, 

Division  of  Caledonia, 

New  Castle, 
Logansport, 
Susquehanna  &  others, 
Flint  River, 


Cincinnati. 
Illinois. 

Virginia. 
New  Jersey, 
Pittsburgh. 

Albany. 

Philadelphia. 

New  Jersey. 

South  Carolina&Georgia 

Indiana. 

Missouri. 

Illinois. 

Mississippi. 


1839 
1840 


1837 


1838 
1841 


104.  Monlgomery,Va.l4i Lexington, 


1845 
1846 

1848 


105.  Potosi,  Mo,  5, 

106.  Upper  Missouri, 4, 

107.  Coshocton,  O.,  9, 

108.  Hocking,  O.,  5, 

109.  Buffalo  City,  12, 
New  Orleans,  5, 

110.  Fort  Wayne,  la. 

111.  Brazos,  {d) 
Bowling  Green,  Ky.  10, 

112.  Rock  River,  111.  6, 

113.  Knoxville,Ten.,5, 
Wisconsin,*  9, 

114.  Ningpo,*  4,  ) 

115.  Canton,*  3,  \ 
Western  Africa,*  3, 

116.  Creek   Nation,  I. 
Ter.*  3, 

30 


St.  Louis, 

Missouri, 

Wooster, 

Lancaster, 

Wyoming, 

Louisiana, 

Logansport, 

Mission  in  Texas. 

Transylvania  and  Lou- 

ville, 
Schuyler, 
Holston, 
Missionaries. 

Missionaries  in  China 

"  in  Liberia, 

"    to  the  Indians- 


Mississippi. 


Pittsburgh. 
Alabama. 
New  Jersey, 

Philadelphia. 

Indiana. 

Philadelphia. 

South  Carolina&Georgia 

Virginia. 

Missouri. 


Ohio. 

Buffalo. 
Mis.-^issippi, 
Northern  Indiana. 

Kentucky, 

Illinois. 

West  Tennessee. 


1853 


1845 


1847 


1851 


1852 


234 


CHURCH   COURTS. 


[Book  IV. 


TEAR  OP 

NAMES  OF  PRESBYTERIES. 

PRESBTTERIES    OUT  OF  WmCH 

PARENT  SYNOD. 

DISSOLU- 

ORIGIN. 

FORMED. 

TION. 

1848 

117.  Muncie,  la.,  3, 

Indianapolis, 

Indiana. 

tt 

118.  Whitewater,  la.  12 

«t 

" 

119.  VVasliita,  Ark,  5, 

Arkansas, 

Memphis. 

1849 

120.  California,*  4, 

Misssionaries. 

>i 

121.  Nebraska,*  (fc),  3, 

"      to  the  Indians. 

ti 

122.  Burlington,  N.J.  6, 

West  Jersey, 

New  Jersey. 

u 

Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  16, 

Albany, 

Albany, 

1850 

>i 

123.  Maury,  Tenn.  8   ) 
124.Tuscumbia,AI.4  \ 

Division  of  West  Ten- 

West  Tennessee. 

nessee. 

tt 

1850 

124.  Connecticut,  7, 

New  York, 

New  York. 

tt 

125.  Eastern  Shore,Md5 

Baltimore, 

Philadelphia. 

u 

126.  Findley,  0.,  7, 

Maumee, 

Cincinnati. 

» 

127.  Cedar,  7, 

Iowa, 

Illinois. 

tt 

128.  Mohawk,  N.Y.,  7, 

Albany, 

Albany. 

tt 

129.  Eastern  Texas,  5, 

Brazos, 

Mississippi. 

tt 

130.  Western  Texas,  5, 

It 

ti 

It 

131.  Memphis,  Ten.  11, 

Western  District, 

Memphis. 

1851 

132.  Oregon,*  3, 

Missionaries, 

tt 

133.  Dane,*  10,           ) 

tt 

134.  Milwaukie,*  12,  } 

Division  of  Wisconsin. 

tt 

135  Winnebago,*  7,    ) 

" 

136.  Talladega,  8, 

East  Alabama, 

Alabama. 

tt 
tt 

137.  Rochester  City,  N. 
Y..8, 

138.  Chicago,  111.  10, 

Buffalo  City, 

Buffalo. 
Illinois. 

It 

139.  Des  Moines,  5. 

Iowa, 

tt 

1852 

140.  Stockton,  Cai.*  3, 

California  and  others. 

" 

141.  Passaic,  N.J.,  17, 

Elizabethtown, 

New  Jersey. 

1853 

It 

142.  Red  River, 

143.  Paducah,  Ky.  5, 

Louisiana, 

Mississippi. 
Kentucky. 

t 

144.  Allegheny  City,  17 

Ohio, 

Pittsburgh. 

It 

145.  Central  Texas,  4, 

Texas. 

It 

146.  Genessee  River,  16 

Union   of  Steuben  and 
Wyoming, 

Buffalo. 

(ffl)  Snow  Hill  as  erected,  consisted  of  three  members,  of  whom  one  died  within  the 
year,  and  the  Presbytery  thus  became  extinct. 

(6)  Lodiana  and  Nebraska  Presbyteries  were  constituted  by  the  members  under  the 
act  of  the  Assembly  to  that  effect.     Book  5,  §  128,  a. 

(f)  The  Presbytery  of  Arkansas  was  erected  in  1834,  consisting  of  five  members.  In 
1842,  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  finding  that  it  had  failed  of  a  quorum  for  several  years, 
and  that  but  two  members  remained,  reorganized  it  by  setting  off  two  additional  mem- 
bers to  it,  and  ordering  a  meeting  at  Little  Rock,  on  Friday  before  the  first  Sabbath  of 
January  1843. 

(rf)  The  Presbytery  of  Brazos  was  formed  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  Lodiana 
and  Nebraska,  and  upon  application  received  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi, 
in  1845. 

(c)  The  Presbytery  of  Indian  is  composed  of  the  Missions  of  the  American  Board  in 
the  Indian  Territory. 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  235 


CHAPTER  I. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  PRESBYTERY. 

§  40.    The  quorum. 

"'Is  it  the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  it  is  implied  in  Sec.  7, 
Chap.  X.  of  the  Form  of  Government,  that  Presbyterial  business  cannot  be 
transacted  without  the  presence  of  one  Ruling  Elder  at  least?' 

"  Resolved,  That  any  three  Ministers  of  a  Presbytery,  being  regularly 
convened,  are  a  quorum  competent  to  the  transaction  of  all  business,  agree- 
ably to  the  provisions  contained  in  the  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  x. 
Sec.  ir— Minutes,  1843,  pp.  190,  196. 

[For  further  action  on  this  subject,  see  Book  II.  §§  45-51. 

§  41.   The  opening  Sermon  may  he  preached  hy  one  not  a  member. 

"The  committee  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  reportedi 
recommending  approval,  with  the  following  exception,  viz. — On  page  253, 
it  appears  that  the  Presbytery  of  Madison,  at  a  certain  meeting,  in  the 
absence  of  the  Moderator,  invited  a  Minister  from  another  Presbytery  to 
preach  the  opening  sermon.  This  act  of  Presbytery  the  Synod  condemns  as 
unconstitutional.  The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  Presbytery,  by  so 
doing,  violated  no  principle  of  the  Constitution.  The  recommendation  was 
adopted." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  250. 

§  42.   Ministers  without  charge  entitled  to  seats. 

"'Are  Ministers  without  charges  constituent  members  of  our  Church 
judicatures,  and  have  they  an  equal  voice  with  settled  Pastors  and  Ruling 
Elders  of  Congregations  in  ecclesiastical  governments?' 

"In  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  this  question  is  answered  affirmative- 
ly, Chap.  ix.  Sec.  2,  of  the  Form  of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  these  words:  'A  Presbytery  consists  of  all  the  Ministers,  and 
one  Ruling  Elder  from  each  Congregation  within  a  certain  district.'" 
— Minutes,  1816,  p.  615. 


CHAPTER  II. 

RECEPTION  AND  DISMISSION   OF  MINISTERS. 

Title  1. — Domestic  Migrations. 

§  43.   May  receptions  hy  Presbytery  he  set  aside? 

(a)  "The  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery  report  they  have  received  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hugh  McGill  from  Ireland.  But  it  being  objected  that  he  was 
suspended  from  his  ministry  in  Ireland  by  the  Associate  Presbytery,  of 
which  he  had  been  a  Minister,  which  was  confessed  by  himself;  and  the 
Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery  not  appearing  to  us  to  have  had  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  grounds  of  that  suspension,  thus  virtually  to  reverse  it,  nor 
otherwise  to  have  received  satisfactory  testimonials  in  his  favour,  the  Synod 
therefore  reverse  that  part  of  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  by  which  he 
was  received." — Minutes,  1773,  p.  437. 


236  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

(I)  "Donegal  Presbytery  report,  they  have  received  the  Kev.  Mr.  Robert 
Huey  from  the  Presbytery  of  Durry  in  Ireland,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  David 
Macluer  and  Levi  Frisby  from  New  England.  But  it  appearing  to  the 
Synod  that  these  two  last  mentioned  were  under  the  direction  of  the  Board 
of  Correspondents  from  the  Society  of  Scotland  and  appointed  to  an  Indian 
Mission,  and  are  not  dismissed  from  the  ecclesiastical  council  by  which  they 
were  ordained  in  New  England,  the  Synod  reverse  the  judgment  of  the 
Presbytery  receiving  them  into  full  membership,  but  approve  of  their  taking 
them  under  their  care  while  they  are  labouring  occasionally  in  the  bounds  of 
the  Presbytery." — Mi,mites,  1773,  p.  487. 

§  44.    Ohsolete  decisions  on  this  snhject. 

(a)  [The  following  decisions  were  had  before  the  present  Book  of  Discipline  was 
framed;  and  are  superseded  by  its  provisions  which  indicate  two  ways  in  which  any  error 
or  maladministration  of  an  inferior  court  may  be  corrected.  First:  Upon  review,  the  supe- 
rior court  may  point  out  and  require  the  correction  of  any  disorderly  proceedings.  (Book 
of  Discipline,  Chap,  vii.  Sec.  1,  Art.  3 — 6.)  Second:  Upon  complaint  the  superior  court  is 
invested  with  the  power  of  reversing  the  judgment  and  placing  matters  in  the  same  situa- 
tion in  which  they  were  before  the  judgment  was  entered.  (Book  of  Discipline,  Chap, 
vii.  Sec.  4,  Art.  5.)  That  it  has  always  been  competent  to  a  Synod  to  restore  a  Minister, 
notwithstanding  the  adverse  decision  of  the  Presbytery  will  not  be  questioned,  and  it  does 
not  appear  upon  what  principle  of  propriety  or  rule  of  the  Constitution,  whether  the  former 
or  the  present,  a  corrective  jurisdiction  should  be  barred  in  the  opposite  case,] 

(b)  "The  Synod  of  Geneva  were,  beyond  doubt,  competent  to  censure  the 
Presbytery  of  Geneva  for  admitting  hastily  or  on  slight  evidence,  into  their 
body,  an  unworthy,  or  even  a  suspicious  character.  But  it  is  equally  clear 
that  the  right  of  deciding  on  the  fitness  of  admitting  Mr.  Wells,  a  constit- 
uent member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva,  belonged  to  the  Presbytery 
itself;  and  that  having  admitted  him,  no  matter  how  improvidently,  their 
decision  was  valid  and  final.  The  individual  admitted  became  a  member  in 
full  standing;  nor  could  the  Presbytery,  though  it  should  reconsider,  reverse 
its  own  decision,  or  in  any  way  sever  the  member  so  admitted  from  their 
body,  except  by  a  regular  process." — Minutes,  1816,  p.  312. 

(c)  "Eesolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  relative  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Rev.  John  Shepherd  to  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
so  far  as  it  censures  the  restoration  of  said  Shepherd,  who  was  deposed  by  a 
judicatory  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  fellowship  with  us,  [the  Association 
of  Fairfield,  Connecticut,]  be  and  hereby  is  confirmed;  because  it  did  not 
appear  from  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Onondaga,  that  said  restoration 
took  place  in  consequence  of  any  confession  of  the  alleged  crime  for  which 
the  said  Shepherd  was  deposed,  or  of  any  profession  of  penitence  for  it,  or  of 
any  conference  with  the  judicatory  which  deposed  him. 

"2.  That  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Onondaga,  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
the  rescinding  of  their  vote  to  restore  the  Rev.  John  Shepherd,  be  and 
hereby  is  sustained,  on  the  second  reason  of  appeal,  and  upon  that  alone; 
because  the  Assembly  judges,  that  a  Minister  of  the  gospel,  when  once 
restored  by  Presbyterial  authority  cannot  be  deprived  of  his  office,  except  it 
be  by  a  new  process  and  conviction." — Minutes,  1818,  p.  687. 

§  45.  Caution  enjoined  in  receiving  members. 
"The  Presbyteries  should  remember  that  they  are  not  independent  bodies, 
each  acting  for  itself  alone,  and  therefore  at  liberty  to  receive  any  candidate 
who  they  may  suppose  is  qualified  to  do  good.  The  Presbyteries  are  co- 
ordinate members  of  an  extended  communion  bound  together  by  a  written 
compact.  When  therefore  they  admit  a  member  who  has  not  the  constitu- 
tional qualifications,  they  are  guilty  of  a  breach  of  faith." — Minutes,  1839, 
p.  184. 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  237 

§  46.  May  reject  Ministers  ivith  clean  jiapers. 

"A  complaint  and  appeal  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Ledlie  Birch,  against 
certain  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Birch,  par- 
ticularly for  refusing  to  receive  him  as  a  member  of  their  body,  on  the 
ground  of  a  supposed  want  of  acquaintance  with  experimental  religion, 
together  with  a  representation  of  the  Congregation  of  Washington,  in  the 
bounds  of  said  Presbytery,  on  the  same  subject,  was  brought  in  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Bills  and  Overtures. 

"Besolved,  That  no  evidence  of  censurable  procedure  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Ohio  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Birch,  has  appeared  to  this  house,  inasmuch  as  there 
is  a  discretionary  power  necessarily  lodged  in  every  Presbytery  to  judge  of 
the  qualifications  of  those  whom  they  receive,  especially  with  respect  to 
experimental  religion." — Minutes,  1801,  pp.  213,  218. 

§  47.  Proposed  constitutional  rule  on  this  subject. 

''The  following  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  was  received 
and  read,  viz. 

"That  after  the  12th  article  of  the  10th  chapter  of  the  revised  Form  of 
Government,  the  following  be  added:  'XIII.  Every  Presbytery  shall  judge 
of  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members.' 

"Eesolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  grant  the  request  contained  in  this 
overture,  or  to  make  any  new  alterations  at  present  in  the  Book  of  Discipline." 
— Minutes,  1821,  p.  6. 

§  48.  Presbytery  may  examine  intrant  Ministers. 

[This  right  was  one  of  the  points  brought  into  issue  in  the  New-school  controversy. 
For  the  entire  series  of  decisions  on  the  subject,  see  Book  6,  §  9;  Book  7,  §  115,  v; 
116;  7;   117:  5;   124:  1;   12.5,  Res.  1;  and  below,  §  49] 

§  49.  Abuse  of  this  right  corrected  upon  appeal. 
[See  Book  III.  §  49,  2:  and  Book  VII.  §  115,  v;  and  129,  Res.  1.] 

(a)  "A  complaint  was  brought  in  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  George  Dufiield 
against  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  that  they  had  by  one  of  their 
members  obstructed  his  entrance  into  a  Church  in  this  city  under  their  care, 
to  which  he  had  accepted  a  call,  and  had  also  refused  to  receive  him  as  a 
member,  although  he  was  dismissed  from,  and  recommended  by,  the  Presby- 
tery of  Donegal,  which  was  read. 

"After  having  maturely  considered  this  matter,  the  Synod  judge  that 
Mr.  Dufiield  had  just  cause  of  complaint  against  the  conduct  and  judgment 
of  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  who  ought  to  have  admitted  him  to 
membership  with  them  and  allowed  him  a  fair  trial;  wherefore  we  now 
declare  him  to  be  Minister  of  the  Pine  Street  or  Third  Presbyterian  Con- 
gregation in  this  city,  and  order  that  he  be  put  upon  the  list  of  the  afore- 
said Presbytery." — Minutes,  1773,  p.  446. 

(b)  "  Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  the  Presbyteiy  of  Abingdon,  from  the 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Glenn,  be 
dismissed,  on  the  ground  that  the  substantial  cause  of  appeal  has  been 
removed  by  the  act  of  that  Presbytery,  in  their  receiving  Mr.  Glenn  in  con- 
formity with  the  decision  of  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  27. 

§  50.  Examination  made  imperative, 
(a)  "  The  constitutional  right  of  every  Presbytery  to  examine  all  seeking 
connection  with  them,  was  settled  by  the  Assembly  of  1835.  This  Assem- 
bly now  render  it  imperative  on  Presbyteries,  to  examine  all  who  make 
application  for  admission  into  their  bodies,  at  least  on  experimental  religion, 
didactic  and  polemic  theology,  and  Church  government." — Minutes,  1837, 
p.  429. 


238  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

[Re-affirmed  by  the  Assembly  in  1838,  p.  29;  1841,  p.  447;  1843,  p.  194;  1848, p.  18. 
In  1849,  the  following  minute  was  adopted.] 

(b)  "An  overture  from  various  Ministers  and  Elders  objecting  to  a  reso- 
lution of  the  General  Assembly  in  1837,  making  it  imperative  on  Presby- 
teries to  examine  all  Ministers  who  make  application  for  admission  into 
their  bodies,  and  praying  this  Assembly  to  repeal  that  resolution,  or  change 
it,  from  its  imperative  form  to  one  of  recommendation ;  or  send  it  down  to 
the  Presbyteries  by  overture  to  have  it  added,  as  another  section  to  the 
tenth  Chapter  of  our  Form  of  Government.  The  committee  recommended 
that  inasmuch  as  the  General  Assembly  must  have  power  to  enjoin  upon 
Presbyteries  the  performance  of  any  duty  which  they  are  confessedly  com- 
petent to  do,  by  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution;  and  in  requiring  which 
no  right  is  violated  and  nothing  constrained,  but  the  discretion  they  had  in 
ordinary  circumstances;  and  inasmuch  as  the  general  utility  of  that  resolu- 
tion is  not  yet  called  in  question,  even  by  the  respected  memorialists  them- 
selves, therefore  the  Assembly  decline  acceding  to  this  request,  at  present." 
—Minutes,  1849,  p.  266. 

§  51.  Reception  of  Miriisters  from  corresponding  Churches. 

'^The  committee  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

''That  in  their  judgment  every  licentiate  coming  by  certificate  to  any 
Presbytery  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly  from  any  portion  of  a 
corresponding  ecclesiastical  body,  should  be  required  to  answer  in  the  affirm- 
ative, the  constitutional  questions,  directed  by  Chap.  xiv.  of  our  Form  of 
Government,  to  be  put  to  our  own  candidates,  before  they  are  licensed;  and 
that  in  like  manner  every  ordained  Minister  of  the  gospel  coming  from  any 
Church  in  correspondence  with  the  General  Assembly,  by  certificate  of  dis- 
mission and  recommendation,  should  be  required  to  answer  affirmatively  the 
first  seven  questions  directed  by  Chap.  xv.  of  our  Form  of  Government,  to 
be  put  to  one  of  our  own  licentiates  when  about  to  be  ordained  to  the  sacred 
office. 

''  The  course  which  is  thus  recommended  by  the  committee,  they  believe 
has  been  generally  practised  by  our  Presbyteries;  and  the  impropriety  of 
admitting  strangers  into  our  connection  on  other  terms  than  our  own  licentiates 
and  Ministers  is  too  obvious  to  require  remark.  It  is  the  assent  of  licentiates 
and  Ministers  to  these  questions  which  brings  them  under  the  watch  and 
care  of  the  Presbyteries  which  receive  them,  and  without  which  they  ought 
not  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  preachers  of  the  gospel  in  our  ecclesiastical 
connection." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  12. 

Title  2. — Reception  op  Ministers  from  Foreign  Countries. 
§  52.    Original  rule  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

[The  Synod  at  an  early  day  finding  itself  in  danger  of  being  grossly  deceived  and  the 
cause  of  religion  endangered  by  the  un worthiness  of  Ministers  received  from  Europe, 
adopted  the  following  overture,  viz.] 

''An  overture  from ,  humbly  offered  to  the  consideration  of  the 

reverend  Synod. 

"The  present  state  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  respect  of  the  great  and 
almost  universal  deluge  of  pernicious  errors  and  damnable  doctrines  that  so 
boldly  threaten  to  overthrow  the  Christian  world,  doth,  we  think,  afford 
matter  of  very  deep  and  serious  exercise  unto  all  considering  persons,  who 
have  the  interest  of  our  Lord's  kingdom  at  their  heart;  and  were  it  not  for 
the  sure,  firm,  and  comfortable  promises  contained  in  the  infallible  records 
of  truth,  the  present  appearance  of  things  might  be  thought  to  presage  a 
most  fatal  subversion  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  by  the  success  of  the 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  239 

kingdom  of  darkness  against  it,  and  so  discourage  and  dispirit  the  hearts  of 
the  true  friends  and  loyal  subjects  of  our  exalted  Lord.  But  blessed  be 
his  name,  he  is  still  King  in  Zion,  and  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  will 
not  suffer  this  so  grievous  an  evil  to  prevail  one  handbreadth  further  nor 
one  minute  longer,  than  the  measure  and  time  appointed  for  it;  for  'known 
unto  God  are  all  his  works  from  the  creation  of  the  world.' 

"  However  it  would  seem  that  the  present  obvious  state  of  things  doth 
call  for  something  at  our  hands  more  than  in  a  time  of  prevailing  truth  and 
purity  in  the  Church.  It  should  seem  that  when  so  many  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing  are  invading  the  flocks  of  Christ  everywhere  in  the  world,  we  who 
are  Pastors  by  office  and  station  should  exert  ourselves  in  an  active  and 
vigilant  manner,  for  the  safety  and  preservation  of  our  flocks  committed  to 
our  care,  from  the  assaults  of  these  devouring  monsters,  that  are  numerous 
abroad  in  the  world.  Surely  the  late  bold  assault  that  hath  been  made  upon 
us,  though,  blessed  be  God,  without  the  desired  and  expected  success,  as  yet, 
should  put  us  to  our  arms,  and  excite  us  with  care  and  diligence  to  put  our- 
selves in  a  posture  of  defence  against  all  future  attempts. 

"  To  this  purpose  we  would  humbly  propose  the  following  overture  as  an 
expedient  to  prevent  the  evil  of  such  attempts,  viz. 

"That  seeing  we  are  likely  to  have  the  most  of  our  supply  of  Ministers 
to  fill  our  vacancies  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  seeing  it  is  too  evident 
to  be  denied  and  called  in  question,  that  we  are  in  great  danger  of  being 
imposed  on  by  Ministers  and  preachers  from  thence,  though  sufficiently 
furnished  with  all  formalities  of  Presbyterial  credentials,  as  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Hemphill ;  and  seeing  also  what  was  done  last  year,  may  be  done  this 
year  and  the  year  following,  viz.  we  are  still  liable  to  be  imposed  upon  by 
such  credentials;  upon  these  and  the  like  considerations,  we  humbly  over- 
ture to  this  reverend  Synod,  to  make  an  order  to  the  following  purpose : 

"1.  That  no  Minister  or  probationer  coming  in  among  us  from  Europe  be 
allowed  to  preach  in  vacant  Congregations,  until  first  his  credentials  and 
recommendations  be  seen  and  approven  by  the  Presbytery  to  which  such 
Congregation  doth  most  properly  belong,  and  until  he  preach  with  approba- 
tion before  said  Presbytery,  and  subscribe  or  adopt  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  before  said  Presbytery,  in  manner  and  form 
as  they  have  done;  and  that  no  Minister  employ  such  to  preach  in  his 
pulpit,  until  he  see  his  credentials  and  be  satisfied,  as  far  as  may  be,  of  his 
firm  attachment  to  said  Confession,  &c.,  in  opposition  to  the  new  upstart 
doctrines  and  schemes,  particularly  such  as  we  condemned  in  Mr.  Hemphill's 
sermons.  And  lest  some  strangers  might  sufier  by  the  rigorous  observation 
of  this  order,  let  it  be  thus  qualified :  viz.  that  the  Moderator  and  two  of 
the  members  of  each  Presbytery  be  appointed  a  Standing  Committee  to  act 
presbyterially  in  that  aff"air  as  there  may  be  occasion,  and  to  be  accountable 
to  their  respective  Presbyteries. 

''2.  That  no  Congregation  be  allowed  to  present  a  call  to  any  such  Minis- 
ter or  Probationer  coming  in  among  us,  though  never  so  well  certified, 
until  he  have  preached  at  least  one  full  half  year  within  the  bounds  of  this 
Synod."— i/mw^es,  1735,  p.  118. 

§  53.  New  overture  on  the  same  subject. 

(a)  "An  overture  was  brought  in  by  Mr.  Roan  in  the  following  words: 
"Whereas,  there  have  been  repeated  complaints  from  serious  persons  of 
the  degeneracy  of  many  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  their  falling  ofi"  from  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, so  that  it  is  very  possible  there  may  be  Presbyteries  the  majority  of 
which  would  not  be  unwilling  to  license,  ordain,  or  recommend  Ministers 


240  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

unsound  in  the  faith;  it  seems  to  be  of  moment  to  guard  against  the  admis- 
sion of  strangers  into  this  body,  before  their  principles  and  character  are 
thoroughly  ascertained :  Therefore  it  is  Overturcd,  that  no  Presbytery  be 
permitted  to  receive  any  stranger  under  the  character  of  Minister  or  candi- 
date, or  to  give  him  appointments  in  the  Congregations  under  our  care,  until 
the  Synod  that  shall  meet  next  after  their  arrival,  that  the  whole  testimo- 
nials and  credentials  oftered  by  such  persons  be  laid  befure  the  Synod,  to  be 
by  them  considered  and  judged  of,  in  order  to  their  admission  or  rejection. 

John  Koan. 

"Which  after  full  consideration  was  voted  and  admitted  by  a  small 
majority. 

''Several  members  desired  liberty  to  enter  their  dissent,  with  their 
reasons,  against  the  preceding  vote,  which  was  granted." — Minutes,  1773, 
p.  442. 

(Jj)  ''With  respect  to  the  reasons  of  protest  against  and  dissent  from  the 
judgment  of  Synod  about  the  admission  of  Ministers  and  candidates  from 
some  of  the  foreign  Churches,  offered  by  a  number  of  the  members,  the 
Synod  judge  it  sufficient  briefly  to  observe, 

"That  neither  in  the  overture  presented  to  the  Synod,  nor  in  our  judg- 
ment consequent  upon  it,  is  there  any  claim  of  power  inconsistent  with 
those  rights  of  Presbyteries  which  the  dissenting  brethren  suppose  are  radi- 
cally in  them,  and  essential  to  them.  The  powers  of  licensure  and  ordina- 
tion are  not  so  much  as  mentioned  in  the  overture,  nor  in  the  least  infringed 
upon  in  the  judgment,  and  it  would  be  a  difficult  task  for  them  to  under- 
take the  proof,  even  upon  their  own  principles,  that  the  right  of  admitting 
persons  already  licensed  or  ordained  belongs  to  Presbyteries  exclusively.  The 
dissenting  brethren  seem  to  have  wholly  mistaken  the  main  ground  of  the 
overture,  which  does  not  at  all  appear  to  have  arisen  from  a  suspicion  of 
unfaithfulness  in  any  of  our  Presbyteries,  or  that  the  ministry  in  Britain 
and  Ireland  are  wholly  corrupted;  but  only  that  there  is  so  great  a  degene- 
racy in  those  Churches  as  renders  it  peculiarly  necessary  that  the  greatest 
care  be  taken  in  the  admission  of  Ministers  and  candidates  coming  from 
thence;  and  that  the  several  Presbyteries  neither  have,  nor  can  have,  those 
means  of  information  respecting  the  characters  and  orthodoxy  of  those 
Ministers  and  candidates  which  the  Synod  has,  nor  indeed  such  means  as  are 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  judge  with  any  sufficient  degree  of  certainty 
respecting  them.  Nor  can  the  overture  byany  means  be  allowed  to  be  inconsis- 
tent with  the  charity  due  to  the  Churches  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  as  it 
is  not  so  severe  with  respect  to  foreigners,  as  the  Synods  of  Scotland  are 
with  respect  to  their  own  candidates,  and  as  the  degeneracy  of  those 
Churches,  which  was  one  of  the  principal  facts  upon  which  the  overture 
was  founded,  has  not  been  denied  by  any  of  the  dissentients.  And,  finally, 
we  observe,  that  as  the  overture  only  held  up  to  view  the  Churches  of 
Britain  and  Ireland,  it  is  most  unfair  to  infer  that  the  explanatory  clause 
annexed  to  the  judgment  'seemed  to  be  a  mere  subterfuge  and  equivocation, 
and  calculated  to  relieve  only  a  few  members  of  Synod.' 

"At  the  same  time  it  was  agreed  that  it  should  be  put  upon  record  that 
the  word  'strangers'  in  the  preceding  overture  should  not  be  extended  to  any 
persons  from  any  part  of  the  continent  of  America." — Ibid.  p.  445. 

(c)  "Whereas  many  brethren  are  dissatisfied  with  the  act  of  Synod 
respecting  the  non-admission  of  Ministers  and  candidates  into  our  Presby- 
teries from  foreign  parts,  it  is  proposed,  that  the  Presbytery  to  which  any 
such  gentlemen  may  offer  themselves,  may  be  allowed,  if  they  see  their  way 
clear,  to  employ  them  in  their  vacancies,  but  that  they  be  not  admitted  to 
full  membership  until  the  next  Synod,  when  their  testimonials  and  recom- 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  241 

mendations  shall  be  laid  before  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1773,  p.  448.     [Re- 
scinded] Minutes,  1774,  p.  455. 

§  54.  An  act  unanimously  adopted. 

(a)  "The  committee  appointed  yesterday  to  prepare  an  overture  of  an 
act  or  regulation  respecting  the  admission  of  Ministers  and  candidates  from 
foreign  parts,  brought  in  a  draught,  which  being  read  a  first  and  second 
time,  was  unanimously  approved,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"Whereas,  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  interests  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom,  that  the  greatest  care  be  observed  by  church  judica- 
tures to  maintain  orthodoxy  in  doctrine  and  purity  in  practice  in  all  their 
members;  this  Synod,  in  addition  to  the  agreement  upon  this  head  of  the 
year  1764,  and  further  explained  in  the  year  1765,  do  most  earnestly  recom- 
mend it  to  all  their  Presbyteries  to  be  very  strict  and  careful  respecting 
these  matters,  especially  in  examining  the  certificates  and  testimonials  of 
Ministers  or  probationers  who  come  from  foreign  Churches;  and  that  they 
be  very  cautious  about  receiving  them,  unless  the  authenticity  of  these  testi- 
monials and  certificates  be  supported  by  private  letters  or  other  credible  and 
suflicient  evidence;  and  in  order  more  effectually  to  preserve  this  Synod, 
our  Presbyteries  and  Congregations  from  imposition  and  abuse,  every  year, 
when  any  Presbytery  may  report  that  they  have  received  any  Ministers  or 
probationers  from  foreign  Churches,  that  Presbytery  shall  lay  before  the 
Synod  the  testimonials  and  all  other  certificates,  on  which  they  received  such 
Ministers  or  probationers,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  Synod,  before  such 
foreign  Ministers  or  probationers  shall  be  enrolled  as  members  of  our  body; 
and  if  the  Synod  shall  find  the  testimonals  false  or  insufficient,  the  whole 
proceedings  had  by  the  Presbytery  in  the  admission,  shall  be  held  to  be 
void;  and  the  Presbytery  shall  not  from  that  time  receive  or  acknowledge 
him  as  a  member  of  this  body,  or  in  ministerial  communion  with  us. 

"On  the  other  hand,  whensoever  any  gentlemen  from  abroad  shall  come 
duly  recommended  as  above,  we  will  gladly  receive  them  as  brethren,  and 
give  them  every  encouragement  in  our  power.'' — Minutes,  1774,  p.  455. 

(h)  "The  Synod  having  reason,  by  information  given  since  their  present 
meeting,  to  apprehend  the  Churches  under  their  care  in  imminent  danger 
from  Ministers  and  licensed  candidates  of  unsound  principles  coming  among 
us,  do  hereby  renew  their  former  injunctions  to  the  respective  Presbyteries 
within  their  bounds,  relative  to  this  matter,  and  do  also  strictly  enjoin  on 
every  member  of  this  body,  under  pain  of  censure,  to  be  particularly  care- 
ful in  this  respect.  And  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synod  is  hereby  directed 
to  furnish  each  of  our  Presbyteries  with  an  attested  copy  of  the  said  injunc- 
tions, together  with  a  copy  of  this  minute." — Minutes,  1784,  p.  504. 

§  55.    The  present  rule. 
(-z)  [In  1798,  (^Minutes,  p.  148,)  the   Assembly  adopted  an  act,  "intended  to  embrace 
and  extend  the  existing  rules,"  which  was    remodelled  in    1800.     'I'his  constitutes   the 
present  rule  on  the  subject,  as  follows.] 

"  The  draught  of  cei'tain  regulations  respecting  the  admission  of  foreign 
Ministers  and  licentiates,  reported  by  the  committee  appointed  for  that 
purpose  was  again  read,  and  having  been  fully  considered  and  amended,  was 
adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  is  as  fullows,  viz.: 

(l>)  "When  any  Minister  or  licentiate  from  Europe  shall  come  into  this 
country,  and  desire  to  become  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States,  he  may  apply  to  any  committee  appointed  to  direct  the 
services  of  travelling  Ministers  and  candidates;  which  committee  shall  inspect 
his  credentials,  and  by  examination  or  otherwise,  endeavour  to  ascertain  his 
soundness  in  the  faith,  and  his  experimental  acquaintance  with  religion ;  his 


242  CHURCH  COURTS.  pSook  IV. 

attainments  in  divinity  and  literature ;  his  moral  and  religious  character, 
and  approbation  of  our  public  standards  of  doctrine  and  discipline.  If  the 
result  shall  be  such  as  to  encourage  further  trial,  said  committee  may  give 
him  appointments  to  supply  and  recommend  him  to  the  Churches  till  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  such  committee  belongs.  It  shall 
then  become  the  duty  of  such  Minister  or  licentiate  to  apply  to  that  Pres- 
bytery, or  to  any  other  in  whose  bounds  he  may  incline  to  labour :  provided 
always  that  he  make  his  application  to  the  Presbytery  at  their  first  meeting 
after  his  coming  within  their  bounds  :  and  also  that  immediately  on  coming 
within  the  bounds  of  any  Presbytery,  he  apply  to  their  committee  to  judge 
of  his  certificate  of  approbation,  and  if  they  think  it  expedient,  to  make  him 
appointments ;  or  if  it  shall  be  more  convenient,  the  application  may  be 
made  to  the  Presbytery  in  the  first  instance  j  but  it  shall  be  deemed  irreg- 
ular for  any  foreign  Minister  or  licentiate  to  preach  in  any  vacant  church 
till  he  have  obtained  the  approbation  of  some  Presbytery,  or  committee  of 
Presbjrtery  in  manner  aforesaid. 

(c)  "  The  Presbytery  to  which  such  Minister  or  licentiate  may  apply, 
shall  carefully  examine  his  credentials,  and  not  sustain  a  mere  certificate  of 
good  standing  unless  corroborated  by  such  private  letters,  or  other  collateral 
testimony  as  shall  fully  satisfy  them  as  to  the  authenticity  and  sufficiency  of 
his  testimonials.  After  inspecting  any  evidences  of  his  literary  acquire- 
ments which  may  be  laid  before  them,  the  Presbytery  shall  enter  into  a  free 
conversation  with  him,  in  order  to  discover  his  soundness  in  the  faith  and 
experimental  acquaintance  with  religion.  If  they  shall  obtain  satisfaction 
on  these  several  articles,  they  shall  proceed  to  examine  him  on  the  learned 
languages,  the  arts,  sciences,  theology,  Church  history  and  government ;  nor 
shall  they  receive  him  unless  he  shall  appear  to  have  made  such  attainments 
in  these  several  branches  as  are  required  of  those  who  receive  their  educa- 
tion or  pass  their  trials  among  ourselves.  But  if,  upon  the  whole,  he 
appears  to  be  a  person  worthy  of  encouragement  and  who  promises  useful- 
ness ill  the  Church,  they  shall  receive  him  as  a  Minister  or  a  candidate  on 
probation,  he  first  adopting  our  standards  of  doctrine  and  discipline,  and 
promising  subjection  to  the  Presbytery  in  the  Lord.  During  this  state  of 
probation  he  may  preach  the  gospel  where  regularly  called,  either  as  a  stated 
or  occasional  supply  ;  and  if  an  ordained  Minister,  perform  every  part  of  the 
ministerial  functions,  except  that  he  may  not  vote  in  any  judicatory,  or 
accept  a  call  for  settlement. 

(cl)  "  If  the  foreigner  who  shall  apply  to  any  Presbytery  or  committee  as 
aforesaid,  be  an  ordained  Minister,  such  committee  and  Presbytery  may,  at 
their  discretion,  dispense  with  the  special  examination  on  literature  in  this 
Act  prescribed,  provided  he  shall  exhibit  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  has 
received  such  education,  and  made  such  progress  in  languages,  arts,  and  sci- 
ences, as  are  required  by  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  as  qualifications 
for  the  Gospel  ministry.  But  in  all  other  respects  the  examination  shall  be 
the  same  as  in  the  case  of  a  licentiate. 

((?)  "If  from  prospects  of  settlement,  or  greater  usefulness,  a  Minister  or 
licentiate  under  probation  in  any  Presbytery,  shall  wish  to  move  into  the 
bounds  of  another,  he  shall  receive  a  dismission  containing  a  certificate  of 
his  standing  and  character,  from  the  Presbytery  under  whose  care  he  shall 
have  been ;  which  certificate  shall  entitle  him  to  the  same  standing  in  the 
Presbytery  into  whose  bounds  he  shall  come,  except  that  from  the  time  of 
his  coming  under  the  care  of  this  latter  Presbytery,  a  whole  year  shall  elapse 
before  they  come  to  a  final  judgment  respecting  his  reception. 

(/)  "  When  any  foreign  Minister  or  licentiate,  received  on  certificate, 
or  pursuant  to  trials  in  any  Presbytery,  shall  have  resided  generally  and 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  243 

preached  within  their  bounds  and  under  their  direction,  for  at  least  one  year, 
they  shall  cause  him  to  preach  before  them  (if  they  judge  it  expedient,)  and 
taking  into  consideration,  as  well  the  evidence  derived  from  their  former 
trials,  as  that  which  may  arise  from  his  acceptance  in  the  Churches,  his  pni- 
dence,  gravity,  and  godly  conversation,  and  from  the  combined  evidence  of 
the  whole,  determine  either  to  receive  or  reject  him,  or  to  hold  him  under 
further  probation.  In  case  of  receiving  him  at  that,  or  any  subsequent 
period,  the  Presbytery  shall  report  the  same  to  their  Synod  at  its  next  meet- 
ing, together  with  all  the  certificates  and  other  testimony  on  which  they 
received  them ;  or  if  it  shall  be  more  convenient,  this  report  may  be  made 
to  the  Greneral  Assembly.  The  said  Assembly  or  Synod,  as  the  case  may 
be,  shall  then  inquire  into  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  affair, 
and  if  they  find  them  to  have  been  irregular  or  deficient,  they  shall  recom- 
mit them  to  the  Presbytery,  in  order  to  a  more  regular  and  perfect  process. 
But  if  the  proceedings  had  in  the  Presbytery  appear  to  have  been  conform- 
able to  this  regulation,  they  shall  carefully  examine  all  the  papers  laid 
before  them  by  the  Presbytery,  or  which  shall  be  exhibited  by  the  party 
concerned,  and  considering  their  credibility  and  sufficiency,  come  to  a  final 
judgment,  either  to  receive  him  into  the  Presbyterian  body,  agreeably  to  his 
standing,  or  to  reject  him. 

{g)  "  In  order,  however,  to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  foreign  Ministers, 
as  soon  as  may  consist  with  the  purity  and  order  of  the  Church,  it  is  further 
ordained  that  if  the  proper  Synod  or  the  Greneral  Assembly  are  not  to  meet 
within  three  months,  after  that  meeting  of  a  Presbytery  at  which  a  foreign 
Minister  on  probation  is  expected  to  be  received,  the  Presbytery  may,  if  they 
see  cause,  lay  his  testimonials  before  that  meeting  of  the  Assembly  or  Synod 
which  shall  be  held  next  before  said  meeting  of  the  Presbytery.  If  this 
Assembly  or  Synod  shall  approve  the  testimonials,  they  shall  give  the  Pres- 
bytery such  information  and  direction  as  the  case  may  require,  and  remit 
the  same  to  them  for  final  issue.  In  all  other  cases  it  shall  be  deemed 
irregular  for  any  Synod  or  General  Assembly  to  receive  a  foreign  Minister 
or  licentiate,  until  he  shall  have  passed  his  period  of  probation,  and  been 
received  and  reported  by  some  Presbytery,  in  manner  aforesaid. 

(h)  "  No  Minister  or  licentiate,  after  being  rejected  by  one  Presbytery, 
shall  be  received  by  another;  or  if  received  through  mistake  or  otherwise,  he 
shall  be  no  longer  countenanced  or  employed  after  the  imposition  is  discov- 
ered. If,  however,  any  Minister  or  licentiate  shall  think  himself  aggrieved  by 
the  sentence  of  any  Presbytery,  he  shall  have  a  right  to  carry  the  matter  by 
complaint  to  the  proper  Synod,  or  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  giving 
notice  thereof  to  the  Presbytery  during  the  meeting  at  which  the  sentence 
was  pronounced,  or  at  the  meeting  next  following. 

"These  regulations  and  provisions  relative  to  the  reception  of  foreign  Min- 
isters and  licentiates,  are  to  be  considered  as  coming  in  place  of  all  that 
have  heretofore  been  established  on  this  subject;  and  all  judicatures  and 
individuals  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly  are  to  regard  them  accordingly." 
—Minutes,  1800,  p.  200. 

§  56.    Vindication  of  this  j^Jan- 

[In  reply  to  objections  urged  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  the  Assembly  adopted 
the  following  report  of  a  committee.  The  first  point  is  in  regard  to  an  objection  urged  on 
the  score  of  an  ambiguous  expression  in  the  Constitution  as  it  then  stood.  See  above, 
Book  I.  §  46.] 

^'2.  The  Presbytery  of  New  York  also  imputes  to  these  rules  a  defect  of 
charity  towards  foreign  Churches.  The  charity  of  this  Assembly  for  foreign 
Churches  is  undiminished.     The  rule  is  established  to  guard  as  far  as  pos- 


244  CHUKCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

sible  against  impostors  who  plead  a  relation  to  those  Churches  which  they 
do  not  actually  hold.  The  Churches  in  America  have  so  frequently  suffered 
by  impostors  of  this  description,  and  our  relative  position  to  Europe,  and 
the  newness  of  our  country,  render  imposition  so  easy,  and  detection  so  ditfi- 
cult,  that  rules  too  scrupulous  on  this  subject  can  hardly  be  adopted.  The 
existing  i-ule,  although  somewhat  irksome  to  good  men,  will  be  cheerfully 
submitted  to  for  the  superior  interests  of  religion.  Nay,  it  is  believed,  that 
such  men,  grieved  at  the  dishonour  brought  upon  the  Churches  of  their 
native  country  by  uuworthy  emigrants  from  them  into  this,  will  readily 
co-operate  with  the  Assembly  in  every  measure  that  will  contribute  to  pre- 
serve the  purity  and  respect  of  their  name,  and  by  a  state  of  probationary 
trial  will  tend  to  discriminate  between  meritorious  and  unworthy  foreign 
Ministers  who  shall  offer  their  services  to  our  Churches. 

''3.  An  inconsistency  is  supposed,  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  far- 
ther to  exist  in  one  part  of  the  rule  to  another,  because  it  permits  colleges, 
academies,  and  individual  Churches,  to  call  from  Europe  to  this  country, 
men  of  known  and  good  character,  to  preside  over  them,  without  subjecting 
such  men  to  the  probation  prescribed  in  other  cases.  The  Assembly  does 
not  perceive  the  inconsistency  that  has  been  attempted  to  be  pointed  out; 
especially  as  no  individual  Church  can  call  a  Minister  from  abroad  more 
than  at  home,  without  the  permission  and  advice  of  the  Presbytery  to  which 
it  is  attached,  who  will  in  ordinary  cases  be  able  to  preserve  it  from 
imposition.  The  Assembly,  however,  does  not  object  to  a  modification  of 
the  rule  as  far  as  it  relates  to  academies  unconnected  with  pastoral  charges. 

"4.  The  Presbytery  of  New  Yoi"k  likewise  deems  this  rule  unnecessary. 
The  greater  part  of  the  Presbytei'ies  composing  this  Assembly,  as  far  as 
their  opinions  can  now  be  collected,  esteem  it  useful.  Time  will  either 
confirm  its  utility,  or  point  out  the  amendments  of  which  it  is  susceptible." 
— Minutes,  1799,  p.  179. 

§  57.  Proposal  to  limit  the  pmcer  of  the  superior  courts  in  this  business. 

"The  overture  that  no  Minister  or  licentiate  shall  be  received  by  any  of 
our  Synods,  or  by  the  General  Assembly,  unless  he  has  been  previously 
approved  of  and  recommended  by  one  of  our  Presbyteries,  was  taken  up, 
when  it  was  moved  and  agreed  to  postpone  this  motion,  that  the  following 
might  be  introduced,  as  an  addition  to  the  rules  already  adopted,  viz.  '  In 
all  cases  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  for  any  Synod  or  General  Assembly  to 
receive  a  foreign  Minister  or  licentiate,  till  he  shall  have  been  examined 
and  approved  of  by  some  Presbytery  in  manner  aforesaid;'  when  it  was  pro- 
posed to  strike  out  the  words  'foreign  Minister  or  licentiate,'  it  was  decided 
against  this  proposal.  It  was  agreed  that  the  motion  be  adopted.  A  vote 
was  then  taken  upon  the  overture,  which  was  rejected." — Minutes,  1798, 
p.  149. 

§  58.  Illustrations  of  tlie  rule. 
(a)   It  applies  to  Canada. 
"  An  overture  from  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Michigan,  asking 
if  the  rule  of  the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  foreign  Ministers  coming 
from  Europe,  should  apply  to  IMinisters  coming  from  Canada : 

''  The  committee  recommended  that  the  Assembly  answer  in  the  affirma- 
tive ;  excepting  only  when  such  Ministers  have  been  ordained  in  the  United 
States,  and  by  any  Presbytery  of  our  communion.  The  recommendation 
was  adopted." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  250. 

(6)  A  quoi'um  failing,  the  credentials  approved  by  the  members  of  Synod  present. 

"  It  was  determined  not  to  receive  Mr.  Elliot  on  the  recommendation  of 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  245 

the  Ministers  assembled  at  Yorktown,  in  October  last,  until  he  has  laid  his 
testimonials  before  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  or  the  General  Assembly, 
according  to  the  rules  for  receiving  foreign  Ministers  into  our  connection." 
— Minutes,  1796,  p.  110. 

(c)  One  who  for  conscientious  scruples  retired  from  the  ministry  in  Ireland,  tvishes  to  resume 

it  here. 

"  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville,  of  the  case  of  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Boyd,  who  having  retired  in  good  standing  from  the  Presbyte- 
rian ministry  in  Ireland  in  1842,  on  account  of  a  change  in  his  views  of 
Infant  Baptism,  now  seeks  a  restoration  to  the  exercise  of  the  ministry 
among  us,  inasmuch  as  he  adopts  again,  with  full  conviction,  the  whole  Con- 
fession of  our  Faith. 

"  The  committee  recommended  that  the  Presbytery  o  f  St.  Clairsville  be 
instructed  to  proceed  according  to  the  rule  relating  to  foreign  Ministers,  the 
probation  of  one  year  commencing  at  the  time  of  their  next  stated  meeting. 
The  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  239. 

(rf)  The  probationer  transferred  from  the  care  of  one  Presbytery  to  another. 

"  An  application  from  the  Presbytery  of  Watertown,  for  leave  to  receive 
Mr.  William  Lockhead,  a  foreign  licentiate,  who,  after  being  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Champlain  for  five  months,  had  been  dismissed  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Watertown,  and  had  been  under  the  care  of  the  latter 
Presbytery  since  the  9th  of  February  last.  The  Presbytery  of  Watertown 
requests  that  the  Assembly  will  allow  them  to  take  into  the  account  for  the 
term  of  trial,  the  time  which  he  spent  on  trials  in  the  Presbytery  of  Cham- 
plain.     On  this  request,  the  Assembly 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Standing  Rule,  which  requires  that  the  foreign 
licentiate  must  spend  a  year  in  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  is  dismissed,  be 
not  dispensed  with." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  24. 

(e)  A  similar  case. 

''The  committee  appointed  on  Overture  No.  14,  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Elizabethtown,  respecting  the  case  of  Mr .  John  Anderson,  a  foreign  licen- 
tiate, who  in  October,  1834,  was  received  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  and  in  April  last  was  transferred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Eliza- 
bethtown; requesting  that  Mr.  Anderson's  year  of  probation  maybe  consid- 
ered as  commencing  at  the  time  when  he  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York,  reported  as  follows  : 

"After  examining  all  the  documents  put  into  their  hands  respecting  the 
subject,  they  unanimously  recommend  that  the  request  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Elizabethtown  be  granted.  This  report  was  accepted  and  adopted." — Min- 
utes, 1835,  p.  12. 

(/)  Privilege  lost  by  a  return  to  Europe. 

"  An  application  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  for  advice  and 
direction  in  the  case  of  Rev.  James  T.  Irvine.  The  facts  of  the  case  are 
these : 

"In  the  year  1825,  Mr.  Irvine  was  received  as  a  foreign  licentiate  on  pro- 
bation by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia ;  after  the  term  of  probation  had 
expired,  he  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Huntingdon,  and  by  that 
Presbytery  ordained  and  installed  in  one  of  their  Churches.  In  the  year 
1834,  he  returned  to  Ireland,  where  he  became  the  Pastor  of  a  Church,  and 
remained  until  the  present  year. 

"  The  question  to  which  the  Presbytery  wish  an  answer  from  the  General 
Assembly  is, 

"Does  Mr.  Irvine  come  under  the  denomination  of  a  foreign  Minister, 
and  is  he  subject  to  the  rxiles  in  such  cases  provided  ?     And  if  he  be  liable 


246  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

to  the  usual  probation,  may  his  probation  be  considered  as  commencing 
from  the  time  in  which  he  has  made  his  present  application  to  Presbytery? 
viz.  from  the  4th  of  April,  1848  ? 

''The  committee  recommend  that  both  questions  be  answered  in  the  affirm- 
ative. 

"  The  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  22. 

§  59.    These  rules  to  he  strictly  observed. 

(a)  "[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved]  'excepting  the 
case  of  receiving  a  foreign  licentiate,  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Lawi'ence, 
without  laying  their  proceedings  in  the  case  before  the  Synod,  or  General 
Assembly.'"— J/mw^es,  1822,  p.  10. 

(h)  "Papers  touching  the  reception  of  the  Rev.  William  Windle,  a  for- 
eign Minister,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

"  These  were  remitted  to  that  Presbytery,  inasmuch  as  no  record  of  its 
proceedings  in  the  case  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  committee,  by 
which  they  might  ascertain  how  far  the  Presbytery  has  complied  with  the 
order  of  the  Assembly,  in  such  cases  made  and  provided." — Minutes,  1852, 
p.  221. 

Title  3. — Dismission  op  Ministers, 

§  60.  Mat/  not  he  hy  a  committee  ad  interim. 

"The  rule  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cayuga,  referred  to  the  Assembly,  is  as 
follows,  viz. 

"  'The  Moderator  for  the  time  being,  and  the  Stated  Clerk,  ex  officio,  were 
appointed  a  Committee  to  grant  letters  of  dismission  to  Ministers  without 
charge,  and  to  licentiates  and  candidates  under  the  care  of  this  Presbytery, 
to  unite  with  other  Presbyteries,  and  were  directed  to  report  at  the  next 
stated  meeting.' 

"In  relation  to  this  rule,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz. 

'^Resolved,  That  the  rule  hitherto  acted  upon  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cayu- 
ga, is  inexpedient  and  unconstitutional." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  27. 

§  61.  Must  he  to  a  specific  body. 

^'Resolved,  That  whereas  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  government 
and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  every  Minister  of  the  gos- 
pel belonging  to  it,  be  subject  at  all  times  to  his  brethren  in  the  Lord;  and 
accountable  to  them  for  the  orthodoxy  of  his  principles,  and  for  his  moral, 
religious,  and  orderly  deportment;  it  is  therefore 

"  Ordered,  That  every  Presbytery  under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  when- 
ever they  dismiss  a  member,  be  careful  particularly  to  specify  with  what 
Presbytery,  Association,  or  Classis,  or  other  religious  body,  he  is  to  be  asso- 
ciated after  his  dismission,  (to  which  some  of  the  Presbyteries  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  sufficiently  attentive,)  and  that  every  member  so  dismissed  be 
in  all  cases  considered  as  amenable  to  the  Presbytery  which  has  dismissed 
him,  till  he  shall  become  connected  with  the  ecclesiastical  body  which  he 
shall  have  been  directed  to  join." — Minutes,  1806,  p.  351. 

§  62.  Ministers  withdrawing  from  Prcshytery. 

(a)  [The  Rev.  Edward  Andrews,  a  member  of  Chenango  Presbytery,] 
"has  recently  withdrawn,  and  received  Episcopal  ordination." 

"The  committee  on  the  reference  from  Chenango  Presb3'tery,  in  the  case 
of  the  Rev.  Edward  Andrews,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted, 
viz. 

'^Resolved,  as  the  sense  of  this  Assembly,  That  though  the  conduct  of 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  247 

Mr.  Andrews  was  disorderly,  it  is  recommended  to  the  Presbytery  to  do 
nothing  further  than  simply  to  strike  his  name  from  the  list  of  their  mem- 
bers."— Minutes,  1828,  p.  237. 

(6)  '^Resolved,  That  when  a  Minister,  otherwise  in  good  standing,  gives 
notice  in  form  to  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs,  that  he  renounces  the 
fellowship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  or  by  neglecting  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings of  its  judicatories,  after  being  dealt  with  for  such  neglect,  gives  evi- 
dence that  he  has  done  so,  in  fact;  his  name  ought  to  be  struck  from  the 
roll  of  its  members;  a  notice  of  this  procedure  communicated  to  the  dis- 
owned member,  and,  if  necessary,  published  to  the  Church. 

'*  The  Congregation  under  the  care  of  such  Minister  ought  to  be  held  as 
still  under  the  care  of  Presbytery,  unless  they  give  evidence  that  they  also 
have  been  withdrawn,  in  which  case,  their  name  ought  also  to  be  struck 
from  the  list  of  Congregations  belonging  to  the  Presbytery." — Minutes. 
1830,  p.  30. 

(c)  "Overture  No.  5,  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York,  asking 
the  direction  of  the  Assembly  as  to  the  action  to  be  taken  by  Presbytery  in 
the  case  of  a  member,  who,  without  previous  conference  with  his  co-presby- 
ters, or  without  receiving  a  certificate  of  dismission,  leaves  the  Presbytery, 
and  abandons  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  committee 
recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  as  an 
answer  to  the  request  of  the  Presbytery : 

'■^Resolved,  That  in  such  cases  as  that  presented  in  the  overture,  the 
Presbytery  ought  simply  to  erase  the  name  of  the  Minister  from  the  roll, 
provided  he  leaves  the  Church  without  being  chargeable  with  fundamental 
error  in  doctrine,  or  immorality  of  life.     Adopted." — Minutes,  1854.  p.  17. 

§  63.   Such  must  return  to  the  same  hody  from  xohicli  they  xoithdrew,  to  he 

restored. 

"Mr.  David  Austin,  who  had  been  formerly  a  member  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  and  had  withdrawn  from  the  Presbytery  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  appeared  before  the  Assembly,  and  renewed  his  request  of  last  year, 
to  be  again  received  into  ministerial  communion  and  regular  standing  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

"Mr.  Austin  having  been  fully  heard  in  support  of  his  petition,  with- 
drew; when  the  Assembly,  after  maturely  considering  the  case, 

'■'■Resolved,  That  as  it  would  be  disorderly  for  this  Assembly  to  restore 
Mr.  Austin  to  his  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  form  in  which 
it  is  sought  by  him,  inasmuch  as  he  withdrew  from  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  against  whom  he  makes  no  complaint,  and  to  whom  of  course  he 
ought  to  apply :  so  this  Assembly  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  had  on  the 
subject  of  Mr.  Austin's  application,  have  had  before  them  sufficient  evidence 
that  it  is  inexpedient  at  present  to  recommend  his  reception  by  any  judica- 
ture of  this  Church."— i/wmtes,  1802,  p.  238. 

§64.    Geographical  hounds  of  Presbyteries. 
(a)  Ordinarily  required. 

''Resolved,  That,  except  in  very  extraordinary  cases,  this  Assembly  are  of 
the  opinion  that  Presbyteries  ought  to  be  formed  with  geographical  limits." 
— Minutes,  1834,  p.  27. 

"Resolved,  That  the  erection  of  Church  courts,  and  especially  of  Presby- 
teries and  Synods,  on  the  principle  of  '  Elective  Affinity' — that  is,  judica- 
tories not  bounded  by  geographical  limits,  but  having  a  chief  regard  in  their 
erection  to  diversities  of  doctrinal  belief  and  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  is  con- 
trary both  to  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  our  Constitution ;  and  opens  a  wide 


248  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

door  for  mischiefs  and  abuses  of  the  most  serious  kind.  One  such  Presby- 
tery, if  so  disposed,  might  in  process  of  time  fill  the  whole  Church  with 
unsound  and  schismatic  Ministers,  especially  if  the  principle  were  adopted 
that  regular  testimonials  must  of  course  secure  the  admission  of  those  who 
bore  them  into  any  other  Presbytery.  Such  a  Presbytery,  moreover,  being 
without  geographical  bounds,  might  enter  the  limits  and  disturb  the  repose 
of  any  Church  into  which  it  might  think  proper  to  intrude;  and  thus  divide 
Churches,  stir  up  strife,  and  promote  party  spirit  and  schism  with  all  their 
deplorable  consequences." — Minutes,  1835,  p.  28. 

(6)  Disregarded  for  special  reasons. 

[See  Book  VI.  §  102;   1.] 

"Tlie  Missionaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  labouring  among  the  Cherokee  Indians,  have  organized  a  nimiber  of 
Churches  according  to  the  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  that  these  Churches  have  been  for  the  most  part  taken 
under  the  care  of  the  Union  Presbytery,  although  some  of  the  Churches  are 
within  the  territorial  limits  of  other  Presbyteries;  that  this  measure  was 
adopted  on  the  presumption  that  no  other  judicatory  of  the  Church  would 
object  to  it;  especially  as  the  Missionaries  and  their  Churches  united  with 
the  Presbyterian  body,  on  condition  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  connect 
themselves  with  the  Presbyteries  that  might  be  most  agreeable  to  the  natives, 
and  most  convenient  to  the  Missionaries.  On  this  statement  the  Union 
Presbytery  founds  a  petition  that  the  General  Assembly  'would  give  liberty 
to  the  Missionaries  and  Churches  in  the  Cherokee  nation  to  unite  to  such 
adjacent  Presbyteries  as  may  be  most  agreeable  to  themselves,'  whereupon, 

"Resolved,  That  the  request  herein  made  be  granted;  and  the  several 
Presbyteries  to  which  the  Missionaries  and  Churches  aforesaid  may  unite 
themselves,  are  directed  to  report  the  names  of  Ministers,  and  number  of 
communicants  thus  received,  to  each  future  General  Assembly;  it  being 
understood  that  in  all  other  respects  the  said  Ministers  and  Churches  shall 
submit  to  the  government  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." — Minutes, 
1826,  p.  27. 

[The  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  complaining  against  this  act,  it  was  in  1828  repealed.] 
^Minutes,  1828,  p.  24.o. 

[Next  year,  upon  a  representation  from  the  Presbytery  of  Union] 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  peculiar 
circumstances  in  which  the  said  Missionaries  are  placed,  render  the  request 
now  under  consideration  reasonable  and  proper;  and  to  the  end  that  the 
object  thereof  may  with  all  practicable  expedition  be  effectually  secured,  this 
General  Assembly  do  hereby  ratify  and  confirm  such  friendly  and  amicable 
arrangement  as  may  hereafter  be  made  between  the  Presbyteries  of  Hope- 
well and  Union,  for  this  purpose." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  372. 

§  65.  Preshyteries  may  ■meet  outside  their  oicn  hounds. 
"Resolved,  That  whilst  it  would  be  inexpedient  and  wrong  for  the  Synod 
to  order  a  Presbytery  to  meet  beyond  its  own  bounds,  without  the  express 
consent  of  its  members,  we  see  no  constitutional  or  valid  objection  against  a 
Presbytery  agreeing  to  meet  without  its  own  geographical  limits." — Minutes, 
1858,  p.  60.     [See  also  below,  §  66,  b.] 

§  66.  Pro  re  nata  meetings,  hoiv  called. 

(a)  [The  Records  of  the  Synod   of  Mississippi  approved,]  "with  the 

exception  that  the  Synod  acknowledges  the  constitutionality  of  a  meeting  of 

the  Presbytery  of  Clinton,  that  had  been  called  by  a  Moderator  chosen  pi-o 

tempore  at  a  previous  pro  re  nata  meeting,  instead  of  being  called  by  the 


Part  IV.]  PRESBYTERY.  249 

Moderator  appointed  at  the  last   stated   meeting  of  the   Presbytery." — 
Mmutes,  1842,  p.  28. 

(h)  "1.  Resolved,  That  Synod  has  power  to  order  a  Presbytery  to  meet 
and  to  transact  such  business  as  in  the  judgment  of  Synod  is  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  good  order  and  well  being  of  the  Church. 

"2.  Rcwlvedj  That  as  such  meetings  are  of  the  nature  of  ^?ro  re  nata 
meetings,  the  niles  that  are  laid  down  in  our  book  for  the  regulation  of  such 
called  meetings  ought  to  regulate  and  govern  in  all  cases  these  meetings 
ordered  by  Synod,  except  when  ordered  to  meet  during  the  sessions  of 
Synod,  on  business  immediately  connected  with  the  proceedings  of  that 
body.  In  such  cases,  the  Presbytery  may  be  required  to  meet  at  once  by 
order  of  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  60. 

§  67.  Excessive  subdivision  of  Presbyteries  condemned. 

"A  motion  was  made  by  Messrs.  Black,  Craig,  and  Alexander  Miller, 
that  they  and  Messrs.  Brown  and  Hogge  be  erected  into  a  distinct  Presby- 
tery; their  reasons  for  it,  and  the  objections  of  the  other  members  of  Hano- 
ver Presbytery  against  it,  were  fully  heard. 

"The  Synod  judge  that  the  number  of  Ministers  belonging  to  the  Pres- 
bytei-y  of  Hanover  is  too  small  to  be  divided  into  two  Presbyteries,  and  that 
their  continuing  in  one,  will,  at  present,  be  more  for  edification;  and  for  the 
greater  ease  of  the  whole,  the  Synod  order  that  the  Presbytery  have  two 
stated  meetings  in  the  year,  at  some  nearly  central  places,  alternately  above 
and  below  the  mountains.  But  the  Synod  being  sensible  of  the  difficulties 
they  will  in  the  meanwhile  labour  under,  assure  them  that  as  soon  as  their 
number  shall  be  so  increased  as  six  or  seven  can  conveniently  belong  to  each 
Presbytery,  that  then,  upon  regular  application,  they  shall  be  erected  into 
two  Presbyteries,  provided  no  sufficiently  weighty  objection  lie  against  it." 
—Minutes,  1759,  p.  292. 

§68.-4  Presbytery  may  not  dismiss  a  Church,  to  Join  another. 

'^Resolved,  That  it  is  unconstitutional  for  a  Presbytery  to  dismiss  a  Con- 
gregation under  their  care,  and  for  any  other  Presbytery  to  receive  the  Con- 
gregation so  dismissed,  without  the  approbation  of  the  Synod  to  which  such 
Presbyteries  respectively  belong." — Minutes,  1823,  p.  149. 

§  69.  Preshyterial  duties. 
Inquiry  into  the  fidelity  of  Ministers. 
"The  Synod  does  recommend  unanimously,  to  all  our  Presbyteries,  to  take 
effectual  care  that  each  of  their  Ministers  are  faithful  in  the  discharge  of 
their  awful  trust.  And  in  particular,  that  they  frequently  examine,  with 
respect  to  each  of  their  members,  into  their  life  and  conversation,  their  dili- 
gence in  their  work,  and  their  methods  of  discharging  their  ministerial  call- 
ing. Particularly  that  each  Presbytery  do,  at  least  once  a  year,  examine 
into  the  manner  of  each  Minister's  preaching,  whether  he  insist  in  his  min- 
istry upon  the  great  articles  of  Christianity,  and  in  the  course  of  his  preach- 
ing recommend  a  crucified  Saviour  to  his  hearers  as  the  only  foundation  of 
hope,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  omnipotent  influences  of  the  Divine 
grace,  to  enable  them  to  accept  of  this  Saviour;  whether  he  do,  in  the  most 
solemn  and  affecting  manner  he  can,  endeavour  to  convince  his  hearers  of 
their  lost  and  miserable  state  whilst  unconverted,  and  put  them  upon  the 
diligent  use  of  those  means  necessary  in  order  to  obtaining  the  sanctify- 
ing influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  whether  he  do,  and  how  he  doth, 
discharge  his  duty  towards  the  young  people  and  children  of  his  Congre- 
82 


250  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

gation,  in  a  way  of  catechizing  and  familiar  instruction;  whether  he  do, 
and  in  what  manner  he  doth,  visit  his  flock  and  instruct  them  from  house 
to  house. 

*'And  the  Synod  hereby  orders,  that  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  inserted 
into  the  books  of  each  of  our  Presbyteries,  and  be  read  at  every  of  their 
Presbyterial  meetings,  and  a  record  of  its  being  read  minuted  in  said  books 
at  the  beginning  of  every  session,  and  that  there  be  also  an  annual  record 
in  each  Presbytery  book  of  a  correspondence  with  this  minute." — Minutes^ 
1734,  p.  111. 


PART  V. 

THE    SYNODS. 


§  70.    Clironologiccd  list  of  the  Synods. 

[In  the  subdivisions  of  the  older  Synods,  and  erection  of  new  ones,  it  is  not  always 
apparent  from  the  terms  of  the  act  to  which  of  the  bodies  the  succession  is  designed  to 
attach.  Assuming,  however,  in  such  cases,  that  it  remains  with  that  within  the  territory 
of  which  the  centre  of  gravity  originally  lay,  the  following  is  an  approximation  to  a  chro- 
nological list  of  them. 

1788.  The  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 

1823.  Name  changed  to  the  Synod  of  New  York. 

1788.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

1788.  The  Synod  of  Virginia. 

1788.  The  Synod  of  the  CaroUnas.  1813,  the  name  changed  to  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina. 

1802.  The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh. 

1802.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

1803.  The  Synod  of  Albany. 

1812.  The  Synod  of  Geneva.     Disowned,  1837. 

1813.  The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.     184.5,  the  name  changed  to  the 

Synod  of  South  Carolina. 

1814.  The  Synod  of  Ohio. 

1817.  The  Synod  of  Tennessee.  Dissolved,  1839. 
1821.  The  Synod  ofGenessee.  Disowned,  1837. 
1823.  The  Synod  of  New  Jersey. 

1825.  The  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve.     Disowned,  1837. 

1826.  The  Synod  of  West  Tennessee.     1850,  the  name  changed  to  the    Synod  of 

Nashville. 
1826.  The  Synod  of  Indiana. 
1829.  The  Synod  of  Utica.     Disowned  in  1837. 
1829.  The  Synod  of  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama.     1835,  the  name  changed    to 

the  Synod  of  Mississippi. 
1829.  The  Synod  of  Cincinnati. 

1831.  The  Synod  of  Illinois. 

1832.  The  Synod  of  Missouri. 

1833.  The  Synod  of  the  Chesapeake.     Dissolved  in  1834. 

1834.  The  Synod  of  Michigan.     Dissolved  in  1839. 

1834,  The  Synod  of  Delaware.     Dissolved  in  1835. 

1835.  The  Synod  of  Alabama. 
1841.  The  Synod  of  Northern  India. 
1843.  The  Synod  of  Buffalo. 

1843.  The  Synod  of  Northern  Indiana. 
1845.  The  Synod  of  Georgia. 
1847.  The  Synod  of  Memphis. 
1851.  The  Synod  of  Texas. 

1851.  The  Synod  of  Wisconsin. 

1852.  The  Synod  of  the  Pacific. 
18.52.  The  Synod  of  Iowa. 
1852.  The  Synod  of  Arkansas. 
1854.  The  Synod  of  Baltimore. 
1854.  The  Synod  of  Allegheny.] 


252  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

§71.-4   Synod  is  a  convention,  not  of  Presbi/teries^hut  of  Ministers  and 

Elders. 

(a)  [Chapter  xi.  Sec.  1,  of  the  Form  of  Government,  stood  originally 
thus] — "  As  a  Presbytery  is  the  convention  of  the  Bishops  and  Elders  within 
a  certain  district,  so  a  Synod  is  a  convention  of  several  Presbyteries,  within 
a  larger  district."  [The  Assembly  of  1804,  sent  down  an  amendment,  which 
was  adopted,  changing  the  passage  to  the  present  phraseology.  The  propo- 
sal from  the  Assembly  was  accompanied  with  the  following  explanatory  note.] 
"Under  this  section  of  the  existing  Constitution  it  has  been  doubted  whether 
the  members  can  proceed  to  business  as  a  Synod,  unless  there  are  present 
several  Presbyteries,  i.  e.,  at  least  three  Ministers  from  one  of  the  existing 
Presbyteries,  and  three  from  another.  This  amendment,  therefore,  goes  to 
make  a  Synod  consist  not  of  Presbyteries,  but,  as  it  ought,  of  Bishops  and 
Elders."— i/wm^es,  1804,  p.  304,  notej  1805,  p.  333. 

(b)  [The  following  marginal  note  was  inserted  by  the  Assembly  in  the  first  edition  of 
the  Constitution  with  proofs,  under  th#  chapter  on  Synodical  Assemblies.] 

"As  the  proofs  already  adduced  in  favour  of  a  Presbyterial  assembly,  in 
the  government  of  the  Church,  are  equally  valid  in  support  of  a  Synodical 
assembly,  since  a  Synod  is  only  a  larger  Presbytery,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
repeat  the  Scriptures  to  which  reference  has  been  made  under  Chap,  ix.,  or 
to  add  any  other." 

Title  1. — History  op  the  erection  op  the  Synods. 

§  72.    The  Synods  of*Neio  York  and  New  Jersey,  Philadelphia,  Virginia, 
and  the  Carolinas,  created  out  of  the  original  Synod  in  1788. 

(a)  "Your  committee  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  conceive  it  will  be 
most  conducive  to  the  interests  of  religion  that  this  Synod  be  divided  into 
four  Synods;  and  therefore  submit  to  the  Synod  the  following  plan  for  divid- 
ing the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  into  four  distinct  Synods, 
subordinate  to  a  Gleneral  Assembly,  to  be  constituted  out  of  the  whole. 

"  1st.  That  one  of  the  said  Synods  shall  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  of 
Dutchess  county,  Suffolk,  New  York,  and  New  Brunswick,  to  be  known  by 
the  name  of  Tlie  Synod,  of  Neio  York  and  New  Jersey. 

"  2d.  That  another  Synod  shall  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Philadel- 
phia, Lewestowu,  New  Castle,  Baltimore,  and  Carlisle,  to  be  known  by  the 
name  of  7Vte  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

"3d.  That  another  Synod  shall  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Bedstone, 
Hanover,  Lexington,  and  Transylvania,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The 
Synod  of  Virginia. 

"4th.  That  another  Synod  shall  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Abingdon, 
Orange,  and  South  Carolina,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas." — Minutes,  1786,  p.  523. 

"1.  Resolved,  unanimously.  That  this  Synod  be  divided,  and  it  is  hereby 
divided  into  four  Synods,  agreeably  to  an  act  made  and  provided  for  that 
purpose  in  the  sessions  of  Synod  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty-six;  and  that  this  division  shall  commence  on  the  dissolution  of 
the  present  Synod. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  meet  on 
Wednesday  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  next  October,  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  three  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  that  the  pre- 
sent Moderator,*  or  in  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the 
Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

*  Rev.  John  Wooahull. 


Part  v.]  THE  SYNODS.  253 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  meet  on  the  third  Wed- 
nesday of  October  next,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  that  Dr.  Ewing,  or  in  his  absence, 
the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the  Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till 
a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Virginia  meet  on  the  fourth  Wednesday 
of  October  next,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M.,  at  New  Providence  Church,  and 
that  Mr.  Zanchy,  or  in  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the 
Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till  a  Moderator  be  chosen, 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  meet  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  November  next,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M.,  at  Centre  Church,  in  Roan 
county,  and  that  Mr.  Patillo,  or  in  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present, 
open  the  Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till  a  Moderator  be  chosen." — 
Minutes,  1788,  p.  547. 

§  73.    The  Synods  of  Pittsburgh  and  KentucJcy,  in  1802. 

"The  committee  appointed  on  the  petition  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia, 
praying  to  be  divided  into  three  Synods,  reported.  The  report  being  read 
and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows: 

*'It  is  the  opinion  of  the  committee  that  the  said  division  ought  to  be 
made.     They  therefore  submit  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

''  1.  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Hanover,  Lexington,  and  Winchester,  con- 
stitute a  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod,  of  Virginia;  that 
they  hold  their  first  meeting  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Lexington,  in 
Virginia,  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  September  next,  and  be  opened  with  a 
sermon  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Waddel,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the 
next  senior  Minister  who  may  be  present,  and  that  they  afterwards  meet  on 
their  own  adjournments. 

"2.  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Redstone,  Ohio,  and  Erie,  be  constituted  a 
Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh;  that  they 
hold  their  first  meeting  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Pittsburgh,  on  the 
last  Wednesday  of  September  next,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the 
Rev.  James  Power,  and  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  next  senior  Minister 
who  may  be  present,  and  that  they  afterwards  meet  on  their  own  adjourn- 
ments. 

"3.  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Transylvania,  West  Lexington,  and  Wash- 
ington, be  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of 
Kentucky ;  that  their  first  meeting  be  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  town  of  Lexington,  in  Kentucky,  on  the  second  Thursday  in  October 
next,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  James  Welch,  and  in  case 
of  his  absence,  by  the  next  senior  Minister  who  may  be  present,  and  that 
they  afterwards  meet  on  their  own  adjournments. 

"4.  That  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  be,  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Scioto,  up  the  Ohio  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Gi'eat  Kenhawa, 
thence  a  line  due  east  unto  the  top  of  the  Allegheny  mountains;  and  that 
the  western  boundary  of  the  said  Synod  begin  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto, 
and  thence  up  the  said  river  to  its  source,  &c. ;  and  that  the  line  between 
the  States  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  be  the  boundary  between  those  Synods." 
—Minutes,  1802,  p.  250. 

§  74.    The  Synod  of  Albany,  in  1803. 

"A  communication  was  received  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Albany,  Onei- 
da, and  Columbia,  requesting  among  other  things  that  the  said  Presbyteries 
may  be  constituted  a  Synod  by  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  Albany.  Satisfac- 
tory evidence  was  laid  before  the  Assembly,  that  the  Synod  of  New  York 


254  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

and  New  Jersey  to  which  said  Presbyteries  belong  has  been  consulted,  and 
give  their  consent  to  the  measures  proposed;  therefore, 

"Eesolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Albany,  Oneida,  and  Columbia,  be 
and  they  hereby  are,  constituted  and  formed  into  a  Synod,  to  be  known  by 
the  name  of  The  Sijnod  of  Alhani/ ;  that  they  hold  their  first  meeting  iq 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Albany  the  first  Wednesday  of  October  next, 
at  two  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Jedediah 
Chapman,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  next  senior  Minister  present,  and 
that  they  afterwards  meet  on  their  own  adjournments." — Minutes^  18U3, 
p.  278. 

§  75   The  Synod  of  Geneva,  in  1812. 

"The  following  application  from  the  Synod  of  Albany  was  overtured  by 
the  Committee  of  Overtures,  that  said  Synod  be  divided  in  the  manner  fol- 
lowing, viz. 

"That  the  Presbyteries  of  Londonderry,  Columbia,  Albany,  and  Oneida, 
form  the  eastern  division,  and  be  constituted  a  Synod  to  be  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  Albany;  and  that  they  hold  their  first  meeting 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Albany  on  the  first  Wednesday  in 
October  next,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M. ;  and  that  the  meeting  be  opened 
with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blatchford,  D.  D.,  and  in  case  of  his 
absence,  then  by  the  eldest  Minister  present. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Onondaga,  Cayuga,  and  Geneva, 
form  the  western  division,  and  be  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  The  Si/nod  of  Geneva;  and  that  they  hold  their 
first  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Geneva  on  the  first  Wed- 
nesday in  October  next,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M. ;  and  that  the  meeting  be 
opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  David  Higgins,  and  in  case  of  his 
absence,  then  by  the  eldest  Minister  present. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Albany  be  divided  as  above,  and  it  hereby 
is  accordingly  divided." — Minutes,  1812,  p.  502.  [Disowned,  in  1837,  see 
Book  VII. '§168.] 

§  76.    The  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  and  South   Carolina  and   Georgia, 

in  1813. 

(a)  "  An  application  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  for  the  division  of 
their  Synod,  was  overtured  and  read.     Whereupon  it  was 

^'Resolved,  That  the  said  Synod  be  divided  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  the  Presbyteries  of  Orange,  Concord,  and  Fayetteville,  be  consti- 
tuted a  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  North  Caro- 
lina; to  meet  at  Allemance  Church  on  the  first  Thursday  of  October  next; 
that  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Hall,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  then  the  senior 
member  present,  open  the  Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Mode- 
rator be  chosen;  and  that  the  Synod  meet  afterwards  on  their  own  adjourn- 
ments. 

(1))  "  That  the  Presbyteries  of  South  Carolina,  Hopewell,  and  Harmony, 
be  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia;  to  meet  on  the  first  Thursday  in  November  next, 
at  Upper  Long  Cane  Church,  and  afterwards  at  their  own  adjournments;  that 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  KoUock,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  then  the  senior  min- 
ister present,  preach  the  opening  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  be 
elected." — Minutes,  1813,  p.  526. 

§  77.    The  Synod  of  Ohio. 
(a)  An  unsuccessful  applicalion  in  1813. 

"  The  committee  to  which  the  petitions  from  the  Presbyteries  of  New 
Lancaster,  Washington,  and  Miami,  were  referred,  reported,  and  their  report 


Part  v.]  THE  SYNODS.  255 

being  read,  and  the  subject  discussed  at  considerable  length,  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  *  That  although  their  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  of  those  Presby- 
teries, and  of  the  vast  extent  of  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and 
their  apprehensions  of  the  interests  and  convenience  of  the  Churches  in  that 
region,  would  strongly  recommend  that  the  prayers  of  the  petitioners  be 
granted;  yet  as  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  is  acknowledged  by  the  petitioners 
to  have  decided  against  their  request,  and  as  this  Assembly  do  not  possess 
any  official  information  from  said  Synod  on  this  subject,  the  Assembly  in 
present  circumstances  do  not  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to  make  an  immedi- 
ate division  of  the  Synod ;  therefore, 

*'  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  to 
reconsider  their  proceedings  on  this  case,  and  if  consistent  with  their  views 
of  the  interests  of  the  Churches  within  their  bounds,  to  take,  at  their  next 
meeting,  the  order  necessary  to  open  the  way  for  a  division  of  said  Synod  by 
the  General  Assen^bly,  or  otherwise  to  exhibit  to  the  next  Assembly  their 
reasons  against  the  division.'  " — Minutes,  1813,  p.  532. 

(6)   Erected  in  1814, 

"  The  committee  to  which  were  referred  the  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Lancaster,  for  the  division  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  a  resolution  of 
the  Synod  on  the  same  subject,  reported  in  favour  of  the  petition;  and  it  was 

"  Resolved,  By  the  Assembly,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Lancaster  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  the  Presbyteries  of  Washington 
and  Miami  be  separated  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  be  erected  into 
a  new  Synod,  and  called  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Ohio,  to  meet  at 
Chillicothe,  on  the  last  Thursday  of  October  next;  that  the  Eev.  Robert  Gr. 
Wilson,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the 
Synod  with  a  sermon  and  preside  till  a  new  Moderator  be  chosen." — Min- 
utes, 1814,  p.  547. 

§  78.   The  Synod  of  Tennessee,  in  1817. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, praying  a  division  of  said  Synod,  reported,  and  their  report  being 
read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  agreeably  to  the  request  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  the  Presby- 
teries of  Union,  Shiloh,  West  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi,  be  constituted  a 
Synod,  to  be  known  and  called  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Tennessee; 
that  they  hold  their  first  session  at  Nashville,  on  the  first  Wednesday  of 
October  next;  and  that  the  Eev.  James  W.  Stephenson  or  in  case  of  his 
absence,  the  senior  Minister  that  may  be  present,  open  the  vSynod  with  a 
sermon,  and  preside  until  a  new  Moderator  be  chosen." — Mimites,  1817, 
p.  648. 

[This  Synod  was  dissolved  in  1839.      See  Book  VII.  §  195 :  1.] 

§  79.   The  Synod  of  Genessee,  in  1821. 

"  The  Synod  of  Geneva  requested  that  said  Synod  be  divided  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner,  and  their  request  was  granted,  viz. 

"  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Niagara,  Genessee,  Rochester,  and  Ontario  be 
erected  into  a  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  2^he  Synod  of  Genessee, 
and  that  they  hold  their  first  meeting  at  Rochester  on  the  third  Tuesday  of 
September  next,  at  2  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Fitch,  D.  D.;  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  senior  Minis- 
ter present;  and  afterwards  meet  on  their  own  adjournments." — Minutes, 
1821,  p.  10.     [Disowned  in  1887,  see  Book  VII.  §  160.] 

§  80.    The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Neio  Jersey  divided  in  1823. 

^'Resolved,  That  agreeably  to  the  petition  of  said  Synod  [of  New  York 


256  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

and  New  Jersey,]  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York,  lion^  Island,  Hudson, 
North  River,  and  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York,  be  constituted,  and  they 
are  hereby  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  called  The  St/nod  of  New  York — that 
they  hold  their  first  meeting  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  October  next,  at 
10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  afterwards  upon  their  own  adjournments;  and  that  Dr.  llowan,or 
in  case  of  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the  meeting  with 
a  sermon  and  preside  till  a  new  Moderator  is  chosen. 

''That  the  Presbyteries  of  Jersey,  New  Brunswick,  Newton,  and  Susque- 
hanna be  constituted,  and  they  hereby  are  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  called 
The  Synod  of  New  Jersey — that  they  hold  their  first  meeting  on  the  third 
Tuesday  of  October  next,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Newark,  and  afterwards  on  their  own  adjournments;  and  that  Dr. 
Woodhull,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the 
meeting  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till  a  new  Moderator  is  chosen. '^ — 
Minutes,  18:23,  p.  117. 

§  81.    The  Synod  of  Western  Reserve,  in  1825. 

"Application  was  made  through  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  [by  the 
Synod  of  Pittsburgh,]  to  erect  a  new  Synod,  to  be  composed  of  certain  Pres- 
byteries in  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh.  *  *  *  * 

'^Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Grand  River,  Portage,  and  Huron, 
be,  and  they  hereby  are  detached  from  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  con- 
stituted a  new  Synod,  to  be  designated  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  the 
Western  Reserve;  that  they  hold  their  first  meeting  at  Hudson,  on  the  fourth 
Tuesday  of  September  next,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  that  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Badger  preach  the  Synodical  sermon,  and  act  as  Moderator  till  another  shall 
be  chosen,  or  in  case  of  his  failure,  then  the  oldest  Minister  present  shall 
officiate  in  his  place." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  263.  [Disowned  in  1837,  see 
Book  VII.  §  160.] 

§  82.    The  Synods  of  West  Tennessee,*  and  Indiana,  in  1826. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  Synod  [of  Tennessee,]  be  granted 
so  far  as  to  constitute  the  Presbyteries  of  West  Tennessee,  Shiloh,  Missis- 
sippi, and  North  Alabama  into  a  Synod,  to  be  denominated  The  Synod  of 
West  Tennessee,  to  meet  in  Huntsville  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  Octo- 
ber next,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  that  the  Rev.  Robert  Hardin,  or  in  case 
of  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  open  the  Synod  with  a  sermon, 
and  preside  till  a  Moderator  be  chosen,  and  the  Synod  regularly  organized." 
—Minutes,  1826,  p.  24. 

(6)  "The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Salem,  requesting  that  the  Presbyteries  of  Salem,  Madison,  Wabash, 
and  Missouri,  be  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The 
Synod  of  Indiana,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted,  and  that  the  said 
Synod  meet  in  Vincennes  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  October  next;  and 
that  the  Rev.  William  Martin,  or  in  the  case  of  his  absence,  the  senior  Min- 
ister present,  open  the  Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till  a  Moderator 
be  chosen,  and  the  Synod  regularly  organized." — Minutes,  1826,  p.  24. 

§  83.  The  Synods  of  Utica,  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama,  and  Cin- 
cinnati, in  1829. 

(a)  "  An  application  from  the  Synod  of  Albany  for  the  erection  of  a  new 
Synod,  was  taken  up ;  when  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  request  be  granted,  and  agreeably  to  the  request  of 

•  The  name  was  changed  to  the  Synod  of  NaahvEle. — JUinvtet,  1850,  p.  469. 


Part  v.]  THE  SYNODS.  257 

the  Synod,  the  Presbyteries  of  Ogdensburgh,  Watertown,  Oswego,  Oneida, 
and  Otsego,  are  hereby  constituted  a  new  Synod,  to  be  called  The  Synod  of 
Utica, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Utica  hold  their  first  meeting  in  Utica,  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the  Tuesday  preceding  the  third  Wednes- 
day of  September  next  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  that  the  Kev.  Israel  Brainard 
preach  the  opening  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  is  chosen ;  and 
in  case  of  his  absence,  these  duties  shall  devolve  on  the  senior  Minister 
present." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  373.      [Disowned  in  1837.     See  Book  VII. 

(6)  "  The  committee  on  No.  2,  from  the  Judicial  Committee,  viz.  the 
complaint  and  request  of  the  Pi'esbytery  of  Mississippi,  reported,  that  in 
consequence  of  the  insufficiency  of  testimony,  they  express  no  opinion 
respecting  the  correctness  of  the  complaint;  but  they  recommend  that  the 
request  be  granted,  which  is,  that  the  Presbyteries  of  Mississippi,  South 
Alabama,  and  Bigby,  be  formed  into  a  new  Synod.  The  report  of  the  com- 
mittee was  adopted;  and  the  Presbyteries  of  Mississippi,  South  Alabama, 
and  Bigby,  are  hereby  formed  into  a  new  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of 
The  Si/nod  of  llississipj^i  and  South  Alahama. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama  hold  their 
first  meeting  at  Mayhew  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  November  next,  at 
11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  that  the  Rev.  Robert  M.  Cunningham,  D.  D.,  or  in 
case  of  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present,  preach  the  sermon  at  the 
opening,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  is  chosen." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  376. 

(f)  [On  petition  from  the  Synod  of  Ohio] 

"Resolved,  That  anew  Synod  be  constituted  by  the  name  of  The  Synod 
of  Cincinnati,  to  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Ghillicothe,  Cincinnati, 
and  Miami;  and  that  the  line  which  divides  the  Presbyteries  of  Athens, 
Lancaster  and  Columbus,  on  the  east,  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Chillicothe 
and  Miami,  on  the  west,  shall  be  the  dividing  line  between  the  Synods  of 
Ohio  and  Cincinnati;  excepting  that  the  portion  of  the  Presbytery  of  Colum- 
bus which  lies  in  the  counties  of  Clarke,  Champaigne  and  Logan,  and  west 
of  a  line  running  due  north  from  the  northeast  corner  of  the  county  of 
Logan,  to  the  boundary  of  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  shall  be 
attached  to  the  Presbytery  of  Miami ;  and  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  shall  hold 
their  first  meeting  in  Lebanon  on  the  fourth  Thursday  of  October  next,  at 
11  o'clock,  A.  M.;  and  shall  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  James 
Kemper,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  senior  Minister  present,  who  shall 
preside  until  a  Moderator  shall  be  chosen." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  387. 

§  84.  The  Synod  of  Illinois,  in  1831. 
"Resolved,  Agreeably  to  the  request  of  the  Synod  [of  Indiana]  that  the 
Presbytei'ies  of  Illinois,  Kaskaskia,  Sangamon,  and  INIissouri  be  and  they 
hereby  are  erected  into  a  new  Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of 
Illinois;  that  the  Synod  thus  erected  be  required  to  hold  their  first  meeting  at 
Hillsborough,  Montgomery  county,  Illinois,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  Sep- 
tember, 1831,  at  12  o'clock,  noon;  and  that  the  Rev.  John  Matthews  open 
the  same  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen;  and  in 
case  of  his  absence,  the  senior  Minister  present." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  175. 

§  85.    The  Synod  of  Missouri,  in  1832. 
"The  Presbytery  of  Missouri  requested  the  Synod  of  Illinois  to  take 
measures  for  the  erection  of  a  new  Synod ;  whereupon  the  Synod  divided 
the  Ministers  and  Churches  in  the  State  of  Missouri  into  three  Presbyteries, 
33 


258  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  rV. 

viz.  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis,  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Charles,  and  the 
Presbytery  of  Missouri.  The  Synod  of  Illinois  pray  the  General  Assembly 
to  erect  a  new  Synod,  to  be  composed  of  the  above  named  Presbyteries,  and 
to  be  called  Tlie  Si/nod  of  Missouri;  that  the  first  meeting  of  the  said 
Synod  be  held  at  St.  Louis  on  the  second  Thursday  in  October,  1S82,  and 
to  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Donnell,  who  shall  preside 
until  a  Moderator  be  chosen  ;  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  then  the  senior  Minis- 
ter present."     [Grraiited.] — Minutes,  1832,  p.  326. 

§  86.    The  Synod  of  the  Chesapeake,  z?i  1833. 

(a)  "An  application  for  a  new  Synod,  to  be  composed  of  the  Presbyteries 
of  East  Hanover,  Baltimore,  and  District  of  Columbia,  and  to  be  called  the 
Synod  of  Chesapeake,  was  taken  up."  "After  considerable  discussion,  it 
was 

"Resolved,  That  the  application  be  granted,  and  that  a  new  Synod  be, 
and  hereby  is  erected,  to  be  called  The  Synod  of  Chesapeake,  and  to  be 
composed  of  the  Presbyteries  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  Baltimore,  and 
East  Hanover. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Chesapeake  hold  its  first  meeting  in  George- 
town, in  the  District  of  Columbia,  on  the  fourth  Thursday  of  December 
next,  at  11  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev. 
Stephen  B.  Balch,  D.  D.,  or  in  case  of  his  absence  or  inability  to  act,  by 
the  next  oldest  Minister  present." — Minutes,  1833,  p.  479. 

(6)  Dissolved  in  1834. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Chesapeake  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
dissolved;  that  the  Presbytery  of  East  Hanover  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
restored  to  the  Synod  of  Virginia;  that  the  Presbyteries  of  Baltimore  and 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  restored  to  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  37. 

§  87.   Synods  of  Michigan  and  Delaware,  in  1834. 

(a)  "A  petition  from  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve  to  erect  the 
Presbyteries  of  Detroit,  Monroe,  and  St.  Joseph,  in  said  Synod,  into  a  new 
Synod,  to  be  called  the  Synod  of  Michigan. 

"Resolved,  That  the  petition  be  granted;  and  the  said  Presbyteries  of 
Detroit,  Monroe,  and  St.  Joseph,  are  hereby  erected  into  a  Synod,  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Michigan. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Michigan  hold  its  first  meeting  at  Ann 
Arbor,  on  the  last  Thursday  in  September  next,  at  2  o'clock  P.  M.,  and 
that  the  Rev.  Reuben  Armstrong,  or  in  case  of  his  failure  the  oldest  Minis- 
ter present,  open  the  Synod  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator 
is  chosen." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  22.  [Dissolved  in  1839,  see  Book  VII. 
§195:2.] 

(I>)  [Upon]  "applications  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Lewes,  "Wilmington, 
and  Philadelphia  2d,  as  constituted  by  the  Assembly,  to  be  constituted  into 
a  new  Synod,"         *         *         * 

"Resolved,  That  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Presby- 
teries of  Wilmington  and  Lewes,  be,  and  the  same  hereby  are  erected  into 
a  new  Synod,  to  be  called  The  Synod  of  Delaivare;  that  they  hold  their 
first  meeting  in  the  Second  Church,  Wilmington,  the  fourth  Thursday  in 
October  next,  at  11  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  that  the  opening  sermon  be  preached 
by  the  Rev.  James  Patterson,  or  in  case  of  his  absence  by  the  oldest  Minis- 
ter present." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  37.  [Dissolved  in  1835,  see  Book  VII.  . 
§  125,  Resolution  4.] 


Part  v.]  THE   SYNODS.  259 

§  88.   Synod  of  Alabama,  in  1835. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  26,  being  a  petition 
from  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama,  for  the  erection  of  a  new 
Synod,  made  their  report,  which  was  accepted  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows, 
viz. 

"Resolved,  That  the  request  of  the  Synod  be  granted;  that  the  Presby- 
teries of  South  Alabama,  Tuscaloosa,  and  Tombigbee,  be  erected  into  a 
new  Synod,  to  be  called  The  Synod  of  Alabama ;  that  this  Synod  hold  its 
first  meeting  at  the  Church  in  Tuscaloosa,  on  the  last  Thursday  in  October, 
1835,  at  12  o'clock,  M.;  and  that  R.  M.  Cunningham,  D.  D.,  preach  and 
constitute  with  prayer;  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  the  oldest  Minister  pre- 
sent. 

"  That  the  name  of  the  present  Synod  be  so  altered  as  in  future  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi." — Afinutes,  1835,  p.  31. 

§  89.   Synod  of  Northern  India,  in  1841. 
[See  Book  V.  §  128.] 

§  90.    The  Synods  of  Buffalo  and  Northern  Indiana,  in  1843. 

(a)  "Petition  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Steuben,  Wyoming,  and  Ogdensburgh, 
to  be  set  off  from  the  Synods  of  Albany  and  New  Jersey,  and  erected  into 
a  Synod.  On  which  subject  the  committee  submitted  the  following  minute, 
which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  in  1838,  [Book  VII.  §  185:  3,]  enact- 
ed that  'If  as  many  as  three  Presbyteries  can  be  conveniently  formed  in 
Western  New  York,  they  should  be  constituted  into  a  Synod,  and  shall 
cover  the  entire  territory  heretofore  occupied  by  the  three  Synods  of  Utica, 
Geneva,  and  Genessee ;'  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Steuben,  Wyoming,  and  Ogdens- 
burgh, which  have  been  formed  in  that  territory,  be  constituted  into  a 
Synod,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Buffalo,  whose  bounda- 
ries shall  be  according  to  the  said  act  of  the  Assembly  of  1838.  And  that 
the  first  meeting  of  said  Synod  be  held  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  connection  with  this  Assembly,  on  the  second  Wed- 
nesday of  August  next,  at  2  o'clock  P.  M.;  that  the  Sessions  of  the  Synod 
be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  W.  Piatt,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Steuben,  and  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  senior  Bishop  present,  and  that 
the  Synod  afterwards  convene  on  their  own  adjournment." — Minutes,  1843, 
p.  174. 

(&)  "Overture  No.  18  was  taken  up  and  adopted,  as  follows,  viz. 

"Resolved,  That  the  request  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana  be  granted,  and 
that  a  new  Synod  be  erected,  to  consist  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Logansport, 
Lake,  and  Michigan,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Northern 
Indiana;  that  the  present  boundaries  of  said  Presbyteries  be  the  boundary 
of  the  Synod ;  that  it  hold  its  first  meeting  at  Fort  Wayne,  on  the  second 
Thursday  of  October  next,  at  12  o'clock,  M.;  that  it  be  opened  with  a  ser- 
mon by  Rev.  John  Wright,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  senior  Minister 
present;  that  he  preside  till  a  Moderator  is  chosen;  and  that  said  Synod 
afterwards  meet  on  its  own  adjournments." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  192. 

§  91.  The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  divided  in  1845. 
[Upon  a  petition  from  the  Synod,]  "Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  be  and  it  hereby  is  divided  into  two  Sjmods,  to  be 
styled  respectively.  The  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  and  The  Synod  of 
Georgia,  and  that  the  geographical  limits  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
be  those  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina;  and  that  the  geographical  limits  of 


250  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

the  Synod  of  Greorgia,  be  those  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  together  with  the 
Territory  of  Florida,  so  far  as  this  may  not  interfere  with  the  limits  of 
the  Synod  of  Alabama. 

'■'■Rp.wlvcd  also,  That  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  be  directed  to  meet  in 
Pendleton,  on  the  first  Thursday  of  November,  1845,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M., 
and  that  the  opening  sermon  be  preached  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Palmer,  as 
Moderator,  and  in  case  of  his  absence,  by  the  oldest  Minister  present.  And 
that  the  Synod  of  Gleorgia  be  directed  to  meet  in  Macon,  Georgia,  on  the 
third  Thursday  of  November,  1845,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  that  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Goulding,  D.  D.,  be  appointed  to  preach  the  opening  sermon  as 
Moderator,  and  in  case  of  his  absence,  the  oldest  Minister  present." — 
Minutes,  1845,  p.  10. 

[The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  consisted  of  the  Presbyteries  of  South  Carolina,  Bethel, 
Harmony,  and  Charleston;  the  Synod  of  Georgia,  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Georgia,  Hope- 
well, Flint  River,  Florida,  and  Cherokee.] 

§  92.    The  Si/nod  of  Memphis,  in  1847. 

"The  committee  on  the  formation  of  a  new  Synod  reported,  and  their 
report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows :  viz. 

"The  committee  on  the  formation  of  a  new  Synod  to  be  composed  of  the 
Presbyteries  of  Western  District,  Chickasaw,  Arkansas,  and  Indian,  referred 
by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  the  Synods  of  West  Tennessee  and  Missis- 
sippi, report,  that  agreeably  to  the  direction  of  that  Assembly,  the  reports 
of  the  said  Synods  have  been  sent  up,  and  that  both  Synods,  as  well  as  all 
the  Presbyteries  concerned,  are  favourable  to  the  proposed  arrangement. 
The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolu- 
tions, viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  a  new  Synod  be,  and  hereby  is  erected,  to  be  called 
The  Synod  of  Memphis,  and  to  be  composed  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Western 
District,  Chickasaw,  Arkansas,  and  Indian. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Memphis  hold  its  first  meeting  in 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  October,  1847,  at  seven 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Coons,  or 
in  case  of  his  absence  or  inability  to  act,  by  the  oldest  Minister  present,  who 
shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  378. 

§  93.   Synods  of  Texas  and  Wisconsin,  in  1851. 

(a)  "Overture  No.  11.  From  the  Presbytery  of  Eastern  Texas,  requesting 
that  the  three  Presbyteries,  Eastern  Texas,  Brazos,  and  Western  Texas,  be 
erected  into  a  Synod,  to  be  called  the  Synod  of  Texas. 

"The  committee  recommend  that  the  Synod  be  formed,  according  to  the 
memorial,  to  meet  at  Austin,  Texas,  on  the  last  Thursday  in  October  next, 
at  11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev,  Daniel 
Baker,  D.D. ;  or,  in  the  event  of  his  absence,  by  the  oldest  Minister  present, 
who  is  then  to  preside,  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen.' 

"The  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  28. 

(6)  [Upon  a  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Wisconsin,  proposing  a  division  of  that 
body  into  the  three  Presbyteries  of  Dane,  Milwaukie,  and  Winrtebago,  and  the  erection 
of  a  Synod,  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  to  which  the  Presbytery  belonged,  opposed  the  action.] 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Wisconsin  be  divided  into  three  Pres- 
byteries, and  that  they  thus  formed  be  erected  into  a  Synod,  under  the  name 
\_The  Synod  of  Wisconsin,']  provisions  and  specifications  embraced  in  the 
memorial  sent  up  by  said  Presbytery  to  this  General  Assembly  on  that 
subject,  and  that  it  be  directed  to  meet  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  June,  at 
7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  at  Fulton;  the  Rev.  Thomas  Frasier  to  preach  the  opening 


Part  v.]  THE   SYNODS.  261 

Bermon  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen.  And  whereas  the  records 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Wisconsin  have  not  yet  undergone  Synodical  revision, 
that  they  transmit  to  the  next.  Assembly  all  the  records  of  their  Presbyterial 
acts  prior  to  their  erection  into  a  Synod  by  this  action  of  the  Assembly  for 
revision^  as  in  the  case  of  Synodical  records.  Provided,  That  this  action 
of  the  Assembly  does  not  change  in  any  respect  the  line  of  boundary 
between  the  Presbyteries  of  Wisconsin  and  Rock  River." — Jlinutes,  1S51, 
p.  35. 

§  94.    The  Synods  of  The  Pacific,  Iowa,  and  Arkansas,  in  1852. 

(a)  "The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  Ovexture  No.  4,  a 
memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  California,  requesting  the  formation  of  a 
new  Presbytery  and  a  new  Synod. 

"  The  committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing minute: 

"The  Rev.  R.  McCoy  is  transferred  from  the  Presbytery  of  Memphis  to 
the  Presbytery  of  California. 

"The  Rev.  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  Jr.,  and  the  Rev.  James  Woods,  both 
of  the  Presbytery  of  California,  with  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Canders,  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Maury,  together  with  the  Churches  of  Benicia  and  Stockton,  are 
constituted  a  new  Presbytery,  to  be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Stockton.  The 
said  Presbytery  shall  hold  its  first  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Stockton,  California,  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  August  next,  at  7  o'clock, 
P.  M.j  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  S.  Woodbridge,  Jr.,  who 
shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

"It  is  the  purpose  of  this  minute  to  perpetuate  the  Presbytery  of  Califor- 
nia, with  the  remaining  Ministers  and  Churches  belonging  thereto.  The 
said  Presbytery  will  hold  its  next  stated  meeting  on  the  third  Tuesday  of 
August  next,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  San  Francisco,  California, 
at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.;  to  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  R.  McCoy, 
who  shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

"The  Presbyteries  of  California,  Oregon,  and  Stockton,  are  hereby  erected 
into  a  new  Synod,  to  be  called  The  Synod  of  the  Pacific;  and  for  that  pur- 
pose the  Presbyteries  of  California  and  Oregon  are  detached  from  the  Synod 
of  New  York.  The  Synod,  created  by  this  minute,  shall  hold  its  first  meet- 
ing in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  San  Francisco,  on  the  third  Tues- 
day of  October  next,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  shall  be  opened  with  a  sermon 
by  the  oldest  Minister  present,  who  shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be 
chosen. 

"The  Presbyteries  herein  named  shall  present  their  records  to  the  Synod 
of  the  Pacific  for  examination,  from  the  date  of  their  last  approval  by  the 
Synod  of  New  York. 

"  The  Synod  shall,  at  its  first  meeting,  settle  definitely  the  territorial 
limits  of  its  several  Presbyteries. 

"  The  report  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  207. 

(h)  "  Overture  No.  10,  being  an  extract  from  the  records  of  the  Synod 
of  Illinois,  desiring  the  Assembly  to  erect  a  new  Synod.  The  committee 
recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  minute,  viz.  the  Presbyteries  of 
Iowa,  Cedar,  and  Desmoines,  with  their  ministers  and  churches,  are  hereby 
detached  from  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  and  constituted  a  Synod,  to  be  called 
The  Synod  of  Iowa.  It  shall  hold  its  first  meeting  in  the  city  of  Muscatine 
on  the  14th  day  of  October,  1852,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  be  opened  with 
a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  L.  Gr.  Bell,  or,  in  his  absence,  by  the  oldest  Minister 
present,  who  shall  preside  until  a  new  Moderator  be  chosen.    The  said  Pres- 


262  CHURCH  COURTS.  [Book  IV. 

byteries  shall  present  their  records  to  the  Synod  for  approval.  The  report 
was  adopted." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  207. 

(c)  "  Overture  No.  24.  A  memorial  of  the  Commissioners  to  this  Assem- 
bly, from  the  Presbyteries  in  the  Synod  of  Memphis,  requesting  the  Assem- 
bly to  erect  a  new  Synod. 

"  This  request  was  granted  by  the  Assembly,  and  the  following  resolution 
was  adopted : 

"  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Arkansas,  Ouachita,  Indian,  and  Creek 
Nation,  now  in  the  Synod  of  Memphis,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  erected  into 
a  new  Synod,  to  be  called  The  Synod  of  Arkansas.  The  said  Synod  shall  hold 
its  first  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Little  Eock, 
Arkansas,  on  the  second  Thursday  of  October,  at  7  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  be 
opened  by  a  sermon  by  the  Eev.  James  C.  Kingsbury,  or  in  case  of  his 
absence,  by  the  eldest  Minister  present,  who  shall  also  preside  until  a  Mode- 
rator be  chosen." — 3Iinutes,  1852,  p.  224. 

§  95.    The  St/nods  of  Baltimore  and  Alkgheny,  in  1854. 

§1- 

(a)  "  Resolved,  That  the  requests  of  these  four  Presbyteries  be  granted, 
and  that  the  Presbyteries  of  Carlisle,  Baltimore,  and  Eastern  Shore,  from 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Winchester,  from  the  Sy- 
nod of  Virginia,  be  hereby  set  off  and  constituted  a  new  Synod,  to  be  called 
The  Synod  of  Baltimore,  which  body  shall  meet  in  the  F  street  Church  in 
the  City  of  Washington,  on  the  last  Tuesday  (31st)  of  October  next,  at  7  J 
P.  M.,  and  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Plumer,  D.  D.,  or 
in  his  absence  by  the  oldest  Minister  present,  who  shall  preside  till  another 
Moderator  be  chosen;  and  that  thereafter  the  Synod  convene  on  their  own 
adjournment." — Mimites,  1854,  pp.  15,  18. 

(h)  ''Overture  No.  8 — Papers  in  relation  to  a  division  of  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh — were  then  taken  up.  The  papers  were  read,  and  the  matter 
was  discussed  at  length,  when  the  previous  question  was  called,  and  the 
petition  of  the  Synod  was  granted ;  which  petition  is  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  next  Greneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  be  petitioned  to  erect  a  new  Synod,  embracing  that 
part  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  which  lies  west  and  north  of  the  Alle- 
gheny and  Ohio  rivers;  and  in  case  it  shall  erect  the  new  Synod  for  which 
this  Synod  asks,  to  call  it  by  the  name  of  The  Synod  of  Allegheny,  and  to 
appoint  its  first  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  First  Church,  City  of  Allegheny, 
at  the  same  time  at  which  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  shall  hold  its  next  meet- 
ing; to  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  William  Annan,  who  shall 
preside  until  the  election  of  a  Moderator." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  36. 

Title  2. — Miscellaneous  Decisions. 
§  96.    The  opening  sermon. 

(a)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  approved,  except]  "  that  a* 
the  opening  of  the  Synod,  no  sermon  was  delivered  as  the  Constitution 
requires,  but  on  the  following  evening." — Minvtes,  1827,  p.  118. 

(6)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved,  except  that]  "  the 
Synod  was  opened  without  a  sermon,  whereas  the  Form  of  Government, 
Chap.  xi.  Sec.  5,  requires  that  a  sermon  shall  be  preached." — Minutes,  1843, 
p.  181. 

§  97.  Pro  re  nata  meetings  of  Synod  constitutional. 

(a)  [The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved,  except]  "the 


Part  v.]  THE  SYNODS.  263 

record  of  a  meeting  of  Synod,  which  was  convened  pursuant  to  a  call  of  the 
Moderator,  without  a  specification  of  the  object  for  which  they  were  con- 
vened."—ilfmw^es,  1823,  p.  120. 

(b)  "  Has  the  Moderator  of  a  Synod  a  right  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
Synod  during  the  interval  of  its  stated  sessions? 

"Resolved  hy  the  Assembly,  That  this  question  be  answered  in  the  affinna- 
^\\\e:'— Minutes,  1829,  p.  383. 

(c)  "  The  Assembly  took  up  the  protest  and  complaint  of  a  minority  of 
the  Synod  of  Virginia,  against  a  decision  of  said  Synod  in  favour  of  called 
meetings  of  Synod;  the  complainants  and  Synod  were  heard,  after  which  it 
was  resolved  that  the  complaint  be  not  sustained." — Minutes,  1832,  p.  828. 

(rf)  [In  1832,  the  following  was  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries,  as  a  proposed  addition 
to  the  Constitution.] 

"  When  any  emergency  shall  require  a  meeting  of  the  Synod  sooner  than 
the  time  to  which  it  stands  adjourned,  the  Moderator,  or  in  case  of  his 
absence,  death,  or  inability  to  act,  the  Stated  Clerk  shall,  with  the  concur- 
rence, or  at  the  request  of  three  Ministers  and  three  Elders,  the  Ministers 
and  Elders  being  of  at  least  two  different  Presbyteries,  call  a  special  meet- 
ing. For  this  purpose  he  shall  send  a  circular  letter,  specifying  the  partic- 
ular business  of  the  intended  meeting,  to  every  Minister  belonging  to  the 
Synod,  and  to  the  Session  if  practicable  of  every  vacant  Congregation ;  and 
between  the  time  of  issuing  the  letters  of  convocation,  and  time  of  meeting, 
shall  elapse  at  least  twenty  days.  And  nothing  shall  be  transacted  at  such 
special  meeting  besides  the  particular  business  for  which  the  judicatory  has 
been  convened.  It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  Moderator  to  cause  notice 
to  be  given  in  the  public  prints  of  the  time  and  place  of  such  intended 
meeting  of  the  Synod." — Minntes,  1832,  p.  333. 

[In  1833,  forty-six  Presbyteries  reported  adoption  and  seventeen  rejection;  and  in 
1834,  thirty-eight  in  favour  and  eleven  against  the  amendment;  but  as  in  neither  case  was 
there  a  majority  of  all  the  Presbyteries,  the  amendment  failed.] — Minutes,  1833,  p.  485; 
and  1834,  p.  13. 

§  98.  Adjourned  meetings  of  Synods. 

"As  there  is  an  adjourned  meeting  of  said  Synod  with  a  view  to  issue  the 
business,  the  Assembly  ought  not  judicially  to  interfere  until  it  shall  be  decided 
upon  by  the  Synod,  and  they  hereby  recommend  to  the  Synod  of  the  Caro- 
linas,  to  continue  their  laudable  and  prudent  endeavours  to  bring  the  present 
dispute  to  a  speedy  issue." — Minntes,  1797,  p.  127. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,]  ''  were  approved  as  far  as  the 
end  of  the  extraordinary  session  held  at  Little  Britain,  N.  C,  Feb.  7,  1799." 
—Minutes,  1799,  p.  176, 


TART  VI. 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ITS  DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY. 

[From  the  facts  presented  below,  it  will  appear  that  the  General  Assembly  is  not  a  body 
created  by  the  voluntary  union  of  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  as  is  sometimes  assumed,  but 
itself  the  original  body,  whence  they  have  derived  their  existence  and  powers.] 

§  99.   Its  original  organization. 

(a)  [The  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  consisted  of  six  Ministers, 
and  thirty-four  other  persons,  spontaneously  met,  and  constituting  at  once  the  highest 
judicatory  of  the  Church,  and  the  only  one  above  the  parochial  Presbytery. 

Precisely  analogous  was  the  origin  of  our  General  Assembly.  The  first  leaf  of  the 
original  minutes  being  irrecoverably  lost,  the  most  precise  information  we  have  of  the  time 
and  circumstances  of  the  first  meeting,  is  that  it  was  "  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jedediah  Andrews 
was  ordained  Pastor  to  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  Philadelphia."  The  Ministers 
who  were  there  assembled  agreed  "  to  associate  and  join  with  one  another  statedly  for  the 
exercise  of  Church  government  among  themselves,  being  first  agreed  as  to  principles  of 
faith  and  government."*  In  1704  the  Congregation  which  Mr.  Andrews  served  removed 
from  the  storeroom  in  which  they  had  previously  assembled,  to  their  first  house  of  worship. 
The  space  occupied  by  the  annual  minutes  in  the  manuscript  record  book,  would  lead  to 
the  conclusion  ihat  the  missing  leaf  would  carry  us  back  to  the  same  year;  and  other  cir- 
cumstances concur  to  the  conclusion  that  the  removal  of  the  Congregation,  the  ordination 
of  Mr.  Andrews,  and  the  organization  of  the  Presbytery  occurred  at  the  same  date. 

In  1706,  the  body  consisted  of  Francis  McKemie,  Jedediah  Andrews,  John  Hampton, 
John  Wilson,  Nathaniel  Taylor,  George  McNish,  and  Samuel  Davis,  (Minutes  1706  and 
1707,  p.  9,)  with  twelve  or  thirteen  Churches.  Whether  all  of  these  took  part  in  the 
original  organization,  it  is  probably  now  impossible  to  ascertain.] 

(6)  Design  of  this  organization. 
[The  members  of  the  general  Presbytery  were,  the  most  of  them,  Missionaries,  and  the 
design  of  the  organization  was  specifically  to  carry  on  the  work  of  Missions,  The  doc- 
trine that  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  such,  is  a  missionary  society,  is  no  mere  fancy,  but 
literally  true.  See  the  statements  made  by  the  Presbytery  as  to  the  motives  inducing 
their  organization,  contained  in  the  letters  addressed  by  them  to  Sir  Edmund  Harrison, 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Dublin,  and  the  Synod  of  Glasgow.     (Book  V.)] 

§  100.    This  hodt/  teas  a  proper  General  Assembly. 

[It  ordinarily  assumed  the  title  of"  The  Presbytery,"  never  that  of  "The  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia."     It  asserted  to  itself,  and  was  recognized  as  possessing,  not  merely  the 

*  Thompson's  "GoTernment  of  the  Church  of  Christ,"  p.  53.  The  Rev.  John  Thompson,  the  author, 
came  from  Irchinda  licentiate  in  ISli  or  1815,  sent  a  letter  to  the  Presbytery  ia  1815,  and  came  under 
its  care  in  ISlii.— Minutes,  1S15,  p.  40 ;  and  ISlC,  p.  44. 


Part  VI.]  DOCUMENTARY   HISTORY.  265 

fuYictions  of  a  particular  subordinate  Presbytery,  from  which  Thompson,  in  the  place  above 
cited,  carefully  distinguishes  it,  but  the  powers  of  a  supreme  judicature,  in  the  exercise  of 
which  it  was  alike  unlimited  by  a  written  Constitution,  and  uncontrolled  by  a  superior. 
(See  Book  I.  §  1.)     Its  appropriate  title  is — The  General  Presbytery.] 

§  101.  It  creates  out  of  itself  four  subordinate  PresLi/teries,  and  assumes  the 
name  of  "  The  Synod." 

(a)  "It  having  pleased  divine  Providence  so  to  increase  our  number,  as 
that,  after  much  deliberation,  we  judge  it  may  be  more  serviceable  to  the 
interest  of  religion,  to  divide  ourselves  into  subordinate  meetings  or  Presby- 
teries, constituting  one  annually  as  a  Synod,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  or  else- 
where, to  consist  of  all  the  members  of  each  subordinate  Presbytery  or 
meeting,  for  this  year  at  least;  Therefore,  it  is  agreed  by  the  Presbytery, 
after  serious  deliberation,  that  the  first  subordinate  meeting  or  Presbytery, 
to  meet  at  Philadelphia  or  elsewhere,  as  they  shall  see  fit,  do  consist  of  these 
following  members,  viz.  Masters'  Andrews,  Jones,  Powell,  Orr,  Bradner, 
and  Morgan.  And  the  second  to  meet  at  New  Castle  or  elsewhere,  as  they 
shall  see  fit,  to  consist  of  those,  viz.  Masters  Anderson,  McGill,  Gillespie, 
Wotherspoon,  Evans,  and  Conn.  The  third  to  meet  at  Snow  Hill  or  else- 
where, to  consist  of  these,  viz.  Masters  Davis,  Hampton,  and  Henry.  And 
in  consideration  that  only  our  brethren  Mr.  McNish  and  Mr.  Pumry,  are  of 
our  number  upon  Long  Island  at  present,  we  earnestly  recommend  it  to 
them  to  use  their  best  endeavours  with  the  neighbouring  brethren  that  are 
settled  there,  which  as  yet  join  not  with  us,  to  join  with  them  in  erecting  a 
fourth  Presbytery.  And  as  to  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  respective 
Presbyteries,  it  is  ordered  that  that  be  left  to  their  own  discretion. 

"  Ordered  J  That  a  book  be  kept  by  each  of  the  said  Presbyteries,  contain- 
ing a  record  of  their  proceedings;  and  that  the  said  book  be  brought  every 
year  to  our  anniversary  Synod  to  be  revised." — Minutes,  1716,  p.  45. 

(6)  The  Synod  recognized,  in  terms,  as  identical  with  the  original  Presbytery, 

"Our  next  meeting  being  appointed  as  a  Synod,  it  is  ordered  that  the 
present  Moderator  open  the  same  by  preaching;  and  that  the  Moderator  of 
the  last  Synod  open  the  next  by  preaching  always  for  the  time  coming  upon 
the  first  Tuesday  of  our  meeting,  at  10  o'clock." — Minutes,  1716,  p.  46. 

[Next  year  they  speak  of  the  preceding  session  as  a  Synod,  thus:] 

"The  Moderator  of  the  last  Synod  being  hindered  from  being  here  at  the 
time  appointed  by  the  last  year's  Synod,  he  was  appointed  to  preach  this  day 
at  ten  o'clock,  his  Synodical  sermon." — Minutes,  1717,  p.  48. 

"Whereas  in  page  thirty-three  of  the  Presbytery  (now  Synod)  book,  there 
is  a  minute  relating  to  Mr.  Pierson's  settlement  at  Woodbridge,  the  Synod 
at  his  instance,  do  declare  their  approbation  of  his  conduct  in  settling 
there." — Minutes,  1721,  p.  68, 

[See  the  language  of  an  overture,  (above,  Book  I.  §  1,  e,)  « the  Synod,  either  before  or 
since  it  hath  been,  in  forma  Synodi.  ] 

§  102.    The  Synod  meets  hy  delegation. 

"  The  affair  relating  to  the  Synod's  meeting  by  delegates  was  taken  into 
consideration,  and  after  reasoning  upon  the  matter,  it  was  at  last  put  to  the 
vote  thus :  Appear  by  delegates  or  not  ?  And  it  was  carried  in  the  affirm- 
ative; and  likewise  concluded  by  vote,  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle 
and  Philadelphia  do  yearly  delegate  the  half  of  their  members  to  the  Synod, 
34 


266  THE  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY :  [Book  IV. 

and  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island  two  of  their  number.  And  it  is  further 
ordered,  that  all  the  members  of  the  Synod  do  attend  every  third  year;  and 
that  if  in  the  interim  anything  of  moment  do  occur,  whereby  the  presence 
of  all  the  members  may  be  thought  necessary,  they,  (upon  notice  given 
by  the  commission  of  the  Synod,)  shall  carefully  attend  notwithstanding  the 
above  delegation.  And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  every  member  of  the  Synod 
may  attend  as  formerly  if  they  see  cause." — Minutes,  1725,  p.  80. 
[After  some  time  this  plan  fell  silently  into  disuse.] 

§  103.   The  poioers  of  the  Synod. 

(a)  [In  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  Synod,  and  the  Dutch  and  Associate 
Reformed  Synods,  the  representatives  of  the  Synod  made  the  following  statement,  which 
was  afterwards  sanctioned  by  it.] 

'*  The  rules  of  our  discipline  and  the  form  of  process  in  our  Church  judi- 
cature, are  contained  in  Pardovan's  (alias  Stewart's)  Collections,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  acts  of  our  own  Synod ;  the  power  of  which  in  matters  purely 
ecclesiastical,  we  consider  as  equal  to  the  power  of  any  Synod  or  General 
Assembly  in  the  world." — Minutes,  1786,  p.  519. 

(/»)  [This  authority  was  illustrated  in  the  acts  by  which  of  its  own  mere  motion  it 
adopted  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and  enjoined  it  on  the  Presbyteries,  and  in 
the  following  sections  in  which  it  amends  the  whole  Constitution  and  remodels  the 
Church.] 

§  104.    The  Synod  creates  out  of  itself  four  subordinate  Synods,  and  con- 
tinues its  succession  in  the  General  Assembly. 

(a)  "  The  Synod  considering  the  number  and  extent  of  the  Churches 
under  their  care,  and  the  inconvenience  of  the  present  mode  of  government 
by  one  Synod, 

^^  Resolved,  That  this  Synod  will  establish  out  of  its  own  body  three  or 
more  subordinate  Synods,  out  of  which  shall  be  composed  a  General  Assem- 
bly, Synod  or  Council,  agreeably  to  a  system  hereafter  to  be  adopted." — 
Minutes,  1786,  p.  517. 

(6)  [After  mature  preliminary  arrangements  had  been  made,  (See  Book  I.  §§  17-25)  it 
was  at  length,  in  1788,] 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  this  Synod  be  divided,  and  it  is  hereby 
divided  into  four  Synods,  agreeably  to  an  act  made  and  provided  for  that 
purpose  in  the  sessions  of  Synod  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty-six;  and  that  this  division  shall  commence  on  the  dissolution  of 
the  present  Synod. 

"Resolved,  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  con- 
stituted out  of  the  abovesaid  four  Synods,  be  held,  and  it  is  hereby  appointed 
to  be  held  on  the  third  Thursday  of  May,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-nine,  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  that  Dr.  Witherspoon,  or  in  his  absence.  Dr. 
Rodgerg,  open  the  General  Assembly  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  till  a 
Moderator  be  chosen." — Minutes,  1788,  p.  547. 


Part.  VI.] 


ITS   ORGANIZATION. 


267 


CHAPTER  II. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY. 

Title  1. — Or  its  Meetings. 
§  105.   Table  of  the  meetings  of  the  General  Assembly. 


PLACE  OF  MEETING. 

NO.  OF   MEMBERS 

TEAR. 

MINIS- 
TERS. 

ELDERS 

MODERATORS. 

1789 

Philadelphia, 

23 

11 

(John  Witherspoon,  D.  D.,*  New  Jersey. 
(John  Rodger*,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1790 

Do. 

19 

11 

Robert  Smith,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1791 

Do. 

43 

20 

John  Woodhull,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1792 

Carlisle,  Pa. 

30 

12 

John  King,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1793 

Philadelphia, 

30 

16 

James  Latta,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1794 

Do. 

27 

12 

Alexander  McWhorter,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1795 

Carlisle,  Pa. 

28 

14 

John  McKnight,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1796 

Philadelphia, 

28 

14 

Robert  Davidson,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1797 

Do. 

33 

13 

William  M.  Tennent,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1798 

Do. 

32 

16 

John  B.  Smith,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1799 

Winchester,  Va. 

30 

8 

Samuel  S.  Smith,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1800 

Philadelphia, 

35 

15 

Joseph  Clark,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1801 

Do. 

40 

20 

Nathaniel  Irwin,  Pennsylvania. 

1802 

Do. 

31 

16 

Azel  Roe,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1803 

Do. 

37 

.19 

James  Hall,  D.D.,  North  Carolina. 

1804 

Do. 

41 

16 

James  F.  Armstrong,  New  Jersey. 

1805 

Do. 

42 

18 

James  Richards,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1806 

Do. 

37 

17 

Samuel  Miller.  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1807 

Do. 

40 

20 

Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1808 

Do. 

40 

19 

Philip  Milledoler,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1809 

Do. 

42 

23 

Drury  Lacy,  Virginia. 

1810 

Do. 

55 

28 

John  B.  Romeyn,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1811 

Do. 

61 

27 

Eliphalet  Nott,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1812 

Do. 

63 

33 

Andrew  Flinn,  D.  D.,  South  Carolina. 

1813 

Do. 

65 

35 

Samuel  Blatchford,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1814 

Do. 

68 

25 

James  Inglis,  D.  D.,  Maryland. 

1815 

Do. 

64 

29 

William  Neill,  D.  D.,  New  York, 

1816 

Do. 

63 

30 

James  BIythe,  D.  D.,  Kentucky. 

1817 

Do. 

71 

35 

Jonas  Coe,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1818 

Do. 

83 

41 

J.  J.  Janeway,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1819 

Do. 

85 

33 

John  H.  Rice,  D.D.,  Virginia. 

1820 

Do. 

71 

28 

John  McDowell,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1821 

Do. 

77 

35 

William  Hill,  D.  D.,  Virginia. 

1822 

Do. 

91 

38 

Obadiah  Jennings,  D.  D.,  Ohio. 

1823 

Do. 

84 

33 

John  Chester,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1824 

Do. 

102 

40 

Ashbel  Green,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Pennsylvania. 

18-25 

Do. 

110 

41 

Stephen  N.  Rowan,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1826 

Do. 

113 

49 

Thomas  McAuley,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

1827 

Do. 

102 

37 

h'rancis  Herron,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1828 

Do. 

104 

39 

Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1829 

Do. 

125 

41 

Benjamin  H.  Rice,  D.  D.,  Virginia. 

1830 

Do. 

135 

40 

Ezra  Fisk,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1831 

Do. 

152 

75 

Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  D  D.,  New  York. 

1832 

Do. 

182 

123 

James  Hoge,  D.  D.,  Ohio. 

1833 

Do. 

172 

94 

William  A.  McDowell,  D.  D.,  South  Carolina. 

1834 

Do. 

125 

77 

Philip  Lindsley,  D.  D.,  Tennessee. 

1836 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

135 

96 

William  W.  Phillips,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1836 

Do. 

152 

122 

John  Witherspoon,  D.  D.,  South  Carolina. 

1837 

Philadelphia, 

158 

105 

David  Elliott,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1838 

Do. 

119 

105 

William  S.  Plumer,  D.  D.,  Virginia. 

1839 

Do. 

109 

83 

Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Ohio. 

1840 

Do. 

91 

60 

William  M.  Engles,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1841 

Do. 

.     87 

56 

Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Maryland. 

*  Moderator  of  the  organization. 


268 


THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY: 


[Book  IV. 


PLACE  OF  MEETING. 

NO.   OF   MEMBERS. 

TEAR. 

MINIS- 
TEES. 

ELDERS. 

MODERATORS. 

1842!philadelphia, 

94 

61    John  T.  Edgar,  D.D.,  Tennessee. 

1S43 

Do. 

100 

69    Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1844 

Louisville,  Ky. 

112 

84  'George  Junkin,  D.  D.,  Ohio. 

1845 

Cincinnati,  0. 

114 

83    John  M.  Krebs,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

1846  Philadelphia, 

113 

76    Charles  Hodge,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

1847  Richmond,  Va. 

114 

66    James  H.  Thornwell,  D.  D.,  South  Carolina. 

1848  Baltimore,  Md. 

116 

80 

Alexander  T.  McGill,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

1849  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

116 

67 

Nicholas  Murray,  D.  D.,  New  Jersey. 

"1850  Cincinnati,  0. 

128 

91 

A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  South  Carolina. 

1851  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

126 

90 

E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  Kentucky. 

1852  Charleston,  S.C. 

131 

72 

John  C.  Lord,  D.  D.,  New  York. 

ISoSThiladelphia, 

149 

104   John  C.  Young,  D.  D.,  Kentucky. 

1854  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

147 

118    H.  A.  Boardman,  D.  D.,  Pennsylvania. 

§  106.   Time  of  meeting. 

[Many  years'  usage  has  fixed  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  statedly  on  the  third  Thurs- 
day of  May  in  each  year.] 

§  107.  Prayer  for  the  General  Assembly. 

"An  overture  from  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  was  received  and  read, 
and  is  as  follows  : 

"  Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  is  the  highest  and  most  important 
judicatory  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  whereas,  to  obtain  the  divine 
blessing  on  that  judicatory,  must  appear  to  every  Christian  of  our  denomina- 
tion to  be  a  matter  of  the  utmost  moment  j  therefore, 

"Eesolved,  That  this  Synod  do  respectfully  suggest  to  the  General 
Assembly,  the  propriety  of  recommending  to  all  the  Churches  under  their 
care,  to  observe  annually,  the  afternoon  or  evening  previous  to  the  meeting 
of  that  body,  as  a  season  of  special  prayer  to  Almighty  God  for  his  blessing; 
that  he  would  of  his  infinite  mercy  condescend  to  superintend  and  direct  all 
their  measures,  deliberations,  and  decisions,  so  that  all  may  redound  to  the 
promotion  of  his  own  glory,  and  the  general  prosperity  of  that  particular 
Church  to  which  we  belong. 

"The  overture  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  6. 

§  108.    Order  of  organizing  the  Assembly. 

"  The  General  Assembly  shall  meet  at  least  once  in  every  year.  On  the 
day  appointed  for  that  purpose,  the  Moderator  of  the  last  Assembly,  if  pre- 
sent, or  in  case  of  his  absence  some  other  Minister,*  shall  open  the  meeting 
with  a  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  new  Moderator  be  chosen.  No  Commis- 
sioner shall  have  a  right  to  deliberate  or  vote  in  the  Assembly,  until  his 
name  shall  have  been  enrolled  by  the  Clerk,  and  his  commission  examined 
and  filed  among  the  papers  of  the  Assembly." — Form  of  Gov.  Chap.  xii.  7. 

"  The  Moderator  of  the  Synods  and  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be 
chosen  at  each  meeting  of  those  judicatories." — Jbid.  Chap.  xix.  3. 

[Further,  see  §§  147,  148.  Under  these  various  rules,  the  following  is  the  order  of 
procedure:  At  11  o'clock  the  opening  sermon  is  preached  by  the  Moderator,  by  whose 
mandate  the  Assembly  has  been  convened."!"  Immediately  after  sermon  he  opens  the  ses- 
sions with  prayer,^  and  calls  for  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Commissions.  This  report 
being  read,  a  Committee  of  Elections  is  appointed.  There  is  now  usually  a  recess  until 
after  dinner.  'I'he  Committee  of  Elections  then  bring  in  their  report,  and  the  roll  being 
thus  completed,  a  Moderator  and  Temporary  Clerk  are  chosen  ;  the  duties  of  the  last  Mode- 
rator terminate  with  the  inauguration  of  his  successor,  and  the  house  is  ready  to  proceed 
to  business.] 

*  Compare  fhrm  nf  Gov.  Chap.  xix.  3 ;  and  below,  2  126. 

■f-  IXn-m  of  Gov.  Cbap.  xU.  8.  t  Ibid. 


Part  VI.]  ITS   ORGANIZATION.  269 

« It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  before  the  new  Moderator  is  chosen,  the  rolls  must  first 
be  made  up;  and  at  the  calling  of  each  Presbytery,  burgh,  and  University,  their  commis- 
sion is  read." — Pardovan,  Book  I.  Title  15,  §  19. 

Title  2. — Commissioners  of  the  Presbyteries. 
§  109.  Ratio  of  representation. 

(a)  "  Every  Presbytery  shall,  at  their  last  stated  meeting  preceding  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  depute  to  the  General  Assembly  Commis- 
sioners in  the  following  proportion ;  each  Presbytery  consisting  of  not  more 
than  six  Ministers,  shall  send  one  Minister  and  one  Elder;  each  Presbytery 
consisting  of  more  than  six  Ministers  and  not  more  than  twelve,  shall  send  two 
Ministers  and  two  Elders,  and  so  in  the  same  proportion  for  every  six  Min- 
isters. And  these  Commissioners,  or  any  fourteen  of  them,  whereof  seven 
to  be  Ministers,  being  met  on  the  day  and  at  the  place  appointed  shall  be 
competent  to  enter  upon  business.  And  the  judicatory  thus  constituted,  shall 
bear  the  style  and  title  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America." — 3Ii)iutes,  1786,  p.  524. 

(b)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  to  alter  the 
ratio  of  representation,  substituting  the  word  nine  for  the  word  six,  and  the 
word  eighteen  in  place  of  the  word  twelve."  [Adopted  by  the  Presbyteries.] 
—Mimttes,  1819,  p.  700. 

(c)  In  1826  the  ratio  was  again  increased  by  changing  nine  to  twelve,  and  eighteen  to 
twenty-four. — Minutes,  1826,  p.  11. 

(rf)  In  1833  the  present  ratio  was  adopted,  viz.] 

"Resolved,  That  the  second  Section  of  the  12th  Chapter  of  the  Form  of 
Government,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  so  amended  as  to  read, 

"  The  General  Assembly  shall  consist  of  an  equal  delegation  of  Bishops 
and  Elders  from  each  Presbytery  in  the  following  proportion,  viz.  each  Pres- 
bytery consisting  of  not  more  than  twenty-four  Ministers,  shall  send  one  Min- 
ister and  one  Elder;  and  each  Presbytery,  consisting  of  more  than  twenty- 
four  Ministers,  shall  send  two  Ministers  and  two  Elders,  and  in  like  pro- 
portion for  every  twenty-four  Ministers  in  every  Presbytery,  and  these  dele- 
gates so  appointed  shall  be  styled  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly." 
—Mimites,  1833,  p.  486. 

§  110.    Commissioners  from  new  Presbyteries. 

(a)  "  Mr.  Moses  Hoge,  Minister,  and  Mr.  John  Kearsley,  Ruling  Elder, 
produced  commissions  from  the  Presbytery  of  Winchester,  which  Presbytery 
was  ordered  to  be  formed  and  constituted  by  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  by 
dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington  so  as  to  make  two  Presbyteries.  And 
though  no  report  was  produced  from  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  that  said  Pres- 
bytery had  been  made  and  constituted  according  to  order,  yet  there  appear- 
ing ample  testimony  to  the  General  Assembly  that  such  was  the  case,  the 
commissions  of  Mr.  Hoge  and  Mr.  Kearsley  were  approved,  and  they  took 
their  seats  accordingly." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  94. 

(6)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  adopted  as  a  standing  rule  of  this  house,  that 
Commissioners  from  newly  formed  Presbyteries  shall,  before  taking  their 
seats  as  members  of  this  body,  produce  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  Pres- 
byteries to  which  they  belong  have  been  regularly  organized  according  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  and  are  in  connection  with  the  General 
Assembly. 

"Resolved,  also,  That  such  Commissioners  shall  be  entitled  to  furnish  the 
evidence  required  in  the  foregoing  resolution  before  the  house  shall  proceed 
to  the  choice  of  a  Moderator." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  20. 


270  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY:  [Book  IV. 

§  111.  Neio  Presbyteries  mvst  first  he  recognized. 

'^Resolved,  1.  That  no  Commissioner  from  a  newly  formed  Presbytery 
shall  be  penuitted  to  take  his  seat,  nor  shall  such  Commissioner  be  reported 
by  the  Committee  on  Commissions,  until  the  Presbytery  shall  have  been 
duly  reported  by  the  Synod,  and  recognized  as  such  by  the  Assembly;  and 
that  the  same  rule  shall  apply  when  the  name  of  any  Presbytery  has  been 
changed. 

"2.  When  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  General  Assembly 
that  any  new  Presbytery  has  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  unduly 
increasing  the  representation,  the  General  Assembly  will  by  a  vote  of  the 
majority  refuse  to  receive  the  delegates  of  Presbyteries  so  formed,  and  may 
direct  the  Synod  to  which  such  Presbytery  belongs  to  reunite  it  to  the  Pres- 
bytery or  Presbyteries  to  which  the  members  were  before  attached." — Min- 
utes,  1837,  p.  446. 

§  112.  Manner  of  action  under  this  rule. 

"The  case  of  the  Commissioners  from  the  Presbytery  of  Greenbrier  was 
referred  back  to  the  Committee  of  Elections." 

''The  Committee  of  Elections  reported  that  the  Presbytery  of  Greenbrier 
was  formed  by  dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington  (as  will  appear  by 
reference  to  the  certificate  of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synod,)  by  the  Synod 
of  Virginia,  at  its  sessions  in  Lexington,  in  October,  1837,  and  that  the 
committee  have  received  such  information  as  satisfies  them  of  the  necessity 
and  propriety  of  the  formation  of  the  Presbytery  of  Greenbrier,  and  they 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions : 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Greenbrier  be  recognized  by  the 
Assembly. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  David  R.  Preston  and  Mr.  Thomas  Beard 
be  enrolled  as  members  of  this  Assembly,  from  the  said  Presbytery. 

"The  report  was  adopted,  and  Messrs.  Preston  and  Beard  took  their 
seats." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  9. 

§  113.  A  Presbytery  sending  more  than  its  proportion  of  Commissioners. 
"The  right  of  two  persons  to  a  seat  in  the  Assembly  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Portage,  was  questioned,  whereupon  their  case  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Elections.  After  considering  the  subject,  the  committee  reported 
that  the  names  of  the  Minister  and  Elder  last  appointed  should  be  erased; 
because,  the  Presbytery  is  entitled  to  no  more  than  two  Commissioners. 
This  report  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1835,  p.  7. 

§  114.    Commissions,  defective  or  tcanting. 

(a)  "The  Rev.  Drury  Lacy,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  produced 
a  commission  of  his  appointment  as  a  Commisisioner,  signed  by  the  clerk. 
Mr.  Lacy  infoi'med  the  General  Assembly  that  the  omission  of  the  signature 
by  the  Moderator  was  solely  owing  to  inattention  to  the  Constitution,  and  to 
the  Presbytery's  having  always  considered  every  act  of  their  body  signed  by 
the  clerk  alone  as  carrying  due  testimony  with  it.  Mr.  Lacy's  commission 
was  accepted,  and  he  took  his  seat  accordingly.'" — Minutes,  1795,  p.  94.  ct 
passim. 

(h)  "  Mr.  William  Morris,  an  Elder  from  the  Presbytei-y  of  Lewes,  was 
admitted  as  a  member,  though  he  had  neglected  to  bring  his  commission,  as 
it  appeared  from  the  records  of  the  Presbytery,  which  were  present,  that  he 
was  duly  appointed." — Minutes,  1793,  p.  65. 

(c)  "Mr.  William  Brown,  a  Riding  Elder  from  the  Presbytery  of  Car- 
lisle, was  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  Assembly,  notwithstanding  the  infor- 
mality of  his  appearing  without  a  commission;  it  being  testified  by  the  clerk 


Part  VI.]  ITS    ORGANIZATION.  271 

and  the  other  members  of  said  Presbytery  that  he  was  duly  appointed,  and 
that  his  commission  had  been  made  out  and  delivered  to  him." — Minutes, 
1794,  p.  79,  et  passim. 

§  115.  No  election  through  Presbytery  failing  to  meet. 

"The  Committee  of  Elections  further  reported  in  the  case  of  Mr.  David 
M.  Smith,  that  it  appeared  to  their  satisfaction  that  the  Presbytery  of  Colum- 
bia failed  to  form  a  quorum  at  the  time  at  which  their  stated  spring  meeting 
should  have  been  held  according  to  adjournment;  that  there  were  pi*esent 
two  Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders  from  a  majority  of  the  Churches,  the  Pres- 
bytery consisting  only  of  five  Ministers;  that  those  present  requested  that 
the  Assembly  would  receive  Mr.  Smith  as  a  Commissioner  from  their  Pres- 
bytery, in  which  request  two  of  the  absent  members  have  expressed  their 
concurrence  in  writing,  and  that  it  is  believed  that  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Smith  would  have  been  unanimous,  had  the  Presbytery  formed  a  quorum; 
and  further,  that  the  committee  are  divided  upon  the  question,  whether, 
under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Smith  ought,  or  ought  not,  to  be  admitted 
to  a  seat.  It  was  moved  that  Mr.  Smith  be  admitted  to  a  seat.  After 
debate,  the  question  was  decided  in  the  negative." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  171. 

§  116.    The  rule  relaxed  in  favour  of  frontier  and  missionary  Preshyteries. 

(a)  ''The  Committee  on  Elections  reported  that  the  Rev.  James  W.  Moore 
had  been  nominated,  or  selected,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Arkansas,  at  their 
meeting  in  last  September,  but  that  the  Presbytery  had  been  prevented  by 
high  waters  from  meeting  since,  and  consequently  there  could  be  no  elec- 
tion. On  motion,  Mr.  Moore  was  admitted  to  a  seat." — Minutes,  1846, 
p.  197. 

(h)  [In  reply  to  a  protest  on  this  case,  the  Assembly  says] — "The  mem- 
ber admitted  to  a  seat  represents  a  body  occupying  the  remote  confines  of 
our  ecclesiastical  territory;  a  body  whose  delegates  must  travel  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles  to  reach  the  usual  place  of  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly;  a 
body  too  whose  meetings  are  liable  to  be  interrupted  by  insurmountable 
difiiculties;  and  in  whom  a  technical  irregularity,  occasioned  by  such  diffi- 
culties, may  justly  plead  exemption  from  a  rigorous  application  of  the  letter 
of  the  law.  To  exclude  from  a  participation  in  the  privileges  of  this  body 
one  who  had  surmounted  so  many  and  such  formidable  obstacles  to  reach 
our  place  of  meeting  because  of  an  informality  in  his  title,  which  does  not, 
as  this  Assembly  judges,  violate  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  would  be  to 
subject  a  zealous  and  self-denying  Minister  and  a  whole  Presbytery  to  a 
serious  grievance ;  and  to  discourage  the  zeal  of  those  who  of  all  others  most 
need  our  sympathy  and  fostering  care." — Minutes,  1846,  p.  215. 

(c)  "The  Rev.  Nash  Le  Grand,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Winchester,  appeared 
in  the  house,  and  a  motion  was  made  and  seconded  that  he  be  admitted  to 
a  seat  in  this  Assembly,  although  he  has  not  a  commission  to  produce.  Mr. 
Le  Grand  informed  that  he  has  lately  been  employed  on  a  mission  in  Ken- 
tucky. That  he  came  from  thence  directly  to  this  city  without  passing 
through  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyteiy  of  Winchester,  or  attending  the  ses- 
sions. But  as  the  Presbytery  knew  that  Mr.  Le  Grand  would  be  likely  to 
attend  this  Assembly  to  report  on  the  subject  of  his  mission,  he  thinks  they 
Would  appoint  him  as  a  Commissioner. 

"Mr.  Mines,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  stated  to  the  Assembly, 
that  from  a  conversation  he  had  with  a  member  of  the  Winchester  Presby- 
tery since  their  last  sessions,  he  was  led  to  believe  that  Mr.  Le  Grand  was 
commissioned  to  attend  this  Assembly  as  a  member." 

[He  was  admitted  to  a  seat.] — Minutes,  1805,  p.  320. 


272  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY :  [Book  IV. 

(d)  "A  reference  ta  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1844,  will 
show  that  the  Rev.  William  S.  Rogers,  a  Commissioner  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Lodiana,  in  Northern  India,  was  admitted  without  scruple  to  a  seat  in 
that  body,  though  it  is  evident  that  his  appointment  must  have  been  made 
beyond  the  limits  of  time  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  The  pecxiliar 
circumstances  of  the  case  no  doubt  influenced,  and  we  believe  authorized, 
that  Assembly  to  act  as  they  did  in  the  premises." — Minutes,  184G,  p.  214. 

(e)  "Mr.  Joseph  B.  Junkin,  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Presbytery  of  the  Creek 
Nation,  produces  such  evidence  that  it  is  the  desire  of  his  Presbytery  that 
he  should  represent  it  as  a  Commissioner  in  this  Assembly,  that,  considering 
the  remote  situation  of  the  Presbytery,  the  difficulty  of  its  position,  and  the 
whole  bearing  of  the  case,  Mr.  Junkin  may  be  safely  allowed  to  take  his 
seat,  without  the  Assembly  thereby  establishing  any  precedent  to  operate 
beyond  the  immediate  case.  The  committee  is  therefore  of  opinion,  that 
thouo-h  he  was  not  regularly  elected,  he  ought  to  be  allowed  to  take  his  seat 
as  a  member  of  the  body." — Minufes,  1853,  p.  426. 

(/)  [In  the  following  case  it  appeared  from  the  evidence  that  the  brethren  of  the  mis- 
sion designed  to  make  the  appointment.  No  communication,  however,  had  been  received 
from  them  since  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery.] 

''The  Rev.  J.  L.  Scott,  Missionary  in  Northern  India,  being  present  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Furrukhabad,  without  a  commission,  but  with  evidence  of 
having  been  duly  appointed,  was,  on  motion  of  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  from 
the  Committee  on  Elections,  admitted  to  a  seat,  and  regularly  enrolled." — 
Minutes,  1853,  p.  430. 

§  117.  Extraordinary  case. 

[At  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly] — "Mr.  Adam  Rankin,  a 
member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  appeared  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly and  acquainted  them  that  the  information  of  the  constitution  of  this 
body  did  not  arrive  time  enough  to  make  a  constitutional  appointment  of 
members  from  that  Presbytery;  and  some  of  his  brethren  having  recom- 
mended it  to  him  to  come  to  the  General  Assembly,  he  desires  to  be  admit- 
ted to  the  privileges  of  a  member. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly,  wishing  to  promote  the  union  of 
the  Churches  under  their  care,  do  admit  him  to  sit  as  a  member,  but  declare 
that  it  shall  not  be  drawn  into  a  precedent,  after  the  Constitution  of  this 
Church  shall  have  been  published,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  late  Synod 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia." — Minutes,  1789,  p.  5. 

[Upon  his  return,  Mr.  Rankin  was  challenged  by  his  co-Presbyters  as  to  the  title  by 
which  he  assumed  to  represent  them.  His  errand  seems  to  have  been  the  agitation  of 
the  Psalmody  question.     See  Book  IIL  §  218.] 

§  118.    Of  Principals  and  Alternates. 

(o)  "  The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  resolutions  of  the  Presbyteries 
of  Richland  and  Charleston  Union,  disapproving  the  practice  of  permitting 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  'at  various  stages  of  the  sessions  to  resiga 
their  seats  to  others  called  alternates,'  made  the  following  report : — 

"These  overtures  present  two  points  of  inquiry: — 1.  Whether  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Church,  according  to  a  fair  interpretation,  permits  the 
practice  complained  of  by  these  Presbyteries.  2.  If  this  practice  is  allowed 
by  the  Constitution,  whether  it  is  expedient  that  it  should  be  continued. 

(6)  "As  to  the  first  question;  the  only  authority  on  this  subject,  as  far 
as  appears  to  your  committee,  is  found  in  the  Form  of  Government,  Chapter 
xxii.  Section  1,  in  these  words — 'And  as  much  as  possible  to  prevent  all 
failure  in  the  representation  of  the  Presbyteries  arising  from  unforeseen 
accidents  to  those  first  appointed,  it  may  be  expedient  for  each  Presbytery, 


Part  VI.]  ITS   ORGANIZATION.  273 

in  the  room  of  each  Commissioner,  to  appoint  also  an  alternate  Commissioner 
to  supply  his  place  in  case  of  his  necessary  absence.' 

"The  first  remark  obviously  presenting  itself  here,  is,  that  the  language 
quoted,  so  far  from  making  the  appointment  of  alternates  necessary,  contains 
nothing  more  than  a  recommendation  of  the  measure,  expressed  in  very 
gentle  terms. 

(c)  "  In  the  next  place,  although  the  terms  of  the  article  may  be  so  inter- 
preted as  to  make  it  provide  for  the  necessary  absence  of  a  Commissioner  at 
any  time  during  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  yet  it  appears  most  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  was  to  pro- 
vide for  those  unforeseen  events  which  might  altogether  prevent  the  attend- 
ance of  the  primary  Commissioners.  For  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  wise 
men,  in  drawing  up  a  Constitution  for  a  Church  judicature  of  the  highest 
dignity,  whose  business  is  often  both  very  important  and  extremely  difficult, 
would  provide  for  a  change  in  the  members  of  the  court  after  it  should  be 
constituted,  and  become  deeply  engaged  in  the  transaction  of  weighty 
affiiirs,  and  the  investigation  of  perplexing  questions.  A  measure  of  this 
kind  is,  the  committee  believe,  without  example,  and  therefore  the  con- 
struction which  would  support  it  is  thought  to  be  erroneous. 

(d)  "If  in  this  case  the  committee  have  judged  correctly,  they  are  much 
more  confident  in  the  remarks  that  the  Constitution  does  not  justify  the 
practice,  now  very  common,  of  the  arrangements,  for  convenience  made 
by  the  primary  Commissioner,  and  his  alternate,  according  to  which,  the  one 
or  the  other,  as  the  case  may  be,  takes  his  seat  for  a  few  days  in  the  Assem- 
bly, resigns  it,  and  goes  to  his  secular  business. 

(e)  "But  secondly,  if  it  should  be  determined  that  the  Constitution  per- 
mits these  changes  in  some  instances,  the  committee  are  constrained  to 
believe  that  the  practice  is,  on  the  whole,  entirely  inexpedient.  Because  it 
creates  dissatisfaction  among  many  brethren,  as  well  those  who  have  com- 
plained of  it,  as  others  who  have  held  their  peace.  It  gives  an  invidious 
advantage  to  the  neighbouring  Presbyteries,  over  those  which  are  remote.  It 
may  be  the  occasion  of  a  number  of  abuses,  against  which  the  Assembly 
ought  to  guard;  but  which  the  committee  do  not  think  it  needful  to  specify. 
But  chiefly,  it  often  embarrasses  and  retards  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly, 
because  members  of  committees  resign  to  alternates,  before  the  committees  to 
which  they  belong  have  finished  their  business,  or  received  a  discharge  from 
the  house;  because  new  members  coming  into  the  Assembly  in  the  midst  oc 
business  often  cannot  possibly  understand  it  sufficiently  to  decide  on  it 
wisely ;  and  because  speeches  made  in  relation  to  matters  imperfectly  under- 
stood, often  shed  darkness,  and  throw  perplexity  on  them;  and  thus  very 
much  time  is  wasted  in  discussions  which  profit  nothing.  Finally,  the 
practice  is  thought  to  be  derogatory  to  the  dignity  and  usefulness  of  the 
General  Assembly.  For  these  reasons  the  committee  recommended  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  resolution : 

(/)  ^'Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution,  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xxii.  Sec.  1,  which 
allows  Commissioners,  after  holding  their  seats  for  a  time,  to  resign  them  to 
their  alternates,  or  which  allows  alternates  to  sit  for  a  while  and  then  resign 
their  places  to  their  principals,  is  erroneous;  that  the  practice  growing  out 
of  this  construction  is  inexpedient;  and  that  it  ought  to  be  discontinued." 
[Adopted.] — Minutes,  1827,  p.  123. 

^  (§■)  This  rule  relaxed  in  special  cases. 

"Rev.  Jacob  D.  Mitchell  informed  the  Assembly,  that,  as  the  alternate 
named  in  the  commission  from  West  Hanover,  his  principal.  Rev.  James 
35 


274  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY:  [Book  IV. 

Wliarey,  not  being  present,  he  had  at  the  commencement  of  the  Assembly, 
taken  his  seat  as  a  member,  and  that  Mr.  Wharey  had  now  arrived,  having 
been  detained  in  the  providence  of  God.  Mr.  Mitchell  moved  that  he  have 
leave  to  resign  his  seat  in  favour  of  Mr.  Wharey.  It  was  then  moved  and 
carried,  that  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  the  standing  rule 
be  dispensed  with,  and  that  Mr.  Wharey  be  admitted  a  member  in  the  place 
of  Mr.  Mitchell."— i/i/m^es,  1836,  p.  245;  1844,  p.  368;  1847,  p.  382; 
and  1850,  p.  459,  &c. 

Title  3. — Corresponding  Members. 
§  119.   Ministers  of  the  Preshyterlan  Church,  casnoll)/  2^'>'csent. 

"Upon  motion,  it  was  agreed.  That,  whereas  this  Assembly,  copying  the 
example  of  their  predecessors,  have  admitted  several  Ministers,  who  are  not 
Commissioners,  to  join  in  their  deliberations  and  conclusions,  but  not  to  vote 
on  any  question;  and  although  this  Assembly  has  been  much  indebted  to 
the  wise  counsels  and  friendly  assistance  of  these  corresponding  Ministers, 
nevertheless,  on  mature  deliberation,  it  was 

^^ Resolved,  As  the  opinion  of  this  house, 

"  1.  That  no  delegated  body  has  a  right  to  transfer  its  powers,  or  any  part 
thereof,  unless  express  provision  is  in  its  Constitution. 

"2.  That  this  Assembly  is  a  delegated  body,  and  no  such  provision  is  in 
its  Constitution. 

"3.  Although  such  admission  has  hitherto  produced  no  bad  conse- 
quences, it  may,  nevertheless,  at  some  future  day,  be  applied  to  party  pur- 
poses, and  cause  embarrassment  and  delay:  wherefore, 

'^Resolved,  4.  Lastly,  that  the  practice  of  this  Assembly,  in  this  case, 
ought  not  to  be  used  as  a  precedent  in  future." — 3Iinutes,  1791,  p.  42. 

§  120.   Delegates  from  other  Churches. 
[See  the  terms  of  correspondence  with  the  American  Churches  severally,  in  Book  VL] 

§  121.  Delegates  from  foreign  Churches. 

"The  Assembly  were  informed  that  the  Rev.  Andrew  Reed,  of  London, 
and  the  Rev.  James  Matheson,  of  Durham,  England,  had  been  appointed  by 
the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales,  as  delegates  to  this  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  and  were  present. 

^^ Resolved,  That  they  be  received  as  corresponding  members  of  this  body 
on  the  same  principles  as  members  from  other  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  cor- 
respondence with  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  7. 

"Rev.  George  Lewis,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dundee,  Scotland,  was  intro- 
duced to  the  Assembly  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  as  a  delegate  from  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  and,  on  motion,  the  following  minute  was  adopted,  viz. 

"Whereas,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  which  has  proven  herself  wor- 
thy to  be  the  successor  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  the  days  of  the  martyrs, 
has,  by  the  grace  of  God,  taken  so  signal  and  glorious  a  stand  in  favour  of 
Christ's  crown  and  covenant,  therefore, 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  do  unanimously  and  most  cordially  and 
joyfully  welcome  the  Rev.  George  Lewis,  of  the- Scottish  deputation,  to  the 
deliberations  of  our  body,  and  affectionately  invite  him  to  take  a  seat  among 
us  as  a  corresponding  member." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  353. 

"Dr.  Baird  having  informed  the  Assembly  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Revel, 
Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  the  Waldeuses,  would  be  present  next  week, 
it  was  * 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  made  the  first  order  of  the  day  for  Thursday  morn- 
ing next,  to  receive  him  and  hear  him." — Miimtes,  1853,  p.  430. 


Part  VI.]  ITS   ORGANIZATION.  275 

"The  first  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  viz.  the  introduction  to  this 
Assembly  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Revel,  Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  the  Waldenses; 
and  after  a  brief  address  by  him,  and  response  from  the  Moderator,  with 
mutual  salutations,  the  following  resolution  was,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Spring, 
unanimously  adopted,  viz. 

'^ Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  has  heard  with  deep  interest  the  state- 
ments of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Revel;  and  it  commends  him  to  the  cordial  sympa- 
thy and  confidence,  and  generous  aid  of  the  Churches." — Minutes,  1853, 
p.  439. 

§  122.  Distinguished  for eiff 71  Ministers. 

(a)  "  Resolved,  That  Mar  Yohanna,  a  Bishop  of  the  Nestorian  Christians, 
of  Ooroomiah  in  Persia,  now  on  a  visit  to  the  United  States,  and  at  present 
in  this  city,  be  invited  to  sit  with  the  Assembly;  that  a  seat  be  provided  for 
him  near  the  Moderator,  and  that  the  Moderator  invite  him  to  address  the 
Assembly  at  such  time  as  may  suit  his  convenience." — Minutes,  1842, 
p.  10. 

"  Mar  Yohanna,  a  Bishop  of  the  Nestorians,  appeared  in  the  Assembly,^ 
and  was  introduced  by  the  Moderator  to  the  house. 

"  On  motion  of  Dr.  Hodge,  the  Rev.  Justin  Perkins,  American  mission- 
ary to  Persia,  and  companion  to  Mar  Yohanna,  was  invited  to  sit  with  the 
Assembly. 

"  The  Bishop  Mar  Yohanna  then  addressed  the  Assembly,  in  Syriac, 
which  was  interpreted  by  Mr.  Perkins.  The  Bishop  expressed  his  gratifica- 
tion in  meeting  the  clergy  of  the  United  States,  and  in  beholding  the  edu- 
cation and  piety  by  which  they  were  characterized,  in  afi'ecting  contrast  with 
the  clergy  of  his  own  country.  Also  in  being  permitted  to  meet  with  this 
body  of  his  brethren  in  the  Christian  ministry,  and  in  the  hope  of  the  com- 
mon salvation,  and  in  being  recognized  by  this  Assembly  as  a  Christian  bro- 
ther. And  being  about  to  leave  the  city  immediately,  he  expressed  his 
thanks  for  the  courtesy  of  the  Assembly,  requested  their  prayers  for  himself 
and  for  his  countrymen,  and  took  leave  of  the  body." — Ibid.  p.  11. 

(h)  ''It  being  announced  to  the  Assembly,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baird,  that 
the  Rev.  James  Adamson,  D.  D.,  from  Capetown,  South  Africa,  and  Dr. 
Robert  Reid  Kalley,  the  persecuted  teacher  of  Protestant  Portuguese,  in  the 
island  of  Madeira,  were  present,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  they  be  introduced  to  this  body  by  the  Moderator,  and 
invited  to  sit  in  the  Assembly,  with  the  privilege  of  addressing  the  house, 
and  exchanging  salutations. 

'<  These  brethren  accordingly  appeared,  and  briefly  addressed  the  Assem- 
bly."—J/mu^es,  1853,  p.  480. 

§  123.  An  aged  and  eminent  servant  of  the  Church. 

(a)  [«  When  the  General  Assembly  eat  in  Philadelphia  in  1846,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel 
Green,  then  in  his  84th  year,  desiring  once  more  to  witness  the  deliberations  of  the  body,  with- 
out making  his  intentions  known,  had  himself  borne  to  the  house.  As  he  passed  down  the 
aisle,  his  presence  being  announced  by  the  Moderator,  the  Assembly  rose  and  remained 
standing  until  he  was  conducted  to  a  seat.  After  remaining  a  short  time,  and  having  been 
addressed  by  the  Moderator  in  a  brief  salutation,  to  which  he  in  a  few  words  responded,  he 
withdrew;  himself  deeply  moved,  and  the  house  standing,  and  bathed  in  tears.  Of  this 
interesting  scene  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  have  no  trace  !"] — Life  of  Dr.  Green,  p.  490, 
and  papers  of  the  day. 

(6)   Memorial  to  Dr.  Green. 

[In  connection  with  the  above  we  give  the  action  of  the  Assembly  upon  occasion  of 
the  decease  of  this  venerable  servant  of  Christ  and  the  Church.] 


276  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY:  [Book  IV. 

(rt)  "  The  Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler  rose,  and  announced  the  receipt  of  a  letter 
comuaunicating  the  decease  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  at  six  o'clock 
this  morning,  and  after  some  remarks  upon  his  life  and  labours,  ofiered  the 
following  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted. 

"■  Rcs(jlve(l,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  suitable 
minute  in  regard  to  the  death  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Green,  whose  decease  this 
morning  has  just  been  announced  to  this  Assembly. 

''  Resolved  further,  That  upon  the  appointment  of  said  committee,  the 
Assembly  do  immediately  adjourn. 

''The  Moderator  announced  as  that  committee.  Dr.  Cuyler,  Dr.  Krebs, 
Rev.  James  W.  Stewart,  and  Messrs.  Hepburn  and  Banks. 

"  And  the  Assembly  adjourned.  Concluded  with  prayer." — Minutes, 
1848,  p.  15. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  a  minute  on  the  death  of  Dr. 
Green,  presented  a  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  decease  of  the  Rev.  Ashbel  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  at  Philadelphia, 
at  6  o'clock,  on  Friday  morning,  the  19th  of  May,  having  been  announced 
to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  it  was  ordered,  that  the  following  record  be  entered  on  their 
minutes,  as  expressive  of  their  high  esteem  for  his  character,  and  of  their 
gratitude  to  God  for  his  long-continued  and  eminently  useful  life,  the  greater 
part  of  which  has  been  spent  to  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  service  of  our 
beloved  Church. 

"  Dr.  Green  was  born  at  Hanover,  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  on  the 
6th  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1762;  so  that  he  died  far  advanced 
in  his  eighty-sixth  year.  He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  the 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  place.  Of  the  events  of  his  early 
life,  we  know  little.  He  probably  received  the  rudiments  of  his  education 
from  his  father;  and  while  it  was  in  progress,  he  was,  for  a  short  time, 
actively  engaged  in  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution.  He  completed 
his  literary  course  at  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey,  dui'ing  the  presidency 
of  the  late  Dr.  Witherspoon.  Not  long  afterwards,  he  became  successively 
a  tutor  and  professor  in  the  same  institution.  From  this  field  of  usefulness, 
he  was  called,  in  the  winter  of  1787,  to  the  pastoral  office  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  Philadelphia,  as  a  colleague  to  the  late  Rev.  James 
Sproat,  D.D.,  whom  he  succeeded,  as  sole  Pastor,  upon  his  demise  in  the  fall 
of  1793.  His  ordination  took  place  in  the  month  of  May,  1787.  In  this  rela- 
tion he  continued  till  he  was  called  to  the  Presidency  of  the  same  College, 
in  the  autumn  of  the  year  1812.  This  call  he  accepted,  and  he  continued 
to  discharge  the  important  duties  of  that  office  till  he  resigned  it  in  the  year 
1822.  He  then  returned  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  resided  till  the  time  of 
his  death. 

"While  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  held  its  sessions  in  Philadel- 
phia, Dr.  Green  and  the  late  Bishop  White,  of  Pennsylvania,  officiated  as 
its  chaplains. 

"Dr.  Green  was  for  many  years  before  his  death,  the  only  surviving 
member  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyte- 
riah  Church  in  the  United  States.  Ardently  attached  to  the  doctrine  and 
order  of  this  (Jhurch,  he  not  only  firmly  maintained  her  cause  in  trying 
times — and  always  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master — but  had  the  happiness  of 
assisting  until  his  death,  and  of  witnessing  the  successful  operation  of  the 
institutions  of  this  Church,  in  whose  inception  he  so  largely  participated,  and 
the  strength  of  her  Constitution  to  conduct  and  sustain  her  efficiently  and 
triumphantly  through  the  various  important  crises  which  have  distinguished 


Part  VI.]  ITS   ORGANIZATION.  277 

her  career.  He  was,  also,  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly, 
having  been  for  many  years  before  his  death  the  only  surviving  member  of 
the  Board  named  in  the  charter,  and  continuing  to  fulfil  the  office  until  his 
death. 

"His  time,  after  returning  to  reside  in  Philadelphia,  was  principally 
occupied  in  editing  the  Christian  Advocate,  which  was,  for  several  years, 
the  leading  exponent  of  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Among  its  contents  we  find  the  first  imprint  of  his  '  Lectures  on  the  Shorter 
Catechism,'  since  published  in  two  duodecimo  volumes,  by  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication — a  work  by  which  he  may  be  fairly  judged  as  a  practi- 
cal writer  and  an  accomplished  theologian.  After  he  discontinued  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Christian  Advocate,  he  occupied  himself  for  some  time,  very 
laboriously,  in  preparing  the  works  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  for  the  press,  toge- 
ther with  an  extended  memoir  of  his  life  and  review  of  his  works,  neither 
of  which  has  yet  been  published.  He  has,  also,  spent  much  time  in  revis- 
ing his  diary.  These  literary  labours  will  constitute  a  valuable  legacy  to 
the  Church  he  loved  and  served  so  well. 

"After  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  he  never  had  a  pastoral  charge, 
although  he  frequently  preached,  and  at  one  time  statedly,  in  the  First 
African  Church,  Philadelphia,  for  a  year  or  two. 

"  He  was,  to  a  very  late  period  of  his  life,  a  diligent  and  successful 
student.  He  also  read  much  for  his  own  edification.  Among  other  devo- 
tional reading,  he  was  wont  to  read  a  chapter  in  the  Greek  Testament  in 
connection  with  Scott's  practical  remarks,  every  day.  His  habits  were  emi- 
nently devotional.  He  spent  hours  daily  in  secret  prayer  and  communion 
with  God,  in  which  he  delighted,  and  to  be  deprived  of  the  opportunity  of 
which,  evidently  gave  him  pain. 

"His  decline  was  very  gradual,  and  he  suffered  but  little  pain  of  body. 
Generally  speaking,  he  enjoyed  a  calm  and  comfortable  frame  of  spirit, 
although  he  was  not  permitted  to  pass  away  without  enduring  some  of  the 
fiery  darts  of  the  adversary.  Generally,  however,  he  could  appropriate  the 
divine  promises,  and  enjoy  the  grace  they  contain,  and  find  delight  in  prayer 
and  praise.  Being  asked  a  few  days  before  his  departure,  how  the  prospect 
before  him  appeared,  'Glorious,'  was  his  prompt  reply.  Thus  has  he  lived, 
honoured  and  useful,  and  died  in  Christian  comfort,  sleeping  in  Jesus. 
May  his  death  be  blessed  to  the  Church  which  he  loved. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  aifectionately  sympathize  with 
his  bereaved  family,  and  that  the  Stated  Clerk  transmit  an  attested  copy  of 
this  minute  to  them." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  22. 

§  124.   Agents  of  henevolent  societies. 

"The  Bev.  Joshua  Leavitt,  Secretary  of  the  American  Seamen's  Friend 
Society,  by  permission  addressed  the  Assembly  on  the  objects  of  that  socie- 
ty.    Whereupon  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  rejoice  in  the  prosperous  efforts  of  the 
American  Seamen's  Friend  Society.'' — Ifinutes,  1829,  p.  385. 

Title  4. — Officers  op  the  Assembly. 
§  125.    Their  travelling  expenses  paid. 

'^Resolved,  That  the  officers  of  the  General  Assembly,  whose  attendance 
is  necessary,  and  who  shall  not  have  been  appointed  Commissioners  to  the 
Assembly,  shall  have  their  travelling  expenses  paid  out  of  the  contingent 
fund."— 3Iimites,  1843,  p.  184;  and  1834,  p.  40. 


278  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY:  [Book  IV. 

§  126.    Who  shall  open  the  Assemhly,  the  Moderator  being  absent? 

"Whereas,  there  exists  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  person  to 
open  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  case  the  Moderator  of  the 
Assembly  immediately  preceding  be  not  present;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  deliberate  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly, 
that  by  the  Constitution  of  oui-  Church  no  person  is  authorized  to  open  the 
sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  to  preside  at  the  opening  of  said  ses- 
sions, except  the  Moderator  of  the  Assembly  immediately  preceding,  or  in 
case  of  his  absence,  a  Commissioner  to  the  Assembly,  selected  for  the  pur- 
pose by  the  other  Commissioners,  met  at  the  time  and  place  fixed  for  said 
meeting," — Minutes,  1843,  p.  194. 

§  127.  Election  of  Moderator. 

(a)  [Tn  the  General  Synod  it  was  the  practice  for  a  short  time,  that  the  retiring 
Moderator,  after  the  Scottish  precedent,  proposed  two  or  three  names  from  which  the 
Synod  selected  a  Moderator.  See  Minutes,  1718,  p.  50;  1719,  p.  55.  This  practice, 
however,  soon  fell  into  disuse,  and  the  election  has  ever  since  been  upon  open  nomina- 
tions and  vote  by  calling  the  roll.] 

(i)  "On  motion,  agreed,  that  it  be  the  standing  rule  of  the  General 
Assembly,  in  choosing  a  Moderator,  that  any  Commissioner  may  nominate  a 
candidate  for  the  chair.  The  candidates  so  pointed  out  shall  then  severally 
give  their  votes  for  some  one  of  their  number,  and  withdraw;  when  the 
remaining  Commissioners  shall  proceed  viva  voce,  to  choose  by  a  plurality  of 
voices  one  of  the  said  candidates  for  Moderator." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  39. 

(c)  "Resolved,  That  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given  for  Moderator  be 
necessary  for  a  choice." — Minutes,  1846,  p.  189. 

[Since  1851,  inclusive,  this  rule  has  been  adopted  at  each  annual  election  to  the  pre- 
sent time.] 

§  128.  Installing  of  the  Moderator. 

"When  a  new  Moderator  hath  been  elected,  before  he  take  the  chair,  the 
former  Moderator  shall  address  him  and  the  house,  in  the  following  or  like 
manner,  viz. 

"  Sir — It  is  my  duty  to  inform  you  and  announce  to  this  house  that  you 

are  duly  elected  to  the  office  of  Moderator  in  this  General  Assembly.     For 

your  direction  in  office,  and  for  the  direction  of  this  Assembly  in  all  their 

deliberations,  before  I  leave  this  seat,  I  am  to  read  to  you  and  this  house 

the  Rules  contained  in  the  records  of  this  Assembly,  which  I  doubt  not  will 

be  carefully  observed  by  both,  in  conducting  the  business  that  may  come 

before  you." 

******** 

"  Having  now  read  these  rules,  according  to  order,  for  your  instruction  as 
Moderator  and  for  the  direction  of  all  the  members,  in  the  management  of 
business,  praying  that  Almighty  God  may  direct  and  bless  all  the  delibera- 
tions of  this  General  Assembly,  for  the  glory  of  his  name  and  for  the  edifi- 
cation and  comfort  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  I  resign 
my  place  and  office  as  Moderator." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  34,  and  1822,  pp. 
15,  16. 

[Instead  of  reading  the  rules,  it  is  usual  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Moderator  and  the 
house  specially  to  them,  making  a  correspondent  change  in  the  above  form.] 

§  129.  Duties  of  the  Moderator, 
(a)  Maintenance  of  order. 
"I.   The  Moderator  shall  take  the  chair  at  the  hour  at  which  the  Assem- 
bly stands  adjourned:  shall  immediately  call  the  members  to  order;  and  on 


Part  VI.]  ITS   OKQANIZATION.  279 

the  appearance  of  a  quorum,  shall  open  the  session  with  prayer;  and  cause 
the  minutes  of  the  preceding  session  to  be  read;  and  on  every  adjournment 
shall  conclude  with  prayer. 

^'11.  The  Moderator  may  speak  to  points  of  order,  in  preference  to  other 
members,  rising  from  his  seat  for  that  purpose;  and  shall  decide  questions 
of  order,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the  house,  by  any  two  members." — Minutes, 
1789,  p.  7. 

(i)  "  Every  year  after  the  Synod  is  met  and  a  new  Moderator  chosen, 
the  former  Moderator,  before  he  leave  the  chair,  shall  remind  his  successor, 
that  agreeably  to  the  character  he  is  now  chosen  to  sustain,  he  is  not  to 
leave  his  chair  nor  speak  in  any  affair  debated,  unless  allowed  by  the  Synod, 
but  is  only  to  be  a  public  person  to  whom  all  shall  speak,  and  the  common 
mouth  of  the  Synod,  and  is  to  see  that  becoming  order  be  maintained  by  all 
the  members." — Minutes,  1760,  p.  304.  * 

(t)  Appointment  of  the  Standing  Committees, 
[The  Committee  of  Elections ;  of  Bills  and  Overtures ;  Judicial ;  on  the  Narrative ;  on 
Devotional  Exercises;  on  Systematic  Benevolence;  on  Domestic  Missions;  on  Foreign 
Missions ;  on  Education  ;  on  Publication  ;  on  Theological  Seminaries ;  on  Foreign  Cor- 
respondence; to  nominate  Delegates ;  on  Leave  of  Absence;  on  Finance;  on  Mileage ; 
and  on  the  Synodical  Records.] 

§  130.    The  Moderator  has  no  other  than  the  casting  vote. 

"  On  the  question  being  taken,  the  Moderator  claimed  a  right  to  vote  as 
a  Commissioner  from  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  distinct  from  the  casting  vote. 
He  left  it  to  the  house  to  decide  on  the  claim.  The  house,  having  taken  a 
vote  on  the  subject,  decided  by  a  great  majority  against  the  Moderator's 
claim." — Minutes,  1798,  p.  140. 

§  131.  Communications  addressed  to  the  Moderator. 
"  Resolved,  That  every  letter  or  communication  addressed  to  the  Mode- 
rator, be  opened  and  read  by  him,  and  at  his  discretion,  be  either  communi- 
cated to  the  Assembly  for  their  decision,  or  to  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 
to  be  by  them  brought  before  the  house  in  the  ordinary  channel." — Minutes, 
1794,  p.  79. 

§  132.    The  Stated  Clerh. 
(a)  List  of  Stated  Clerks. 
A.  D.  1788  *  Rev.  George  Duffield,  D.  D. 

1790*  Rev,  Ashbel  Green,  D.D.,LL.D. 
1803,     Rev.  Philip  Milledoler,  D.  D. 
1806,*  Rev.  Nathaniel  Irwin. 
1807,     Rev.  Jacob  Jones  Janeway,  D.  D. 
1817,     Rev.  William  Neill,  D.  U. 
1825,     Rev.  Ezra  Styles  Ely,  D.  D. 
1 836,     Rev.  John  McDowell,  D.  D. 
1840,     Rev.  William  M.  Engles,  D.  D. 
1846,     Rev.  Willis  Lord,  D.  D. 
1850,     Rev.  John  Ley  burn,  D.  D. 

(6)  Duties  of  the  Stated  Clerk. 
"  The  Stated  Clerk  shall  transcribe  for  the  press  such  parts  as  may  be 
necessary,  of  the  minutes  ordered  to  be  published  from  year  to  year.  He 
shall  correct  the  press,  aud  superintend  the  printing  of  all  the  minutes  and 
papers  which  shall  be  ordered  to  be  printed  by  the  General  Assembly.  As 
soon  as  the  extracts  are  printed  from  year  to  year,  he  shall  send  one  copy  by 
mail  to  each  Presbytery,  and  apportion  and  send  the  rest  by  private  convey- 
ance to  the  Presbyteries  and  other  bodies,  as  shall  be  prescribed   by  the 

♦  Deceased. 


280  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 

Assembly,  only  reserving  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  for  binding.  He  shall 
have  the  charge  of  all  the  books  and  papers  of  the  General  Assembly;  shall 
cause  their  minutes  to  be  fairly  ti'anscribed  into  the  book  or  books  provided 
for  the  purpose,  and  give  attested  copies  of  all  minutes,  and  other  documents, 
when  properly  required  so  to  do." — Minutes^,   1807,  p.  377. 

"Eeso/oed,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  be,  and  he  is  hereby  charged  with  the 
business  of  pi-eparing  a  book,  to  be  called  a  book  of  rules,  and  of  having 
entered  therein  those  rules  of  the  former  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, which  were  sanctioned  by  the  General  Assembly,  A.  D.  1789,  and  then 
all  those  acts  and  decisions  of  the  General  Assembly  from  1789  to  the  pre- 
sent year,  which  relate  either  to  the  government  of  the  Assembly  in  its  pro- 
ceedings, or  the  government  of  the  Church  at  large ;  marking,  in  a  column 
prepared  for  that  purpose,  the  page  of  the  records  where  such  a  rale  or 
decision  may  be  found.  And  it  shall  further  be  the  duty  of  the  Stated 
Clerk,  to  mark  with  a  pencil  such  decisions  of  the  Assembly  as  relate  to  the 
general  government  or  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  the  duties  of  judica- 
tures, that  such  decisions  may  hereafter  be  selected  and  printed  for  the  gen- 
eral use  of  the  ChurcheS;  if  a  future  Assembly  shall  so  order." — Minutes, 
1809,  p.  424. 

"Hesohed,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  now  chosen  be  directed  to  receive  from 
Dr.  Green,  the  late  Stated  Clerk,  all  books  and  papers  committed  to  his  care 
by  the  General  Assembly,  or  by  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia ;  that  the  present  Stated  Clerk  give  a  receipt  for  the  books  and  papers 
he  shall  receive  as  aforesaid,  and  lodge  a  duplicate  thereof  with  the  Treas- 
urer of  the  Corporation." — Mlnuh-s,  1803,  p.  277. 

^^  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  do  not  deliver  any  records  or  papers  in 
his  possession  to  any  person,  unless  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
then  that  he  always  take  a  receipt  for  the  same." — 3Iinutes,  1802,  p.  237. 
(c)  Salary  of  the  Staled  Clerk. 

"Resolved,  That  the  salary  of  the  Stated  Clerk  be  hereafter  one  hundred 
dollars  per  annum,  exclusive  of  the  expense  of  having  the  minutes  tran- 
scribed."— Minutes,  1887,  p.  467. 

§  133.    The  Permanent  Clerk. 
(a)  List  of  Permanent  Clerks. 
A.  D.  1802,*  Rev.  Nathaniel  Irwin.  A.  D.  1837,  Rev.  John  M.  Krebs,  D.D. 

1807,*  Rev.  John  Ewing  Latta.  1845,  Rev.  Robert  Davidson,  D.  D. 

1825,    Rev.  John  McDowell,  D.  D.  1850,  Rev.  Alexander  T.  McGill,D.D. 

(6)  First  appointment  and  duties. 

"Whereas,  the  business  of  former  Assemblies  has  been  impeded  by  the 
want  of  a  Recording  Clerk,  possessing  that  facility  in  the  business  which  is 
acquired  by  experience;  and  whereas,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  any  one 
person  should  perform  this  service  permanently  without  receiving  an  ade- 
quate compensation  for  his  labour;  and  whereas,  this  Assembly  are  persua- 
ded that  future  Assemblies  will  see  the  reasonableness  of  the  measure  now 
contemplated,  and  co-operate  on  their  part  in  giving  it  effect; 

"  Resolved,  That  a  permanent  llecording  Clerk  be  chosen,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be,  from  year  to  year,  to  draught  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  during 
their  sessions,  and  afterwards  to  perform  such  services  respecting  the  tran- 
scribing, printing,  and  distributing  the  extracts,  as  shall  be  assigned  to  him 
from  time  to  time;  and  that  he  be  paid  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Assembly 
three  dollars  per  day  for  the  time  he  shall  be  employed,  as  well  during 
the  sessions  of  the  Assemblies  as  after  their  dissolution." — Minutes,  1802, 
p.  285. 

*  Deceased. 


Part  VI.]  THE   MINUTES.  281 

"The  Permanent  Clerk  shall  furnish  all  the  stationery  for  the  use  of  the 
Assembly,  and  the  several  clerks.  He  shall  make  the  original  draught  of 
all  the  minutes,  and  give  certified  copies,  as  occasion  may  require,  of  all 
such  as  may  be  proper  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Trastees  of  the  General 
Assembly,  or  any  of  their  officers.  After  the  Assembly  rises,  from  year  to 
year,  he  shall  carefully  revise  the  manuscript,  render  it  correct  and  legible, 
and  deliver  it  over  to  the  Stated  Clerk.  He  shall  receive  a  reasonable  com- 
pensation for  the  stationeiy  supplied  by  him,  and  the  pay,  (per  diem,)  fixed 
by  the  last  Assembly j"  [that  is]  "two  dollars  per  day,  during  the  sessions 
of  the  Assembly,  and  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day,  while  necessarily 
attending  upon  the  business  of  the  Assembly  after  their  adjournment." — 
Qiinutes,  1806,  p.  372.)— J/t/mtes,  1807,  p.  377. 

(c)   Printing  the  Roll. 

^'Resolved,  That  it  be  a  standing  rule  of  this  body,  that  the  Permanent 
Clerk  annually  cause  to  be  printed  a  number  of  copies  of  the  roll,  not 
exceeding  500,  for  the  use  of  the  members,  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the 
appointment  of  the  Standing  Committees." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  283^. 
(d)   Permanent  Clerk^s  salary. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Permanent  Clerk  be  allowed  for  his  services  during 
the  sessions  of  the  present  Assembly,  and  hereafter,  three  dollars  per  day." 
— Minutes,  1826,  p.  37. 

§  134.    The  Temiwrary  Clerk. 

^^  Resolved,  also.  That  a  Temporary  Clerk  be  chosen  by  each  Assembly,  as 
heretofore,  to  read  the  minutes  and  communications  to  the  Assembly,  and 
otherwise  aid  the  Permanent  Clerk  as  occasion  may  require;  and  that  he  be 
paid  one  dollar  per  day  for  his  services." — Minutes,  1802,  p.  235. 

"The  Temporary  Clerk  shall,  hereafter,  receive  no  pecuniary  compensa- 
tion for  his  services." — Minutes,  1806,  p.  372. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  MINUTES. 


§  135.    The  Records  of  the  original  Synod,  helong  to  the  Assembly. 

"A  letter  was  received  and  read  from  Mr.  Harrison  Hall,  in  which  he 
stated  that  he  had  in  his  possession  a  book  which  appeared  to  be  the 
original  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  from  A.  D. 
1727  to  A.  D.  1744.  This  letter  was  committed  to  Dr.  Green,  Mr.  Squier, 
and  Mr.  W.  Anderson.     [Their  report  was  adopted  as  follows.] 

"That  till  the  year  1788,  when  the  present  Constitution  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  was  founded,  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  was 
the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  this  Church;  and  your  committee  are  clearly  of 
opinion,  that  all  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  this  Church  from 
its  origin  to  the  present  time,  ought  now  to  be  considered  as  the  property  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  subject  to  their  order;  and  that  the  records  of 
all  subordinate  judicatories,  both  before  and  since  the  formation  of  the 
General  Assembly,  ought  to  be  considered  as  the  property  of  such  subordi- 
nate judicatories,  although  loaned  for  a  time,  agreeably  to  a  recommendation 
of  the  Assembly,  to  a  committee  appointed  to  write  the  history  of  the  Pres- 
36 


282  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 

byterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  In  conformity  with  the  principle 
above  stated,  your  committee  recommend  that  the  book  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Hall  be  delivered  to  the  Stated  Clerk,  to  be  by  him  loaned  to  the  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Assembly  in  1825,  to  receive  documents  and  annals, 
relative  to  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  be  considered  as  the 
property  of  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  173. 

§  136.  Printing  of  the  old  Minutes. 

(a)  "  The  Stated  Clerk  made  a  report  on  the  subject  of  printing  the  min- 
utes of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country  from  its  commencement, 
which  was  accepted;  whereupon  it  was 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  be  authorized  to  furnish  the  original 
minutes  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  from  its  commencement,  to  any  pub- 
lisher with  whom  he  may  contract,  for  the  purpose  of  printing,  if  in  the 
judgment  of  the  said  Clerk  proper  care  be  taken  of  them." — Minutes,  1839, 

(b)  '[  The  Stated  Clerk  made  a  report  in  relation  to  the  publication  of  all 
the  minutes  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  whereupon  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  be  continued  as  a  committee  on  the 
publication  of  all  the  minutes  of  the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  from  its  origin  in  the  United  States ;  and  that  he  have  the  same 
published  as  speedily  as  possible,  provided  it  can  be  done  without  involving 
the  funds  of  the  Assembly  in  any  expense;  and  provided  also,  that  the 
Stated  Clerk  first  oifer  the  publication  aforesaid  to  the  Board  of  Publication, 
to  be  published  by  said  Board,  or  declined,  as  to  them  may  seem  expedient.'* 
— Minutes,  1840,  p.  285. 

(c)  "  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the  Stated 
Clerk  on  the  publication  of  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  reported  a  minute  which  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. 

"  This  Assembly  learns  with  great  pleasure  that  the  Board  of  Publication 
have  issued  a  volume  containing  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia — and  which  thus  forms  a  documentary 
history  of  the  Presbytei'ian  Church  in  these  United  States,  from  its  origin  in 
170(3  to  the  formation  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1788.  These  records 
which  have  never  before  been  published — which  were  in  danger  of  being 
lost — and  which  were  inaccessible  to  the  Church  at  large,  are  now  offered  to 
all  in  a  neat  octavo  volume  of  548  pages,  and  at  a  vei-y  low  price.  And  as 
the  entire  expense  of  this  publication  has  been  incurred  by  the  Board,  and 
the  continuance  of  the  work,  by  the  republication  of  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  from  its  organization  until  the  present  time,  depends  upon 
the  support  given  to  the  present  undertaking — this  Assembly  would  enjoin 
it  upon  all  Synods  and  Presbyteries  to  take  such  order  as  may  be  most  effi- 
cient in  secm-ing  the  sale  of  the  present  volume,  and  the  complete  publica- 
tion of  the  documentary  annals  of  our  Church. 

"  Resolved  further,  That  a  copy  of  the  present  volume,  (six  copies  having 
been  presented  to  the  Assembly,)  be  sent  in  the  name  of  this  body  to  each 
of  those  foreign  ecclesiastical  bodies  with  which  it  is  in  correspondence." — 
Minutes,  1841,  p.  420. 

§  137.  Rejirintiny  of  the  complete  Minutes  from  1789. 

'^Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  of  Publication,  if  funds 
can  be  provided  for  the  purpose,  to  print  an  edition  of  all  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  from  the  origin  of  the  body,  including  a  summary  of  the 


Part  VI.]  THE   MINUTES.  283 

statistical  tables,  to  which  shall  be  appended  a  copious  index,  which  shall 
serve  as  a  Digest  of  the  Acts  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  197. 

[After  several  years'  delay,  for  want  of  encouragement,  the  Board  under  these  instruc. 
tions  issued  in  1847  a  volume  comprehending  the  Minutes  from  A.  D.  1789  to  A.  D. 
ISCO,  inclusive,  thus  rendering  complete  the  published  minutes  from  1706  to  the  present 
time,] 

§  138.    The  annual  Minutes  to  he  printed  in  exteuso. 

(a)  Until  1821,  there  was  only  an  annual  abstract  of  the  Minutes  published  ;  it 
was  then] 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  committee  for  printing  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly 
be  instructed  to  publish  the  whole  of  the  minutes  without  any  omission, 
except  so  much  as  shall  be  restricted  by  a  vote  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes, 
1821,  p.  6. 

(h)  "The  committee  appointed  to  examine  into  a  supposed  discrepancy 
between  the  printed  and  manuscript  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of 

1837,  made  a  report,  which  was  read,  accepted,  amended,  and  adopted,  and 
is  as  follows,  viz. 

*'  The  committee  have  collated  the  original  records  as  they  were  made  by 
the  Permanent  Clerk,  approved  of  by  the  Assembly,  and  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  Committee  of  Revision,  with  the  printed  minutes,  and  find  the  follow- 
ing omission  in  the  latter,  viz. 

''  A  resolution  offered  by  Mr.  Ewing,  to  appoint  a  committee  to  confer  with 
the  officers  of  the  Assembly,  who  compose  the  Committee  of  Commissions, 
to  procure  from  them  a  pledge  to  carry  out  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in 
their  official  character  to  its  full  accomplishment;  which  resolution  wag 
subsequently  withdrawn,  upon  satisfactory  statements  before  the  Assembly, 
on  the  part  of  said  officers,  of  their  intention  to  do  as  the  Assembly  should 
direct  them,  which  were  also  omitted  in  the  printed  minutes. 

"  Your  committee  impute  no  blame  to  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  to  revise  and  prepare  the  minutes  for  publication,  on  account  of 
this  omission,  although  they  are  of  opinion  that  it  would  have  been  better  to 
have  published  the  entire  record.  To  prevent  future  mistakes  in  this  mat- 
ter, yuur  committee  would  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolution,  viz. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Assembly  be  published  in  all  respects 
substantially  as  they  are  approved  by  that  body,  when  submitted  by  the  Per- 
manent Clerk,  and  that  in  no  case  shall  any  erasure  be  made  in  the  manu- 
script records,  except  by  the  express  order  of  the  Assembly  itself. 

"Your  committee  would  further  recommend  that  the  minutes  be  read  and 
carefully  corrected  at  the  opening  of  each  session  of  the  Assembly,  and  that 
no  subsequent  revision  or  alteration  be  permitted,  except  by  vote  of  the  As- 
sembly. Also,  that  the  Stated  Clerk  be  directed  to  record,  on  the  transcribed 
minutes  at  their  proper  place,  on  interleaved  blank  pages,  the  whole  of  the 
omitted  minutes  alluded  to  in  this  report." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  15. 

§  139.  Arraiujement  of  the  roll. 

"  Ordered,  That  hereafter,  in  transcribing  for  record,  and  in  printing  the 
minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  names  of  all  the  Commissioners 
recognized  during  the  whole  sessions  be  inserted,  for  the  sake  of  conveni- 
ence, opposite  to  their  respective  Presbyteries,  in  the  roll  reported  by  the 
Committee  of  Commissions;  and  that  to  the  names  of  Commissioners  reported 
and  enrolled  subsequently  to  the  presentation  of  the  report  of  the  committee 
upon  which  the  hoiise  is  organized,  figures  be  prefixed  to  designate  the  day 
on  which  such  Commissioners  were  enrolled  and  took  their  seats." — Mimitcs, 

1838,  p.  25. 


284  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 

§  140.   Arravgrincnt  of  the  tahles,  &c. 
(fl)    Jilphubetical  list  of  Ministers. 
"Rcsiohw^,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  append  to  the  published  minutes  of  the 
Assembly  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  Ministers  belonging  to  the  Assembly, 
with  their  post  offices  annexed." 

'*  And  it  was  ordered  further  that  the  Stated  Clerk  be  authorized  to  employ 
such  aid  as  he  may  need  in  making  out  the  Minutes,  and  that  the  expense 
be  defrayed  from  the  Contingent  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly." — 3Ii)i- 
utes,  1854,  p.  29. 

(b)  Synods  to  he  in  chronological  order. 
^'Resolved,  That  in  the  statistics  appended  to  the  minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly,  after  the  present  year,  the  Synods  be  enrolled  in  the  chronological 
oi'der  of  their  constitution." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  46. 

§  141.  No  Pre&bytery  to  he  enrolled  until  officially  recognized. 

"The  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures,  to  whom  was  referred  the  report 
of  the  Stated  Clerk,  in  regard  to  the  Indian  Presbytery,  made  the  following 
report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"That  they  have  found  on  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  that 
they  have  given  directions  for  the  organization  of  said  Presbytery  in  April 
last;  but  they  have  no  information  of  the  actual  organization  of  said  Presby- 
tery. They  therefore  conclude  that  it  would,  in  these  circumstances,  be  im- 
proper to  insert  the  name  of  this  Presbytery  in  the  list  of  Presbyteries;  and 
that  no  Presbytery  should  be  recognized  as  forming  a  constituent  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  until  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  received  due 
information  of  its  actual  organization,  agreeably  to  constitutional  rule." — 
Minutes,  1841,  p.  436. 

§  142.  An  index  to  he  made. 
'^Resolved,  That  hereafter  the   Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  be 
directed  to  constract  and  have  printed  and  bound  in  the  latter  part  of  each 
volume  of  the  Minutes,  a  copious  alphabetical   index." — Minutes,  1845, 
p.  20. 

§  143.    The  Minutes,  to  tohom  sent. 

(a)   [See  below  Book  V.  §  306.] 

(6)  ^'■Resolved,  That  it  be  a  standing  rule  of  this  body  that  the  Stated 
Clerk  shall  annually  forward  eight  copies  each  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  of  the  annual  reports  of  the  several  Boards  of  the  General 
Assembly,  to  each  of  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  with  which  the  Assembly  is  in 
correspondence." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  284. 

§  144.    Their  preservation. 

(ci)  "Resolved,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  provide  a  copy  of  the  printed  extracts 
of  the  late  Synod's  and  of  the  Assembly's  votes  and  proceedings,  each  year 
from  the  year  1797,  and  that  he  preserve  them  for  the  use  of  the  Assembly; 
that  he  regularly  add  to  them  such  as  may  be  printed  in  future ;  that  care  be 
taken  to  have  them  printed  on  paper  of  the  same  size  with  those  already 
published,  and  that  he  prepare  an  accurate  index  to  these  printed  extracts, 
and  to  the  written  records  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  82. 

{li)  "That  the  recommendations  and  regulations  that  are  from  year  to 
year  made  and  published  by  the  General  Assembly  may  always  be  known 
and  be  present  in  the  judicatories  of  the  Church  for  their  direction  and  gov- 
ernment, that  it  be  required  that  each  Presbytery,  Synod,  and  the  General 
Assembly  for  ever  preserve  one  copy  of  the  extracts  or  journals  that  are 
yearly  published,  for  its  own  use ;  that  it  shall  be  indexed,  and  stitched  or 


Part  YL]  committees.  285 

bound  with  those  that  have  preceded  it,  in  the  manner  that  shall  be  deemed 
most  expedient;  and  that  the  whole  shall  be  always  kept  at,  or  brought  up 
to  the  place  of  meeting  of  such  Presbytery,  Synod,  or  General  Assembly, 
along  with  their  own  records." — 3Iinufes,  1799,  p.  183. 

(c)  To  be  bound  and  deposited  by  the  Board  of  Publication. 
"Eesolved,  That  the  Board  of  Publication  be  directed  to  bind  the  min- 
utes of  the  General  Assembly  (if  practicable,  from  the  beginning,)  and  the 
annual  reports,  in  one  volume,  at  least  to  an  extent  sufficient  to  place  a  copy 
in  the  library  of  each  of  the  Theological  Seminaries,  and  with  the  Stated  Clerk 
of  each  Synod  under  the  care  of  the  Church,  and  in  the  libraries  of  such 
other  institutions  as  may  be  selected  by  the  Board." — 3IimUes,  1850,  p,  467. 

§  145.  Selections  to  be  read  in  the  Churches. 
^'■Resolved,  That  the  Pastors  of  all  Congregations  under  the  care  of  the 
Assembly  be,  and  they  are  hereby  directed,  to  read  to  their  people,  in  their 
assemblies  for  public  worship,  such  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  this  year, 
as  those  Pastors  shall  judge  calculated  to  promote  the  interests  of  religion, 
and  favour  the  objects  recommended  to  general  attention  by  the  Assembly. 
And  that  the  same  thing  be  done  in  vacant  Congregations,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  their  several  Sessions." — Minutes,  1800,  p.  202. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

committees  of  the  assembly. 

Title  1. — The  Committee  of  Commissions. 
§  146.  Earlier  mode  of  proceeding. 

"  The  Assembly  having  proceeded  to  business  without  attending  suffi- 
ciently to  the  order  prescribed  in  the  Constitution  respecting  the  commis- 
sions of  the  members ;  and  having  been  led  into  that  inattention  by  prece- 
dents in  the  former  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  was  thought  neces- 
sary to  declare,  that  the  business  ought  not  in  future  to  be  entered  upon  by 
the  Assembly,  until  the  commissions  delivered  in  to  the  Clerk  shall  have 
been  publicly  read,  according  to  the  express  letter  of  the  Constitution." — 
Minutes,  1791,  p.  31. 

§  147. 

''1.  Immediately  after  each  Assembly  is  constituted  with  prayer,  the 
Moderator  shall  appoint  a  Committee  of  Commissions. 

"2.  The  commissions  shall  then  be  called  for  and  delivered  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Commissions;  and  the  person  delivering  each  commission  shall 
state  whether  the  principal  or  alternate  is  present. 

"3.  After  the  delivery  of  the  commissions  the  Assembly  shall  have  a 
recess  until  such  an  hour  in  the  afternoon  as  will  afford  sufficient  time  to  the 
committee  to  examine  the  commissions. 

"4.  The  Committee  of  Commissions  shall,  in  the  afternoon,  report  the 
names  of  all  whose  commissions  shall  appear  to  be  regular  and  constitutional, 
and  the  persons  whose  names  shall  be  thus  reported  shall  immediately  take 
their  seats,  and  proceed  to  business. 

"5.  The  first  act  of  the  Assembly,  when  thus  ready  for  business,  shall  be 
the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Elections,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 


286  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  pBook  IV. 

examine  all  informal  and  unconstitutional  commissions,  and  report  on  the 
same  as  soon  as  practicable." — Mimites,  1826,  p.  40. 

[These  rules,  except  the  4th  and  6th,  were  superseded  by  the  following.] 

§  148.    The  Standinij  Committee  of  Commissions  appointed. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Permanent  and  Stated  Clerks  be  and  they  hereby  are 
appointed  a  standing  Committee  of  Commissions;  and  that  the  Commission- 
ers to  future  Assemblies  hand  their  commissions  to  said  committee,  in  the 
room  in  which  the  Assembly  shall  hold  its  sessions,  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  on  which  the  Assembly  opens,  previous  to  eleven  o'clock,  and  further, 
that  all  commissions  which  may  be  presented  during  the  sessions  of  the 
Assembly,  instead  of  being  read  in  the  house,  shall  be  examined  by  said 
committee  and  reported  to  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  384. 

§  149.    The  committee  has  no  discretionary/ powers  aside  from  the  Assem- 

hlys  directions. 

"  Mr.  Ewing  oiFered  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the  officers  of 
this  Assembly,  who  compose  the  Committee  of  Commissions,  and  to  obtain 
and  communicate  to  this  body  their  explicit  promise  or  refusal  to  carry  out, 
in  all  its  parts,  the  reform  entered  upon  during  our  present  sessions,  by  the 
full  and  exact  performance  on  their  part,  as  ministerial  officers  of  this  body, 
of  all  the  duties,  either  expressly  directed,  or  necessarily  implied  by  the 
action  of  the  Assembly,  for  the  purification  of  the  Church,  and  which  are 
required  in  giving  entire  efficacy  to  its  acts,  in  all  their  parts,  and  especially 
in  completing  the  roll  of  the  next  and  subsequent  Assemblies." 

''The  Stated  Clerk  asked  and  obtained  permission  to  make  a  statement,  in 
relation  to  his  duty  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Commissions. 

''The  Permanent  Clerk  obtained  the  same  permission. 

"Then  Mr.  Ewing  had  leave  to  withdraw  his  resolution." — Minutes,  1837, 
p.  32. 

[The  statement  of  the  clerks  was,  that  being  merely  executive  officers  of  the  Assembly, 
they  did  not  regard  themselves  as  competent  to  set  aside  any  of  its  enactments,  but  were 
bound  to  conform  strictly  to  them  in  performing  their  duties.] 

Title  2. — The  Committee  of  Elections. 
§  150. 

[For  the  appointment  of  this  committee  see  above,  §  147:  5;  and  for  the  decisions  by 
which  it  is  governed,  see  §  110,  et  seq.'\ 

Title  3. — The  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures. 
§  151.  //s  appointment. 

(a)  "A  committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Anderson,  and  Mr. 
Wade,  appointed  to  prepare  and  bring  in  overtures  to  the  Presbytery,  and 
also  take  cognizance  of  whatever  may  be  laid  before  them,  to  prepare  it  for 
the  Presbytery." — Mimites,  1710,  p.  17.  _ 

(h)  "The  General  Assembly,  at  every  meeting,  shall  appoint  a  Committee 
of  ]3ills  and  Overtures,  to  prepare  and  digest  business  for  the  Assembly. 
Any  person  thinking  himself  aggrieved  by  this  committee,  may  complain  to 
the  Assembly." — Mimttes,  1789,  p.  8. 

(a)  Powers  and  duties  of  this  committee. 

"To  the  question  concerning  the  business  and  power  of  the  Committee  of 
Overtures,  proposed  last  year,  the  Synod  answer,  that  committee  is  intended 


Part  VI.]  COMMITTEES.  287 

to  introduce  business  into  tlie  Synod  in  an  orderly  manner,  that  they  may 
give  advice  concerning  either  the  matter  or  manner  of  overtures  brought  to 
them,  but  have  not  power  to  suppress  anything  that  comes  regularly  before 
them  from  inferior  judicatures  according  to  our  knovpn  rules,  or  such  over- 
tures and  petitions  as  inferior  judicatures  or  particular  persons  desire  to  have 
laid  before  this  Synod." — Minutes,  17G9,  p.  393. 

''Petitions,  questions,  relating  either  to  doctrine  or  order,  and  usually,  all 
new  propositions  tending  to  general  laws,  should  be  laid  before  the  Commit- 
tee of  Bills  and  Overtures,  before  they  be  offered  to  the  Assembly." — 
3Iuiutes,  1821,  p.  14. 

Title  4. — The  Judicial  Committee. 
§  152. 
"The  Assembly  shall  also,  at  every  meeting,  appoint  a  committee  to  be 
styled  the  Judicial  Committee,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take  into  conside- 
ration all  appeals  and  references  brought  to  the  Assembly;  to  ascertain 
whether  they  are  in  order;  to  digest  and  ari'ange  all  the  documents  relating 
to  the  same,  and  to  propose  to  the  Assembly  the  best  method  of  proceeding 
in  each  case." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  718. 

Title  5. — The  Committee  on  the  Narrative. 
§  153. 

(a)  [First  appointed  in  1801,  (^Minutes,  p.  222,)  to  prepare  a  condensed  narrative  of  the 
state  of  religion  as  collected  from  the  Presbyterial  reports,] 

(li)  "That  the  G-eneral  Assembly  take  measures  to  bring  into  distinct 
view,  at  its  different  sessions,  the  situation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
under  its  jurisdiction  in  the  United  States  of  America,  with  respect  to  the 
state  of  religion  in  the  different  Presbyteries,  [the  state  of  religious  deno- 
minations among  them,*]  and  the  most  probable  expedients  for  reviving 
and  promoting  the  essential  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world; 
whereupon, 

'^Hesolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  each  Synod  to  enjoin  it  vtpon  the 
respective  Presbyteries  within  their  bounds,'to  specify  the  above  particulars 
in  the  annual  reports  which  they  make  of  the  state  of  their  respective 
Churches,  to  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  at  its  stated  meetings." — 
Minutes,  1792,  p.  59. 

(c)  ^^ Resolved,  As  a  standing  order,  that  a  written  statement  shall  annu- 
ally be  required  from  the  representatives  of  each  Presbytery  or  association 
in  the  General  Assembly,  which  written  statement  shall  first  be  read  by  one 
of  such  representatives ;  after  which,  each  of  the  other  representatives  shall  be 
permitted  to  add  verbally  all  the  information  not  contained  in  the  written 
statement  which  he  may  judge  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  Assembly." — 
Minutes,  18 11/ p.  468. 

§  154.    The  Narrative  to  notice  the  decease  of  Ministers. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Narrative  on  the  State  of  Religion  annually  contain 
a  notice  of  the  decease  of  all  the  Ministers  of  our  Church,  who  may  have 
been  removed  by  death  during  the  preceding  year,  and  the  several  Presby- 
teries are  ordered  to  incorporate,  with  their  reports  on  the  state  of  religion 
made  to  the  Assembly,  the  case  of  every  such  removal  within  their  bounds." 
—Minutes,  1822,  p.  10. 

♦  Erased,  1793,  p.  69. 


288  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 


Title  G. — The  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises. 
§  155. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  hereafter  a  standing  rule  of  the  Gleneral  Assem- 
bly to  spend  the  first  Wednesday  of  the  sessions  in  religious  exercises,  as 
follows,  viz. 

"  It  is  recommended  that  each  member  should  spend  from  eight  till  nine 
o'clock,  A.  M.,  of  that  day,  in  secret  devotion.  At  ten,  the  Assembly  shall 
meet  together,  and  spend  a  season  in  prayer,  praise,  reading  the  Scriptures, 
and  exhortation.  In  the  afternoon  there  shall  be  a  public  meeting  of  the 
Assembly,  with  all  who  may  choose  to  convene  with  them,  to  engage  again 
in  religious  exercises. 

''Each  Assembly  shall,  at  an  early  period  of  its  sessions,  appoint  a  com- 
mittee to  make  arrangements  for  the  observance  of  this  day,  in  conformity 
with  the  above  general  plan. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Churches  under  the  care  of 
the  General  Assembly,  annually  to  observe  this  day,  or  such  parts  of  it,  as 
they  may  respectively  judge  proper,  as  a  season  of  special  prayer  in  the 
closet,  and  in  social  or  public  meetings;  to  ask  for  the  presence  of  God  with 
the  General  Assembly,  and  for  the  special  influences  of  his  Spirit  to  descend 
upon  the  Churches  under  their  care,  and  upon  the  world  of  mankind,  and 
that  the  earth  may  speedily  be  filled  with  his  glory. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  Christians,  and  to  the  Churches, 
in  the  annual  observance  of  this  day,  as  far  as  may  be  convenient,  to  fix 
upon  the  same  time  with  the  Assembly,  for  secret  devotion  and  for  public 
worship. 

"Resolved,  That  the  several  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  this  General 
Assembly,  take  order  for  informing  all  our  Churches  of  this  recommenda- 
tion, and  for  promoting  the  observance  of  the  day  appointed." — Minutes, 
1828,  p.  236. 

(h)  "Resolved,  That  the  standing  order  respecting  devotional  exercises  in 
which  the  Assembly  annually  engages,  be  so  altered  that  the  afternoon  of 
the  first  Wednesday  of  the  sessions  be  devoted  to  this  purpose." — Minutes, 
1838.  p.  23. 

(c)  [Since  1842  the  day  for  the  above  services  has  been  left  to  the  discretion  of  the 
committee.  The  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper,  filling  of  pulpits,  &c.,  is  under  the 
direction  of  this  committee.] — Minutes,  1842,  p.  9. 

Title  7. — The  Committee  to  Nominate  Delegates  to  Correspond- 
ing Bodies. 
§  15G. 

(a')  [The  Assembly  sends  delegates  to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  the 
Evangelical  Consociation  of  Rhode  Island,  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts, 
the  General  Convention  of  Vermont,  the  General  Consociation  of  New  Hampshire,  the 
GeHeral  Conference  of  Maine,  and  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church, 
each  one  Minister,  with  an  alternate;  and  to  the  General  Synod  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  a  Minister  and  an  Elder,  or  two  Ministers,  with  alternates.  See  Book  VL 
in  locis.l 

(6)  Mileage  of  Delegates. 

"Resolved,  That  the  delegates  to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut 
be  allowed  two  dollars  per  day  during  their  attendance  with  the  Association, 
and  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  for  every  forty  miles  in  going  and  returning; 
which  sums  the  Treasurer  is  hereby  ordered  to  pay  out  of  the  fund  of  the 
General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1796,  p.  108. 

[Upon  the  election  of  delegates  under  the  treaties  of  correspondence  with  the  General 


Part  VL]  COMMITTEES.  289 

Convention  of  Vermont  and  the  General  Association  of  New  Hampshire,  &c.,  this  rule 
was  extended  to  them.] — Minutes,  1810,  pp.  440,  470,  &c. 

"The  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence  made  a  report,  which  was 
adopted,  as  follows : 

''That  it  seems  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
fixing  the  rates  of  mileage  of  delegates,  to  meet  only  their  reasonable 
expenses — therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  issue  a  warrant  to  their  Treasurer, 
to  pay  Mr.  Prime,  or  order,  the  sum  of  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  the 
amount  expended  by  him  in  attending  upon  the  Associations  of  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  36. 

"Resohed,  That  the  Stated  Clerk,  in  disbursing  the  Contingent  Fund, 
pay  in  the  first  place  for  the  expenses  of  the  General  Assembly  in  Balti- 
more, and  for  printing  the  Minutes;  and  the  balance  in  his  hands  shall  be 
divided  pro  rata  among  the  Delegates  to  Corresponding  Bodies." — Minutes, 
1848,  p.  33;  and  1851,  p.  33. 

Title  8. — The  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence. 

§157. 

[It  is  the  business  of  this  committee  to  digest  and  propose  any  measures  in  regard  to 
correspondence  with  other  Churches;  to  report  upon  the  reports  of  the  last  year's  dele- 
gates to  other  bodies;  to  write  letters  of  response  to  those  that  are  received,  and  such 
other  communications  as  may  be  ordered  by  the  Assembly,  &c.] 

Title  9. — Committee  on  Leave  of  Absence. 

§158. 

(a)  "Ordered,  That  no  members  of  this  Presbytery,  upon  any  whatever 
pretence,  do  depart  or  leave  the  Presbytery,  without  the  meeting  be  broke 
up,  or  at  least  leave  be  asked  and  had  from  the  Presbytery." — Minutes, 
1709,  p.  16. 

(5)  "Resolved,  That  as  a  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly,  a  committee  of 
five  shall  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  consider  all  applications  for 
leave  of  absence,  with  power  to  decide  on  the  same,  in  place  of  the  house, 
and  with  instructions  to  require  in  every  case  satisfactory  reasons  for  the 
necessity  of  such  absence,  and  report  to  the  house  at  the  commencement  of 
every  session,  the  members  so  dismissed;  and  that  an  appeal  to  the  Assem- 
bly may  be  made  in  any  instance  of  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  committee  to 
grant  the  application." — Minutes,  1833,  p.  474. 

(c)  "A  memorial  was  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  Sydney,  request- 
ing the  Assembly  to  take  order  against  granting  its  members  leave  of 
absence.     Whereupon, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Leave  of  Absence  be  instructed  to 
give  leave  to  members  of  the  Assembly  to  be  absent  from  the  sessions  only 
for  manifestly  sufiicient  reasons;  and  in  general,  for  such  reasons  as  have 
arisen  since  the  Assembly  has  convened." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  173. 

{d)  [The  committee]  "wish  to  be  instructed  as  to  the  degree  of  strict- 
ness which  they  shall  observe  in  refusing  leave  of  absence  to  members." 
"The  committee  were  instructed  to  apply  the  rule  rigidly." — Minutes, 
1847,  p.  394. 

(e)   Early  leave  forfeits  mileage. 

"It  is  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly  highly  important  that 
Commissioners  should  not  be  appointed  unless  it  shall  satisfactorily  appear  to 
the  several  Presbyteries  that  they  design  to  remain  throughout  the  sessions. 
37 


290  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 

That  in  order  to  procure  as  far  as  possible  this  desirable  object,  it  be,  and  it 
hereby  is  ordered,  that  no  Commissioner  who  shall  obtain  leave  of  absence 
within  the  first  six  days  of  the  sessions  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  anything 
from  the  Commissioners'  fund,  unless  the  General  Assembly  shall  order 
otherwise,  when  the  reasons  of  the  application  are  given." — Minutes,  1827, 
p.  121. 

(/)   Injunction  on  Presbyteries. 

"  The  committee  would  present  to  the  consideration  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly as  a  serious  evil,  the  frequent  applications  on  the  part  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, especially  of  Elders,  for  permission  to  return  home,  within  a  few 
days  after  the  coming  together  of  the  Assembly.  We  believe  that  accord- 
ing to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  the  liuling  Elders  are  essential  parts 
of  our  Church  Judicatories;  and  if  so,  it  is  as  important  that  they  be 
present  during  the  whole  sessions  of  the  judicatory,  as  at  its  opening. 
Many  of  them  have  their  travelling  expenses  paid  by  their  Presbyteries 
with  a  view  to  secure  their  attendance,  and  yet  comparatively  few  are  willing 
to  remain  till  the  Assembly  is  dissolved.  The  committee  have  remarked 
that  these  applications  for  leave  most  commonly  are  made,  not  by  those 
whose  residence  is  far  off  from  our  place  of  meeting,  but  by  those  who  can 
reach  their  homes  in  a  few  hours.  Under  these  views  the  committee  are 
often  embarrassed  in  regard  to  their  proper  course  of  duty.  They  would  be 
kind  and  indulgent,  but  they  desire  too  to  be  true  to  the  trust  committed  to 
them;  and  they  respectfully  suggest  to  the  Assembly,  the  ^adoption  of  the 
following  resolution,  viz. 

"Besolred,  That  the  Presbyteries,  in  the  appointment  of  Commissioners 
to  the  General  Assembly,  be  directed  to  use  great  care  and  diligence  in  the 
selection  of  such  Ministers  and  lluling  Elders  as  will  be  willing  and  able 
to  remain  during  the  entire  sessions  of  this  body."  [Adopted.] — Minutes, 
1842,  p.  21. 

(g)  Absence  without  leave. 

''Whereas,  it  has  frequently  happened  that  members  of  this  Assembly, 
neglecting  their  duty  and  inattentive  to  the  rules  of  decorum,  have  abruptly 
left  the  Assembly  and  returned  home  without  leave  of  absence, 

'■^Resolved,  That  in  all  similar  cases  which  shall  occur  in  future,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  clerk  of  this  house  to  give  notice  thereof  to  the  Presby- 
teries to  which  such  delinquent  members  may  belong;  and  it  be  recommend- 
ed to  the  said  Presbyeries,  in  their  settlements  with  such  delinquents,  not 
to  allow  them  any  compensation  for  services  as  members  of  the  Assembly." 
—Minuteii,  1801,  p.  283. 

"■Eesoli-ed,  That  it  be  the  duty  of  the  Stated  Clerk  hereafter  to  report  to 
the  several  Presbyteries  the  names  of  the  Commissioners  who  at  the  calling 
of  the  roll  at  the  close  of  the  Assembly  may  appear  to  have  left  the  Assem- 
bly without  permission." — Minutes,  1820,  p.  723. 

^'lieso/.ved,  That  as  the  names  of  persons  who  have  left  the  Assembly 
without  leave  are  to  be  published  in  the  printed  journal,  therefore  the 
Stated  Clerk  is  liberated  from  the  duty,  enjoined  by  a  standing  rule,  of  writing 
to  the  Presbyteries  on  the  subject." — Minutes^  1824,  p.  223. 

~  '■'■Resolved,  That  in  appointing  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly 
it  be  recommended  to  a;ll  our  Presbyteries  hereafter  to  appoint  such  as  shall 
be  prepared,  Providence  permitting,  to  remain  at  least  two  weeks  after  their 
names  are  enrolled  as  members  of  the  Assembly,  provided  the  business 
thereof  shall  require  them  to  remain  so  long." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  4G. 


Part  VI.]  COMMITTEES.  291 

Title  10. — Committee  on  the  Finances. 
§  159. 

'^Resolved,  That  a  Standinc;  Committee  on  Finance  be  appointed,  to  whom 
the  Treasurer's  account  [of  the  Board  of  Trustees,]  shall  be  referred." — 
Minutes,  1842,  p.  8. 

Title  11. — Committee  on  Mileage. 

§160. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Commissioners  from  Newburyport,  Clinton,  and 
Madison,  be  struck  off  from  the  list  of  applicants  for  a  portion  of  the  Com- 
missioners' fund,  on  the  ground  that  their  respective  Presbyteries  have  paid 
nothing  into  this  fund." — Minutes,  183.3,  p.  490. 

(b)  "  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  no  Commissioner  who  shall  obtain  leave 
of  absence  within  the  first  six  days  of  the  sessions,  shall  be  entitled  to 
receive  anything  from  the  Commissioners'  fund,  unless  the  Assembly  shall 
order  otherwise  when  the  reasons  of  the  application  are  given." — Minutes, 
1827,  p.  121.  _  .  ^ 

(c)  ^'Resolved,  That  the  members  entitled  to  mileage,  shall  give  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Commissioners'  Fund,  within  three  days  after  the  appoint- 
ment of  said  committee,  in  writing,  their  names,  the  names  of  their  Pres- 
byteries, and  their  distance  from  home  to  the  Assembly ;  and  if  any  member 
neglects  to  comply  with  this  resolution,  he  shall  forfeit  his  portion  of  said 
fund ;  and  that  no  member  may  be  ignorant  of  this  resolution,  the  Moderator 
shall  read  it,  as  soon  as  the  committee  on  said  fund  is  appointed  each  year." 
■—Minutes,  1818,  p.  687. 

§  161.    Correction  of  mistakes  of  this  Committee. 

(o)  "  In  case  it  be  found  that  a  mistake  has  been  made, 
"Resolved,  That  their  due  proportion   of  the  Commissioners'  fund  be 
allowed  them;  and  in  case  there  is  not  sufficient  in  the  Commissioners'  fund, 
the  Treasurer  is  hereby  directed  to  pay  them  out  of  the  Contingent  fund." 
— Minutes,  1833,  p.  495. 

(h)  "  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  directed 
to  draw  an  order  on  their  Treasurer  for  the  payment  to  the  Rev.  James  L. 
Sloss  of  sixty-eight  dollars  and  seventy-seven  cents,  his  proportion  of  the 
Commissioners'  fund,  (the  claim  of  Mr.  Sloss  having  been  accidentally 
omitted  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Mileage;)  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
funds  raised  for  Commissioners  next  year." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  448. 

Title  12. — The  Committees  on  the  Four  Boards. 

§  162. 

"  Resolved,  That  hereafter,  four  additional  standing  committees  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Moderator,  one  for  each  Board  of  the  Church,  to  which  the 
reports  of  the  Boards  respectively  shall  be  referred,  as  well  as  such  other 
matter  relating  to  them  respectively  as  the  Assembly  may  direct." — Minutes, 
1853,  p.  426. 

[The  several  Boards  are  Required  to  present  their  records,  &c.,  for  the  inspection  of  the 
Assembly.     See  Book  V.  §  7.] 


292  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  ,    [Book  IV. 

Title  13. — The  Committee  on  Theological  Seminaries. 

§163. 

(a)  "  Resolved,  That  a  standing  committee  on  Theological  Seminaries  be 
appointed  in  like  manner  [to  those  on  the  BoardsJ  to  which  the  reports  of 
these  institutions  shall  be  referred. 

(i)  "  Resohed,  That  the  Moderator  be  requested  to  appoint  one  member 
from  each  Synod  represented  here,  on  the  standing  committee  on  Theologi- 
cal Seminaries." — Minutes,  1853,  pp.  426,  429. 

Title  14. — The  Committee  on  Systematic  Benevolence. 
[See  Book  IIL  §  183,  Resolution  4.] 

Title  15. — The  Committees  on  the  Synodical  Kecords. 

§164. 

(a)  "  That  the  Assembly  may  be  possessed  of  a  complete  knowledge  of 
the  whole  Church  under  their  direction,  and  see  that  perfect  consistency  and 
order  be  preserved  therein,  they  have  ordered  that  the  Synod  books  of  the 
several  Synods  be  sent  annually  up  to  the  place  of  their  meeting  for  inspec- 
tion."— Minutes,  1789,  p.  10. 

(h)  "In  reviewing  the  records  of  an  inferior  judicatory  it  is  proper  to 
examine.  First,  Whether  the  proceedings  have  been  constitutional  and 
regular;  Secondly,  Whether  they  have  been  wise,  equitable,  and  for  the 
edification  of  the  Church;  Thirdly,  Whether  they  have  been  correctly 
recorded." — Book  of  Disc.,  Chap.  vii.  Sec.  1,  Art.  2. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  POWERS  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

§  165.  In  the  ordination  of  Ministers. 

[See  Book  IL  §  .56.] 

(rt)  "  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  proceed,  with  all  con- 
venient speed,  to  ordain  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  one  of  their  licentiates  to  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry;  and  also  that  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  pro- 
ceed to  ordain  either  Mr.  Cunningham  Sample,  or  Mr.  Samuel  Martin,  licen- 
tiates under  their  care,  to  the  same  office;  provided  that  they,  or  either  of 
them,  shall  accept  of  the  appointment  of  missions  from  this  Assembly,  and 
the  respective  Presbyteries  be  satisfied  with  their  tiials  for  ordination." — 
Minutes,  1794,  p.  86. 

(/>)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  do  hereby  order  and  constitute  a 
Presbytery  in  Oregon,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Thompson,  Greary,  and  Robe; 
and  that  they  be  empowered  to  assemble  and  constitute  themselves  a  Pres- 
bytery, at  such  time  and  place  during  the  ensuing  summer  or  autumn  as  may 
be  found  most  convenient  to  them,  and  report  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly, and  for  this  purpose  these  brethren  be  detached  from  the  Presbyteries 
to  which  they  belong,  and  when  formed,  the  said  Presbytery  be  attached  to 
the  Synod  of  New  York;  and  the  Presbytery  to  be  called  the  Presbytery  of 
Oregon." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  35. 


]?art  VI.]  POWERS  of  the  assembly.  293 

§  166.  In  the  translation  of  Ministers. 

"  Whereas,  the  Presbytery  of  Canton  consists  of  but  three  members,  and 
the  Rev.  William  Speer,  one  of  its  members,  being  engaged  in  the  Chinese 
Mission  in  California,  the  two  other  members  are  unable  to  receive  the 
Rev.  Charles  F.  Preston,  who  has  been  sent  to  Canton  as  a  missionary  of  the 
Board, 

"  Eesolved,  That  the  Rev.  Charles  F.  Preston  of  the  Presbytery  of  Al- 
bany, be  attached  to  the  Presbytory  of  Canton,  and  the  Rev.  William  Speer 
be  attached  to  the  Presbytery  of  California." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  29. 

[See  the  transactions  in  regard  to  Missionaries  passim.] 

§  167.    To  transfer  Churches. 

(a)  "  An  application  from>  the  Church  of  Dansville,  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Bath,  in  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  to  be  set  oif  from  said  Presbytery,  and 
annexed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Ontario,  in  the  Synod  of  Genessee.  The  above 
application  was  granted." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  114. 

(6)  "A  request  from  the  Church  at  Nanticoke,  to  be  detached  from  the 
Susquehanna  Presbytery  in  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  and  united  with  the 
Presbytery  of  Tioga,  in  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  was  taken  up,  when  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  request  be  granted." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  175.  See 
1827,  p.  118,  and  1829,  p.  373. 

§  168.    To  erect  Presbyteries. 

"  An  application  for  the  formation  of  a  new  Presbytery  in  the  county  of 
Chenango  and  adjacent  parts,  in  the  State  of  New  York." 

'^Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  be  granted,  and  the  Assem- 
bly hereby  constitute  the  Presbytery  of  Chenango,  to  be  composed  of  the 
Rev.  Edward  Andrews,"  &c.,  &c.,  "and  the  Presbytery  of  Chenango  is 
hereby  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Geneva." — Mimotes,  1826,  p.  21. 

[Huntingdon,  1794,  Minutes,  p.  89;  Columbia  and  Oneida,  1802,  p.  251;  Geneva, 
1805,  p.  324;  Detroit,  1827,  p.  120;  Philadelpliia  2d,  (Elective  Affinity,)  1832,  p.  321; 
Furrukhabad,  Allahabad,  and  Lodiana,  1841,  p.  433;  Luzerne,  1843,  p.  195;  Wiscon- , 
sin,  1846,  p.  194;  Ningpo,  Canton,  Western  Africa,  and  Creek  Nation,  1848,  pp.  20, 
21;  California,  1849,  p.  264;  Dane,  Milwaukie,  Winnebago,  and  Oregon,  1851,  p.  35; 
Stockton,  1852,  p.  207.] 

§  169.    To  change  the  hounds  of  Presbyteries. 

(a)  "An  application  from  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  was  made  to  the 
Assembly  in  the  following  words,  viz. 

"On  considering  the  distance  at  which  some  of  our  members  reside  from 
each  other,  being  nearly  one  hundred  miles,  the  peculiar  difficulty  to  many 
of  attending  the  sessions  of  Presbytery  where  they  ought  to  be  sometimes 
held,  and  the  different  changes  that  have  taken  place  among  us,  a  new 
arrangement  appeared  highly  necessary  to  remedy  the  inconveniences  thence 
arising,  and  render  an  attendance  on  the  judicatories  more  practicable  and 
useful. 

"  Our  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly  were  accordingly  instruct- 
ed to  propose  that  the  Revs.  John  Siemens,  George  Luckey,  Samuel  Mar- 
tin, and  Caleb  Johnson,  be  joined  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and 
that  the  Churches  of  those  among  these  members  who  have  pastoral  rela- 
tions, together  with  the  vacancies  of  Deer  Creek-  and  Chanceford,  be  also 
placed  under  the  care  of  that  Presbytery. 

"  Done  in  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  April 
16th,  1799.  Patrick  Ali.son,  Moderator. 

"Whereupon,  Resolved,  (the  Commissioners  present  from  both  Presbyte- 


294  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 

ries  consentinj?,)  That  the  said  members  and  Confrregations  be  detached 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  and  connected  with  that  of  New  Castle, 
agreeably  to  their  request." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  171. 

(h)  "That,  as  the  Presbyteries  of  Union  and  French  Broad  have  departed 
from  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  as  the 
minorities  of  said  bodies  have  not  organized  so  as  to  continue  the  succession 
of  those  Presbyteries  in  adherence  to  this  body,  the  territorial  limits  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Holston  be  extended,  and  they  are  hereby  extended  so  as  to 
include  the  whole  territory  hitherto  occupied  by  the  Presbyteries  of  Union 
and  French  Broad." — Minutes^  1839,  p.  170.     See  Minutes  jjasst'wi. 

§  170.    To  divide  Presbyteries. 
[The  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  Minutes,  1794,  p.  89.     Albany,  1802,  p.  251.     Oneida, 
18U5,  p.  324.     rhiladelphia,  1832,  pp.  320,  321.     Wisconsin,  (above  §  93,  b.)    18-51, 
P.34.J 

§  171.    To  ap'point  a  meeting  of  Presbytery. 

"Whereas,  it  is  understood  that  there  is  a  sufficient  number  of  Minister^ 
within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  Presbytery  of  Columbia,  (whose  Commis- 
sioners in  1838  united  with  others  in  forming  a  schismatical  and  disorderly 
body,)  to  maintain  the  succession  of  said  Presbytery :  therefore, 

'■'■Resolved.,  That  all  Ministers,  with  one  Ruling  Elder  from  each  Congre- 
gation within  the  limits  of  said  Presbytery,  who  are  disposed  to  adhere  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  be  directed  to  meet  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  August  next,  in  the 
Second  Church,  Hudson,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  after  a  sermon  by  the 
oldest  Minister  present,  that  they  proceed  to  all  appropriate  acts  and  doingS 
under  the  continued  name  and  style  of  the  Presbytery  of  Columbia." — Min- 
utes, 1839,  p.  172. 

§  172.    To  dissolve  Presbyteries. 

(a)  ""Wlien  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  General  Assembly 
that  any  new  Presbytery  has  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  unduly 
increasing  the  representation,  the  General  Assembly  will,  by  a  vote  of  the 
majority,  refuse  to  receive  the  delegates  of  Presbyteries  so  formed,  and  may 
direct  the  Synod,  to  which  such  Presbytery  belongs,  to  reunite  it  to  the 
Presbytery  or  Presbyteries  to  which  the  members  were  before  attached." — 
Minutes,  1837,  p.  446. 

(by^^Be  it  Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  that  the  Third  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  be,  and  hereby  is  dissolved." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  472. 

§  173.    To  erect  and  divide  Synods. 
[See  above,  Part  V.  Chapter  ii.     The  Synods  of  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama,  of 
Wisconsin,  and  of  Baltimore,  were  erected  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  bodies  from 
which  they  were  severed,  either  officially  expressed  or  indicated  by  their  Commissioners  in 
the  Assembly.] 

§  174.    To  change  the  bounds  of  Synods. 

(a)  "The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  overture  No.  6,  being  a 
memorial  from  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee,  in  relation  to  their  boundaries, 
beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report. 

"That  the  memorialists  pray  the  General  Assembly  to  detach  that  portion 
of  the  Presbytery  of  JMuhlenberg,  which  lies  within  the  bounds  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  and  which  includes  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Clarks- 
ville,  from  said  Presbytery,  and  attach  it  to  the  Presbytery  of  Nashville, 
and  to  restore  the  boundary  line  between  the  Presbyteries,  which  formerly 
was  the  line  between  the  States  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky. 


Part  VI.]  POWERS   OF   THE   ASSEMBLY.  295 

"A  memorial  adverse  to  this  memorial,  has  also  been  presented  by  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky. 

''A  petition  fiom  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Clarksville, 
has  also  been  presented,  joining  in  the  prayer  of  the  memorial,  and  express- 
ing the  .belief  that  this  alteration  of  boundary  would  tend  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  Church  in  that  section  of  the  country. 

"  It  is  therefore  evident,  that  those  who  are  the  most  deeply  interested 
desire  the  change,  and  express  their  belief  that  it  would  be  beneficial;  and 
as  the  reasons  offered  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  are  not  sufficient,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  committee,  to  justify  a  refusal  of  the  petition,  they  would 
therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution. 

"Eesolved,  That  all  that  portion  of  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenberg,  which 
lies  within  the  bounds  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  be  attached  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Nashville,  so  that  hereafter  the  State  line  be  the  boundary  between 
the  two  Presbyteries."  [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1836,  p.  294.  See  Minutes, 
passim. 

(6)  [The  views  of  the  courts  interested  are  generally  asked,  for  example] — 

"The  committee  to  which  the.  petitions  from  the  Presbyteries  of  New 
Lancaster,  Washington,  and  Miami,  were  referred,  reported;  and  their 
report  being  read,  and  the  subject  discussed  at  considerable  length,  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  although  their  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  of  these  Presby- 
teries, and  of  the  vast  extent  of  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
and  their  apprehensions  of  the  interests  and  convenience  of  the  Churches 
in  that  region,  would  strongly  recommend  that  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners 
be  granted;  yet,  as  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  is  acknowledged  by  the  petition- 
ers to  have  decided  against  their  request,  and  as  this  Assembly  does  not 
possess  any  official  information  from  said  Synod  on  this  subject,  the  Assem- 
bly, in  present  circumstances,  do  not  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to  make  an 
immediate  division  of  the  Synod;  therefore, 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  to 
reconsider  their  proceedings  in  this  case,  and  if  consistent  with  their  views 
of  the  interests  of  the  Churches  within  their  bounds,  to  take  at  their  next 
meeting  the  order  necessary  to  open  the  way  for  a  division  of  said  Synod, 
by  the  Greneral  Assembly,  or  otherwise  to  exhibit  to  the  next  Assembly  their 
reasons  against  the  division." — Minutes,  1813,  p.  532. 

[But  see  the  preceding  section.] 

§  175.    To  dissolve  Synods. 

[See  above,  §  86,  b;  and  Book  VII.  §§  160,  and  195,  Resolutions  1  and  2. 

The  acts  disowning  the  Synods  of  Western  Reserve,  (Jtica,  Geneva,  and  Genessee, 
were  in  the  nature  of  dissolutions  of  them;  their  Presbyterian  elements  being  in  the 
terms  of  the  acts  attached  to  neighbouring  Synods,  whose  limits  were  extended  to  cover 
the  territory.] 

§  176.    To  visit  inferior  courts. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  the  division  in  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  reported.  The  report  was  read,  amended,  and  adopted 
as  follows: 

"Your  committee  having  attended  carefully  to  the  pamphlets  and  letter 
on  that  subject,  are  of  opinion,  the  business  comes  before  the  Assembly  in 
so  informal  a  manner,  that  no  regular  judicial  process  can  issue  thereon  in 
the  present  Assembly;  and  that  the  most  eligible  measures  the  Assembly 
can  take  in  the  case,  will  be  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  members  to 
meet  with  the  Synod,  or  a  committee  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and 


296  THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  [Book  IV. 

endeavour  to  heal  the  disorders  which  appear  from  the  above  pamphlets  and 
letter  to  have  taken  place  in  the  bounds  of  said  Synod." 

"J)y.  Hall,  Dr.  Green,  and  Mr.  Marquess,  were  chosen  to  be  a  committee 
for  the  purpose  aforesaid;  and  Mr.  Alexander,  Mr.  Le  Grand,  and  Mr. 
Baxter,  were  elected  as  substitutes." — Minutes,  1804,  pp.  311,  312. 

[Dr.  Hall,  and  Messrs.  Marquess,  and  Le  Grand,  fulfilled  the  appointment.] — Minutes, 
1805,  p.  325.     [See  Book  VII.  §§  60,  61.] 

§  177.    To  censure  inferior  courts. 

"Those  Presbyteries  which  do  not  comply  with  these  regulations,  [requi- 
ring annual  reports  showing  their  attention  to  raising  up  candidates  for  the 
ministry,]  must  assign  satisfactory  reasons  for  their  non-compliance,  or  be 
recorded  as  delinquents  in  their  duty,  or  censured  by  the  Assembly  as  it 
may  deem  proper." — llinutes,  1822,  p.  13;  andpasswi. 

§  178.    To  make  inquest  as  to  compliance  with  an  injunction. 

"The  Presbyteries  were  called  upon  in  their  order  to  say  what  they  had 
done  in  regard  to  the  injunction  of  the  last  Assembly,  respecting  Deacons. 
It  appeared  that  to  a  considerable  extent  the  Presbyteries  had  taken  order 
on  the  subject. 

'^Resolved,  That  the  injunction  be  continued." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  418. 
See  Book  V.  §§  147,  148 ;  and  Book  III.  §  188,  Kes.  3,  4,  and  the  Min- 
utes passim. 

§  179.    To  enforce  the  performance  of  duties. 

[Of  the  authority  of  the  Assembly  to  enforce  upon  subordinate  courts  the  performance 
of  their  duties,  see  above,  §  50,  b.    Book  VII,  ■§§  184-186,  and  passxm,&nd.  Book  I.  §  46.] 

§  180.    To  control  the  whole  business  of  missions. 

[See  Book  V.  §  33;  Book  III.  §  179,  c.  d.] 

(a)  "The  General  Assembly  taking  into  consideration  the  distance  of  the 
Carolinas  from  the  seat  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  especially  the  peculiar 
state  of  the  currency  of  North  Carolina — on  motion, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  be  allowed  so  to  manage  the 
matter  of  sending  missionaries  to  places  destitute  of  the  gospel  and  its  ordi- 
nances, as  may  appear  to  that  Synod  most  conducive  to  the  interest  of  religion 
in  their  bounds;  provided,  that  the  above  Synod  send  annually  to  this 
Assembly  a  particular  account  of  their  proceedings  on  the  above  subject, 
with  a  regular  statement  of  the  money  that  may  be  collected  and  disbursed 
for  the  support  of  the  above  missionaries." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  38. 

(h)  "Some  years  ago,  evangelical  missions  from  our  denomination  remain- 
ed wholly  under  the  direction  and  control  of  this  Assembly,  for  the  support 
whereof  annual  contributions  were  directed  to  be  raised  by  our  different 
Churches ;  but  powerful  reasons  induced  us  to  leave  with  the  Synods  of  Vir- 
ginia and  the  Carolinas  the  management  of  this  service  to  the  south  of 
Maryland." — Letter,  in  Minutes,  1798,  p.  146.  / 

(c)  "Resolved,  That  notwithstanding  the  reference  to  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas  and  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  with  respect  to  missionaries,  the  Assem- 
bly may  send  missionaries  to  labour  in  the  bounds  of  the  aforesaid  Synods." 
—Minutes,  1801,  p.  226. 

(d)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  again  solemnly  enjoined  on  all  Presbyteries  and 
Synods  within  the  bounds  of  the  General  Assembly,  on  no  account  to  inter- 
fere with  the  instructions  given  by  the  Committee  of  Missions  to  mission- 
aries."— Minutes,  1809,  p.  427.  ' 


BOOK    V. 
INSTITUTIONS    OF    THE    CHURCH 


PART    I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  AND  FACTS. 


Title  1. — Miscellaneous  Minutes. 
§  1.    The  four  Boards  anticipated. 

"  The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  subjects  contained  in  the 
communication  of  the  corporation  for  managing  their  funds,  and  agreed  that 
the  following  objects  deserve  consideration,  viz. 

**  L  The  gospelizing  of  the  Indians  on  the  frontiers  of  our  country,  con- 
nected with  a  plan  for  their  civilization,  the  want  of  which  it  is  believed  has 
been  a  great  cause  of  the  failure  of  former  attempts  to  spread  Christianity 
among  them.  The  ideas  of  the  president  of  the  corporation,  delivered  in 
his  address  at  their  first  meeting,  would,  on  this  point,  deserve  a  serious 
attention. 

''2.  The  instruction  of  the  negroes,  the  poor,  and  those  who  are  destitute 
of  the  means  of  grac6,  in  various  parts  of  this  extensive  country.  Whoever 
contemplates  the  situation  of  this  numerous  class  of  persons  in  the  United 
States,  their  gross  ignorance  of  the  plainest  principles  of  religion,  their  im- 
morality and  profaneness,  their  vices  and  dissoluteness  of  manners,  must  be 
filled  with  anxiety  for  their  present  welfare,  and,  above  all,  for  their  future 
and  eternal  happiness. 

"3.  The  purchasing  and  disposing  of  Bibles,  and  also  books  and  short 
essays  on  the  great  principles  of  religion  and  morality,  calculated  to  impress 
the  minds  of  those  to  whom  they  are  given  with  a  sense  of  their  duty  both  to 
Cod  and  man,  and  consequently  of  such  a  nature  as  to  arrest  the  attention, 
interest  the  cuiiosity,  and  touch  the  feelings  of  those  to  whom  they  are 
given. 

''  4.  The  provision  of  a  fund  for  the  more  complete  instruction  of  candi- 
dates for  the  gospel  ministry,  previously  to  their  licensure.  The  want  of 
this  having  been  a  subject  of  general  inconvenience,  it  would  deserve  con- 
sideration whether  it  would  not  be  both  easy  and  practicable  to  appoint  a 
number  of  professors  of  theology,  (perhaps  one  in  each  Synod,)  to  whom  the 
38 


298  INSTITUTIONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.  [Book  V. 

candidates  might  resort  as  a  matter  of  choice,  (though  not  of  nccesHity,) 
which  professors  might  immediately  be  provided  with  a  suitable  library,  the 
property  of  the  corporation,  and  who  might  receive  a  small  salary,  to  be 
augmented  as  their  labours  increase  and  the  funds  are  extended.  It  will  be 
a  most  desirable  extension  of  this  plan,  if  the  funds  can  be  rendered  adequate 
to  furnish  partly,  or  wholly,  the  means  of  subsistence  to  the  candidates  for 
the  ministry,  who  may  need  such  assistance,  during  the  time  of  their  attend- 
ance on  the  professors." — 3Iinntes,  1800,  p.  195. 

§  2.    The  Eldership  should  he  represented  in  the  management  of  the  funds. 

''  Seeing  that  the  respective  Congregations  of  the  Synod  contribute  to  the 
fund,  [for  benevolent  uses]  and  have  a  right  to  know  how  what  is  collected 
is  disposed  of  and  managed, 

"  Ordered,  nem.  con.,  That  there  be  a  Minister  and  an  Elder  out  of  every 
Presbytery  appointed  to  be  members  of  the  committee  for  the  fund." — 
Minutes,  1738,  p.  136. 

§  3.    The  duty  of  sustaining  our  own  Institutions. 

"  Another  duty  which  we  urge  upon  our  members,  is  that  of  cherishing 
an  enlightened  attachment  to  our  own  Church,  in  her  doctrines,  her  order, 
and  her  benevolent  institutions.  This  duty  is  demanded  of  us  by  Christian 
consistency.  We  have  a  system  of  faith  and  order,  which  we  profess  to 
believe  is  founded  on  the  word  of  God.  We  cannot,  then,  with  any  con- 
sistency, refuse  to  protect  it  or  refrain  from  suitable  exertions  for  extending 
its  influence.  If,  indeed,  one  form  of  ecclesiastical  government  is  just  as 
scriptural  as  another,  and  if  there  is  no  essential  difi"erence  between  Calvin- 
ism on  the  one  hand,  and  Arminianism  or  Pelagianism  on  the  other,  we 
may,  in  perfect  accordance  with  our  principles,  leave  our  own  Church  to 
take  care  of  itself,  while  we  employ  our  eflorts  in  the  wide  field  of  univei-sal 
philanthropy;  but  no  intelligent  Presbyterian  will  assent  to  sentiments  like 
these. 

"  The  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  other  denominations,  furnishes  an- 
other reason  why  we  should  consolidate  our  strength  and  foster  our  own 
institutions.  It  is  obviously  for  the  interest  of  the  evangelical  Churches  in 
our  country,  that  they  should  preserve  a  mutually  good  understanding  with 
each  other.  Perhaps  the  best  way  to  secure  this,  is,  for  each  sect  to  move 
in  its  own  appropriate  sphere;  the  different  denominations  uniting  together 
only  in  those  plans  and  organizations  which  I'equire  no  sacrifice  of  their  dis- 
tinctive principles.  Our  sister  Churches  are,  it  is  well  known,  actively 
engaged  in  fortifying  their  respective  positions  and  extending  their  bounda- 
ries. We  are  so  far  from  complaining  of  this,  that  we  commend  them  for 
their  fidelity  to  their  principles  j  and  in  so  far  as  they  are  propagating  the 
truth,  we  bid  them  God  speed.  But  we  urge  their  activity  as  a  motive  why 
we  also  should  be  up  and  doing.  If  it  becomes  them  to  be  active,  it  becomes 
us  much  more.  For  they  are  imbued  with  a  denominational  feeling  of  long 
standing  and  mighty  energy ;  among  us,  this  feeling  is  in  its  infancy. 
Again,  the  late  distractions  in  our  Church,  have  made  it  necessary  that  we 
should  increase  our  exertions  in  order  to  neutralize  the  allurements  fre- 
quently held  out  to  entice  our  people  into  other  sects.  It  should  also  be 
considered  that  our  system  of  doctrine  encounters  in  every  direction  a  for- 
midable phalanx  of  prejudice  and  misi'epresentation ;  so  that  it  requires  more 
effort  to  propagate  it  than  it  does  to  disseminate  doctrines  which,  being  less 
scriptural,  are  le-is  repugnant  to  the  unsanctified  heart.  Unless  therefore  we 
emulate  the  zeal  of  other  Churches  we  cannot  expect  to  retain  the  relative 
position  which  we  have  long  occupied  among  the  leading  denominations  in 


Part  I.]  GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  299 

this  land.  This  position  we  have  no  right  to  sacrifice  to  indolence,  avarice, 
a  spurious  charity,  or  anything  else  short  of  a  providential  disability  beyond 
our  control.  For  it  is  not  merely  our  reputation  as  a  Church  that  is 
involved  in  this  matter,  but  the  sacred  obligations  which  we  are  under  to 
the  God  of  our  fathers,  and  the  general  interests  of  Christianity  in  the 
world. 

"  Another  reason  why  we  should  gather  around  our  own  Institutions,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  condition  of  bur  beloved  country.  These  are  times  of  excite- 
ment and  agitation.  The  state  of  the  country  for  several  years  past  has  been 
like  a  boiling  caldron.  It  would  seem  as  though  the  spii-it  of  discord  had 
obtained  leave  to  go  forth  for  a  season  through  the  land,  and  work  mischief 
at  his  will.  Commerce,  politics,  religion,  every  earthly,  every  sacred  interest 
has  been  touched  with  his  demoniac  wand  and  thrown  into  wild  confusion. 
Most  of  the  great  religious  denominations  have  either  been  rent  asunder,  or 
shaken  to  their  centre  with  intestine  commotions.  And  the  conflicting  ele- 
ments of  the  age  are  continually  generating  new  and  monstrous  heresies  both 
in  religion  and  morals.  Under  these  circumstances,  self-preservation  requires 
us  to  tighten  the  bands  which  unite  us  as  a  denomination;  and  to  cement 
into  a  closer  alliance  the  different  parts  of  our  wide-spread  communion."— 
Minutes,  1840,  p.  311. 

§4.-4  similar  minute. 

"  Whereas,  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  now  fully  organized  with  its  dif- 
ferent Boards,  to  raise  up  and  educate  her  ministry,  and  to  sustain  them 
amid  the  wastes  of  our  own  and  foreign  countries,  it  is  of  essential  import- 
ance that  a  systematic  plan  of  benevolence  be  devised  which  will  secure  the 
annual  presentation  of  the  claims  of  all  our  Boards  to  all  our  Church  mem- 
bers; and  it  is  hereby  earnestly  recommended  to  the  several  Presbyteries, 
and  to  all  our  Ministers  and  Churches,  to  take  action  for  the  attainment  of 
this  great  object." — JSfmutes,  1843,  p.  189;  and  again,  p.  198. 

§  5.  Anmial  reports  to  he  communicated  to  the  Congregations. 

"  Resolved,  To  secure  the  attention  of  Ministers  and  Churches  to  this 
important  object,  the  Assembly  renew  the  recommendation  of  the  last  Assem- 
bly, that  inasmuch  as  the  report  when  published,  although  sent  to  every 
Minister,  cannot  be  generally  circulated  among  the  members  of  the  Churches, 
it  be  recommended  to  the  Pastors  of  Churches  to  spread  before  their  people 
the  substance  of  this  report,  [of  the  Board  of  Missions,]  by  reading  it,  or 
portions  of  it,  from  their  pulpits  at  such  time  as  may  be  convenient  for 
taking  up  an  annual  collection  on  behalf  of  this  cause." — Minutes,  1840, 
p.  297. 

§  6.    The  jyrinted  Reports  distributed  to  the  members  of  the  Assembly. 

*'As  the  Assembly  were  informed  that  the  Board  [of  Missions]  have 
caused  their  report  to  be  printed,  it  was 

''  Resolved,  That  they  present  a  copy  of  it  to  each  of  the  members  for  his 
inspection." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  372. 

§  7.  Books  of  accounts,  &c.,  to  be  exhibited  to  the  Assembly. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  various  Boards  of  this  General  Assembly  be  required 
to  present  before  the  Assembly  every  year,  along  with  their  annual  report, 
all  their  books  of  record  for  the  year,  containing  the  minutes  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, including  the  minutes  of  the  Executive  Committees,  together  with 
all  their  files  of  correspondence  during  the  year,  and  also  their  books  of 
account,  when  the  General  Assembly  may  meet  in  the  city  where  these 


300  INSTITUTIONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.  [Book  V. 

Boards  are  located,  and  a  full  balance-sheet  when  the  Assembly  may  meet 
elsewhere ;  and  that  these  books  and  papers  be  referred  to  the  special  com- 
mittees to  whom  it  is  usual  to  refer  the  annual  report." — Minutes,  184:9, 
p.  270.     See  1842,  p.  13. 

§  8.    The  account  of  eocpenses  to  he  in  detail. 

"An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle  proposing  a  change  in  the 
form  of  exhibiting  their  annual  expenditures,  in  the  reports  of  some  of  the 
Boards  of  the  Church.  The  committee  recommended  that  the  Executive 
Committees  of  the  Boards  of  Missions,  Education,  and  Publication,  set  forth 
in  their  annual  reports  the  particular  items  of  their  expenditure  in  the 
same  circumstantial  manner  in  which  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  present 
theirs  j  which  recommendation  was  adopted." — 3Iinutes,  1846,  p.  192. 

§  9.    Of  Acjencies. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  while  the  necessity  for  agents  is  at  present  felt  and 
recognized  by  the  Assembly,  in  order  ultimately  to  remove  this  necessity, 
and  thus  to  reduce  the  expenditures  of  the  Board,  the  individual  agency  and 
co-operation  of  every  ]Minister  and  Church  Session,  in  forwarding  the  inter- 
ests of  this  Board,  would,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  if  faithfully  em- 
ployed, with  the  least  expense  and  the  greatest  certainty,  advance  the  cause 
and  multiply  the  resources  of  the  Board." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  167. 

(li)  ''Resolved,  That  Messrs.  J.  L.  Wilson,  Low,  Williams,  Mitchell, 
Auchincloss  be  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  expenses  of  the 
several  Boards,  and  to  ascertain — 1.  Whether  the  agency  system  can  be  dis- 
pensed with  or  improved?  2.  AVhether  the  expenses  of  the  Boards  can  be 
advantageously  reduced."  *  *  *  *  "  The  report  of  the  committee  on  Agen- 
cies, was  further  considered,  and  on  being  put,  the  report  was  not  agreed  to. 

'*  On  motion  of  Mr.  Boai'dmau, 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  deliberate  conviction  of  this  Assembly,  formed 
as  the  result  of  much  experience,  that  an  efficient  system  of  agencies,  by 
which  the  Churches  of  our  connection  may  be  visited  from  year  to  year,  is, 
in  the  present  condition  of  Christian  feeling  and  knowledge  on  the  subject 
of  benevolent  operations,  absolutely  indispensable." — Minutes,  1840,  pp. 
294,  305. 

§  10.   Annual  apjilication  to  every  memher  of  the  Church. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  the  Presbyteries  to  take  such  order  for 
the  organization  of  the  Churches  under  their  care  for  a  systematic  effort  to  aid 
in  the  education  of  indigent  candidates  for  the  ministry,  and  in  the  efforts 
making  to  spread  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ  throughout  our  own  coun- 
try and  the  world,  as  will  secure  the  presenting  these  objects  to  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  at  least  once  a  year,  and  that  the  Presbyteries  require  the 
Sessions  of  each  Church  to  report  in  writing  their  diligence  herein  at  every 
spring  meeting." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  198. 

[See  Book  III.  §  179,  et  seq.] 

§  11.  Economical  management  of  the  Boards. 

"Resolved ,  That  after  a  full  investigation  of  the  affairs  of  our  Boards, 
and  especially  of  their  financial  arrangements,  this  Assembly  express  the 
highest  confidence  in  their  respective  managements,  and  in  the  faithful  and 
economical  service  of  their  respective  officers;  and  we  do  hereby  earnestly 
recommend  the  Boards  and  their  officers  to  the  confidence  and  patronage  of 
the  Churches." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  46. 


Part  I.]  PERIODICALS    OF   THE    BOARDS.  301 


Title  2. — Periodicals  or  the  Boards. 
§  12.    The  Assembly's  Magazine. 

(«)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Committee  of  Missions  to 
publish  by  subscription  a  periodical  Magazine  sacred  to  religion  and  morals, 
and  pay  the  profits  into  the  funds  of  the  Assembly,  to  be  applied  to  mission- 
ary purposes." — Jlinutes,  1804,  p.  317. 

(h)  "  The  Trustees  also  laid  before  the  Assembly  one  copy  of  the  original 
articles  of  agreement,  made  between  the  Board  and  William  P.  Farrand, 
printer,  relative  to  the  publication  of  the  General  Assembly's  Magazine  and 
Evangelical  Intelligencer ;  which  agreement  was  read  and  laid  upon  the 
table. 

"The  Assembly  having  considered  the  said  articles,  expressed  their  entire 
approbation  thereof,  and  their  thanks  to  the  Committee  of  Missions  for  the 
zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  they  have  commenced  this  important  work." — 
Minutes,  1805,  p.  336. 

(c)  "  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  empowered  and 
directed  to  cancel  the  instrument  of  agreement  between  them  and  Mr.  Wil- 
liam P.  Farrand,  on  the  subject  of  the  Magazine,  entitled  The  Evangelical 
Intelligencer,  the  publication  of  which  has  been  suspended  since  the  month 
of  January  last. 

"Resolved,  moreover,  That  as,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  some  pub- 
lication is  necessary  to  keep  alive  and  invigorate  that  missionary  spirit  with 
which  it  has  pleased  God  to  animate  his  Church,  the  Committee  of  Missions 
be  authorized,  if  they  judge  it  expedient,  annually  to  prepare  and  publish 
for  the  information  of  the  Church,  a  pamphlet  or  pamphlets  entitled  3Iis- 
sionary  Intelligence,  Q,QXiiWi\m\^  extracts  from  the  journals  of  the  Assembly's 
Missionaries,  and  derived  from  domestic  and  foreign  sources." — Minutes, 
1810,  p.  450. 

[Only  one  or  two  numbers  of  the  "Missionary  Intelligencer"  were  published.] 

§  13.    The  Missionary  Reporter  and  Education  Register. 

[In  September,  1829,  the  Boards  of  Missions  and  Education  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  a  small  monthly  magazine  with  the  above  title.  It  was  sustained  for  three  or  four 
years  and  then  suspended.] 

§  14.    The  Missionary  Chronicle. 

[The  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  in  1833,  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
Foreign  Missionary  Chronicle,  a  monthly  magazine.  When  the  Assembly's  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  was  formed,  this  magazine  was  transferred  with  the  missions  of  the 
Western  Society  to  that  Board.  In  1842  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  Board  of 
Domestic  Missions  by  which  the  Chronicle  was  enlarged,  and  its  pages  divided  between 
the  two  missionary  Boards.] 

§  15.  The  Home  and  Foreign  Record. 
[In  1 849  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Assembly  under  the  following  resolution :] 
"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  for  the  purpose  of 
devising,  if  possible,  some  arrangement  by  which  a  monthly  or  weekly  peri- 
odical, giving  important  information  respecting  the  Boards  of  our  Church, 
and  sustaining  the  cause  of  each  of  them,  shall  be  published;  and  that  the 
secretaries  of  said  Boards  be  requested  to  lay  before  said  committee  so  much 
of  their  respective  reports  as  relates  to  periodicals,  and  to  give  such  other 
information  on  the  subject  as  may  be  in  their  possession." — 3Iinutes,  1849, 


802  INSTITUTIONS   OF  THE   CHURCH.  [Book  V. 

[The  result  was  the  enlargement  of  the  Chronicle,  which,  under  the  title  of  The  Home 
and  Foreign  Record,  was  constituted  the  organ  of  the  four  Boards,  its  publication  being 
committed  to  the  Board  of  Publication,  and  a  quarto  newspaper  edition  being  published 
in  addition  to  the  magazine  form.] 

"Renolvcd,  That  the  Boards  of  tlie  Church,  respectively,  are  hereby 
authorized  to  enlarge,  at  their  discretion,  the  portions  of  the  periodical  pub- 
lished jointly  by  them,  which  relates  to  their  respective  departments." — 
3Iinufes,  1H50,  p.  478. 

[Circulation  of  the  Record  in  1853-4,  15,000  copies.] 

§  16.    The  Foreign  Missionary. 
[This  periodical  was  commenced  in   1841,  by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and 
designed  as  a  youth's  missionary  paper,  but  has,  since  the  modification  by  which  the 
Chronicle  became  the  organ  of  the  four  Boards,  been  modified  to  adapt  it  as  an  organ  of 
influence  over  maturer  readers.] 

"Besohed,  That  this  General  Assembly  highly  approve  of  the  proposal 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  to  establish  a  small  monthly  paper,  to  be  deno- 
minated The  Foreign  Missionary,  to  be  afforded  to  subscribers  at  the  small 
sum  of  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  annum,  exclusive  of  postage,  in  the  belief 
that  with  little  exertion  on  the  part  of  Pastors  and  Church  Sessions,  there 
may  be  annually  circulated  among  ovir  people,  and  the  youth  and  children 
of  our  Congregations  and  Sabbath-schools,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  thou- 
sand of  copies  of  a  work  thus  calculated  and  adapted  to  furnish  a  great 
amount  of  select  missionary  information." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  25. 

§  17.    The  Presbyterian  Sabhath-school  Visitor. 

"Eesohed,  That  the  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Board  of  Publication  to 
consider  the  propriety  of  publishing  a  monthly  paper  for  Sabbath-schools." 
—Mi7mtes,  1850,  p.  476. 

[In  accordance  with  this  recommendation,  the  Board  publishes  the  Presbyterian  Sab- 
bath-school Visitor.     Present  circulation,  41,000.] 


PART  II. 

OF   MISSIONS. 

INTRODUCTORY  TITLE. 

§  18.    The  Church  a  missionary  society. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United  States,  is 
by  its  very  nature  and  constitution  a  missionary  society,  acting  under  the 
charter,  by  the  authority,  and  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  only 
Head,  Lawgiver  and  King  in  Zion,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  field  which  the  Church  in  this  missionary  charac- 
ter is  called  upon  to  cultivate,  is  The  World, — that  there  is  therefore  but 
one  field;  and  that  the  distinction  between  Foreign  and  Domestic  Missions 
is  made  only  to  secure  by  a  division  of  labour  and  of  responsibility,  greater 
order,  energy,  and  success." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  167. 

§  19.  3Iissions  the 'pledge  of  the  Churches  prosperity. 

"Resolved,  That  the  prosperity  of  the  Church  materially  depends  on  the 
active  and  efficient  aid  which  shall  be  aflorded  to  missionary  operations." — 
MiniUes,  1832,  p.  325. 


CHAPTER  I. 

early  missionary  efforts. 

Title  1. — First  measures  of  the  General  Presbytery. 
§  20.  At  the  first  meeting. 

[At  the  first  meeting  of  which  the  records  remain,  the  General  Assembly  adopted  the 
following  resolve:] 

"That  every  Minister  of  the  Presbytery  supply  neighbouring  desolate 
places  where  a  Minister  is  wanting,  and  opportunity  of  doing  good  ofiers." 
— Minutes,  1707,  p.  10. 

[The  following  letters  show  the  clearness  with  which  the  work  of  missions  was  recog- 
nized as  the  specific  business  of  the  Church.] 

§  21.  An  appeal  to  the  Churches  in  London. 
''To  Sir  Edmund  Harrison:  May,  1709. 

^^ Honourable  Sir — The  distressed  condition  of  these  Provinces,  with 
respect  to  religion,  in  which  the  providence  of  God  has  cast  our  lot,  has 
moved  us  to  apply  to  the  Reverend  Ministers  of  Boston,  in  New  England, 


304  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

to  join  with  us  in  addressing  yourself,  and  other  charitable  gentlemen  in 
London,  to  consider  the  state  of  these  countries,  and  to  inipl()i;e  your  help 
and  assistance  for  promoting  the  interest  of  our  glorious  Jjord.  To  our 
great  satisfaction  they  have  readily  complied  with  our  desire,  and  have 
drawn  up  and  signed  a  letter  particularly  directed  to  yourself.  And  that 
we  for  our  parts  may  not  be  wanting,  being  informed  of  that  public  excel- 
lent spirit  in  you,  famed  both  for  piety  and  prudence,  do  likewise  address 
ourselves  unto  your  honour  upon  the  same  account.  The  negotiation  began  and 
encouraged  by  a  fund,  in  the  time  when  our  worthy  friend  Mr.  McKeniie, 
(now  deceased,)  was  with  you,  for  evangelizing  these  colonies,  was  a  busi- 
ness exceedingly  acceptable  to  a  multitude  of  people,  and  was  likely  to 
have  been  of  great  service  if  continued,  which  makes  us  much  grieved  that 
so  valuable  a  design  was,  so  soon  after  its  beginning,  laid  aside.  The  neces- 
sity of  carrying  "on  the  same  affair  being  as  great,  if  not  greater  now,  than  it 
was  then,  we  hope  that  our  patriots  [patrons'/]  in  London,  will  revive  so 
good  and  important  a  work,  and  not  let  it  lie  buried  under  the  ashes,  but 
that  some  suitable  method  will  be  taken  that  it  may  be  set  on  foot  again. 
Unto  whom  can  we  apply  ourselves  more  fitly  than  unto  our  fathers,  who 
have  been  extolled  in  the  Reformed  Churches  for  their  large  bounty  and 
benevolence  in  their  necessities?  We  doubt  not,  but  if  the  sum  of  about 
two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  were  raised  for  the  encouragement  of  Min- 
isters in  these  parts,  it  would  enable  Ministers  and  people  to  erect  eight 
Congregations,  and  ourselves  put  in  better  circumstances  than  hitherto  we 
have  been.  We  are  at  present  seven  Ministers,  most  of  whose  outward 
affairs  are  so  straitened  as  to  crave  relief,  unto  which,  if  two  or  three  more 
were  added,  it  would  greatly  strengthen  our  interest,  which  does  miserably 
suffer,  as  things  at  present  are  among  us.  Sir,  if  we  shall  be  supplied  with 
Ministers  from  you,  which  we  earnestly  desire;  with  your  benevolence  to 
the  value  abovesaid,  you  may  be  assured  of  our  fidelity  and  Christian  care  in 
distributing  it  to  the  best  ends  and  purposes  we  can,  so  as  we  hope  we  shall 
be  able  to  give  a  just  and  fair  account  for  every  part  of  it  to  yourself  and 
others,  by  our  letters  to  you.  It  is  well  known  what  advantages  the  mis- 
sionaries from  England  have  of  us,  from  the  settled  fund  of  their  Church, 
which  not  only  liberally  supports  them  here,  but  encourages  so  many  inso- 
lences both  against  our  persons  and  interests,  which  sorrowfully  looking  on, 
we  cannot  but  lament  and  crave  your  remedy.  That  our  evangelical  ati"airs 
may  be  the  better  managed,  we  have  formed  ourselves  into  a  Presbytery, 
annually  to  be  convened  at  this  city;  at  which  times  it  is  a  sore  distress  and 
trouble  unto  us,  that  we  are  not  able  to  comply  with  the  desires  of  sundry 
places,  crying  unto  us  for  Ministers  to  deal  forth  the  word  of  life  unto  them; 
therefore  we  most  earnestly  beseech  you,  in  the  bowels  of  our  Lord,  to  inter- 
cede with  the  Ministers  of  London,  and  other  well-aff'ected  gentlemen,  to 
extend  tlieir  charity  and  pity  to  us,  to  carry  on  so  necessai'y  and  glorious  a 
work ;  otherwise  many  people  will  remain  in  a  perishing  condition  as  to  spi- 
ritual things.  In  so  doing,  your  humble  supplicants  shall  ever  pray  that 
the  blessings  of  God's  throne  and  footstool  may  be  conferred  upon  you  and 
them." — Minutes,  1709,  p.  10. 

§  22.   An  appeal  to  Foreign  Churches. 

"The  Presbytery  met  at  Philadelphia,  to  the  Eev.  Presbytery  of  Dublin, 
wisheth  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  the  bond  of  fellowship,  and  prosperity  in 
the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

"Jiev.  and  Dear  Brethren  in  the  Lord — By  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Alexander  Sinclare,  a  member  of  your  society,  dated  November,  1709,  and 
directed  to  Mr.  John  Henry,  one  of  our  number^  we  find  you  desire  a  cor- 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.  305 

respondence  may  be  settled  and  continued  from  time  to  time;  than  which 
nothing  can  be  more  acceptable  to  us  poor  scattered  and  far-dispersed 
labourers  in  our  Lord's  vineyard.  As  also  you  desire  an  account  of  our 
ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  promise  all  the  assistance  yourselves  can  afforcl  or 
procure  by  interest  from  others.  The  former  we  are  ready  to  give,  and  for 
the  latter  we  are  grateful. 

"As  to  the  state  of  the  Church  in  these  parts,  our  interest  truly  is  very 
weak,  and  we  cannot  relate  this  matter  without  sorrow  of  heart,  since  it  is 
too  much  owing  to  the  neglect  of  Ministers  at  home.  Our  late  Eev.  Bro- 
ther, Mr.  Francis  McKemie,  prevailed  with  the  Ministers  of  London  to 
undertake  the  support  of  two  itinerants  for  the  space  of  two  years,  and  after 
that  time  to  send  two  more  upon  the  same  condition,  allowing  the  former 
after  that  time  to  settle,  which,  if  accomplished,  had  proved  of  more  than 
credible  advantage  to  these  parts,  considering  how  far  scattered  most  of  the 
inhabitants  be.  But,  alas,  they  drew  back  their  hand,  and  we  have  reason 
to  lament  their  deficiency.  Had  our  friends  at  home  been  equally  watchful 
and  diligent  as  the  Episcopal  society  at  London,  our  interest  in  most  foreign 
plantations  probably  might  have  carried  the  balance.  In  all  Virginia  there 
is  but  one  small  Congregation  at  Elizabeth  River,  and  some  few  families 
favouring  our  way  in  Rappahannock  and  York.  In  Maryland  only  four,  in 
Pennsylvania  five,  and  in  the  Jerseys  two,  which  bounds,  with  some  places  of 
New  York,  make  up  all  the  bounds  we  have  any  members  from,  and  at 
present  some  of  these  be  vacant.  Not  long  ago  there  was  a  pl'obability  of 
doing  more  good  in  Maryland  before  episcopacy  was  established  by  law,  and 
at  present  is  in  Pennsylvania,  the  East  and  West  Jerseys,  and  some  places 
of  New  York,  if  the  occasion  also  be  not  slipped.  As  for  ecclesiastical 
afi'airs  in  other  places,  we  shall  not  here  trouble  you  with,  being  not  perfectly 
acquainted  therewith  ourselves.  That  then,  Reverend  and  dear  Brethren, 
which  at  present  we  would  humbly,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  interest,  make 
the  subject  of  our  address  unto  you  is,  that  of  your  zealous  Christian  and 
religious  charity,  to  the  mystical  body  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  you  would  raise 
one  sixty  pounds  to  support  an  able  well  approved  of  young  man  from  your- 
selves as  an  itinerant  in  these  parts,  among  the  dispersed  children  of  God 
for  a  year,  after  which  time  we  doubt  not  but  he  may  be  settled  comfort- 
ably. This  we  have  used  our  interest  in  London  for,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Calamy,  which  we  expect,  according  to  promise  from  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Sinclare,  you  will  use  yours  also  to  forward;  and  in  the  meantime  not 
be  wanting  to  answer  our  former  request.  Thus,  not  making  the  least  doubt 
but  this  our  letter  shall  have  the  desired  answer,  we  subscribe  ourselves, 
by  our  representative,  your  well-wishers  in  the  Lord." — Minutes,  1710, 
p.  19. 

§  23.  The  creation  of  a  fund. 
"  It  being  overtured  to  the  Synod  by  the  committee  appointed  for  over- 
tures, That  it  is  to  be  proposed  to  the  several  members  of  the  Synod,  to 
contribute  something  to  the  raising  a  fund  for  pious  uses,  and  that  they  do 
use  their  interest  with  their  friends,  on  proper  occasions,  to  contribute 
something  to  the  same  purpose,  and  that  there  be  chosen  a  treasurer  to  keep 
what  shall  be  collected,  and  that  what  is  or  may  be  gathered,  be  disposed  of 
according  to  the  discretion  of  the  Synod;  the  overture  was  agreed  upon  and 
pursued,  and  Mr.  Andrews  is  to  be  treasurer  for  this  purpose  till  the  next 
Synod." — Minutes,  1717,  p.  49. 

[The  contributions  of  the  members  of  Synod  were  on  the  next  day  "  weighed  and  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Jedediah  Andrews,  treasurer  for  the  time  being,  the  just  sum  of 
eighteen  pounds  one  shilling  and  six  pence,"  the  first  fund  for  benevolent  purposes  created 
by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country.] 

39 


306  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

§24.-4  second  appeal. 

"A  Letter  from  tlie  Synod  to  the  Rev.  John  Boyse,  Minister  in  Dublin,  to 
be  connuunicated  to  the  Presbytery  there. 

Phllddelphia,  September  17th,  1718. 

'^Reverend  Brethren: — It  maybe  presumed  that  you  are  not  wholly  stran- 
gers to  the  circumstances  of  these  parts ;  how  many  poor  souls  are  scattered 
to  and  fro  in  this  wilderness,  under  awful  danger  of  perishing  for  lack  of 
vision.  And  it  must  needs  be  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  to  you,  to  be 
informed  of  the  earnest  breathings  of  many  small  and  poor  places  among  us, 
after  the  most  precious  privileges  of  gospel  ordinances,  and  of  the  late 
addresses  of  sundry  of  them  to  us  for  supply. 

But,  sirs,  the  paucity  and  poverty  of  these  people  render  them  utterly 
incapable  to  support  the  ministry  among  them,  could  they  obtain  it;  and 
there  lies,  therefore,  upon  them  a  deplorable  necessity  of  still  continuing 
in  the  same  circumstances  of  darkness  that  they  are  now  in,  which  may 
render  both  themselves  and  posterity  miserable  Pagans,  unless  some  methods 
can  be  found  out  for  their  speedy  assistance  in  the  maintaining  of  such 
Ministers  as  we  would  direct  them  to,  which  is  what  we  are  at  present  alto- 
gether unable  to  compass.  And  yet  in  faithfulness  to  our  great  Lord,  and 
the  souls  of  these  poor  people,  we  dare  not  but  use  our  utmost  essays  to 
strengthen  their  hands  in  this  day  of  small  things,  lest  this  spark,  which 
is  but  newly  kindled,  may  be  utterly  extinguished,  which  gives  occasion 
for  this  address  unto  you  for  your  charitable  assistance  in  so  momentous  an 
affair. 

"  We  have  heard  of  the  liberality  of  many  gentlemen  and  others  of  our 
persuasion  with  you,  on  such  like  occasions,  and  dare  not,  therefore,  doubt 
of  their  cheerful  compliance  with  this  our  request,  when  you  have  communi- 
cated these  circumstances  to  them." — Minvtes,  1718,  p.  53. 

[In  a  letter  of  the  same  date  to  the  dissenting  Ministers  at  London,  urging  a  similar 
appeal  they  say] — 

"We  ourselves  have  begun  a  small  fund  for  this  and  other  religious  pur- 
poses among  us ;  but  alas  !  it  is  yet  so  small  that  little  or  nothing  can  be 
done  with  it." — Ibid.  p.  54. 

[At  the  same  time]  "The  Synod  refers  the  writing  of  letters  to  Princi- 
pal Sterling  and  the  Synod  of  Glasgow,  to  the  discretion  of  Mr.  McNish, 
Hampton,  and  Anderson." — Ibid. 

['I'he  result  of  these  applications  was  some  addition  to  the  funds  of  the  Synod.] 
§  25.    The  Jirst  missionary  appropriation. 

"  It  was  overtured  to  the  Synod  by  the  committee  appointed  to  consider 
of  the  fund,  that  a  tenth  part  of  the  neat  produce  of  the  Glasgow  collection 
be  given  to  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  New  York  towards  the  support 
of  the  gospel  among  them,  and  that  a  letter  be  sent  to  them  from  the  Synod 
relating  to  their  circumstances;  which  overture  was  approved  by  the  Synod, 
and  the  Moderator  and  Mr.  Cross  were  appointed  to  write  said  letter,  which 
letter  is  to  be  brought  into  the  Synod  for  approbation." — Minutes,  1719, 
p.  56. 

§  26.  A  yearly  collection  appointed. 

"  Being  further  overtured  by  the  committee  that  a  letter  be  writ,  (a  copy 
of  which  to  be  given  to  every  Minister  belonging  to  this  Synod,)  recom- 
mending a  yearly  collection  to  be  gathered  in  every  particular  Congregation 
for  pious  uses,  to  be  sent  yearly  to  the  Synod  by  their  Minister  or  Elder,  it 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.  30T 

was  approved.     And  Mr.  Andrews  is  appointed  to  write  the  said  letter,  and 
to  bring  it  into  the  Synod  for  approbation." — Minutes,  1719,  p.  57. 

"  September  22,  1719. 

"  Christian  Friends — Whereas  Divine  Providence,  which  is  the  Disposer 
of  the  lot  of  all  men,  has  planted  us  in  these  parts  of  the  world,  and  in  such 
a  station  wherein  we  are  obliged,  in  an  eminent  manner,  to  study  the  ever- 
lasting welfare  of  the  souls  of  men :  and  whereas,  to  our  great  grief  and 
exercise,  we  see  many  smaller  places  of  lesser  ability  to  maintain  and  sup- 
port the  interest  of  Christ  among  them,  by  the  ordinary  means  of  salvation, 
and  yet  desirous  thereof,  languishing  in  darkness  and  blindness,  and  in 
great  danger  of  utter  ruin  for  lack  of  vision;  casting  in  our  minds  how  to 
get  these  miserable  people  relieved,  could  think  upon  no  other  way  than  by 
using  our  utmost  interest  and  endeavour  to  have  such  a  fund  or  stock  of 
money  raised  as  may  be  of  some  use  to  help  those  distressed  places  and  peo- 
ple. In  pursuance  of  which  design  we  have  addressed  our  friends  in  Britain 
and  Ireland  not  altogether  without  success. 

"  And  forasmuch  as  it  seems  to  us  unreasonable  and  unjustifiable  to  apply 
to  other  places  in  this  affiiir,  and  ourselves,  who  are  more  immediately  con- 
cerned, to  hold  our  hands,  we  determined  to  request  the  charity  of  our 
respective  Congregations  in  the  premises,  that  they  would  yearly  make  a  col- 
lection for  the  carrying  on  of  the  said  noble  and  pious  design  of  planting  and 
spreading  the  everlasting  gospel  in  these  provinces. 

''As  for  arguments  to  enforce  this  our  proposal,  the  thing  itself  is  of  such 
consequence  and  importance,  and  withal  so  needful,  that  we  need  not,  we 
hope,  use  any  other,  only  the  consideration  of  a  blessing  entailed,  in  this  and 
the  other  world,  by  God's  gracious  promises,  on  all  such  as  do  cheerfully 
exert  themselves  for  the  glory  of  Grod  and  the  good  of  souls,  together  with 
the  honourable  examples  that  are  frequently  set  us  by  the  good  people  of 
our  own  nation  both  at  home  and  abroad.  So  recommending  you  to  the 
counsel  and  blessing  of  the  Author  and  rewarder  of  all  good  works,  we  sub- 
scribe ourselves  yours  in  the  truest  bonds  of  Christian  afiections." — 3Imutes, 
1719,  p.  58. 

§  27.    This  appointment  re-enforced. 

"The  Synod  taking  the  state  of  the  fund  into  consideration,  and  finding 
that  many  Congregations  are  deficient  in  contributing  to  so  good  a  design, 
and  that  Ministers  have  not  been  so  careful  as  they  might  be  in  proposing 
and  endeavouring  that  thing,  it  is  unanimously  agreed  by  all  the  members 
of  the  Synod,  that  every  Minister  shall  either  seasonably  propose  the  affair, 
and  read  the  Synod's  letter  to  their  respective  Congregations,  and  appoint  a 
day  for  a  public  collection,  if  there  be  occasion  for  such  a  step  to  carry  on 
the  design,  or  oblige  themselves  to  pay  out  of  their  own  proper  estates  ten  shil- 
lings to  the  fund ;  and  that  every  Presbytery  take  care  that  their  respective 
members  observe  an  order  made  in  the  year  1736,  (directing  absent  mem- 
bers to  send  collections,)  and  that  they,  as  soon  as  possible,  notify  what  is 
now  done  to  all  the  absent  members.  And  seeing  that  the  respective  Con- 
gregations of  the  Synod  contribute  to  the  fund,  and  have  a  right  to  know 
how  what  is  collected  is  disposed  of  and  managed,  ordered  7ie7n.  con.  that 
there  be  a  Minister  and  Elder  out  of  every  Presbytery  appointed  to  be  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  for  the  fund." — Minutes,  1738,  p.  186. 

§  28.   First  appointment  of  itinerant  missionaries. 

"  A  representation  being  made  by  some  of  our  members  of  the  earnest 
desires  of  some  Protestant  dissenting  families  in  Virginia,  together  with  a 
comfortable  prospect  of  the  increase  of  our  interest  there,  the  Synod  have 


308  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

appointed  that  Mr.  Hugh  Conn,  Mr.  John  Orme,  and  Mr.  William  Stewart, 
do  each  of  them  severally  visit  said  people,  and  preach  four  Sabbaths  to 
them,  between  this  and  the  next  Synod." — Minutes,  1722,  p.  74. 

Title  2. — Petty  Persecution  Enduaed. 
§  29.   Difficulties  in  Virginia. 

(a)  **  Upon  an  overture  of  the  committee  to  the  Synod,  concerning  a 
representation  of  Mr.  Hugh  Stevenson,  respecting  harsh  and  injurious  usage 
which  he  met  with  from  some  gentlemen  in  Virginia,  the  Synod  ordered  Mr. 
Stevenson  to  lay  a  representation  thereof  before  them,  which  he  accordingly 
did  in  writing.  And  after  hearing  the  same,  and  reasoning  upon  it,  it  was 
agreed  that  a  letter  be  writ  by  the  Synod,  and  sent  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  together  with  a  copy  of  Mr.  Stevenson's 
representation,  in  order  to  use  our  interest  with  that  venerable  Assembly  for 
our  being  assisted  with  money  from  the  societies  for  the  propagation  of  reli- 
gion, or  elsewhere  to  enable  us  to  maintain  some  itinerant  Ministers  in  Vir- 
ginia or  elsewhere  J  as  also  to  procure  their  assistance  to  obtain  the  favourable 
notice  of  the  government  in  England,  so  as  to  lay  a  restraint  upon  some 
gentlemen  in  said  neighbouring  province,  as  may  discourage  them  from  ham- 
pering such  itinerant  Ministers  by  illegal  prosecutions;  and  if  it  may  be,  to 
procure  some  assistance  from  his  majesty  for  our  encouragement  by  way  of 
regium  donum." — Minutes,  1733,  p.  105. 

(i)  "Upon  the  supplication  of  John  Caldwell,  in  behalf  of  himself  and 
many  families  of  our  persuasion,  who  are  about  to  settle  in  the  back  parts  of 
Virginia,  desiring  that  some  members  of  the  Synod  may  be  appointed  to 
wait  on  that  government,  to  solicit  their  favour  in  behalf  of  our  interest  in 
that  place : 

*'  Ovcrtured,  That  according  to  the  purport  of  the  supplication,  the 
Synod  appoint  two  of  their  number  to  go  and  wait  upon  the  governor  and 
council  of  Virginia,  with  suitable  instructions  in  order  to  procure  the  favour 
and  countenance  of  the  government  of  that  province,  to  the  laying  a  foun- 
dation of  our  interest  in  the  back  parts  thereof,  where  considerable  numbers 
of  families  of  our  persuasion  are  settling,  and  that  something  be  allowed  out 
of  our  fund  to  bear  the  charges  of  said  brethren  who  shall  be  appointed,  and 
that  also  provision  be  made  for  supplying  the  Congregations  of  said  brethren 
during  their  absence  from  them,  while  prosecuting  that  affair;  and  that 
Messrs.  Robert  Cross,  Anderson,  Conn,  and  Orme,  prosecute  said  affair;  and 
that  Messrs.  Thomson,  Dickinson,  and  Pemberton,  prepare  instructions  for 
said  brethren,  and  write  a  letter  in  the  name  of  the  Synod  to  the  said  gov- 
ernment, to  be  brought  in  and  approved  by  the  Synod;  and  that  the  respec- 
tive Presbyteries  take  care  of  these  Congregations  during  the  absence  of 
their  pastors.  And  it  is  further  overtured,  that  these  brethren  be  allowed  a 
discretionary  power  of  using  what  money  they  have  occasion  for,  to  bear 
their  expenses  in  a  manner  suitable  to  this  design,  being  accountable  to  the 
Synod  for  their  conduct  in  the  whole  affair.  Approved  nemine  contradi- 
cente." — Minutes,  1738,  p.  138. 

§  30.  Corres])onde7ice  tvith  the  Governor  of  Virginia. 
(a)  "To  the  honourable  "William  Gooch,  Esquire,  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
the  Province  of  Virginia,  the  humble  address  of  the  Presbyterian  Ministers 
convened  in  Synod,  May  28th,  1738,  &c.  May  it  please  your  honour,  we 
take  -leave  to  address  you  in  behalf  of  a  considerable  number  of  our  brethren 
who  are  meditating  a  settlement  in  the  remote  parts  of  your  government, 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.  309 

and  are  of  the  same  persuasion  with  the  Church  of  Scotlandr  We  thought 
it  our  duty  to  acquaint  your  honour  with  their  design,  and  to  ask  your 
favour  in  allowing  them  the  liberty  of  their  consciences,  and  of  worshipping 
God  in  a  way  agreeable  to  the  principles  of  their  education.  Your  honour 
is  sensible  that  those  of  our  profession  in  Europe  have  been  remarkable  for 
their  inviolable  attachment  to  the  Protestant  succession,  in  the  illustrious 
house  of  Hanover,  and  have  upon  all  occasions  manifested  an  unspotted 
fidelity  to  our  gracious  sovereign  King  George,  and  we  doubt  not  but  these 
our  brethren  will  carry  the  same  loyal  principles  to  the  most  distant  settle- 
ments where  their  lot  may  be  cast,  which  will  ever  influence  them  to  the 
most  dutiful  submission  to  the  government  which  is  placed  over  them.  This 
we  trust  will  recommend  them  to  your  honour's  countenance  and  protection, 
and  merit  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  civil  and  religious  liberties.  "We 
pray  for  the  Divine  blessing  upon  your  person  and  government,  and  beg 
leave  to  subscribe  ourselves  your  honour's  most  humble  and  obedient  ser- 
vants."— Minutes,  1738,  p.  142. 

(6)  [The  following  is  the  Governor's  answer.] 

"  Sir :  By  the  hands  of  Mr.  Anderson  I  received  an  address  signed  by 
you,  in  the  name  of  your  brethren  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  And  as 
I  have  been  always  inclined  to  favour  the  people  who  have  lately  removed 
from  other  provinces,  to  settle  on  the  western  side  of  our  great  mountains; 
so  you  may  be  assured,  that  no  interruption  shall  be  given  to  any  Minister 
of  your  profession  who  shall  come  among  them,  so  as  they  conform  them- 
selves to  the  rules  prescribed  by  the  act  of  toleration  in  England,  by  taking 
the  oaths  enjoined  thereby,  and  registering  the  places  of  their  meeting,  and 
behave  themselves  peaceably  towards  the  government.  This  you  may  please 
to  communicate  to  the  Synod  as  an  answer  of  theirs.  Your  most  humble 
servant,  William  Gooch. 

"  Williamsburg,  November  iih,  1738." — Minutes,  1739,  p.  147. 

§  31.  Representations  tJirough  Mr.  Davies,  in  London. 

"Upon  a  representation  made  to  the  Synod  [of  New  York,]  of  the  illegal 
restraints  the  Protestant  dissenters  lie  under  in  Virginia,  as  to  their  religious 
liberties,  Messrs.  James  Davenport  and  John  Rodgers  were  appointed  to 
draw  up  a  recommendation  of  the  affair,  and  a  certificate  for  Messrs.  Samuel 
Davies  and  John  Todd,  members  of  our  body  living  in  that  colony,  which 
being  done  was  read  and  approved,"  [as  follows,] 

"Whereas,  the  Protestant  dissenters  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  in 
the  colony  of  Virginia  lie  under  some  restraints,  particularly  with  regard  to 
the  number  of  their  meeting-houses,  which  is  not  at  all  equal  to  what  their 
circumstances  require,  though  they  have  taken  all  legal  measures  to  have  a 
sufficient  number  registered  according  to  the  act  of  toleration;  and  where- 
as, the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Davies  has  been  appointed  to  take  a  voyage  to 
Great  Britain  in  behalf  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  may  have  an 
opportunity  of  using  proper  means  to  procure  a  redress  of  said  grievance, 
this  Synod  do  humbly  and  earnestly  request  the  concun-ence  and  assistance 
of  their  friends  there,  for  the  relief  of  an  helpless  and  oppi'essed  people  in 
a  point  of  so  great  consequence,  in  which  their  religious  liberties  are  so 
nearly  concerned. 

"We  do  therefore  cheerfully  recommend  the  said  Mr.  Davies,  who  is 
settled  in  Virginia,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  .John  Todd,  his  colleague,  as  regular 
and  worthy  members  of  their  body,  zealously  and  prudently  engaged  in 
advancing  the  Redeemer's  kingdom." — Minutes,  1753,  p.  258. 


310  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 


Title  3. — Manner  of  operation. 

§  32.    Two  classes  of  missionaries. 

[Two  classes  of  Missionaries  were  employed.  Pastors  temporarily  withdrawn  from 
their  charges  and  sent  on  tours  of  from  one  to  six  months;  and  Missionaries  whose  desig- 
nation was  in  reference  to  ultimate  settlement  among  the  destitutions  to  which  they  were 
sent.     Thus] — 

(a)  "The  Synod  more  particularly  considering  the  state  of  many  Congre- 
gations to  the  southward,  and  particularly  North  Carolina,  and  the  great 
importance  of  having  those  Congregations  properly  organized,  appoint  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Elihu  Spencer  and  Alexander  McWhorter,  to  go  as  our  Mis- 
sionaries for  that  purpose;  that  they  form  societies,  help  them  in  adjusting 
their  bounds,  ordain  Elders,  administer  sealing  ordinances,  instruct  the 
people  in  discipline,  and  finally  direct  them  in  their  after  conduct,  particularly 
in  what  manner  they  shall  proceed  to  obtain  the  stated  ministry,  and  what- 
ever else  may  appear  useful  or  necessary  for  those  churches  and  the  future 
settlement  of  the  gospel  among  them;  and  also,  that  they  assure  those 
people  wherever  they  go,  that  this  Synod  has  their  interest  much  at  heart, 
and  will  neglect  no  opportunities  of  affording  them  proper  candidates  and 
supplies  to  the  utmost  of  our  power.  Ordered,  That  the  clerk  give  said 
Missionaries  an  attested  copy  of  this  minute,  and  proper  testimonials  signed 
by  the  Moderator  and  Clerk.  And  that  these  brethren  may  not  suffer  by  so 
long  and  expensive  a  journey,  the  Synod  agree  to  defray  their  expenses  and 
make  them  a  proper  acknowledgment  for  the  damages  they  may  sustain  in 
their  domestic  affairs;  and  for  this  purpose  a  collection  is  ordered  through 
our  bounds,  and  each  Presbytery  required  to  see  it  be  duly  observed." — 
Minutes,  1764,  p.  339. 

(h)  "Mr.  Nathaniel  Niles,  a  candidate  licensed  by  Berkshire  Association, 
in  New  England,  who  proposes  to  put  himself  under  the  care  of  the  New 
York  Presbytery,  is  appointed  to  spend  the  summer  and  fall  seasons  in  the 
western  frontiers  of  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  and  the  win- 
ter in  the  Carolinas;  and  he  is  ordered  to  keep  an  exact  account  of  what 
moneys  he  receives  from  the  several  vacancies  that  he  may  supply  in  the  said 
western  frontiers,  and  if  the  said  moneys  should  not  amount  to  thirty  shil- 
lings provincial  currency,  per  Sabbath,  the  Synod  agree  to  make  up  the  defi- 
ciency out  of  the  moneys  in  the  hands  of  their  treasurer." — Minutes,  1770, 
p.  405. 

§  33.    The  appointments  imperative. 

"The  Synod  further  considering  the  destitute  condition  of  Hanover,  and 
the  uncertainty  of  their  being  supplied,  if  suppliers  are  left  to  their  own 
discretion  respecting  the  time  of  their  going  to  Virginia,  do  order  that  Mr. 
Kirkpatrick  prepare  for  his  journey  so  as  to  be  at  Hanover  the  third  Sab- 
bath of  July,  at  the  furthest,  and  supply  there  for  some  time  according  to 
the  order  of  that  Presbytery;  that  Mr.  McWhorter  be  at  Hanover  the  first 
of  September,  and  that  Mr.  Latta  be  there  the  first  of  November  at  the  fur- 
thest; and  that  the  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  and  New  Brunswick  take 
care  that  these  gentlemen  fulfil  this  appointment,  and  neither  prescribe  nor 
allow  them  employment  in  our  bounds  so  as  to  disappoint  this  our  good 
intention." — Minntes,  1750,  p.  293. 

"And  inasmuch  as  appointments  in  times  past  have  been  too  frequently 
not  fulfilled  according  to  expectation,  it  is  enjoined  on  each  of  these  gentle- 
men, who  are  appointed  to  supply  to  the  southward,  that  they  fulfil  said 
appointments  on  pain  of  the  Synod's  censure." — Minutes,  1770,  p.  404. 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.      ^  311 

§  34.   First  collection  specifically  for  missions. 

"A  motion  was  made  that  every  member  of  this  judicature  take  subscrip- 
tions, or  make  collections,  as  he  shall  find  most  expedient,  in  his  Congrega- 
tion, or  the  neighbouring  vacancies,  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  propagation  and 
support  of  the  gospel  in  such  parts  as  cannot  otherwise  enjoy  it;  which, 
after  some  discourse  on  the  subject,  was  ordered  accordingly.  The  sub- 
scriptions or  collections  for  which  purpose  are  to  be  laid  befoi'e  next  Synod, 
by  the  Moderator  or  Clerk  of  each  Presbytery;  and  the  several  Presbyteries 
are  hereby  ordered  to  see  this  determination  put  into  execution." — Minutes, 
1766,  p.  361. 

^'  In  consequence  of  an  order  of  yesterday,  each  Presbytery  brought  in  an 
account  how  their  respective  members  complied  with  the  order  of  last  Synod 
for  making  a  collection  to  establish  a  fund  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel 
among  the  poor,  &c.* 

"And  the  Synod  are  obliged  to  declare  that  it  is  matter  of  real  grief  to 
them  to  find  that  so  many  of  their  members  have  paid  so  little  regard  to  the 
authority  of  Synod,  enjoining  a  liberality  for  so  pious  and  important  a  pur- 
pose. 

"  The  Synod  order,  that  every  Presbytery  belonging  to  this  body  be  care- 
ful that  those  Ministers  in  their  bounds,  who  have  not  made  a  collection  for 
pious  uses,  as  it  was  appointed  last  year,  make  a  collection  before  the  first  of 
August ;  and  that  it  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Moderator  of  the  respect- 
ive Presbyteries,  and  sent  without  delay  to  the  treasurer  appointed  by  the 
Synod.  But  we  desire  that  such  Ministers,  whose  reasons  for  not  comply- 
ing with  the  Synodical  order  have  been  sustained,  be  urged  no  further  at 
this  time." — Minutes,  1767,  pp.  367,  369. 

Title  4. — Early  Missions  to  the  Indians. 
§  35.  Funds  ohtained. 

(a)  "The  exigencies  of  the  great  aifair  of  propagating  the  gospel  among 
the  heathen,  being  represented  unto  the  Synod,  [New  York,]  the  Synod,  in 
order  to  promote  so  important  and  valuable  a  design,  do  enjoin  all  their 
members  to  appoint  a  collection  in  their  several  Congregations  once  every 
year,  to  be  applied  for  that  purpose;  and  that  the  money  raised  by  such  col- 
lections be  yearly  sent  to  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1751,  p.  245. 

"The  Synod  proceeded  to  make  inquiry  concerning  the  collection  for  the 
Indians,  and  it  was  found  that  all  the  members  present  made  collections 
except  Messrs.  William  Tennent,  Davenport,  Byram,  Beatty,  Richards,  Grrant, 
Dagget,  Simon  Horton,  and  Read,  who  propose  afterwards  to  collect  and 
send  their  collections  to  Mr.  Brainerd.  Ordered,  also,  that  the  collections 
brought  to  the  Synod  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Brainerd,  to  be  disposed 
of  by  the  correspondents  for  the  Indian  aflPairs." — Minutes,  1752,  p.  248. 
(6)  jiid  received  from  Great  Britain. 

'I  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  reported  to  the  Synod  that  he  has  lately  received 
a  bill  for  two  hundred  pounds  sterling,  generously  given  for  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  and  to  be  under  the  direction  of  this 
Synod. 

"The  Synod  do  appoint  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent,  Samuel  Finly, 
Green,  Spencer,  and  Davies,  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  application  of  the 
money  contributed  in  Great  Britain  for  the  use  of  the  Indians,  and  lay  the 
same  before  the  Synod,  before  the  end  of  their  present  session." — Minutes, 
1756,  p.  266.  ' 

*  [The  amount  was  £112,  Is.  3d.  proclamation  money,  equal  to  about  $310.] 


312  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

[This  money  was  invested  with  the  trustees  of  New  Jersey  College,  (See  below, 
§§  307,308,)  and  the  interest  annually  appointed  to  Indian  Missions.] 

§  3G.    The  Rav.  David  Brainerd  emiployed. 

"  Upon  application  made  to  this  Synod,  they  agreed  to  allow  the  interest 

of  the  money  under  their  direction  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among 

the  Indians,  unto  Mr.  Brainerd  a  Missionary  to  the  Indians,  in  order  to 

assist  him  in  labouring  among  them  for  this  year." — Minutes,  1756,  p.  273. 

§  37.  A  school  opened. 
"The  Synod  agree  to  allow  Mr.  William  Tennent  twenty  pounds  out  of 
the  Indian  fund  for  payment  of  a  schoolmaster  among  them  and  other  con- 
tingent expenses  relating  to  the  school." — Minutes,  1758,  p.  282. 

§  38.    Correspondence  with  the  Virginia  society. 

(a)  "A  petition  was  brought  in,  from  the  society  for  managing  the  Indian 
Mission  in  Virginia,  requesting  that  the  interest  of  the  money  under  the 
direction  of  this  Synod,  for  the  propagating  the  gospel  among  the  Indians, 
may  be  allowed  them  for  one  year.  The  Synod,  though  sincerely  disposed 
to  do  everything  in  their  power  to  favour  that  pious  mission,  yet  as  the 
interest  of  that  money  is  already  disposed  of,  they  cannot  comply  with  the 
aforesaid  request." — Minutes,  1758,  p.  283. 

(6)  "Upon  application  made  by  two  members  of  the  society  in  Virginia 
for  managing  the  Indian  mission,  setting  forth  the  desirableness  and  advan- 
tage of  a  correspondence  between  this  Synod  and  said  society,  Mr.  Gilbert 
Tennent  is  appointed  on  the  part  of  this  Synod,  to  correspond  with  the  sec- 
retary of  said  society  in  case  there  shall  be  occasion  for  it." — Ibid. 

§  39.  Brainerd  again  engaged  in  the  mission. 

{a)  "Mr.  Brainerd  applied  to  the  Synod  for  their  advice  whether  it  was 
his  duty  to  leave  his  present  charge  at  Newark  and  resume  his  mission  to 
the  Indians. 

"  Arguments  on  both  sides  were  fully  heard. 

"  Though  the  Synod  are  tenderly  affected  with  the  case  of  Newark  Con- 
gregation, yet  in  consideration  of  the  great  importance  of  the  Indian  mission, 
they  do  unanimously  advise  Mr.  Brainerd  to  resume  it. 

"  The  Synod  do  further  agree  to  give  him  the  interest  of  the  Indian  fund 
for  this  year,  in  order  to  his  more  comfortable  subsistence." — Minutes, 
1759,  p.  294. 

(6)  "Mr.  Brainerd  has  received  the  greater  part  of  the  interest  of  the 
Indian  fund,  according  to  the  vote  of  the  Synod. 

"It  is  known  to  many  in  the  bounds  of  this  Synod,  that  some  Ministers, 
moved  with  an  holy  zeal  to  promote  the  kingdom  of  Christ  among  the  Indian 
tribes,  applied  to  the  society  in  Scotland  for  propagating  Christian  know- 
ledge, and  obtained  a  grant  of  a  certain  sum  of  money  yearly,  to  support 
two  missionaries  to  promote  the  conversion  of  the  savage  nations;  they  em- 
ployed Mr.  David  Brainerd,  whose  praise  is  in  the  Churches  of  Christ,  and 
whose  endeavours  were  blessed  with  remarkable  success  in  this  great  work 
of  bringing  the  Indians  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 

"It  pleased  God  soon  to  remove  him  from  his  useful  labour  on  earth  to 
the  joys  of  his  heavenly  kingdom;  as  the  name  of  Brainerd  was  dear  to 
these  poor  tribes,  his  brother  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  in  the  mission,  in 
which  station  ho  continued  for  seven  or  eight  years,  but  as  the  prospect  of 
a  troublesome  war  made  the  mission  dangerous  and  disagreeable,  the  Com- 
missioners who  employed  him  dismissed  him  from  his  care  of  the  Indians, 
and  he  was  employed  to  preach  the  gospel  at  Newark. 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.  313 

"At  an  Indian  treaty,  the  province  of  New  Jersey  bought  all  the  small 
tracts  of  land  that  the  Indians  claimed  in  different  parts  of  the  government, 
and  that  they  might  still  encourage  the  native  inhabitants  to  reside  among 
them  in  their  own  country,  they  bought  and  bestowed  on  the  remnant  of 
these  people  about  four  thousand  acres  of  land,  which  they  gladly  accept- 
ed; and  as  many  of  them  were  converted  to  Christianity,  they  earnestly 
requested  that  Mr.  Brainerd  might  be  granted  to  them  again  as  a  gospel 
Minister. 

"The  annuity  which  the  society  in  Scotland  had  allowed  to  the  mission- 
ary, was  stopped  upon  Mr.  Braiuerd's  dismission,  though  there  was  and  is 
hope  of  procuring  it  again.  Mr.  Brainerd  was  requested  by  the  governor  and 
commissioners  of  Jersey  to  undertake  the  Indian  mission.  He  applied  to 
the  Synod  for  advice,  and  though  he  had  a  very  comfortable  settlement  at 
Newark,  yet  the  Synod,  through  an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  among  these  poor  Indians,  advised  him  to  give  up  these  temporal 
advantages,  and  settle  as  a  missionary  among  those  poor  Indians,  with  which 
advice  he  readily  and  generously  complied.  But  as  there  is  no  provision 
yet  made  to  support  him,  and  to  answer  many  and  various  expenses  in 
preaching  to,  and  settling  schools  among  these  people,  the  Synod  think 
themselves  obliged  to  use  all  lawful  endeavours  to  support  said  mission,  and 
have  now  at  their  Synodical  meeting  agreed  to  contribute  themselves,  and 
to  make  application  to  the  Congregations  in  the  bounds  of  this  Synod,  for  a 
general  collection  to  promote  this  pious  and  good  design;  and  do  order  that 
a  collection  for  this  purpose  be  made  in  every  Congregation  under  the  care 
of  this  Synod,  and  that  the  respective  -ffollections  be  sent  by  the  Moderators 
of  the  Presbyteries  before  the  beginning  of  September,  to  Mr.  Jonathan 
Sergeant  near  Princeton,  who  is  to  receive  it  and  pay  it  to  the  correspond- 
ents of  the  Indian  mission,  to  be  by  them  used  for  this  purpose. 

'■^  Ordered^  That  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  taken  by  the  Moderators  of 
such  Presbyteries  as  are  present,  and  sent  to  such  as  are  absent." — Minutes^ 
1760,  p.  299. 

§  40.  Aid  sought  from  Euro'pe. 

"  Ordered,  That  Mr.  President  Davies  write,  as  soon  as  he  can  conveni- 
ently, to  the  society  for  managing  the  Indian  mission  in  Virginia,  to  let 
them  know  the  difficult  state  of  Indian  affairs  in  New  Jersey,  and  to  request 
their  interest  and  concurrence  to  obtain  some  relief  for  our  Indian  mission 
and  schools  from  the  New  England  company  in  Loudon;  and  that  the 
Board  of  Correspondence  in  New  Jersey  be  requested  by  said  Mr.  Presi- 
dent Davies  to  give  a  narrative  of  the  state  of  that  mission,  and  to  request 
the  assistance  of  the  New  England  society  for  its  support;  unless  a  fund  or 
pension  sufficient  to  support  that  mission  may  be  obtained  from  the  Scotch 
society  before  the  last  Wednesday  of  next  September." — Minutes,  1760, 
p.  300. 

§  41.  JSnd  of  Brainerd^ s  labours. 

[Brainerd  continued  in  the  service  of  the  Synod  among  the  Indians  of  New  Jersey 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  21st  day  of  March,  1781.  The  following  minute 
indicates  the  last  payment  made  to  him  on  account  of  the  mission.] 

"On  reading  the  minutes  of  last  sederunt,  it  was  on  motion, 
^^ Resolved,  That  Mr.  Duffield  be  appointed  to  apply  to  the  corporation  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  for  the  three  hundred  pounds  in  their  hands 
belonging  to  the  Synod,  with  the  interest  due  at  the  time  of  receiving,  and 
put  the  principal  into  the  Continental  Loan  Office,  and  give  the  interest  to 
Mr.  Brainerd  for  his  services  among  the  Indians." — Minutes,  1780,  p.  487. 
40 


314  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

[The  New  Jersey  Indians  had  been  much  scattered  by  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  upon 
the  death  of  Brainerd  the  mission  ceased.] 

§  42.    Oneida  mission. 

''The  Synod  taking  this  matter  into  serious  consideration,  judge  that 
though  the  mission  among  the  Oneida  Indians,  overtured  by  Mr.  Kirk- 
patrick,  is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  and  which  we  would  gladly  favour, 
were  it  in  our  power,  yet,  inasmuch  as  after  all  the  inquiry  we  can  make,  no 
person  can  be  found  to  undertake  said  mission,  nor  can  we  in  present  cir- 
cumstances raise  a  sufficient  supply  for  its  support,  it  is  agreed  that  we  will 
to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  support  Mr.  Brainerd;  and  for  this  purpose 
agree  that  another  collection  shall  be  raised  in  all  our  Congregations,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  which  shall  be  allowed  to  Mr.  Brainerd  for  the 
ensuing  year;  and  that  those  who  have  not  yet  collected  shall  be  included 
in  this  order,  besides  their  fulfilling  the  order  of  the  last  year's  Synod  on 
this  subject.  And  Mr.  Simon  Horton  is  appointed  to  notify  the  Presbytery 
of  Suffolk  of  this  determination."— Jim?(?es,  1761,  p.  311. 

"  The  Synod  having  considered  the  importance  of  the  mission  among  the 
Oneida  Indians,  and  the  small  sum  of  money  allowed  by  the  Society  in 
Britain  to  Mr.  Occam,  their  Missionary,  together  with  the  number  of  his 
family,  have  thought  proper  to  take  that  mission  under  their  consideration 
and  care  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  order  that  he  be  allowed  sixty-five 
pounds  for  this  year.  It  is  also  requested  of  the  Commissioners  in  New 
York,  that  they  write  immediately  to  the  society  in  Scotland,  praying  them 
to  grant  a  larger  sum  for  the  support  of  said  mission;  and  that  the  money 
collected  in  New  York  and  some  other  neighbouring  Congregations,  be  paid 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Bostwick,  to  enable  him  to  pay  Mr.  Occam  the  sum 
promised  him  by  the  Synod,  and  that  he  lay  a  ftiir  state  of  these  accounts 
before  the  Synod  at  their  next  meeting." — Minutes,  1763,  p.  324. 

§  43.  A  mission  of  exploration. 

"  K  request  from  the  Corporation  for  the  relief  of  poor  and  distressed 
Presbyterian  Ministers,  &c.,  was  brought  in  and  read,  which  is  as  follows:* 

<'Nov.  16,  1762.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Corporation  in  this  city  it  was 
agreed  that  this  Board  appoint  some  of  their  members  to  wait  on  the  Synod 
at  their  next  meeting,  and  in  their  name  request  that  some  Missionaries  be 
sent  to  preach  to  the  distressed  frontier  inhabitants,  and  to  report  their  dis- 
tresses, and  to  let  us  know  where  new  Congregations  are  a  forming,  and  what 
is  necessary  to  be  done  to  promote  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  them, 
and  that  they  inform  us  what  opportunities  there  may  be  of  preaching  the 
gospel  to  the  Indian  nations  in  their  neighbourhood. 

•'  And  it  is  agreed  that  the  necessary  expenses  of  these  Missionaries  be 
paid  by  this  Board,  and  that  Messrs.  John  Meas,  Dr.  Redman,  William 
Humphreys,  G-eorge  Bryans,  Treat,  Ewing,  and  the  Secretary,  wait  on  the 
Synod,  and  earnestly  press  them  to  grant  this  request. 

''In  consequence  of  the  above  request,  the  Synod  appoint  Messrs.  Beatty 
and  Brainerd  to  go  on  the  aforesaid  mission,  as  soon  as  they  can  convenient- 
ly, so  as  to  be  able  to  return  so  as  to  make  a  report  to  the  Corporation  at 
their  next  general  meeting  in  October." — Minutes,  1763,  p.  326. 

§  44. 

(a)  [Messrs.  Beatty  and  Brainerd  failed  to  fulfil  the  mission,  and  in  1766  the  subject 
was  again  taken  up,  and  Messrs.  Beatty  and  Dufficld  were  appointed  to  act]  "according 
to  the  instructions  of  the  Corporation  as  recorded  in  the  Minutes  of  A.  D.  1763." — Min- 
ules,  1766,  p.  362. 

*  [This  being  the  ouly  body  corporate  belonging  to  the  Synod,  had  charge  of  its  missionary  funds. 
See  below,  \  307.] 


iPart  II.]  EAKLIER   EFFORTS.  815 

(b)  "Messrs.  Beatty  and  Duffield's  mission  among  the  Indians  and  fron- 
tiers, came  under  consideration.  And  they  report  that  they  performed  their 
mission  to  the  frontiers  and  among  the  Indians.  That  they  found  on  the 
frontiers  numbers  of  people  earnestly  desirous  of  forming  themselves  into 
Congregations,  and  declaring  their  willingness  to  exert  their  utmost  in  order 
to  have  the  gospel  among  them,  but  in  circumstances  exceedingly  disti'ess- 
ing  and  necessitous  from  the  late  calamities  of  the  war  in  these  parts.  And 
also,  that  they  visited  the  Indians  at  the  chief  town  of  the  Delaware  Nation, 
on  the  Muskingum,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  beyond  Fort  Pitt, 
and  were  received  much  more  cheerfully  than  they  could  have  expected. 
That  a  considerable  number  of  them  waited  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
with  peculiar  attention,  many  of  them  appearing  solemnly  concerned  about 
the  great  matters  of  religion,  that  they  expressed  an  earnest  desire  of  having 
further  opportunities  of  hearing  those  things;  that  they  informed  them, 
that  several  other  tribes  of  Indians  around  them  were  ready  to  join  with 
them  in  receiving  the  gospel,  and  earnestly  desiring  an  opportunity.  Upon 
the  whole,  that  there  does  appear  a  very  agreeable  prospect  of  a  door  open- 
ing for  the  gospel  being  spread  among  these  poor  benighted  savage  tribes. 

"  The  Synod  appoint  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  to  pay  a  visit 
to  our  frontier  settlements  and  the  Indians  on  Muskingum  and  other  places, 
and  tarry  with  them  at  least  three  months  this  summer,  provided  the  report 
brought  back  by  the  Indian  interpreter,  Joseph,  from  them  and  delivered  to 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Alison,  and  Messrs.  Treat,  Beatty,  and  Ewing,  proves  encou- 
raging, which  gentlemen  are  hereby  appointed  a  committee  to  receive  and 
judge  of  said  report. 

"  Ordered,  also.  That  Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  take  no  money  from 
the  frontier  settlements  for  their  ministerial  labours  among  them." — Min- 
utes, 1767,  p.  375. 

(c)  "  Messrs.  Brainerd  and  Cooper  report,  that  they  did  not  execute  their 
mission  among  the  Indians  on  the  Muskingum,  and  other  parts,  as  ordered 
at  last  Synod,  by  reason  of  the  discouraging  accounts  brought  in  by  the 
interpreter,  Joseph,  sent  out,  as  mentioned  in  our  last  year's  minutes,  and 
other  discouraging  circumstances.  And  as  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Brainerd  had 
occasion  to  be  at  the  expense  of  sending  an  Indian  to  prepare  the  way  for 
his  intended  mission,  therefore  the  Synod  do  agree  to  pay  the  sum  of  five 
pounds  to  discharge  said  expense. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Synodical  treasurer  pay  said  sum." — Minutes,  1768, 
p.  380. 

§  45.   Mission  to  the  western  Indians  proposed. 

"The  Synod  taking  under  consideration  the  deplorable  condition  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  the  natives  of  this  land,  who  sit  in  heathenish  darkness,  and 
are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,  do  appoint  the  following  persons  to  be 
a  committee  to  draw  up  and  concert  a  general  plan,  to  be  laid  before  this  Sy- 
nod at  their  next  meeting,  to  be  approved  by  them  in  order  to  prepare  the 
way  to  propagate  the  gospel  among  these  benighted  people,  viz.  Dr.  Alison, 
Messrs.  Read,  Treat,  Ewing,  William  Tennent,  Rodgers,  Brainerd,  Me- 
Whortcr,  Caldwell,  Dr.  Williamson,  Charles  Thomson,  and  the  Moderator, 
to  meet  at  Elizabethtown,  the  first  Wednesday  of  October  next." — Minutes^ 
1768,  p.  380. 

[The  committee  reported]  "  that  it  appeared  to  them  as  yet  inexpedient 
to  enter  on  that  important  work. 

"  Ordered,  That  Dr.  Alison,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Mr.  Brain- 
erd, and  Mr.  Ewing,  be  a  committee  to  consult  whether  any  plan  can  yet  be 


316  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

devised  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  and  make   a  report  to  the  Synod  next 
Tuesday  morniuji;." — Minutes,  17G9,  p.  oOl. 
[This  committee  failed  to  report.]  ^  ' 

Title  5. — Labours  among  the  Western  Indians. 

§46. 

[The  Assembly  being  about  to  raise  a  collection  for  sacred  uses,  among  other  objects 
proposed,] 

"1.  The  gospelizing  of  the  Indians  on  the  frontiers  of  our  country,  con- 
nected with  a  phm  for  their  civilization,  the  want  of  which  it  is  believed  has 
been  a  great  cause  of  the  failure  of  former  attempts  to  spread  Christianity 
among  them.  The  ideas  of  the  president  of  the  corporation  [Dr.  Boudinot,] 
delivered  in  his  address  at  their  first  meeting,  would,  on  this  point,  deserve 
a  serious  attention." — Minutes^  1800,  p.  195. 

§  47.  Origin  of  the  Sandusky  Mission. 
"  The  Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains,  reported,  that  during  the  last  year  they  sent  out  six  mis- 
sionaries; two  to  Detroit,  who  reported  favourably  of  the  disposition  of  the 
people  there  to  receive  the  gospel.  They  there  met  with  a  young  Indian, 
who  expressed  a  great  desire  of  obtaining  learning,  whom  they  brought  with 
them  on  their  return,  and  who  now  appears  to  be  seriously  exercised  about 
the  great  concerns  of  his  immortal  soul.  Two  others  were  sent  to  Corn- 
planter,  chief  of  the  Senecas;  he  received  them  kindly,  and  it  is  expected 
that  some  of  his  young  people  will  come  in  during  the  ensuing  summer  in 
order  to  be  instructed.  Two  others  were  sent  to  the  settlements  on  the 
Muskingum.  In  the  course  of  last  winter  the  Commission  opened  a  sub- 
scription, and  have  a  prospect  of  obtaining  something  considerable  for  the 
support  of  missionaries,  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  frontier  settlements,  and 
among  the  Indians." — Minutes,  1801,  p.  224, 

§  48.  Report  in  1802. 

"  Agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  Assembly,  the  Commission  of  the  Synod 
of  Virginia,  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains,  reported,  that  since  their  last 
report  they  have  sent  out  nine  missionaries  for  different  periods  of  time; 
that  of  these,  three  were  sent  to  the  Indians,  viz.  Shawanese,  and  other  In- 
dians about  Detroit  and  Sandusky;  that  they  have  also  sent  among  the 
Indians  a  young  man  of  a  pious  character,  to  instruct  them  in  agriculture, 
and  make  some  instruments  of  husbandry  for  them;  that  Blue  Jacket,  an 
Indian  boy,  instructed  under  their  direction,  has  given  evidence  of  a  work  of 
grace  on  his  heart,  been  received  to  Church  communion,  and  will  go  out  this 
summer  as  an  interpreter;  and  that,  on  the  whole,  the  prospects  of  success 
in  that  quarter  are  flattering,  as  well  among  the  Indians  as  the  frontier 
whites." — Minutes,  1802,  p.  238. 

[Upon  the  division  of  the  Synod  this  field  fell  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh.] 

§  49.  Rqiort  in  1805. 
"The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  reported,  that  since  the  meeting  of  the  last 
Assembly,  they  sent  two  missionaries  for  two  months  to  the  settlements  on 
the  Allegheny  river  and  Lake  Pjrie;  one  for  three  mouths,  to  the  settle- 
ments down  the  Ohio  river.  That  a  missionary  which  they  sent  for  one 
month  to  the  AVyandot  Indians  was  so  well  received,  and  made  so  good  a 
report,  that  the  Synod  have  appointed  three  ministers,  to  spend  two  montlis 
each,  in  succession  among  them  during  the  ensuing  summer." — MinuteSj 
1805,  p.  323. 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.  317 

§  50.   Report  and  action  in  1806. 

(«)  "  The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  did  not  make  a  formal  report  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  a  letter  to  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  qf  Missions  from  the 
Board  of  Trust,  which  has  the  immediate  direction  of  the  missionary  busi- 
ness in  that  Synod,  was  laid  before  the  Assembly  and  read.  From  this  it 
appeared  that  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  with  a  commendable  zeal,  and  flat- 
tering prospects  of  success,  are  attempting  the  instruction  and  civilization  of 
the  Wyandot  Indians,  residing  at  and  about  Sandusky;  that  the  Synod  sent 
three  missionaries  thither  last  summer,  each  of  whom  spent  two  months  or 
more,  in  the  service,  and  were  well  received  by  the  Indians;  that  the  Indians 
having  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  have  the  gospel  established  in  the  na- 
tion, a  school  for  the  education  of  their  children,  and  the  arts  of  civil  life 
introduced  among  them  ;  the  Synod,  encouraged  by  these  favourable  appear- 
ances, had  made  the  greatest  efforts  to  follow  the  leadings  of  divine  provi- 
dence in  this  case.  They  employed  the  Rev.  Joseph  Badger  as  a  stated 
missionary  for  one  year,  two  white  men  as  labourers,  of  whom  one  to  be 
eventually  employed  as  a  schoolmaster;  one  black  man,  (acquainted  with 
their  language  and  hopefully  pious,)  and  his  wife.  They  also  purchased 
sundry  live-stock,  household  furniture,  implements  of  husbandry,  a  boat  for 
transportation,  &c.,  all  which  were  to  be  forwarded  to  Sandusky  about  the 
first  of  April  last;  that  measures  are .  taking  to  procure  from  the  General 
Government  a  grant  of  land,  as  an  establishment  for  the  mission,  and 
to  be  cultivated  for  its  support;  that  the  Synod,  animated  with  a  noble 
zeal  in  this  glorious  cause,  are  extending  their  views  to  the  Seneca  Indians, 
settled  on  the  Allegheny  river ;  and  devising  means  for  bringing  them  '  out 
of  darkness  into  marvellous  light.'  On  the  whole,  the  Assembly  were  highly 
gratified  by  the  prospects  opened  to  them  by  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh;  and 
only  regret  the  want  of  means,  to  realize  the  blessings  they  present." — Min- 
utes, 1806,  p.  865. 

(6)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  highly  approve  the  zeal  of  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburgh,  displayed  in  undertaking,  at  so  considerable  expense,  a  mis- 
sion among  the  Wyandot  Indians;  but  the  Assembly  cannot,  for  the  present 
year,  take  under  their  immediate  care  the  said  mission,  nor  the  missionary 
concerns  generally  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  agreeably 
to  a  request  which  appears  on  the  records  of  that  Synod;  but  willing  to 
favour  so  valuable  an  object,  they  hereby  direct  and  authorize  the  Trustees 
of  the  Genera]  Assembly  to  pay,  for  the  present  year,  two  hundred  dollars 
to  the  Board  of  Trust  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  for  the  support  of  the 
Indian  mission  under  their  care;  and  if  it  shall  appear  consistent  with  the  state 
of  the  funds,  after  the  missionary  arrangements  generally  for  the  present 
year  shall  have  been  made,  the  Committee  of  Missions  and  Trustees  of  the 
Assembly  are  authorized  and  directed  to  apply  one  hundred  dollars  more, 
toward  promoting  the  important  design  herein  before  mentioned." — Mimites, 
1800,  p.  361. 

§  51.   Aid  from  the  Assemhly. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  pay,  when  the 
circumstances  of  the  funds,  during  the  present  year,  will  admit,  four  hundred 
dollars  to  the  Board  of  Trust  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  for  the  support 
of  the  Indian  mission  under  their  care :  and  if  it  shall  appear  consistent 
with  the  state  of  the  funds,  after  provision  shall  have  been  made  to  satisfy, 
generally,  the  other  appropriations  for  missionary  services,  the  trustees  be 
authorized  and  directed  to  pay,  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee 
of  Missions,  one  hundred  dollars  more,  toward  promoting  the  important 
design  above  mentioned." — Minutes,  1808,  p.  406. 


318  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

§  52.    Transfer  to  the  American  Board. 

[Similar  appropriations  were  made  to  this  Mission  by  the  Assembly  for  a  series  of 
years. 

In  1 822,  this  mission  was  transferred  to  Mauraee,  on  account  of  the  dispersion  of  the 
Indians  from  Sandusky.  In  182.5  the  Synod  transferred  this  mission  to  the  United  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  which  by  its  union  with  the  American  Board,  in  1826,  transferred 
this  mission  to  that  Society — the  second  mission  of  our  Church  absorbed  by  that  Board 
on  the  eve  of  a  prosperous  career.     See  below  §§  59-63.] 

§  53.  Efforts  to  obtain  missionaries. 

''Resolved,  That  the  respective  Presbyteries  also  report  to  the  next  Assem- 
bly all  such  persons  under  their  care  as  are  proper  to  be  employed,  and  may 
be  procured,  to  serve  as  Missionaries  to  the  Indian  tribes,  the  frontier  settle- 
ments, the  destitute  portions  of  the  interior,  or  to  the  black  people.  And 
that  they  be  especially  careful  to  report  none  for  these  services  but  those  of 
whose  meetness  for  the  work  they  have  entire  satisfaction." — Minutes,  1801, 
p.  230. 

"  Missionaries  for  the  Indians  is  a  great  desideratum  with  the  Assembly. 
The  hope  of  contributing  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  tribes,  prompted 
the  liberality  of  many  who  contributed  most  largely  to  the  funds  which  the 
Assembly  have  at  command;  and  it  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  the 
last  Assembly  found  that  they  had  not  a  single  candidate  for  an  Indian  Mis- 
sion. If  your  Presbytery  can  nominate  one  who  is  well  qualified,  it  will  be 
an  important  acquisition." — Circular  of  the  Committee  of  Missions,  1802. 

Title  6. — Missions  among  the  Southern  Indians. 
^  §  54. 

(a)   The  Catawbas.  ' 

"The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  in  like  manner  failed  to  make  a  written 
report,  but  the  members  present  informed  the  Assembly,  that  the  said  Synod 
at  their  sessions  in  October  last,  appointed  seven  Missionaries  to  itinerate 
within  their  bounds  and  parts  adjacent  the  present  year,  of  whom  one  was  to 
spend  some  time  in  missionary  labours  among  the  Catawba  Indians." — 3Iin- 
utes,  1803,  p.  278. 

(6)  Mr.  Blackburn's  School  among  the  Cherokees. 

[Mr.  Blackburn  having  on  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  Missions,  established  a  school 
at  Hywassee,  the  Assembly] — 

''Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Missions  be  authorized,  in  case  they 
think  it  proper,  to  apply  to  the  General  Government,  or  to  any  of  the  par- 
ticular State  Governments,  for  obtaining  aid  in  supporting  the  school  already 
established  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blackburn  among  the  Cherokee 
Indians,  or  any  other  school  or  schools  which  may  be  established  among  any 
of  the  Indian  Nations,  or  for  promoting  their  civilization  in  general." — Min- 
utes, 1805,  p.  331. 

"  The  prospects  with  respect  to  the  Indians  are  highly  encouraging. 
A  school  has  been  established  among  the  Cherokees,  in  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see, under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blackburn,  with  flattering  prospects. 
Some  of  the  Indian  tribes  to  the  westward  seem  also  favourably  disposed  to 
receive  the  gospel,  and  have  expressed  an  earnest  desire  to  have  schools 
established  among  them.  The  school  among  the  Catawbas  established  by 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  is  also  continued;  and  several  young  men  of  the 
different  tribes  have  received  and  are  now  receiving  their  education  under 
the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh." — Minutes,  1805,  p.  333. 


Part  II.]  EARLIER   EFFORTS.  319 

(c)  Mr.  Blackburn's  second  school. 

^'Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  highly  approve  of  every  zealous  and 
prudent  eifort  to  propagate  the  gospel  among  the  Indian  nations,  and  judge 
that  the  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn  has  been  animated  by  a  commendable  zeal 
in  establishing  a  second  Indian  school  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  which  the 
Assembly  would  earnestly  recommend  to  the  patronage  of  charitable  and  lib- 
eral individuals;  yet  the  Assembly  are  at  present  unable  to  pledge  their 
funds  in  any  degree  for  the  support  of  said  school." — Minutes,  1806,  p.  362. 

§  55.    This  ground  assumed  hy  the  American  Board. 

[During  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  in  1810  the  Committee  of  Missions  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Blackburn  resigning  the  mission.  About  $8000  had  been  expended,  and 
the  mission  was  in  a  most  encouraging  posture.  The  committee  and  Assembly  deter- 
mined to  continue  the  mission.  "But  while  they  were  looking  for  Missionaries  possessing 
suitable  qualifications  for  the  work,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kingsbury,  acting  under  the  authority  of 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  established  in  New  England,  passed 
through  this  city  [Philadelphia]  to  occupy  the  field  in  which  our  Missionary  had  been 
labouring  for  so  many  years.  When  Mr.  K.  waited  on  the  Chairman  of  the  committee,  to 
know  whether  they  had  any  objections  to  his  mission  to  the  Cherokees,  he  was  informed 
that  the  committee  could  not  object  to  his  labouring  for  the  benefit  of  that  benighted  people ; 
but  he  was  at  the  same  time  distinctly  apprized  of  their  design  to  resume  the  mission  as  soon 
as  Providence  should  be  pleased  to  furnish  them  with  suitable  Missionaries." — Ssscmbhfs 
Digest  of  1820,  p.  376.  The  American  Board  however  sent  on  their  Missionary  and  took 
possession  of  the  field,  then  ripening  to  the  harvest,  in  which  they  have  reaped  the  fruits  of 
Christianity  and  civilization  by  which  the  Cherokees  are  now  so  distinguished.] 

Title  7. — Overture  from  the  American  Board. 
§56. 

'*  A  letter  addressed  to  the  Moderator  from  the  Eev.  Samuel  Worcester, 
Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
dated  Salem,  Massachusetts,  was  received  and  read,  and  referred  to  the  fol- 
lowing committee',  viz.  Drs.  McKnight,  Green,  Milledoler,  and  Blatchford, 
and  Mr.  Campbell,  who  were  directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly  the  order 
proper  to  be  taken  by  them  on  the  contents  of  the  letter." 

"  The  committee  to  which  was  referred  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Mode- 
rator by  the  Secretary  of  the  '  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,'  reported,  and  the  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

"  That  having  had  under  consideration  the  important  and  interesting  vote 
of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners,  by  which  they  submit  to  the 
Assembly,  '  the  expediency  of  forming  an  institution  similar  to  theirs, 
between  which  and  them  may  be  such  a  co-operation  as  shall  promote  the 
great  object  of  missions  amongst  unevangelized  nations,'  it  appears  proper 
to  state, 

"  1.  That  it  is  matter  of  sincere  joy,  in  their  apprehension,  to  all  who  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  the  souls  of  men,  a  joy  in  which  the  committee 
doubt  not  that  the  Assembly  has  a  lively  participation,  that  the  brethren  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  have,  by  the 
exertions  they  have  used,  and  the  success  of  those  exertions,  demonstrated, 
that  the  Churches  of  America  are  desirous  to  embark  with  their  Protestant 
brethren  in  Europe  in  the  holy  enterprise  of  evangelizing  the  heathen. 

"  2.  That  as  the  Churches  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly  rejoice  in  the 
Foreign  Missions,  organized  and  about  to  be  organized  by  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners,  so,  as  opportunity  favours,  they  ought  to  aid  them, 
as  they  have  iu  a  measure  already  aided  them  by  contributions  to  their  funds, 


320  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

and  by  every  other  facility  wliicli  they  could  offer  to  so  commendable  an 
undertaking. 

"3.  That  as  the  business  of  Foreign  Missions  may  probably  be  best  managed 
under  the  direction  of  a  single  Board,  so  the  numerous  and  extensive  engage- 
ments of  the  Assembly  in  regard  to  Domestic  Missions,  renders  it  extremely 
inconvenient  at  this  time  to  take  a  part  in  Foreign  Missions.  And  the 
Assembly,  it  is  apprehended,  may  the  rather  decline  these  missions,  inasmuch 
as  the  committee  are  informed  that  Missionary  Societies  have  lately  been 
instituted  in  several  places  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  make  Foreign  Missions  a  particular  object  of  iheir  attention." 

Title  8. — The  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

§  57.  Its  organization. 

[The  Assembly  having  appointed  a  committee  to  devise  measures  for  greater  efficiency 
in  missions,  by  which  the  plan  was  devised  for  erecting  the  Committee  of  Missions  into  a 
Board,] 

"The  committee  further  report,  that  while  deliberating  on  the  subject 
referred  to  them,  they  at  first  thought  it  would  be  expedient  for  this  Assem- 
bly to  present  to  the  consideration  of  their  Churches  the  importance  of 
Foreign  Missions,  and  to  direct  the  Board  to  take  measures  for  commencing 
and  carrying  on  such  missions;  but,  on  mature  reflection,  they  are  inclined 
to  believe  that  the  union  of  Foreign  with  Domestic  Missions,  would  produce 
too  great  complexity  in  the  affairs  of  the  Board,  and  render  the  pressure  of 
business  too  severe  and  burdensome.  And  this  consideration  is  strength- 
ened by  the  belief  which  they  indulge,  that  a  new  Society  for  conducting 
Foreign  Missions  might  be  formed,  composed  not  only  of  members  belong- 
ing to  our  Churches,  but  also  of  members  belonging  to  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  and  other  Churches  which  have 
adopted  the  same  creed.  Such  a  Society  is  highly  desirable,  and  were  it 
organized  on  an  extensive  plan,  so  as  to  call  forth  the  combined  energies 
and  charity  of  all  these  sister  Churches,  it  would  be  productive  of  beneficial 
consequences,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  to  ourselves  as  well  as  to  the 
heathen. 

'^Ecsohed,  That  the  Rev.  John  B.  Romeyn,  D.  D.,  Archibald  Alexan- 
der, D.  D.,  Edward  Griffin,  D.  D.,  William  Ncill,  D.  D.,  and  James  Rich- 
ards, D.  D.,  and  Messrs.  Divie  Bethune,  and  Zechariah  Lewis,  be  a  committee 
to  correspond  with  the  Dutch  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  and  other , 
Churches  holding  the  same  creed;  and  endeavour  to  ascertain  whether  the 
members  of  those  Churches  will  unite  with  those  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  in  the  formation  of  a  society  for  foreign  missions;  and> 
if  possible,  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly  a  plan  of  a  society  to  be 
established  for  this  purpose." — Miriutes,  1816,  p.  638. 
§  58.   Its  constitution. 

"The  committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  correspond  with  the 
Dutch  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  and  other  Churches  holding  the 
same  creed,  to  endeavour  to  ascertain  whether  the  members  of  those  Churches 
will  unite  with  those  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  in 
the  formation  of  a  society  for  foreign  missions;  and  if  possible,  report  to  the 
next  Assembly  a  plan  of  a  society  to  be  established  for  the  purpose,  report- 
ed, and  their  report  being  read  was  approved,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"Constitution,  &c. 
^^ Article  1.  This  society  shall  be  composed  of  the  Presbyterian,  Dutch 
Reformed;  Associate  Reformed,  and  all  other  Churches  which  may  choose 


Part  II.]  '         EARLIER   EFFORTS.  321 

to  join  them,  and  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  United  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Sociefi/. 

^'Arf.  2.  The  object  of  the  society  shall  be  to  spread  the  gospel  among 
the  Indians  of  North  America,  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  and  South  Ame- 
rica, and  in  other  portions  of  the  heathen  and  antichristian  world. 

"Art.  ii.  The  business  of  the  society  shall  be  conducted  by  a  Board  con- 
sisting of  a  President,  six  Vice-presidents,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a 
Kecording  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  twelve  Managers;  to  be  annually 
chosen  by  the  society.  They  shall  have  power  to  enact  their  own  by-laws. 
Seven  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

"Art.  4.  The  Board  shall  present  their  annual  report  to  the  highest  judi- 
catories of  the  three  denominations  for  their  information. 

"Art.  5.  Any  person  paying  three  dollars  annually,  or  thirty  dollars  at 
one  time,  shall  be  a  member  of  the  society. 

"Art.  6.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  society  shall  be  held  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  on  the . 

"Art.  7.  Missionaries  shall  be  selected  from  the  three  Churches  indiscri- 
minately. 

"Art.  8.  This  Constitution  may  be  altered  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the 
members  present,  at  an  annual  meeting,  with  the  consent  of  the  highest 
judicatories  of  the  three  denominations. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Greneral  Assembly  approve  the  foregoing  Constitu- 
tion for  a  society  for  foreign  missions,  and  recommend  to  all  their  Ministers 
and  people  to  give  the  measure  their  active  and  zealous  support. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  B.  Romeyn,  and  Mr.  Zechariah 
Lewis,  be,  and  they  hereby  are  appointed  to  meet,  on  behalf  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  committees  from  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  and  the  Synod  of  the  Associate 
Reformed  Church,  as  soon  as  may  be,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  the  aforesaid  plan  into  operation." — Minutes,  1817,  p.  6.57. 

§  59.    Overture  for  union  with  the  American  Board. 

"Overture  No.  8  was  taken  up.     This  overture  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  'The  accompanying  basis  of  a  union  between  the  United  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  having  been  unanimously  agreed  upon  by  the  managers  of  these 
societies  respectively;  the  same  having  received  the  cordial  approbation  of 
the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  at  its  late  annual  meeting,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  McAuley,  Rev.  Messrs.  McElroy,  McCartee,  and  Mason,  together 
with  Joseph  Nourse,  and  Zechariah  Lewis,  Esqs.,  being  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  present  the  articles  of  union,  already  referred  to,  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  their  consent  to  the  same;  said  commit- 
tee beg  leave  to  discharge  the  duty  thus  imposed  upon  them.' 

"The  above  overture  was  read  and  committed  to  Dr.  Richards,  Dr.  Ax- 
tell,  Mr.  Peters,  Mr.  Reid,  and  Mr.  Jennings,  with  instructions  to  report 
to-morrow." — Minutes,  1826,  p.  16. 

[The  following  are  the  proposed  articles  of  union  thus  announced.] 

§  60.   Preliminary  terms  of  union. 

"  As  the  amalgamation  of  the  two  societies  cannot  be  completed  till  after  it  shall  have 
received  the  sanction  of  the  highest  judicatories  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the 
Keformed  Dutch  Church,  which  cannot  take  place  before  the  meeting  of  those  bodies  in 
May  next,  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  on  the  one  part, 
and  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  on  the  other  part,  agree 
to  these  five  preliminary  articles,  viz. 

"  1.  A  document  shall  be  issued  jointly  by  the  Prudential  Committee  of  this  Board,  and 
41 


322  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  Y. 

by  the  Directors  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  as  soon  ns  it  can  be  con- 
veniently prepared,  stating  and  ex[)Uiiiing  in  what  sense  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions  is  a  National  Institution;  how  it  is  organized;  the  reasons 
for  hoping  and  believing  that  this  organization  will  continue  to  receive  the  confidence  of 
the  Christian  community  ;  and  the  reasons  which  have  had  weight  in  promoting  the  con- 
templated union. 

"  2.  During  the  interval  which  must  elapse  between  the  present  time*  and  May  next, 
the  Directors  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  will  make  all  practicable  exertions 
to  replenish  its  treasury  ;  so  that,  should  the  proposed  union  take  place,  the  engagements 
to  be  assumed  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  may  be  as 
few  and  as  small  as  possible. 

"3.  The  Directors  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  will  correspond  with  the 
missionaries  under  its  care,  explaining  to  them  the  proposed  union,  and  advising  them, 
if  the  measure  should  be  adopted,  to  transfer  their  relation  to  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

"4.  The  Directors  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  will  direct  the  missionaries 
of  the  several  stations,  not  to  enter  upon  any  new  measures  involving  expense,  and  gene- 
rally to  practise  the  strictest  economy,  till  the  result  of  this  proposed  measure  shall  be 
known. 

«'  5.  As  the  Directors  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  contemplate  sending  an 
agent  to  visit  the  stations  west  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Prudential  Committee  will,  if  prac- 
ticable, send  an  agent  also  to  accompany  him,  and  ascertain  from  personal  inspection,  the 
condition  of  these  stations." 

§  61.   Permanent  terms  of  union. 

"  The  following  principles  are  adopted  as  the  basis  of  the  proposed  union,  which  princi- 
ples, when  consented  to  by  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  the  judicatories 
above  referred  to,  shall  thenceforward  he  binding  on  both  Societies. 

"  I.  The  missionaries  now  in  the  employment  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
shall,  if  their  character  and  standing  remain  unimpeached,  be  received  as  missionaries  of 
the  Board;  and  if  any  of  them  should  be  unwilling  to  enter  into  this  new  relation,  they 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  retire  from  the  stations  which  they  now  occupy. 

"  2.  The  property,  of  every  kind,  belonging  to  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
whether  at  the  missionary  stations  or  elsewhere,  shall  be  transferred  to  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  on  the  ratification  of  this  union. 

"  3.  The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  will  assume  all  the 
engagements  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  as  they  shall  stand  at  the  time 
of  said  ratification;  it  being  understood,  however,  that  the  fourth  preliminary  article  shall 
have  been  complied  with. 

«  4.  In  the  election  of  members,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  charter,  in  the 
appointment  of  missionaries,  occasional  agents  and  other  functionaries,  and  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  all  its  concerns,  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  will 
endeavour  to  merit  the  high  character  of  a  truly  national  Institution,  and  acquire  and 
retain  the  afleciions  and  confidence  of  all  classes  of  persons  who  have  heretofore  aided 
either  of  these  Societies,  and  of  all  others  who  may  wish  to  promote  the  salvation  of  the 
heathen. 

"  5.  As  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  has  heretofore 
consisted,  with  few  exceptions,  of  persons  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian,  Reformed  Dutch 
and  Congregational  Churches,  and  as  its  national  character  will  always  insure  the  election 
of  a  competent  and  satisfactory  number  of  persons  from  these  religious  communities,  the 
Board  will  send  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  the  several  General  Associations  in  the  New  England 
States,  as  many  copies  of  its  annual  reports,  and  other  printed  documents,  as  shall  be  suf- 
ficient to  furnish  each  member  of  thtse  bodies  with  a  copy,  not  only  as  a  token  of  respect, 
but  that  means  of  information  may  be  aflTorded  in  regard  to  the  measures  of  the  Board  and 
its  missionaries,  and  to  any  success  which  God  may  grant  to  its  exertions. 

6.  The  highest  judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  will  recommend  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  as 
a  national  Institution,  and  entitled  to  the  warm  support  and  efficient  patronage  of  the 
Churches  under  thj'ir  respective  jurisdictions. 

7.  The  periodical  publications  of  the  Board  shall  be  sent  gratuitously  to  all  societies 

*[The  meeting  of  the  AmericaD  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Miseions,  in  Sept.  1S25.J 


Part   II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  823 

and  individuals  now  entitled  to  the  periodical  publications  of  the  United  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society  ;  and  on  the  ratification  of  this  union,  the  Missionary  Herald  shall  take  the 
place  of  the  Missionary  Register." 

§  G2.   Rejection  of  the  terms  hy  the  Assemhiy. 

[The  committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly  came  in  the  next  day  with  a  report  recom- 
mending that  the  union  be  ratified  on  the  terms  above  given.  In  the  discussion  that 
followed,  Dr.  Janeway  having  the  floor,  moved  to  strike  out  the  6th  of  the  permanent 
articles,  but  upon  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Alexander,  modified  the  motion  so  as  to  strike 
out  all  the  terms,  which  passed  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote.  After  the  adoption  of  the 
first  of  the  following  resolutions  (§  63),  a  member  remarked,  "We  have  saddled  the  Ameri- 
can Board  with  a  debt,  and  have  not  even  recommended  our  Churches  to  aid  in  extin- 
guishing it.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  recommendation  for  the  contributions  of  the  Churches, 
which  you  may  recall  next  year,  if  you  do  not  like  it."  It  was  adopted,  and  is  the  second 
of  the  following  resolutions.] — MS.  letter  from  Dr.  Janeway. 

§  63.  Act  of  the  Assembly  on  the  subject. 

"The  report  of  the  committee  on  a  communication  from  a  committee  of 
the  Managers  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  taken  up,  and 
after  mature  deliberation,  it  was 

"Resoloed,  That  the  Greneral  Assembly  do  consent  to  the  amalgamation 
of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  the 
United  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

'^Resolved,  further,  That  this  General  Assembly  recommend  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  to  the  favourable  notice 
and  Christian  support  of  the  Church  and  people  under  our  care." — Minutes, 
1826,  p.  20. 


CHAPTER  II. 

board  of  domestic  missions. 

Title  1. — Antecedent  Measures. 

'  §64.  Action  of  the  first  General  Assembly. 

[Upon  the  reorganization  of  the  Church  in  1789,  the  business  of  Missions  was  at  once 
recognized  as  paramount  both  by  the  Synods  and  Assembly.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
latter,  the  following  minute  was  adopted.] 

'^Resolved,  That  each  Synod  be,  and  they  hereby  are  requested  to  recom- 
mend to  the  General  Assembly  at  their  next  meeting,  two  members  well 
qualified  to  be  employed  in  missions  on  our  frontiers;  for  the  purposes  of 
organizing  Churches,  administering  ordinances,  ordaining  Elders,  collecting 
information  concerning  the  religious  state  of  those  parts,  and  proposing  the 
best  means  of  establishing  a  gospel  ministry  among  the  people.  And  in 
order  to  provide  means  for  defraying  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  mission, 
it  is  strictly  enjoined  on  the  several  Presbyteries,  to  have  collections  made 
during  the  present  year,  in  the  several  Congregations  under  our  care,  and 
fu'warded  to  Isaac  Suowden,  Esq.,  the  Treasurer  of  the  General  Assembly, 
with  all  convenient  speed." — Minutes,  1789,  p.  10. 

§  65.    Committee  of  Missions  raised. 

[Next  year]  "Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  Alison,  Mr.  Ker,  Mr.  Hanna,  and  Mr. 
Chambers,  were  app(jinted  a  committee  to  prepare  certain  directions  neces- 
sary fur  the  missionaries  of  the  Assembly,  in  fulfilling  the  design  of  their 


824  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

mission,  anrl  to  specify  the  compensation  that  it  will  be  proper  to  make  them 
for  their  services.'' 

"The  Committee  of  Missions,  appointed  yesterday,  brought  in  their 
report,  which  was  read  and  approved,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  llev.  Messrs.  Nathan  Ker  and  Joshua  Hart  were  appointed  nvis- 
sionaries  on  the  frontier  settlements  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  to  the 
west  branch  of  the  8us((uehanna,  for  at  least  three  months,  from  an  early 
day  in  June;  to  preach  the  gospel,  administer  other  ordinances,  organize 
churches,  ordain  Elders,  collect  every  useful  information  they  can  about  the 
religious  state  of  thuse  parts,  and  lay  before  the  Assembly  the  result  of  their 
inquiries  respecting  the  most  eftectual  means  of  establishing  a  gospel  minis- 
try among  the  people;  together  with  the  probable  proportion  of  the  differ- 
ent denominations,  and  the  number  of  our  vacancies,  carefully  distinguish- 
ing those  who  are  able  and  willing  to  support  a  Minister,  from  such  as  are  of 
a  different  description.     It  was  at  the  same  time 

'^Ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  advance  to  the  missionaries  fifty  dollars 
each;  and  agreed,  that  they  shall  receive  for  their  services  one  hundred 
dollars  each,  including  what  may  be  received  by  them  on  their  tour  and  the 
sum  advanced  before  their  departure,  and  of  this  they  are  to  render  an  account 
at  their  return. 

"  No  other  Ministers  having  been  recommended  for  the  same  employ- 
ment, likely  to  fulfil  it,  the  Assembly  renewed  the  order  of  the  last  year  on 
this  subject  to  the  Synods;  with  an  addition,  to  apply  to  the  several  Pres- 
byteries under  their  care,  to  nominate  suitable  persons,  who  may  be  sent 
among  our  frontier  vacancies  as  missionaries;  and  to  transmit  their  opinions, 
from  time  to  time,  on  the  most  promising  methods  of  advancing  the  great 
end  in  view;  and  that  Presbyteries  be  informed  that  collections  have  been 
received  to  assist  in  defraying  their  necessary  expenses." — Minutes,  1790, 
pp.  23,  25. 

[Henceforward  this  was  one  of  the  stated  committees  of  the  General  Assembly.] 

§  66.   The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  jjermifted  to  manage  the  missions  within 

her  bounds. 

"  The  General  Assembly,  taking  into  consideration  the  distance  of  the 
seat  of  the  [Synod  of  the]  Carolinas  from  the  seat  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  especially  the  peculiar  state  of  the  currency  of  North  Carolina, 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  be  allowed  so  to  manage  the 
matter  of  sending  missionaries  to  places  destitute  of  the  gospel  and  its  ordi- 
nances, as  may  appear  to  that  Synod  most  conducive  to  the  interest  of  reli- 
gion in  their  bounds;  provided,  that  the  above  Synod  send  annually  to  this 
Assembly  a  particular  account  of  their  proceedings  on  the  above  subject, 
'  with  a  regular  statement  of  the  money  that  may  be  collected  and  disbursed 
for  the  support  of  the  above  Missionaries." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  38. 

§  67.    The  Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia. 

"In  behalf  of  the  missionaries  from  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  Mr.  John  B. 
Smith  and  Mr.  Graham  brought  in  the  following  report,  viz. 

"The  Synod  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  state  of  the  vacant  Conqiregations 
within  their  bounds,  and  viewing  with  much  concern  the  miserable  state  of  multitudes  who 
have  none  to  break  the  bread  of  life  amongst  them,  and  are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge ; 
and  being  afll'cted  with  the  situation  of  the  youth  upon  whom  the  hope  of  the  Church 
seems  in  future  to  depend,  who  are  likely  to  be  brought  up  in  ignorance  and  profanity ; 
desirous  to  remedy  these  evils  as  far  as  practicable,  in  dependence  on  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church,  have  resolved  to  adopt  the  following  plan. 

1.  That  we  will  take  all  proper  care  to  seek  for  men  of  knowledge,  integrity  and  piety, 
who  may  travel  throughout  our  bounds  as  missionaries,  to  preach  the  gospel,  to  catechize 


Part  II.]  THE   BOAED   OF  MISSIONS.  325 

and  instruct  the  youth,  and  to  discharge  such  other  parts  of  ministerial  duty,  as  they  may 
be  authorized  to  perform. 

2.  That  there  shall  be  a  committee  of  Synod  appointed,  consisting  of  four  Ministers  and 
four  Elders,  who  shall  be  called  'the  Commission  of  Synod;'  to  receive  the  recommenda- 
tions of  such  men  from  the  respective  Presbyteries;  to  examine  into  their  credentials  and 
fitness  for  the  discharge  of  such  an  office,  and  who  shall  give  them  such  directions  and 
instructions  as  the  exigencies  of  different  places,  in  their  wisdom,  may  require ;  that  they 
shall  meet  annually,  and  oftener  if  thought  necessary  ;  and  that  any  two  Ministers,  and  as 
many  Elders  of  the  Commission  as  shall  be  convened  at  the  place  appointed  shall  have 
sufficient  power  to  proceed  to  business. 

3.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  different  Presbyteries  to  raise  such  contributions  as 
they  may  be  able,  in  their  respective  bounds,  which  shall  be  put  into  a  general  fund  for  the 
support  of  such  missionaries. 

4.  That  there  shall  be  a  Treasurer  appointed,  in  whose  hands  the  money  raised  by  the 
different  Presbyteries  shall  be  deposited;  who  shall  keep  a  fair  book  of  accounts, give  and 
take  receipts  for  all  money  received  or  paid  away  by  him ;  and  shall  make  a  return  to  the 
Commission  of  the  Synod  or  to  the  Synod  as  often  as  may  be  required;  and  that  he  pay 
out  such  sums  upon  the  order  of  the  Commission,  to  the  different  missionaries,  as  may  be 
appropriated  to  them ;  and  all  those  collections  or  donations  that  may  be  received  by  the 
different  missionaries  from  the  Societies,  [Churches]  shall  be  accounted  for  by  the  said 
Missionaries  to  the  Commission  of  Synod. 

In  consequence  of  the  above  arrangement,  the  Rev,  Messrs.  William  Graham,  John  B. 
Smith,  James  Mitchel,  ^and  William  Wilson,  Ministers,  and  Messrs.  Benjamin  Rice, 
Charles  Allen,  John  Lyle,  and  John  Wilson,  Elders,  have  been  appointed  to  constitute  the 
Commission  of  Synod. 

Mr.  Nash  Le  Grand,  a  probationer  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  was 
chosen  a  Missionary  in  April,  1790.  He  commenced  his  circuit  in  the  beginning  of  the 
following  June,  and  passed  through  the  counties  of  Bedford,  Rockbridge,  Botetourt,  Mont- 
gomery,  Augusta,  Rockingham,  and  Frederick,  an  extent  of  three  or  four  hundred  miles, 
with  a  marked  success,  in  engaging  the  attention  of  the  old  and  young  to  the  concerns  of 
their  immortal  souls,  and  in  a  general  attendance  on  the  means  of  grace,  wherever  he 
came. 

In  October  of  the  same  year,  the  Commission  appointed  Mr.  Robert  Marshall,  a  proba- 
tioner under  the  care  of  Redstone  Presbytery,  and  Messrs  Cary,  Allen,  and  William  Hill, 
probationers  under  the  care  of  Hanover  Presbytery,  their  missionaries. 

These  young  preachers  had  two  very  extensive  circuits  assigned  to  them  of  seven  hun- 
dred miles.  Messrs.  Allen  and  Marshall  spent  about  three  months  in  the  valleys  between 
the  Allegheny  and  Apalachian  mountains,  and  three  more  on  each  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 
In  this  tour  they  preached  in  a  great  number  of  counties,  and  generally  to  people  not  formed 
into  religious  societies.  Mr.  Hill  had  a  northeastern  circuit  assigned  him,  in  the  lower 
country,  near  the  Chesapeake.  He  also  preached  in  a  great  number  of  counties  and  sev- 
eral considerable  towns. 

The  missionaries  in  their  tour  had  the  happiness  to  see  the  young  people  in  various 
places  uncommonly  attentive  and  affected  under  their  preaching;  and  in  private  conversation 
many  of  those  who  were  heads  of  families  appeared  anxious  to  encourage  the  labours  of 
the  Missionaries  at  stated  periods  amongst  them.  There  were  several  instances  of  persons 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  guilt  and  danger  of  sin,  and  of  formal  professors  brought  to 
know  their  mistake.  Their  circuit  was  too  extensive,  and  their  progress  too  rapid  to  effect 
any  great  permanent  changes  in  the  external  church-state  of  the  people.  Yet  in  a  num- 
ber of  places  the  people  or  families  associated  together  and  made  application  for  further 
supplies  to  the  Commission.  In  Henry  county,  on  Smith's  river,  in  Franklin,  on  Chest- 
nut, in  Halifax,  Pittsylvania,  Amelia,  Nottoway,  Lunenburgh,  Botetourt,  and  Lancaster 
counties,  the  prospect  of  this  sort  is  the  most  favourable. 

N.  B. — The  salary  of  the  missionaries  is  two  hundred  dollars  per  annum;  paid  at  the 
expiration  of  each  half  year." — Minutes,  1796,  p.  43. 

§  G8.    Ordination  of  missionaries  hy  these  Sj/nods. 

''The  following  request  was  overtured  by  tbe  Committee  of  Bills  aud 
Overtures : 

"That  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  have  liberty  to  direct 
their  Presbyteries  to  ordain  such  candidates  as  they  may  judge  necessary  to 
appoint  on  missions  to  preach  the  gospel;  whereupon, 


326  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

''RcsolvrA,  That  the  above  request  be  ciranted — the  Synods  bein<i  careful 
to  restrict  the  permission  to  the  ordination  of  such  candidates  only  as  are 
engaged  to  be  sent  on  missions." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  98. 

§  69.  j4  yearly  collection  ordered  hy  the  Assembly. 

"Whereas,  this  Assembly  has  it  much  at  heart  to  supply  with  the  means 
of  eternal  life  the  multitudes  who  are  ready  to  perish  on  the  frontiers  of  the 
United  States,  and  have  already  adopted  temporary  expedients  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  as  the  demand  is  likely  to  be  permanent,  and  should  be  supplied 
by  permanent  funds,  therefore, 

^'Resolved,  That  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  of  the  Carolinas  continue 
to  prosecute  the  plans  for  this  purpose,  which  they  have  formed,  or  may 
form,  under  the  direction  and  allowance  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
account  annually  for  their  conduct,  and  report  their  success  in  this  business. 

''That  the  Presbyteries  composing  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jer- 
sey, and  that  of  Philadelphia,  use  their  best  endeavours  to  forward,  yearly, 
to  the  general  Treasurer,  a  collection  from  each  of  their  Churches  settled 
and  vacant,  with  an  account  of  the  sums  received  from  each,  and  that  those 
Synods  be  enjoined  to  see  that  the  said  Presbyteries  do  their  duty  in  respect 
to  this  collection.  The  fund  thence  arising  to  be  applied  to  the  support  of 
missionaries  to  preach  the  gospel,  organize  Churches,  and  administer  ordi- 
nances, on  the  frontier  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  to  no  other  purpose 
whatever,  save  that  each  fund  shall  be  equally  charged  with  the  expense  of 
the  printing  done  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"This  Assembly,  presuming  on  the  concurrence  of  their  successors,  do 
resolve,  lastly,  that  there  shall  be  printed  annually,  or  as  often  as  shall  be 
thought  expedient,  a  statement  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  arising  from 
said  collections,  in  which  shall  be  detailed  all  the  Churches  settled  and 
vacant,  the  sum  (if  any)  received  from  each,  for  what  purpose  received,  and 
how  applied.  And  that  each  Presbytery  shall  be  furnished  with  at  least  as 
many  copies  as  there  are  Churches  subordinate  thereto,  to  be  transmitted  to 
the  Chm-ches  for  their  information  and  satisfaction." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  40. 

[From  this  time  the  business  of  missions,  hearing  the  reports  of  past  labours,  and  orga- 
nizing and  sending  out  new  corps  of  missionaries,  constituted  a  stated  part  of  the  business 
of  the  Assembly.] 

§  70.  Ajjjyeal  to  the  Churches. 

"You  will  see  by  a  statement  which  accompanies  this  letter,  that  we  have 
made  provision  for  the  sending  of  missionaries  to  the  frontiers  of  our  coun- 
try ;  you  will  also  see  that  the  effects  of  these  missions  in  some  places  have 
been  such  as  to  open  a  pleasing  prospect  of  advancing  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom in  the  salvation  of  men,  and  of  sending  the  light  of  the  gospel  to  those 
who  have  hitherto  been  involved  in  the  grossest  darkness.  To  carry  into 
effect  so  noble  a  design,  we  cannot  doubt  that  all  who  have  a  supreme 
regard  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  their  fellow-men,  will  cheer- 
fully contribute. 

"Suffer  us  therefore  to  urge  you,  and  we  do  it  with  the  more  confidence, 
as  you  will  at  once  perceive  our  disinterested  views  in  the  matter,  to  furnish 
those  annual  supplies  of  money  which  may  be  necessaryfor  the  common 
interest  of  our  body;  and  to  give  your  countenance  to  the  meavsure  in  gene- 
ral. The  honour  of  God,  the  eternal  salvation  of  precious  souls,  the  increase 
of  the  society  to  which  you  belong,  and  may  we  not  add,  your  own  peace  and 
comfort,  all  conspire  to  prompt  you  to  ardour  in  this  generous  undertaking. 
We  are  ready  to  anticipate  the  times,  when  by  exertions  similar  to  these, 
our  holy  religion  will  extend  its  influence  over  the  vast  regions  of  this  west- 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  327 

ern  continent,  and  songs  of  salvation  be  heard  from  its  remotest  corners; 
and  is  it  possible,  that  pious  Christians,  that  friends  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  world,  that  men  of  public  spirit,  should  Mathhold  their  aid  in  bringing 
forward  so  glorious  an  event?  Whatever  others  may  do,  surely  all  who  sin- 
cerely love  the  prosperity  of  Zion,  will  cheerfully  exert  themselves  to  pro- 
mote such  measures  as  to  your  representatives  appear  calculated  to  promote 
ter  best  interests,  and  the  honour  of  her  Lord.  Christians  I  can  you  look 
around  you,  and  behold  such  multitudes  of  souls,  ignorant  of  that  Saviour 
whom  you  love,  and  through  whom  only  they  can  be  saved;  ignorant  of 
those  truths  so  important  to  happiness  which  you  have  received,  and  even 
perishing  for  the  lack  of  knowledge,  and  not  be  willing  to  do  anything,  to 
do  evrri/thiiKj  in  your  power  to  rescue  them  from  such  a  condition ! 

"But  permit  us,  dear  brethren,  to  entreat  you  to  beware  of  resting  in 
external  forms,  or  the  aids  which  you  may  charitably  devote  to  strengthen 
the  interests  of  religion,  as  if  this  were  to  be  your  principal  concern.  It 
would  be  a  melancholy  circumstance,  if,  while  you  contribute  to  send  the 
means  of  light  to  others,  you,  yourselves  should  remain  in  darkness :  if, 
while  you  are  instrumental  in  bringing  others  to  the  knowledge  and  the  love 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  you  should  not  love  him  in  sincerity. 

"But  what  shall  we  say  to  the  Ministers  in  our  communion !  Is  it  neces- 
sary to  suggest  motives  to  them,  to  exert  themselves  with  one  heart  and  one 
soul,  to  carry  into  execution  the  measures  which  we  recommend?  We  rely 
with  confidence,  that  they  will  step  forward  with  alacrity  to  enforce  our 
applications  to  the  people;  yet  this  is  but  a  part  of  what  is  to  be  expected 
from  the  Ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  What  unanimity  in  counsels,  what 
purity  of  manners,  what  abstractedness  from  the  world,  what  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  Grod,  and  what  concern  for  the  salvation  of  souls  ought  to  mark  their 
cliaracter!  They  are  to  be  guides  to  the  erring;  they  are  to  prompt  the 
inactive;  they  are  to  suggest  the  proper  public  measures  for  promoting  the 
cause  of  God,  and  they  are  to  be  examples  to  the  world.  Will  they  not 
assist  the  well-intended  efforts  of  their  brethren  by  their  hearty  concurrence 
their  exhortations,  their  prayers,  their  activity  in  the  discharge  of  their 
ministerial  duties,  and  their  holiness  of  walk  and  conversation?" — Minutes, 
1791,  p.  46. 

§  71.  Instructions  to  Missionaries. 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  reposing  confidence  in  your  piety,  prudence  and  ability  for  the 
important  business,  do  hereby  appoint  you  one  of  their  missionaries. 

"In  discharge  of  the  trust  committed  to  you,  much  must  be  left  to  your 
discretion.  But  the  General  Assembly,  viewing  with  concern  the  state  of 
our  frontiers,  and  other  settlements  destitute  of  the  regular  administration 
of  the  worship  and  ordinances  of  God,  and  desirous  to  do  all  in  their  power 
to  extend  the  blessings  to  be  derived  from  the  means  of  grace,  confidently 
expect  that  you  will  faithfully  preach  the  gospel,  administer  the  ordinances, 
organize  Churches,  and  ordain  Elders ;  doing  all  these  things  according  to 
the  word  of  God,  and  the  standards  of  our  Church,  contained  in  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  the  Government  and  Dis- 
cipline, and  Directory  for  the  worship  of  God.  Commending  you  to  the 
grace  and  protection  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  wish  abundant  success  to 
your  mission.  Of  your  diligence  wherein,  of  the  state  of  religion  and  of 
society,  of  the  most  probable  means  of  establishing  the  gospel  in  these  parts, 
with  every  useful  and  necessary  information,  you  will  give  an  account  to  the 
next  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  103. 


328  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

§  72.    The  sj/sfr.m,  that  of  ithicranri/. 

[These  missionaries  were  all  itinerants,  travelling  routes  designated  by  the  Assembly, 
thus:] 

"  1.  That  Mr.  Thatcher  be  appointed  a  missionary  till  the  next  General 
Assembly,  to  commence  his  labours  as  soon  as  convenient  at  Wyoming;  to 
proceed  up  the  river  to  Tioga  Point,  Newtown  Point,  Great  Flat,  and  to  the 
Seneca  Lake,  kc;  and  to  visit  the  several  settlements  in  that  course  and 
in  the  Genessee  country,  officiating  steadily  in  those  places  where  there 
may  appear  to  him  the  greatest  prospect  of  usefulness  in  the  different  objects 
of  his  mission,  and  that  he  have  four  Sabbaths  during  the  mission  at  dis- 
cretion. 

"2.  That  John  Porter  be  appointed  a  missionary  for  three  months,  to  set 
out  as  soon  as  possible  from  Fishing  Creek,  on  the  northeast  branch  of  the 
Susquehanna,  and  to  proceed  up  the  river  to  Wyoming,  Tioga  Point,  and 
from  thence  up  the  east  branch  as  far  as  Cooper's  Town,  visiting  the  several 
settlements  in  that  route,"  (fee. — Minutes,  1795,  p.  98. 

^^  Resolved,  That  Mr.  Sample  has  not  fulfilled  his  mission  according  to 
the  directions  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  it  appears  from  his  own  account 
that  he  has  not  pursued  the  route  pointed  out  to  him,  and  has  preached  part 
of  his  time  in  Congregations  which  do  not  come  under  the  description  of 
those  to  which  he  was  limited  in  his  commission;  and  that  the  pay  for  one 
month  which  he  has  already  received  is  a  sufficient  compensation  for  his 
services.  And  the  Treasurer  is  hereby  ordered  to  settle  with  him  accord- 
ingly."—iftHMto,  1796,  p.  113. 

§  73.  Pastors  urged  to  cultivate  a  missionary  spirit  among  their  •people. 

"  That  inasmuch  as  the  General  Assembly  are  assiduously  labouring  to 
promote  the  gospel  throughout  our  extensive  and  growing  frontiers,  and  in 
those  places  most  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace,  it  be  earnestly  enjoined  on 
each  Presbytery  to  use  their  most  diligent  endeavours  to  collect  voluntary 
and  liberal  contributions  from  every  Congregation,  whether  furnished  with 
a  Pastor,  or  vacant,  and  to  obtain  pious  donations  and  bequests  in  order  to 
supply  the  funds  which  are  absolutely  necessary  to  carry  on  with  advantage 
the  great  and  charitable  work.  Let  ministers  study  to  impress  the  minds  of 
the  people  with  the  importance  of  the  object;  be  diligent  in  their  own  exer- 
tions to  promote  it,  and  punctual  in  forwarding  their  contributions  to  the 
treasurers  of  the  commissions  of  the  Southern  Synods,  or  to  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America ; 
assured  that,  without  their  faithful  aid  and  co-operation,  missions  and  other 
undertakings  of  utility  to  the  Church,  so  piously  begun^  and  hitherto  con- 
ducted with  such  promising  prospects  of  success,  must  eventually  fail.  And 
let  it  be  re(|uired  of  all  the  Presbyteries,  that  they  annually  send  up  to  the 
General  Assembly,  along  with  the  duplicates  of  their  reports,  exact  accounts 
of  all  moneys  received  and  transmitted  for  these  objects,  that  they  may  be 
used  as  checks  on  the  treasury." — Minutes,  1799,  p.  182. 

§  74.  Riport  on  the  best  mode  of  conducting  these  jnissions. 
''On  the  most  careful  inquiry  your  committee  have  been  able  to  make, 
the  state  of  religion  on  our  western  frontiers  is,  on  the  whole,  promising. 
Through  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  labours  of  missionaries  heretofore  em- 
ployed in  those  parts,  several  respectable  Congregations  have  been  formed; 
the  dispositions  of  the  people  are,  in  general,  favourable  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  pure  worship  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel  amongst  them.  The 
Assembly's  missionaries  have  been  received  with  much  respect,  their  minis- 
trations attended  to  with  a  becoming  seriousness;  a  cordial  thankfulness 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  329 

for  their  labours,  and  an  earnest  desire  that  farther  aid  may  be  afforded 
them  in  this  way,  appear  to  be  the  prevailing  sentiments  uf  the  people  in 
those  parts. 

"  But  as  that  new  and  extensive  country  [west  New  York]  is  settling  by 
emigration  from  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  from  other  coun- 
tries; and  as  teachers  of  various  denominations  have  gone  into  that  country, 
there  is  of  course  a  considerable  variety  in  the  religious  sentiments  that  pre- 
vail there.  The  denominations  most  distinguished  are  the  Congregational, 
the  Presbyterian,  and  the  Baptist.  A  great  proportion  of  characters  of  the 
first  respectability  for  intelligence,  property,  and  influence,  come  forward 
and  exert  themselves  for  the  establishment  and  prosperity  of  the  institutions 
of  religion. 

''As  to  the  method  of  managing  the  missions  in  those  parts  with  the 
greatest  probable  advantage,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  a  part  of 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Missions  brought  in  last  year,  should  be 
carefully  regarded,  viz.  '  That  missions  ought  to  be  conducted  by  men  of 
ability,  piety,  zeal,  prudence,  and  popular  talents ;  that  missionaries  should 
be  employed  in  preaching  the  most  important  doctrines  of  the  gospel  com- 
monly called  the  doctrines  of  grace  during  the  short  period  which  they  can 
afford  to  stay  in  a  particular  place,  that  they  organize  Churches  when  oppor- 
tunity offers,  and  administer  ordinances ;  and  that  they  catechize  and 
instruct  from  house  to  house,  as  far  as  practicable,  when  they  remain  for  any 
length  of  time  in  any  settlement;  that  they  refrain  from  all  political  or  party 
discussions  of  any  kind;  and,  with  the  self-denial  of  their  Master,  be  wholly 
devoted  to  their  ministry,  and  exemplary  in  their  conversation.  Also,  that 
in  keeping  their  journals  they  distinctly  record  the  subjects  on  which  they 
preach,  and  the  apparent  effect  on  their  hearers.' 

"  Your  committee,  add  to  the  above,  as  the  result  of  experience,  that  it 
is  of  considerable  importance  that  the  missionaries  be  well  acquainted  with 
the  forms  of  government,  as  well  of  the  Congregational  as  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

"Your  committee  are  further  of  opinion,  that  it  would  be  of  the  utmost 
importance  in  the  missionary  business,  that  one  or  more  persons  of  suitable 
character  take  up  their  residence  in  towns  the  most  convenient  for  the 
objects  of  their  appointment,  whose  business  it  should  be,  beside  the  ordi- 
nary duties  of  missionaries,  to  receive  applications  from  the  different  settle- 
ments in  those  parts  of  our  frontiers;  to  attend  to  the  particular  rising  exi- 
gencies amongst  them;  to  be  a  common  medium  of  information;  and  for 
aiding  and  directing  such  missionaries  as  may  be  annually  sent  out  by  the 
Greneral  Assembly.  That  in  case  suitable  characters  can  be  procured  to 
undertake  this  business,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  Fort  Schuyler 
on  the  jMoh^wk  river,  and  Geneva  on  the  Seneca  Lake,  are  the  two  most 
proper  towns  for  such  residence.  But  until  a  plan  as  above  contemplated 
be  effected,  your  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  the  General  Assembly  con- 
tinue to  send  annually  as  many  missionaries  of  suitable  character  as  can  be 
procured;  and  that  the  terras  of  their  continuance  in  that  country  should, 
if  possible,  be  longer  than  has  been  usual. 

"Your  committee  are  also  of  opinion,  that  the  labours  of  the  missionaries 
will  be  rendered  both  more  easy  and  more  successful,  if  they  pursue  their 
routes  on  the  frontiers  as  much  as  possible,  by  two  and  two.  The  following 
routes  are  pointed  out,  as  in  the  judgment  of  your  committee  the  most  proper 
to  be  pursued  by  the  Assembly's  missionaries  for  the  present  year.  *  *  *  * 

"  From  the  evident  necessity  of,  and  frequent  inquiries  after,  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  System  of  Discipline  of  this  Church  in  that  vicinitv,  your 
42  ,  -  " 


330  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  v. 

committee  recommend  that  measures  be  taken  to  have  a  number  of  copies 
of  that  book  distributed  amongst  the  societies  formed  and  forming  there. 

''The  above  report,  having  been  read  and  duly  considered,  was  approved. 
Whereupon, 

^'Resolved,  That  regular  commissions  be  furnished  to  the  respective  mis- 
sionaries, signed  by  the  Stated  Clerk,  prescribing  in  the  commissions  the 
routes  which  they  are  respectively  to  pursue;  and  that  the  missionaries 
account  with  the  Assembly  for  any  contributions  which  they  may  receive  on 
their  mission." — Mimites,  1799,  p.  183. 

§  75.   Employment  of  Catechisfs projjosed. 

(a)  "It  may  deserve  serious  consideration  whether,  for  the  instruction  of 
the  Indians,  the  black  people,  and  other  persons  unacquainted  with  the 
principles  of  our  holy  religion,  an  order  of  men  under  the  character  of  cate- 
chists,  might  not  be  instituted,  from  among  men  of  piety  and  good  sense, 
but  without  a  liberal  education.  Not  that  these  men  shall  be  clothed  with 
clerical  functions,  but  that  they  confine  themselves  to  the  private  instruction 
of  those  to  whom  they  are  sent,  together  with  occasional  addresses  of  a  reli- 
gious kind  made  to  collections  of  people  that  may  assemble  for  this  purpose, 
and  leading  the  devotional  exercises  among  them;  and  this  with  a  view  to 
prepare  the  way  for  a  few  regular  and  ordained  Ministers  to  follow  after 
them,  to  organize  Churches  and  administer  ordinances.  These  catechists 
shall  be  carefully  examined  by  the  Presbyteries  to  whose  bounds  they  most 
naturally  belong,  in  regard  to  their  qualifications  for  the  work  to  be  assigned 
them;  they  shall  have  a  certificate  of  such  examination  and  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  Presbytery  where  it  has  been  taken ;  they  shall  be  directed 
by  the  Presbytery  where  they  are  to  labour;  and  without  a  compliance  with 
these  directions  they  shall  not  be  considered  as  authorized  to  act  in  the 
manner  here  contemplated. 

"Ordered,  That  the  foregoing  statement  be  published  in  the  extracts  of 
minutes  for  the  current  year,  that  the  judicatures  and  people  at  large,  under 
the  care  of  the  Assembly,  may  be  acquainted  with  the  views  and  wishes  of 
their  highest  judicature.  But  the  Assembly  neither  judge  it  expedient 
themselves  to  attempt  to  carry  into  immediate  effect  all  that  is  here  suggest- 
ed, nor  to  urge  on  their  judicatures  and  people  to  attempt  it.  Some  things 
only  that  are  here  specified  will  be  entered  on  by  this  Assembly;  and  the 
judicatures  and  people  will  judge  for  themselves  what  other  objects  it  may 
be  proper  for  them  voluntarily  to  regard.  Only  it  is  considered  expedient 
by  the  Assembly  that  no  catrchists  should  be  sent  out,  till  a  farther  order 
on  the  subject  be  issued  by  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1800, 
p.  197. 

(ft)  [In  reply  to  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  David  Rice  on  the  subject  of  licensing  unedu- 
cated men  as  exhorters  and  catechists,  the  Assembly  says:] 

"Notwithstanding  the  preceding  reflections,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Assem- 
bly, that  where  the  field  of  labour  is  too  extensive  for  the  ordinary  and  regu- 
lar ministry,  certain  assistants,  like  the  helps  or  catechists  of  the  primitive 
Church,  may,  under  proper  restrictions  and  limitations,  be  usefully  employed 
in  instructing  the  young  in  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  and  conduct- 
ing the  praying  and  voluntary  societies  of  private  Christians.  Great  caution, 
however,  ought  to  be  used  in  employing  such  an  order  of  men,  lest  an 
indiscreet  zeal  should  impel  them  to  extravagancies  which  may  prove  dis- 
honourable and  injurious  to  religion,  or  lest  being  lifted  up  with  pride,  they 
come  at  length  to  spurn  the  authority  which  has  appointed  them,  create 
divisions  in  the  Church,  and  so  fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the  devil.  In 
some  parts  of  the  Church  their  utility  might  be  very  great,  while  in  others, 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  331 

they  would  prove  not  only  useless,  but  dangerous.  It  must  be  left  solely  to 
the  regular  and  established  judicatories  of  the  Church,  according  to  the 
circumstances  which  may  exist  within  their  respective  limits,  to  judge  upon 
this  subject.  But  wherever  it  may  be  thought  expedient  to  resort  to  such 
helps,  we  give  it  as  our  advice  that  none  be  employed  but  men  of  prudent 
and  sound  minds,  as  well  as  of  sincere  piety;  men  who  are  humble  and 
willing  to  submit  to  order,  as  well  as  zealous  in  the  service  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Let  their  duties  be  clearly  pointed  out  to  them,  and  circum- 
scribed within  precise  limits.  And  under  the  direction  of  the  Presbytery, 
let  them,  as  frequently  as  possible,  be  visited,  and  their  conduct  inspected, 
to  see  how  far  they  are  both  able  and  faithful  in  discharge  of  the  trust  com- 
mitted to  them.  They  are  not  to  be  considered  as  standing  officers  in  the 
Church;  but  may  be  appointed,  or  removed,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Pres- 
bytery. But  if  any,  upon  full  experience,  are  found  to  possess  uncommon 
talents,  are  diligent  to  acquire  the  requisite  qualifications  for  preaching  the 
gospel,  and  promise  to  be  eminently  useful  in  the  Church,  they  may  in  time 
purchase  to  themselves  a  good  degree,  and  be  admitted  according  to  the 
regular  course,  to  the  holy  ministry." — Mimites,  1804,  p.  301. 

(f)  [Mr.  Rice  having  framed  a  plan  for  the  organization  of  a  corps  of  catechists,  laid  it 
before  the  Assembly  for  its  sanction.] 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  letter  of  Mr.  Rice,  containing 
a  plan  for  catechetical  instruction,  and  the  letter  of  the  Presbytery  of  West 
Lexington  on  the  same  subject,  reported, 

"  That  the  Assembly  ought  not  to  sanction  the  plan,  as  it  would  be  dan- 
gerous to  the  Church  to  employ  illiterate  men  as  exhorters  or  catechetical 
instructers."     [The  report  was  adopted.] — Minutes,  1806,  p.  863. 

Title  2. — The  Standing  Committee  op  Missions. 
§  76.   The  Committee  created. 

Resolved,  "That  a  committee  be  chosen  annually  by  the  G-eneral  Assem- 
bly, to  be  denominated  the  Standing  Committee  of  Missions;  that  the  com- 
mittee shall  consist  of  seven  members,  of  whom  four  shall  be  clergymen  and 
three  laymen;  that  a  majority  of  this  committee  shall  be  a  quoram  to  do 
business;  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  collect,  during  the 
recess  of  the  Assembly,  all  the  information  in  their  power  relative  to  the 
concerns  of  missions  and  missionaries ;  to  digest  this  intbrmation,  and  report 
thereon  at  each  meeting  of  the  Assembly;  to  designate  the  places  where,  and 
to  specify  the  periods  during  which,  the  missionaries  should  be  employed; 
to  correspond  with  them,  if  necessary,  and  with  all  other  persons  on  mis- 
sionary business;  to  nominate  missionaries  to  the  Assembly,  and  report  the 
number  which  the  funds  will  permit  to  be  employed ;  to  hear  the  reports  of 
the  missionaries  and  make  a  statement  thereon  to  the  Assembly,  relative  to 
the  diligence,  fidelity,  and  success  of  the  missionaries,  the  sums  due  to 
each,  and  such  parts  of  their  reports  as  it  may  be  proper  for  the  Assembly 
to  hear  in  detail;  to  ascertain  annually,  whether  any  money  remains  with 
the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  which  ought  to  be  used  for  mis- 
sionary purposes,  agreeably  to  the  last  will  of  James  Leslie,  deceased;  that 
they  also  engage  a  suitable  person  annually,  to  preach  a  missionary  sermon 
on  the  Monday  evening  next  after  the  opening  of  the  General  Assembly,  at 
which  a  collection  shall  be  made  for  the  support  of  missions;  and  superin- 
tend generally,  under  the  direction  of  the  Assembly,  the  missionary  busi- 
ness. 

"2.  That  although  this  Standing  Committee  shall  be  elected  annually, 
yet  each  committee  shall  continue  in  office  till  the  end  of  the  sessions  of 


332  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

that  Assembly,  which  succeeds  the  one  by  which  the  said  committee  was 
chosen. 

"  3.  That  this  Standing  Committee  of  IMissions,  in  addition  to  the  duties 
above  specified,  shall  be,  and  they  hereby  are,  empowered  to  direct  the 
Tnistces  of  the  General  Assembly,  during  the  recess  of  the  Assembl}',  to 
issue  warrants  for  any  sums  of  money  which  may  become  due,  in  conse- 
quence of  contracts,  appropriations,  or  assignments  of  duty  made  by  the 
Assembly,  and  for  which  orders  may  not  have  been  issued  by  the  Assembly; 
and  on  this  subject  the  committee  shall  report  annually  to  the  Assembly." 
— Minutes,  1802,  p.  257. 

§  77.  Rule  in  regard  to  distant  members  of  the  committee. 

'^  The  Assembly,  having  elected  their  Standing  Committee  of  Missions 
for  the  present  year,  did  and  hereby  do  enjoin  it  on  those  members  of  said 
committee,  who  live  at  a  distance  from  the  place  where  the  committee  meet, 
to  communicate  to  the  committee  in  writing,  any  information  on  the  subject 
of  missions,  which  they  may  suppose  will  be  useful,  and  especially  within 
the  bounds  of  that  Synod  to  which  these  distant  members  may  severally 
\>e\ong."—imnutes,  1807,  p.  393. 

Title  3. — The  Board  op  Missions. 

§  78.    The   Com,mittee  raised  to  a    Commission  under  the  style  of  ''The 
Board  of  Missions.^' 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  consider  whether  the  missionary  business 
cannot  be  carried  on  with  more  efficacy,  and  to  greater  extent,  reported,  and 
their  report  being  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  committee  rejoice  in  prospect  of  a  competent  supply  of  the  word 
of  God  to  the  poor  and  destitute  in  our  country,  by  means  of  Bible  societies. 
The  numbers  and  resources  of  these  institutions  are  every  day  increasing,  so 
that,  at  no  very  remote  period,  it  is  hoped  that  the  sun  of  revelation  will 
shine  on  every  dark  corner  of  our  land,  and  irradiate  every  dwelling  how- 
ever obscure.  The  committee,  however,  instead  of  regarding  this  as  a  rea- 
son for  relaxing  missionary  efforts,  are  persuaded  that  its  proper  effect  is  to 
infuse  new  life  and  vigour  into  the  missionary  cause.  In  proportion  as  the 
word  of  God  is  known  and  appreciated,  will  the  preachers  of  the  word,  in 
its  simplicity  and  purity,  be  effectual :  in  proportion  as  the  Bible  is  diffused, 
will  missionaries  be  successful  in  organizing  Churches. 

"That  there  is  a  wide  extent  of  country  destitute  of  the  ordinary  means 
of  grace,  is  too  well  known  to  be  mentioned  in  this  place.  The  present 
demand  for  missionary  labours  very  far  exceeds  the  ability  of  supply,  and 
the  population  of  the  country  is  increasing  with  such  rapidity,  that,  were 
every  place  now  vacant  completely  supplied  with  the  regular  ministrations 
of  the  gospel,  after  the  lapse  of  a  year  there  would  probably  be  in  the  nation 
four  hundred  thousand  souls  reijuiring  the  labours  of  a  competent  number 
of  religious  instructors.  When,  then,  there  are  such  multitudes  at  this 
moment  who  rarely,  if  ever,  hear  the  gospel  preached,  and  such  mighty 
additions  are  made  every  year  to  our  numbers;  when,  too,  great  multitudes, 
sensible  of  their  wants,  are  addressing  their  importunate  cries  to  us  for  mis- 
sionaries, the  cry  for  help  of  souls  ready  to  perish,  it  appears  to  your  com- 
mittee, that  God  and  our  brethren  require  of  us  much  more  than  we  have 
heretofore  rendered.  We  are  longing  and  praying  for  the  coming  of  the 
day  of  glory,  and  perhaps  many  of  us  hope  to  see  it.  But  we  have  no  right 
to  calculate  on  miraculous  intei'positions,  and  without  a  miracle,  century 
after  century  must  elapse  before  the  earth  can  be  Ulled  with  the  knowledge 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  333 

of  God.  All  that  the  Christian  world  is  now  doing  with  united  effort,  if 
continued  without  intermission  for  one  thousand  years,  would  barely  serve 
to  fill  the  world  with  Bibles  and  missionaries.  Yet  we  are  not  to  despair. 
God,  in  his  adorable  providence,  seems  to  have  changed,  in  these  latter  times, 
the  scale  on  which  he  had  for  ages  conducted  the  affairs  of  his  government. 
Changes  which  formerly  were  the  work  of  years,  are  now  produced  in  a 
day.  Magnificent  and  astonishing  events  have  passed  so  often  before  the 
eyes'  of  men  of  the  present  age,  that  their  minds  have  acquired  a  toue  and 
vigour  which  prompt  them  to  undertake  and  accomplish  great  things.  We 
ourselves  witness  every  day  the  wonderful  effects  of  combined  counsels  and 
exertions,  both  in  the  moral  and  political  world. 

"From  the  lessons  taught  us  by  experience,  your  committee  have  no  doubt 
but  that  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  there  needs  only 
union  of  purpose  and  effort  to  accomplish  all  the  plans  which  have  been  pro- 
posed, and  even  to  go  far  beyond  the  expectations  and  hopes  of  the  most 
sanguine;  and  this  especially,  as  so  powerful  an  impulse  has  been  given  to 
the  Christian  community,  and  the  impression  is  so  deep  and  universal,  that 
it  becomes  us  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  exert  ourselves  for  the 
promotion  of  his  glory  and  the  extension  of  his  kingdom. 

"  For  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  sphere  of  our  missionary  operations 
then,  and  infusing  new  vigour  into  the  cause,  your  committee  would  respect- 
fully recommend  a  change  of  the  style,  and  enlargement  of  the  powers  of 
the  Standing  Committee  of  Missions.  If,  instead  of  continuing  to  this  body 
the  character  of  a  committee  bound  in  all  cases  to  act  according  to  the 
instructions  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  under  th^  necessity  of  receiving 
its  sanction  to  give  validity  to  all  the  measures  which  it  may  propose,  the 
Committee  of  Missions  were  erected  into  a  Board,  with  full  powers  to  trans- 
act all  the  business  of  the  missionary  cause,  only  requiring  the  Board  to 
report  annually  to  the  General  Assembly,  it  would  then  be  able  to  carry  on 
the  missionary  business  with  all  the  vigour  and  unity  of  design  that  would 
be  found  in  a  society  originated  for  that  purpose,  and  at  the  same  time 
would  enjoy  all  the  benefit  that  the  counsel  and  advice  of  the  General  As- 
sembly could  afford. 

''With  these  views  of  the  subject,  it  is  respectfully  recommended, 

"1.  That  the  style  of  the  committee  be  changed  for  that  of  the  'Board 
of  Missions,  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.' 

"2.  That  the  Board  of  Missions  be  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the  Eev. 
John  B.  Komeyn,  D.  D.,  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  and  Messrs.  Samuel  Bay- 
ard, Robert  Ralston,  Robert  Lenox,  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  John  E.  Caldwell, 
Divie  Bethune,  and  Zechariah  Lewis. 

"3.  That  in  addition  to  the  powers  already  granted  to  the  Committee  of 
Missions,  the  Board  of  Missions  be  authorized  to  appoint  missionaries  when- 
ever they  may  deem  it  proper;  to  make  such  advances  to  missionaries  as 
may  be  judged  necessary,  and  to  pay  balances  due  to  missionaries  who  have 
fulfilled  their  missions,  whenever  in  their  judgment  the  particular  circum- 
stances of  the  missionaries  may  require  it. 

"4.  That  the  Board  be  authorized  and  directed  to  take  measures  for 
establishing  throughout  our  Churches  auxiliary  missionary  societies;  and 
that  the  General  Assembly  recommend  to  their  people  the  establishment  of 
such  societies,  to  aid  the  funds,  and  extend  the  operations  of  the  Board. 

"5.  That  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Missions  be  annually  chosen  by 
the  Assembly,  and  that  they  continue  in  office  until  the  rising  of  the  next 
General  Assembly,  when  they  are  to  be  succeeded  by  the  persons  chosen  for 
the  current  year." — Minutes^  1816,  p.  632, 


334  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

§  79.   Annual  collections  appointed. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  the  Congregations 
under  the  care  of  the  Assembly,  to  send  annual  and  liberal  contributions  to 
aid  the  Board  in  their  future  operations;  but  this  recommendation  shall  not 
involve  in  censure  any  Congregation  belonging  to  the  Synods  to  whom  the 
General  Assembly  has  given  permission  to  manage  their  own  missionary 
concerns,  who  shall  think  themselves  unable  to  contribute  to  the  funds  of 
the  Board  of  Missions." — Minutes,  1823,  p.  122. 

§  80.  Additional  powers  given  to  the  Board. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended,  and  it  is  hereby  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  all  the  Churches  under  our  care,  to  take  up  and  forward  one 
annual  missionary  collection  for  this  purpose,  and  that  Presbyteries  take 
order  on  the  subject. 

"  2.  That  Synods  and  Presbyteries  be  required  to  report  annually  to  the 
General  Assembly  what  they  have  done  on  this  subject. 

"3.  That  the  Board  of  Missions,  in  addition  to  the  powers  already 
granted  to  them,  be  authorized  to  manage,  appoint,  and  direct  the  whole 
concerns  and  business  of  the  Assembly's  missions  definitively,  and  report 
annually  their  doings  to  the  Assembly. 

"  4.  That  the  Board  be  authorized  to  appoint,  if  they  think  proper,  an 
Executive  Committee  of  their  own  number,  to  carry  into  effect  the  details 
of  their  plan,  and  that  they  also  be  authorized  to  appoint  and  employ  an 
agent  or  agents  at  their  discretion." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  131. 

Title  4. — Reorganization  of  the  Board. 

§  81.   An  overture  urging  reorganization. 

[Experience  having  proved  the  necessity  of  some  amendment  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  Board,  in  order  to  its  exerting  the  degree  of  efficiency  demanded  hy  the  exigencies  of 
the  Church,  the  subject  was  brought  before  the  Assembly  in  the  form  of  an  overture,  signed 
by  Ashbel  Green,  Francis  Herron,  Jacob  J.  Janeway,  James  Moore,  and  George  W. 
Blight.     The  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee,  who  reported  as  follows  :] 

"  The  committee  consider  the  matter  contained  in  this  overture  of  the 
first  importance  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  and  world,  and  they  believe 
that  they  cannot  better  discharge  the  duties  intrusted  to  them,  than  by  laying 
the  overture  as  it  now  stands,  before  the  General  Assembly  for  their  con- 
sideration."— Minutes,  1828,  p.  231. 

§  82.  Interposition  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society. 

[Pending  the  discussion  on  the  overture]  "  a  communication  was  received 
from  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society, 
announcing  the  appointment  of  llev.  James  M.  Matthews,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
Absalom  Peters,  and  Knowles  Taylor,  Esq.,  a  committee  of  that  body  to 
communicate  to  the  Assembly  the  views  of  said  Executive  Committee,  in 
relation  to  the  subject  of  the  overture  now  before  the  Assembly,  for  a  reor- 
ganization of  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  Dr.  Herron,  Mr.  Hardin,  and  Mr.  Holmes,  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  confer  with  the  committee  from  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society; 
and  it  was 

^'Resolved,  To  suspend  the  business  of  reorganizing  the  Board  of  Missions 
until  said  committee  shall  report." — Minutes,  1828,  p.  232. 

[After  the  report  of  the  committee]  "  the  subject  of  reorganizing  the 
Board  of  Missions  was  resumed,  and  after  again  discussing  the  subject  at 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OP   MISSIONS.  335 

considerable  length,  the  previous  question  was  moved,  which  being  decided 
in  the  negative,  the  whole  subject  was  indefinitely  postponed." — Mimites, 
1828,  pp.  234,  235. 

§  83.    The  result. 

"  A  protest  against  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  in  regard  to  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  Board  of  Missions,  was  presented  and  read;  when  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  a  commitee  of  conference  be  appointed. 

"  The  committee  of  conference  reported  that,  after  mature  deliberation, 
they  recommend  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Missions  already  have  the  power  to  esta- 
blish missions,  not  only  among  the  destitute  in  our  own  country,  or  any  other 
country,  but  also  among  the  heathen,  in  any  part  of  the  world ;  to  select, 
appoint,  and  commission  missionaries,  to  determine  their  salaries,  and  to 
settle  and  pay  their  accounts;  that  they  have  full  authority  to  correspond 
with  any  other  body  on  the  subject  of  missions;  to  appoint  an  Executive 
Committee,  and  an  efficient  agent  or  agents  to  manage  their  missionary  con- 
cerns ;  to  take  measures  to  form  auxiliary  societies,  on  such  terms  as  they 
may  deem  proper;  to  procure  funds;  and  in  general,  to  manage  the  mission- 
ary operations  of  the  Greneral  Assembly. 

"It  is,  therefore,  submitted  to  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  to 
consider  whether  it  is  expedient  for  them  to  carry  into  eliect  the  full  powers 
which  they  possess. 

^^  Resolved,  That  an  addition  of  seven  laymen  be  made  to  the  present  num- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Missions." 

[The  whole  number  of  the  Board  thus  increased  was  twenty-six  Ministers  and  fifteen 
Elders.]— JfiwM^es,  1828,  pp.  240,  242. 

Title  5. — Other  amendments  to  the  Constitution. 

§84. 

(a)  "  The  committee  recommend,  that  the  Board  of  Missions  be  formed 
into  four  classes,  whose  appointment  and  terms  of  service  shall  be  regulated 
upon  the  same  plan  with  that  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  that  the  Executive  Committee  be  instructed  thus  to  organize 
the  Board  as  soon  as  practicable."     [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1832,  p.  324. 

(h)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  election  [of  the  Board  of  Missions]  be  the  order 
of  the  day  for  to-morrow  morning;  and  that  of  the  nominations  made,  six 
Ministers  and  six  laymen  be  elected,  and  that  this  be  the  rule  hereafter,  to 
elect  each  year  six  Ministers  and  six  laymen." — Minutes,  1833,  p.  488. 

(c)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  rule  adopted  by  the  last  Assembly,  limiting  the 
number  of  members  of  the  Board  to  be  elected  annually,  to  six  Ministers 
and  six  Elders,  be  so  altered  as  to  fix  the  number  to  be  elected  annually  at 
ten  Ministers  and  six  Elders." — Mimites,  1834,  p.  12. 

{d)  ^'■Resolved,  That  the  present  Assembly  elect  twenty-four  members — 
fifteen  Ministers  and  nine  laymen — to  fill  the  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, and  that  hereafter  the  same  number  be  elected  annually,  instead  of 
the  number  heretofore  elected." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  30. 

Title  6. — Proposed  amalgamation  with  the  Society  in  the  West. 
§  85.    Overture  from  the  Preshytery  of  Cincinnati. 

"  The  Assembly  took  up  a  request  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  that 
the  General  Assembly  would  unite  with  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society  in  the  appointment  of  one  Board  of  Agency  to  manage  the  mission- 


336  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

ary  concerns  of  both  Boards  in  the  western  country.  After  some  discussion 
this  subject  was  corauiitted  to  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  McAuley,  Mr.  Russel,  Mr. 
Slack,  and  Mr.  Beckwith,  to  confer  with  delegates,  which  the  Assembly  are 
informed  have  been  appointed  by  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  on  the 
request  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  and  report  to  the  Assembly  as  soon 
as  practicable." 

"  The  committee  reported  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

^^  Re  wived,  That  it  is  expedient  for  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  the  Board  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  to  conduct  their 
missionary  operations  in  the  West  through  a  common  Board  of  Agency  in 
that  part  of  the  country. 

"  The  report  was  accepted  and  the  committee  discharged.  A  motion  was 
then  made  to  dismiss  the  whole  subject,  and  after  considerable  discussion, 
this  motion  was  carried." — Minutes,  1830,  pp.  24,  20. 

§  86.  Attempt  to  destroy  the  Board  hy  electing  hostile  members. 

[The  next  year  the  subject  was  again  brought  up,  by  "  a  memorial  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Madison  on  the  mode  of  conducting  missionary  operations  in  the  West,"  and  at  the 
same  time  a  movement  was  made  to  destroy  the  Board  by  constituting  it  of  persons  hos- 
tile to  its  existence.] 

"  A  motion  was  made  that  in  conformity  to  usage,  or  to  the  course  pur- 
sued last  year,  a  committee  of  nomination  be  appointed  to  nominate  persons 
to  constitute  the  Board  of  Missions  for  the  ensuing  year.  A  motion  was 
then  made  to  postpone  this  motion,  with  a  view  to  take  up  the  following,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  present  Board  of  Missions  be  re-appointed.  After 
considerable  discussion  the  vote  was  taken;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  being 
called  for  were  as  follows,  viz.  [Yeas,  87,  nays,  109.] 

''  The  motion  to  appoint  a  committee  to  nominate  persons  to  constitute  the 
Board  of  Missions  for  the  ensuing  year  was  resumed ;  when  it  was  resolved 
to  appoint  such  committee.  Dr.  Hillyer,  Mr.  Riddle,  Mr.  Chase,  Mr.  Bron- 
sou,  Sir.  Garrison,  Mr.  Jessup,  and  Mr.  W.  Anderson,  were  appointed." 

[These,  appointed  by  the  Moderator,  Dr.  Beman,  were  all  hostile  to  the  Board.] 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  nominate  a  Board  of  Missions,  made  a 
report  which  was  accepted.  [Every  resident  member  nominated  was  hos- 
tile to  the  Board.]  A  motion  was  made  to  lay  it  on  the  table.  After  con- 
siderable discussion,  the  Assembly  united  in  prayer  for  divine  direction.  A 
motion  was  then  made  to  postpone  the  motion,  to  lay  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Nomination  on  the  table,  to  take  up  the  substitute  for  the  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Missions  in  the  West.      [Decided  in  the  affirmative.] 

"■  This  substitute,  and  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Nomination,  were 
committed  to  Mr.  Koss,  Mr.  Peters,  Mr.  Jessup,  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  Spring,  and 
Mr.  Breckinridge. 

[The  report  of  this  "  Committee  of  Compromise"  was  adopted,  as  follows ;] 
/  "1.  In  view  of  existing  evils  resulting  from  the  separate  action  of  the 
Board  of  Missions  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  the  General  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Synods  of  Ohio, 
Cincinnati,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  West  Tennessee,  Indiana,  and  Illinois, 
and  the  Presbyteries  connected  with  the  same,  to  correspond  with  each 
other,  and  endeavour  to  agree  upon  some  plan  of  conducting  domestic  missions 
in  the  Western  States,  and  report  the  result  of  iheir  correspondence  to  the 
next  tJenerul  Assembly;  it  being  understood  that  the  brethren  of  the  West 
be  left  to  their  freedom  to  form  any  organization  which  in  their  judgment 
may  best  promote  the  cause  of  missions  in  those  States;  and  also  that  all  the 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  337 

Synods  and  Presbyteries  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  may  be  embraced 
in  tills  correspondence,  provided  they  desire  it. 

"2.  ResoUed,  by  this  Assembly,  That  the  present  Board  of  Missions  be 
re-appointed." — Mimites,  1831,  pp.  175,  183,  184,  188,  189. 

§  87.    The  Cincinnati  Convention. 

[In  consequence  of  the  above  recommendation,  a  convention  was  held  in  Cincinnati 
in  November  of  the  same  year,  composed  of  delegates  from  the  Presbyteries  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  at  which,  after  several  days'  full  discussion,  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution  were  adopted,  by  a  vote  of  54  yeas,  to  15  nays.] 

"  Whereas,  it  appears  from  the  report  of  the  committee  to  receive  and  report  all  written 
communications  to  the  Convention,  that  of  the  Presbyteries  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, fifteen,  entitled  io  forty-two  votes  [according  to  representation  in  the  Assembly]  have 
not  been  heard  from;  that  one,  entitled  to  two  votes,  is  in  favour  of  the  A.  H.  M.  Society; 
that  one,  entitled  to  four  votes,  is  in  favour  of  both  Boards,  as  they  now  exist ;  that 
two,  entitled  to  eight  votes,  are  in  favour  of  an  independent  western  society ;  that  one, 
entitled  to  ttco  votes,  is  in  favour  of  ecclesiastical  supervision ;  and  that  seven,  entitled 
to  twenty-one  votes,  are  in  favour  of  the  General  Assembly's  Board,  in  its  present  organ- 
ization ;  and  whereas,  twenty  Presbyteries,  entitled  to  seventy  votes,  being  actually  pre- 
sent in  this  Convention,  a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  a  Western  Board  of  Missions, 
under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  after  a  full  discussion,  has  been  rejected  by  a 
vote  oi  forty-one  to  twenty-eight;  and  as  it  appears  "to  the  Convention,  from  these  facts, 
that  no  arrangement,  into  which  we  can  possibly  enter,  is  likely  to  reconcile  conflicting 
views  on  the  subject ;  that  so  far  from  healing  divisions,  or  restoring  peace  to  the  Churches 
by  any  new  expedients,  they  would  only  tend  to  multiply  the  points  of  difference,  and 
increase  the  evil ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  under  these  circumstances  they  deem  it  inexpedient  to  propose  any 
change  in  the  General  Assembly's  mode  of  conducting  missions,  as  they  fully  approve  of 
that  now  in  such  successful  operation  ;  and  that  the  purity,  peace,  and  prosperity  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  materially  depend  on  the  active  and  efficient  aid  the  Sessions  and 
Presbyteries  under  its  care  may  afford  to  the  Assembly's  Board" — Minutes  of  the  Conv. 
pp.  13,  16. 

Title  7. — Western  Committee  of  Missions  appointed. 

§88. 

[A  memorial  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Louisville,  and  Salem,  was  laid  before  the  Assem- 
bly in  1840,  urging  the  appointment  of  a  Western  Committee,  but  it  declined.] 

''The  very  great  extent  of  the  field  of  operation  of  the  Board,  extending 
from  the  New  England  States  to  the  extreme  boundary  of  civilization  in  the 
west,  and  from  the  northern  lakes  to  Florida,  embracing  every  variety  of 
habits,  feelings  and  interests,  and  an  equal  diversity  in  the  nature  of  the 
feeble  Churches  and  destitutions  to  be  supplied,  renders  it  next  to  impossible 
for  any  body  of  men  located  at  any  given  point  within  the  territory,  however 
wise  and  energetic  they  may  be,  to  manage  to  the  best  advantage  in  all  the 
cases  that  arise.  The  present  is  also  a  great  crisis  in  the  aifairs  of  the  Pro- 
testant Churches  of  our  own  land,  owing  to  the  rapid  increase  of  Popery, 
and  other  heresies,  many  of  which  are  entirely  local  in  their  character  and 
require  to  be  promptly  met  by  suitable  men.  The  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
has  especially  been  selected  as  the  great  field  in  which  Popery  has  declared 
her  design  to  fight  the  battle  for  empire  in  this  republic.  With  these  con- 
siderations in  view,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  Churches  are  by  no 
means  awake  to  the  dangers  which  environ  them,  and  the  necessity  of  not 
suifering  themselves  to  be  outdone  by  the  other  Protestant  denominations, 
while  the  General  Assembly  deem  it  altogether  inexpedient  to  change  the 
location  of  the  Board,  they  adopt  the  following  plan  for  giving  increased 
activity  and  efficiency  to  its  operations. 

'<1.  That  a  committee  be  appointed  by  the  Board  with  similar  powers  to 


338  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

that  already  located  at  Philadelphia,  to  hold  its  meetings  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  to  report  monthly  to  the  Bf^ard. 

<'2.  That  a  Secretary  and  General  Apjent  be  appointed  by  the  Board,  to 
labour  in  connection  with  the  above  Western  Committee,  with  a  Treasurer 
and  other  necessary  officers. 

"3.  That  the  supervision  of  the  western  and  southwestern  fields,  the 
boundaries  of  which  are  to  be  designated  by  the  Board,  be  committed  to  the 
above  committee,  so  far  as  procurins;  and  locating  missionaries  and  obtain- 
ing funds  are  concerned.  But  neither  the  eastern  nor  western  committee 
shall  locate  a  missionary,  for  whose  support  they  have  not  in  their  respective 
treasuries  the  necessary  means,  without  the  consent  of  the  Board. 

"4.  That  the  Board  at  its  monthly  meetings  shall,  upon  the  reports  of 
these  committees,  make  such  transfers  of  funds  as  shall  be  found  most  expe- 
dient for  furthering  the  best  interests  of  the  work,  and  shall  assign  the  par- 
ticular fields  in  which  the  agents  shall  labour." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  29. 

Title  8. — Church  Extension  Committee. 
§  89.  Its  organization. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1843, 
the  overture  respecting  the  erection  of  Churches  in  feeble  Congregations, 
by  the  aid  of  their  brethren  who  may  be  able  and  willing  to  contribute  for 
this  purpose,  have  considered  the  subject  with  attention,  and  present  the 
following  report  as  the  result  of  their  deliberations. 

"The  maintenance  of  evangelical  truth  and  practical  piety  is  the  primary 
duty  of  the  Church  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  and  next  to  this 
and  inseparably  connected  with  it,  is  the  great  work  of  extending  this  divine 
religion,  until  it  shall  fill  the  whole  earth.  For  this  purpose  it  is  necessary 
to  plant  Churches  wherever  they  do  not  exist,  and  thus  to  secure  the  admin- 
istration of  the  word  and  ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"In  fulfilling  this  part  of  her  duty,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  land 
has  acted  rightly  in  sending  forth  the  Ministers  of  the  gospel  to  preach,  to 
gather  and  organize  Churches,  and  to  nourish  them  with  spiritual  food,  that 
they  may  grow  up  to  maturity  and  abound  in  the  works  of  faith  and  the 
labours  of  love.  This,  indeed,  is  indispensably  necessary,  and  ought  to 
engage  the  first  and  chief  efforts  of  the  Church;  yet  it  is  certain  that,  in  a 
subordinate,  but  very  important  sense,  the  erection  of  suitable  houses  for 
divine  worship  is  necessary.  The  former  has  been  accomplished  to  some 
extent,  by  our  portion  of  the  Church  catholic  in  her  associated  capacity;  the 
latter  has  been  generally  left  to  the  unaided  eff'orts  of  Congregations  when 
gathered,  however  weak  they  may  be.  That  each  society  should,  if  able, 
erect  its  own  house  of  worship,  is  altogether  proper,  even  as  it  is  right  that 
the  Minister  should  be  supported  by  those  to  whom  he  ministers,  and  it 
should  never  be  regarded  as  a  burden  by  any,  although  efiort  and  self-denial 
should  be  required  in  order  to  efl"ect  either  object.  But  as  it  has  been 
determined  that  the  united  ability  of  the  Church  ought  to  be  employed  in 
sending  the  Minister  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  destitute,  and  in  aiding 
weak  Congregations  in  sustaining  their  Pastor;  is  it  not  equally  proper  to 
aid  those  who  need  help  in  building  suitable  houses  for  public  worship?  We 
think  that  this  is  proper  for  several  reasons. 

"1.  A  church  of  adequate  size  and  respectable  appearance  is  of  great 
importance  to  every  Congregation.  The  want  of  such  accommodation  pro- 
duces indiff"erencc  and  discouragement  in  those  who  are  connected  with  the 
Congregations,  and  has  a  repulsive  influence  on  others. 

"2.  There  are  many  places  in  which  the  members  and  friends  of  the 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  339 

Presbyterian  Church  are  too  few  and  poor  to  build  such  houses  as  would 
accommodate  themselves  and  that  portion  of  the  people  in  the  vicinity,  who 
might  be  induced  to  attend  on  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  but  as  yet  are 
disposed  to  give  little  or  no  pecuniary  aid.  In  these  circumstances  our 
feeble  Churches  are  discouraged,  and  do  not  attempt  to  build  a  house,  or 
build  one  which  is  insufficient  and  unattractive,  or  they  become  involved  in 
debt  which  they  are  unable  to  discharge.  Several  hundred  instances  of  one 
or  other  of  these  cases  may  be  found.  How  important  would  assistance  be 
to  a  Congregation  in  such  circumstances! 

"3.  Many  unsuitable  Churches  are  erected  and  much  money  is  wasted,  it  is 
confidently  believed,  for  want  of  necessary  information.  If  well-digested 
plans  and  estimates  could  be  procured  at  once,  with  little  or  no  expense, 
proportionate  to  the  number  of  members  of  the  Congregation  and  other  cir- 
cumstances, and  accompanied  by  advice  respecting  the  construction  and 
arrangement  and  finishing  of  the  building,  both  externally  and  internally,  it 
would  be  an  advantage,  equal  in  very  many  cases  to  a  considerable  pecuni- 
ary aid. 

"We  may  next  inquire  whether  the  members  of  our  Church  would  proba- 
bly be  willing  to  add  this  to  their  other  schemes  for  the  promotion  of  the 
cause  of  the  Redeemer.  This  inquiry  we  may  safely  answer  in  the  affirma- 
tive. Although  we  as  a  Church,  fail  greatly  to  contribute  as  we  ought,  of 
that  worldly  substance  which  the  Lord  has  entrusted  to  us,  for  religious 
purposes,  yet  we  may  on  good  grounds  believe  that  not  a  few  of  our  people 
would  gladly  throw  their  benevolent  offerings  into  this  channel  of  benefi- 
cence, if  a  well  arranged  plan  were  presented  to  them.  They  are  now  fre- 
quently and  urgently  solicited  to  give  for  church  building,  or  for  the  pay- 
ment of  debt  ah'eady  contracted  in  cases  of  which  they  know  little  or 
nothing,  and  can  have  no  assurance  that  their  donations  will  be  well  applied. 
Considerable  sums  are  collected  in  this  way,  every  year;  and  it  may  be 
reasonably  concluded  that  much  more  would  be  willingly  given,  on  some 
well-digested  system  of  operation. 

"And  in  what  way  may  the  collection  and  application  of  money  for  this 
purpose  be  most  easily  and  safely  carried  into  effect? 

"The  General  Assembly  has  adopted,  with  the  general  approbation  of  the 
Church,  the  policy  of  a  special  Board  for  each  particular  object  that  is 
designed,  and  this  may  be  done  in  the  present  instance;  or  if  not  now,  yet 
at  a  future  time,  if  it  shall  appear  to  be  expedient.  But  at  this  time  it  may 
be  sufficient  to  commit  the  management  of  this  work  to  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions; thus  all  needed  information  will  be  collected,  and  in  the  light  of 
experience  a  future  Assembly  will  mature  a  different  plan  of  operation,  if  it 
shall  appear  that  a  change  is  expedient.  For  referring  this  business  to  the 
Board  of  Missions,  the  following  reasons  may  be  deemed  sufficient: 

"1.  It  is  in  its  nature  intimately  connected  with  the  domestic  missionary 
work. 

"2.  In  its  present  stage,  it  can  be  transacted  by  them  with  less  time  and 
expense  than  by  a  separate  organization. 

"3.  The  Board  already  possesses,  or  can  readily  procure  such  information 
as  may  be  needed. 

"The  committee  therefore  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  the  General 
Assembly  the  following  plan  : 

"I.  It  is  expedient  and  highly  important  to  promote  the  extension  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  nation,  by  aiding  systematically  in  the  erection 
of  churches  wherever  they  are  needed. 

"II.  The  direction  and  oversight  of  this  work  shall  be  committed,  until 
otherwise  ordered,  to  the  Board  of  Missions,  who  shall,  in  the  management 


340  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

of  it,  be  subject  in  all  respects  to  the  directions  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  shall  annually  report  to  the  Assembly  their  execution  of  this  trust. 

"III.  The  Board  shall  annually  appoint  a  Committee  on  Church  Exten- 
sion, consisting  of  five  persons,  who  shall  have  charge  of  appropriating  the 
moneys  which  may  be  received  for  this  purpose,  and  of  procuring  and  fur- 
nishing at  cost  or  gratuitously,  plans  and  estimates  for  churches,  in  answer 
to  applications  which  may  be  made  to  them. 

"IV.  The  Board  shall  also  make  regulations  for  the  government  of  the 
committee  in  receiving  applications  for  aid,  raising  funds,  and  making 
appropriations  of  money,  shall  examine  the  proceedings  of  the  committee, 
and  shall  appoint  such  officers  or  agents  as  the  General  Assembly  shall 
direct. 

"V.  It  is  distinctly  recommended  to  all  our  Congregations  to  make  a  col- 
lection for  this  purpose  once  in  each  year,  and  transmit  the  amount  directly, 
or  through  their  Presbyteries  respectively,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of 
Missions. 

"VI.  It  is  recommended  to  all  the  Presbyteries  to  take  such  order  on 
this  subject  as  they  may  deem  best,  and  that  they  appoint  a  Committee  ou 
Church  Extension  at  each  autumnal  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  and  appli- 
cations for  aid  in  building  shall  be  received  and  acted  on  by  the  Board 
through  this  committee,  and  with  their  explicit  recommendation."  [Adopt- 
ed.]— Minutes,  1844,  p.  373.  v 

§  90.    tSpecial  collect  ion  for  church  extension. 

'^Resolved,  That  the  direction  of  the  Assembly  in  1844,  Minutes,  pp. 
374,  375,  be  renewed;  that  a  special  collection  be  taken  up  in  all  the 
Churches  in  aid  of  Church  Extension:  and  that  the  Assembly  rejoices  in 
the  success  which  has  thus  far  attended  this  scheme,  although  the  contri- 
butions have  fallen  far  short  of  the  importance  and  necessity  of  it,  and  our 
own  obligations  to  sustain  it." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  27;  1846,  p.  209,  and 
below,  §  91 :  2. 

§  91.  Re-organization  of  the  committee. 

"Whereas,  the  Assembly  has  referred  the  whole  subject  of  Church  Exten- 
sion, or  the  building  of  church  edifices,  to  the  Board  of  Missions,  and 

"Whereas,  this  Assembly  believes  this  subject  to  be  one  of  vast  import- 
ance to  the  welfare  of  our  whole  Church  ;  therefore, 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Missions,  in  order  to  give  greater  effi- 
ciency to  this  work,  be  instraeted;  First,  to  enlarge  the  Committee  of 
Church  Extension.  Secondly,  to  appoint  a  secretary  for  this  specific  depart- 
ment, if  they  shall  deem  it  necessary.  Thirdly,  to  bring  the  cause  before  the 
Churches  in  such  way  as  they  may  deem  best  suited  to  secure  attention  to 
the  importance  of  the  work.  Fourthly,  to  report  separately  to  the  Assem- 
bly receipts  and  disbursements  of  this  fund. 

"2.  And,  farther,  This  Assembly  would  earnestly  and  affectionately 
enjoin  it  upon  all  our  Churches  to  take  up  collections  annually  for  this 
object,  (to  be  reported  in  a  separate  column  in  the  Appendix  of  the  Min- 
utes of  the  Assembly,)  and  upon  all  our  Presbyteries  to  see  that  this  is 
done." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  40. 

Title  9. — Miscellaneous  enactments. 

§  92.   Itinerant  labours  required. 

(a)  ''Resolved,  That  the  system  of  itinerating  should  be  a  prominent  plan 
of  missionary  ojxjration.  That,  while  it  is  proper  that  the  Board,  as  here- 
tofore, continue  to  aid  destitute  and  feeble  Churches,  they  are  directed  to 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  341 

assign  a  full  proportion  of  their  missionaries  to  the  work  of  itinerating. 
And  that  in  their  next  annual  report,  the  Board  distinguish  between  these 
two  classes  of  labourers." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  444. 

{b)  Resolved,  "That  the  condition  of  the  population  of  wide  portions 
especially  of  our  Southern  and  Western  States,  not  only  justifies,  but  requires 
the  employment  of  Evangelists  engaged  in  itinerant  labours,  and  that  Pas- 
tors are  called  upon  in  all  such  regions,  to  inquire  if  they  cannot  extend 
their  labours  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  own  Congregations,  occupy  new 
stations  for  preaching,  gather, new  Churches,  and  with  the  consent  of  their 
own  people,  spend  some  portion  of  their  time  in  missionary  labours." — 
Minutes,  1842,  p.  26. 

(f)  '■'■Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  of  Missions  to 
encourage,  as  far  as  possible,  the  organization  of  the  missionary  field  into 
districts,  embracing  several  points  of  labour,  with  a  view  to  adapting  the 
system  to  the  work  of  pioneering  by  an  itinerant  ministry." — Minutes,  1854, 
p.  35. 

§  93.  Pastors  sJiotdd  make  itinerant  tours. 

"Resolved,  That  in  furtherance  of  this  great  work,  which  is  of  equal 
importance  to  this  country,  in  its  civil  and  religious  aspects,  this  Assembly 
recognizes  the  great  importance  of  itinerant  missionary  labours  among  the 
more  destitute  districts  and  the  newly  settled  portions  of  our  country,  and 
would  urge  its  necessity,  not  only  upon  the  employed  missionaries  of  the 
Board,  but  also  upon  all  Pastors,  who,  by  an  annual  missionary  tour  of  this 
character,  might  render  equal  benefit  to  themselves,  their  Churches,  and  to 
the  Church  at  large,  and  thus  greatly  extend  the  boundaries  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ."— 3Iinufes,  1839,  p.  167. 

"  That  until  a  sufficient  number  of  suitable  men  can  be  found  to  occupy 
this  field  of  labour,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Churches  enjoying  regular  pastoral 
labours,  and  of  settled  Pastors,  to  take  part  in  the  work,  by  devoting  a  por- 
tion of  their  time  to  missionary  labours;  and  it  is  recommended  that  every 
Presbytery  take  order  on  the  subject,  and  see  that  the  burden  of  this  work 
be  equally  distributed  among  its  Churches." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  444. 

§  94.   Pastoral  sustentation. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  to  appropriate  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  their  funds  to  the  location  of  Pastors  in  those  destitute 
parts  of  the  Church,  where  from  the  character  of  the  population  there  is  a 
prospect  of  a  permanent  establishment,  and  where  the  Pastor  can  in  the 
meantime,  receive  the  chief  part  of  his  support." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  262. 

§  95.   Increase  of  the  salaries  of  missionaries. 

"Resolved,  That  this  Assembly,  whilst  deprecating  any  wasteful  or  unne- 
cessary expenditure  of  domestic  missionary  funds,  would  express  particular 
approval  of  the  conduct  of  the  Board  in  increasing,  as  they  have  done,  the 
salaries  of  missionaries  in  the  field;  the  Assembly  would  express  further 
the  assurance  that  the  Board  may  proceed  to  a  much  larger  increase  in  the 
allowance  to  their  missionaries,  fully  relying  on  the  justice  and  liberality  of 
our  people  to  supply  the  Board  with  such  an  increase  of  means  as  will  ena- 
ble it  to  lessen,  to  some  extent,  the  privations  now  endured  by  our  brethren ; 
and  while  the  Assembly  express  thus  decidedly  their  view  of  the  duty  of  the 
Board,  they  would  most  earnestly  exhort  the  Churches  to  greatly  increased 
exertions,  to  meet  the  increased  demands  on  the  funds  of  the  Board,  which 
must  result  from  any  attempt  to  do  justice  to  our  missionary  brethren." — • 
Minutes,  1854,  p.  35. 


842  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

§  96.  Discretion  of  the  Board  in  distrihuting  the  funds. 

"  A  mctnorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Logansport,  desiring  the  Assembly 
to  say,  whether  the  Board  of  Missions  has  the  power  to  reduce  the  amounts 
recommended  to  be  given  in  aid  to  any  Churches,  under  the  care  of  any 
Presbytery,  without  consulting  such  Presbytery,  and  if  so,  whether  the 
Board  has  not  equal  right  to  take  away  the  whole  amount  so  recommended 
in  any  case. 

"It  was  Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  expects  the  Board  of  Missions 
to  pay  great  respect  to  the  advice  of  the  Presbyteries,  touching  missionaries 
labouring  within  their  bounds,  yet,  in  the  distribution  of  its  funds,  the 
action  of  the  Board  must  be  controlled  by  the  state  of  its  treasury,  and  the 
relative  importance  of  the  various  missionary  fields  under  its  care.^' — Min- 
utes, 1852,  p.  221. 

§  97.  Discretion  as  to  the  soundness  of  the  missionaries. 

"  In  answer  to  the  questions  propounded  by  the  Presbyteries  of  Union 
and  French  Broad,  the  Assembly  would  say,  that  though  they  do  not  recog- 
nize in  the  Board  of  Missions  the  authority  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the' 
orthodoxy  or  morality  of  any  Minister  who  is  in  good  standing  in  his  own 
Presbytery,  yet  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  they  must  exercise  their  own 
sound  discretion  upon  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  appointing  or 
withholding  an  appointment  from  any  applicant,  holding  themselves  amena- 
ble to  the  General  Assembly  for  all  their  official  acts." — 3Iinutes,  1830, 
p.  16. 

§  98.   Missions  among  the  Germans. 

^^Rcsolved,  That  the  Board  of  Missions  be  requested  to  keep  in  view  the 
increasing  number  and  religious  wants  of  the  German  population  in  our 
country,  and  to  do  whatever  may  be  practicable  to  furnish  them  with  the 
ministry  and  means  of  grace." — 31inutes,  1851,  p.  27. 

§  99.  Honorary  members  of  the  Board. 

'^Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Missions  have  power  to  make  persons  hon- 
orary members  of  the  same,  by  the  payment  of  a  sum  to  be  specified  by  the 
Board;  and  that  persons  thus  made  honorary  members  shall  have  a  right  to 
sit  in  the  meetings  of  the  Board,  and  engage  in  their  deliberations,  but  shall 
have  no  right  to  vote." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  252. 

Title  10. — Policy  and  results  of  the  Assembly's  Missions. 
§  100.  Extent  of  the  f  eld. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  not  only  the  duty  of  this  Board  to  supply  vacant 
Churches  with  an  intelligent,  orthodox,  and  devoted  ministry — not  only  to 
render  assistance  to  feeble  Churches  in  supporting  such  a  ministry  when 
enjoyed,  but  also  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  the  Church,  to  organize  new 
Congregations,  and  to  establish  Churches  in  the  hitherto  neglected  and 
waste  places  of  the  l'And."—3Iinut€s,  1839,  p.  167. 

§  101.  Principles  concerning  the  work. 

"Resolved,  That  the  great  work  undertaken  for  so  long  a  time  by  the 
Assembly,  is  the  expansion  and  full  establishment  of  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  his  own  Spirit  and  power,  over  all  our  vast 
country.  And  it  is  purely  a  missionary  work;  missionary  in  this  respect, 
that  3Iinisters  are  sent  out  by  the  Assembly,  and  means  furnished  for  their 
support,  in  whole  or  iu  part,  while  they  are  preaching  the  gospel,  and  gather- 


Part  II.]  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  343 

ing  and  establishing  Churches.  So  soon  as  individual  Churches  or  groups 
of  Churches  are  established,  and  are  able  to  support  all  the  institutions  of 
the  gospel  for  themselves,  they  are  no  longer  missionary  in  character,  but 
immediately  cease  their  connection  with  the  Board,  and  fall  into  line  with 
the  great  body  of  self-sustaining  and  contributing  Churches,  and  go  to  add 
to  the  solid  material  and  power  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Now  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  Greneral  Assembly  conducts  its  domestic  missionary 
work  are  these :  1st.  It  is  in  the  sense  defined,  a  missionary  icork.  2d.  The 
funds  contributed  for  it  are  missionary  funds.  3d.  The  men  employed  in 
preaching  the  gospel  are,  in  their  fields,  missionary  men.  4th.  All  the 
Churches  and  fields  aided  and  supplied,  are  missionary  Churches  and  fields. 
5th.  The  funds  supplied  are  funds  for  temporai-y  assistance,  and  not  for 
entire  nor  permanent  support.  The  people  aided  are  to  help  themselves,  be 
it  ever  so  little,  from  the  beginning,  and  are  to  go  on  to  independence.  6th. 
The  grand  end  and  aim  of  the  Assembly  is  to  establish  self-sustaining  Churches 
and  fields,  as  fast  and  as  far  as  possible,  and  so  to  increase  the  solid  mate- 
rial  and  power  of  the  Church,  and  accumulate  strength  to  go  forward  ex- 
panding. 7th.  Ministers  and  means  are  to  be  distributed  according  to  the 
relative  importance  and  promise  of  different  fields,  and  in  view  of  the  neces- 
sities of  the  whole  field.,  that  there  may  be  equality  and  7iO  partiality .  8th, 
The  Assembly  conducts  this  work  through  a  Committee  or  Board,  respon- 
sible to  itself  alone,  under  its  advice  and  control,  and  which  Board  is 
required  to  exercise  its  sound  discretion  and  judgment  in  deciding  upon,  and 
in  conducting  the  business  entrusted  to  it.  9th.  No  debt  to  be  incurred  in 
carrying  forward  the  missionary  work.  The  Assembly  always  acted  upon 
this  first  and  only  safe  principle,  and  a  principle  which  has  always  been 
adhered  to  by  our  Church,  and  in  the  Assembly  of  1803,  the  following  reso- 
lution was  passed :  '  That  there  ought  to  be  no  anticipation  of  the  funds  in 
future;  or  in  other  words,  that  appropriations  ought  not  to  be  made  in  any 
year,  beyond  the  amount  which  the  funds  arising  in  that  year  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  satisfy.'  p.  280.  10th.  And  finally,  agents  for  visiting  the  Churches, 
and  collecting  funds  for  the  work,  may  be  employed  by  the  Board." — Min- 
iites,  1852,  p.  215. 

§  102.  Results  of  twenty-one  years. 

^'Resolved,  That  the  results  of  the  domestic  missionary  work  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  for  the  last  twenty-one  years,  1830  to  1850  inclusive,  namely, 
the  increase  of  our  missionaries  from  101  to  570;  the  increase  of  our  funds 
from  $12,000  to  $79,000  :  the  organization  of  943  new  Churches,  the  erection 
of  1484  houses  of  worship,  and  the  addition  of  over  40,000  souls  to  the 
missionary  Churches  on  profession  of  their  faith;  and  the  constitution  of  a 
number  of  new  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  and  a  great  enlargement  of  our 
territorial  boundaries :  and  also,  the  results  of  the  past  year,  by  the  report, 
being  still  most  favourable,  all  furnish  to  the  Assembly,  occasion  of  profound 
gratitude  to  the  Grod  of  Missions,  and  of  encouragement  to  us  to  proceed 
unitedly  and  vigorously  with  the  work." — Mimdes,  1851,  p.  27. 

Title  11. — Duties  of  Presbyteries. 
§  103.    To  provide  for  their  own  destitutions. 

^'Resolved,  That  it  behoves  our  several  Presbyteries  to  take  a  careful  sur- 
vey of  the  territory  within  their  respective  bounds,  inquire  whether  the 
population  residing  there  is  fully  supplied  with  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel 
and  in  habitual  attendance  on  the  worship  of  God,  and  to  take  such  mea- 


844  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

sures  as  their  wisdom  may  sua;gost,  to  establish  at  all  proper  points  the 
preaching  of  the  word  and  the  ordinances  of  God's  house." — Minutes,  1842, 
p.  20. 

§  104.   Preshi/teries  to  report  to  the  Board. 

**  Whereas,  it  appears  from  the  statistical  reports  from  various  parts  of 
our  Church,  and  it  is  well  known  to  this  x\ssembly,  that  there  are  some 
Presbyteries  which  have  more  churches  than  Ministers,  and  other  Presby- 
teries which  have  unemployed  Ministers  and  licentiates  under  their  care; 
therefore, 

^'■Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  such  Presbyteries  to  report  these 
facts  with  the  names  and  locality  of  their  vacant  Churches  and  unemployed 
Ministers  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  who  are 
hereby  appointed  and  authorized  to  act  as  a  Committee  of  Supplies  for  the 
whole  Church,  by  and  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Presbyteries." — Minutes, 
1842,  p.  21. 

§  105.  Preshytertcd  efficiency  urged. 

(a)  '^Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  would  express  their  special  approba- 
tion of  the  earnest  appeals  made  in  this  report  by  the  Board  to  our  Presby- 
teries, in  favour  of  more  vigilant  and  energetic  presbyterial  action  in  behalf  of 
domestic  missions." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  35. 

(6)  Union  of  feeble  Churches. 
"Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  to  encourage 
more  and  more  the  union  of  small  Congregations  in  the  support  of  one  Pas- 
tor, which,  separately,  are  unable  of  themselves  to  sustain  a  Minister,  with 
a  view  to  the  more  etficient  support  of  the  ordinances  of  God  among  them, 
with  less  expense  to  the  missionary  fund." — Ibid. 

Title  12. — Auxiliary  Organizations. 
§  106. 
"  Resolved,  That  the  plans  by  which  Presbyteries  and  Sessions  may  be- 
come auxiliary  to  this  Board,  and  the   plan  of  Church  or  Congregational 
associations,  as  adopted  and  published  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1889,  be 
republished  in  the  report  of  the  present  year  and  in  the  Appendix  to  the 
Minutes." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  445. 
[The  following  are  the  plans  thus  sent  forth.] 

§  107.   Presbyteries  auxiliary  to  the  Board. 

"The  Board  of  Missions  is  an  ecclesiastical  organization,  and  operates 
through  the  Presbyteries;  its  success,  therefore,  must  depend  essentially  on 
the  co-operation  of  the  Presbyteries,  and  the  efficiency  of  their  aid.  It  is 
therefore  recommended  to  each  of  the  Presbyteries  disposed  to  become 
auxiliary  to  the  Board,  that  they  appoint  annually,  from  their  own  body,  an 
Executive  Committee  of  Missions,  which  on  its  organization  shall  appoint 
a  Chairman,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer. 

"It  shall  be  the  business  of  this  committee, 

"1.  To  select  and  recommend  to  the  Executive  Comiuittee  of  the  Board 
of  Missions,  missionary  fields,  and  missionary  labourers,  and  also  to  locate 
such  missionaries  as  may  be  sent  to  them  by  the  Boai'd  for  special  instruc- 
tions. 

"  2.  To  receive  applications  for  aid  from  feeble  Congregations  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  and  to  recommend  the  same  to  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  specifying  in  each  case  the  amount  of 


Part  II.]       •  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONS.  345 

aid,  which  they  deem  indispensably  necessary,  to  be  afforded  to  the  Congre- 
gation. 

*'3.  To  devise  and  execute  plans  for  raising  funds,  or  if  there  be  an  agent 
of  the  Board  within  their  limits,  to  co-operate  with  such  agent  in  collecting 
funds  for  the  support  of  missions  from  the  several  Congregations  within 
their  bounds;  which  funds,  if  desired  by  the  committee,  shall  be  paid  into 
the  hands  of  their  Treasurer;  and  be  held  subject  to  the  orders  of  the 
Board,  in  such  way  as  the  committee  may  direct. 

"  It  will  be  readily  perceived,  by  the  friends  of  the  Board,  that  much  will 
depend  on  the  efficiency  of  these  committees  of  Presbyteries.  The  success 
of  the  Board  in  obtaining  suitable  missionaries  for  distant  places,  must 
depend  essentially  on  the  official  information  they  are  enabled  to  give  to 
those  who  apply  for  commissions.  Missionaries  will  generally  be  found 
reluctant  to  take  commissions  to  the  fields  of  labour,  of  which  they  can 
obtain  but  little  information,  as  to  their  wants  and  prospects;  and  the  infor- 
mation desired  can  be  best  furnished  by  the  committees  of  Presbyteries. 

"It  is  therefore  a  matter  of  very  great  importance  that  these  Correspond- 
ing Executive  Committees  be  composed  of  active,  efficient  men,  who  feel 
interested  in  the  cause,  and  have  opportunities  for  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  state  of  the  Churches,  and  the  destitution  within  their  bounds. 
That  the  members  be  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  each  other;  that 
the  number  necessary  for  the  transaction  of  business  be  small;  and  that  a 
due  proportion  of  each  committee  be  composed  of  active  laymen." — Minutes, 
1841,  p.  484,  485. 

§  108.   Sessions  auxiliaries  to  the  Board  of  Missions. 

"  It  is  believed,  after  much  reflection  and  experience,  that  Sessions,  con- 
sisting of  the  Pastor  and  Elders,  are  about  the  best  auxiliaries  for  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Sessions  are  already  formed;  they  are  essential  to 
the  order  and  government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and,  by  their  taking 
an  agency  in  the  missionary  operations,  the  Church  will  act  directly  hy  her 
own  ojicers,  which  is  the  most  proper  and  desirable  mode  of  action,  in 
everything  in  which  the  Church  is  concerned.  By  Sessions  taking  the 
responsibility,  and  acting  in  this  matter,  missionary  operations  are  brought 
more  directly  home  to  every  Congregation,  and  to  individuals,  as  a  concern 
of  their  own;  and,  when  the  people  see  their  own  representatives,  men  of 
their  own  choice,  and  in  whom  they  have  confidence,  superintending  and 
managing  this  business,  they  will  be  likely  to  contribute  more  willingly, 
generally,  and  liberally  than  they  would  otherwise  do.  It  is  hoped  the 
Pastors  of  our  Churches,  with  their  Elders,  will  feel  how  important  it  is, 
they  shotdd  act  with  promptness  and  regularity  in  this  great  and  good  work." 
Minutes,  1841,  p.  485. 

§  109.  Plan  for  Church  or  Congregational  Associations. 
CONSTITUTION. 

^^ Article  1.  This  Association  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Domes- 
tic Missionary  Association  of ,  and  shall  be  auxiliary  to  the  General 

Assembly's  Board  of  Missions. 

^^Art.  2.  Any  person  who  shall  contribute  annually  to  its  funds  shall  be 
a  member. 

^^Art.  3.  The  affairs  of  this  Association  shall  be  conducted  by  an  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  seven  members,  of  whom  the  Pastor  and  Elders  shall 
always  be  a  part,  and  the  Pastor,  if  there  be  one,  shall  be,  ex  officio,  chair- 
man. 

44 


346  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

"Ai-t.  4.  The  committee  shall  appoint  their  oTvn  Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
either  from  their  own  number,  or  any  other  persons,  as  they  may  deem 
expedient.  The  Treasurer  shall  take  charge  of  the  funds,  and  pay  them  at 
the  order  of  the  Committee — the  Secretary  shall  keep  the  records,  and  con- 
duct the  correspondence. 

''Ai-t.  5.  The  whole  subject  of  soliciting  contributions,  and  raising  fiVnds, 
shall  be  committed  to  the  Executive  Committee,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
adopt  such  plans  as  they  may  deem  most  expedient  ft)r  accomplishing  the 
object. 

'^Art.  6.  It  shall  be  the  privilege  of  this  Association,  if  they  desire  it, 
to  designate  the  Missionaries  they  will  aid;  and  where  they  take  on  their 
funds  individual  Missionaries,  they  will  expect  from  these  Missionaries 
quarterly  reports  to  be  made  to  the  Association,  as  well  as  to  the  parent 
Board. 

"Art.  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Committee  to  meet  at  least  once  in 
three  months,  to  consult  together,  devise  plans  for  promoting  the  interests 
of  Domestic  Missions,  and  do  whatever  business  may  come  before  them; 
three  members  regularly  convened,  shall  be  a  quorum  for  business. 

*'Art.  8.  The  Association  shall  meet  annually  on  the in  March, 

when  a  report  for  the  year  shall  be  read,  and  an  Executive  Committee 
appointed.  The  Pastor,  if  there  be  one,  shall  be,  ex  officio,  President  of 
the  Association;  seven  members  shall  be  a  quorum  for  business. 

"Art.  9.  The  Secretary  of  the  Association  shall  transmit  a  copy  of  the 
report  immediately  after  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Association,  'to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Greneral  Assembly's  Board  of  Missions. 

"The  foregoing  constitution,  it  will  be  observed,  is  designed  for  an  Asso- 
ciation including  either  the  whole  Congregation,  or  the  male  part  of  the 
Congregation.  It  may,  however,  with  a  few  changes,  suit  an  Association 
composed  of  females,  and  the  object  in  giving  a  form,  is  to  aid  Congrega- 
tions in  organizing  themselves  into  Missionary  Associations;  retaining  the 
general  outlines — each  Association  can  model  itself  to  suit  its  own  circum- 
stances. In  all  such  operations,  however,  as  far  as  practicable,  uniformity 
is  desirable." — Mimites,  1841,  p.  485. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

Title  1. — Dr.  J.  H.  Rice's  memorial  on  the  organization  of  a 
Missionary  Society. 

§  110. 

"An  overture  on  the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions,  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  John 
H.  Rice,  was  taken  up,  read,  and  committed  to  Mr.  Armstrong,  Mr.  Cal- 
vert, Mr.  Goodrich,  Dr.  J,  McDowell,  and  Dr.  Agnew." — Mimites,  1831, 
p.  173. 

"The  committee  made  a  report,  which  being  read  and  amended,  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  elected  to  attend  the  next  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and 
confer  with  that  body  in  respect  to  measures  to  be  adopted  for  enlisting  the 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF   FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  347 

energies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  more  extensively  in  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions to  the  heathen,  and  that  said  committee  report  the  results  of  this  con- 
ference, and  their  views  on  the  whole  subject,  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly."—ifmw^es,  1831,  p.  179. 

"The  committee  to  whom  were  committed  the  ballots  for  the  committee  to 
meet  with  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  made  a  report, 
when  it  appeared  that  the  following  persons  were  duly  elected,  viz.  Rev.  Dr. 
John  McDowell,  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  McAuley,  and  Rev.  Dr.  James  Richards; 
and  that  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  is  elected  alternate  to  Dr.  McDow- 
ell; Rev.  John  Breckinridge  to  Dr.  McAuley  j  and  Rev.  Elisha  P.  Swift  to 
Dr.  Richards." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  181. 

"The  report  of  the  committee  who  were  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly 
to  attend  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  confer  with 
that  body,  &c.,  was  taken  up,  and  after  some  discussion  the  following  reso- 
lution was  adopted,  viz. 

^'Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  would  express  no  opinion  in  relation 
to  the  principles  contained  in  the  report,  they  cordially  recommend  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  to  the  affection  and 
patronage  of  their  Churches." — Minutes,  1832,  pp.  328,  331. 

Title  2. — The  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

§  111.    Occasion  of  its  formation. 

[It  was  anticipated,  in  accordance  with  the  result,  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  by 
the  committee  above  designated,  to  form  such  a  treaty  with  the  American  Board  as  had 
been  once  already  rejected,  tending  to  preclude  the  Church  from  engaging  in  her  own 
capacity  in  the  work  of  missions.  To  forestall  such  an  attempt,  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh 
at  its  sessions  between  the  appointment  and  the  report  of  the  committee,  organized  itself 
as  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society.     Of  its  erection  the  following  notice  occurs.] 

"  The  Assembly  would  hail  with  pleasure  the  appearance  of  a  deeper  inter- 
est in  the  subject  of  foreign  missions,  recently  manifested  in  the  Churches 
of  the  West  by  the  establishment  of  a  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 
We  would  that  all  our  Churches  might  have  a  strong  sense  of  their  obliga- 
tion to  send  the  gospel  Ho  every  creature,'  and  afford  fairer  evidence  of  the 
sincerity  of  their  daily  prayer,  'Thy  kingdom  come!'" — 3finutes,  1832, 
p.  344. 

§  112.    Treaty  for  its  transfer  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"Overture  No.  24,  relative  to  Foreign  Missions,  was  taken  up,  read,  and 
committed  to  Messrs.  Elliot,  Magie,  Witherspoon,  Williamson,  and  Sym- 
ington." 

"Their  report  was  accepted  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  it  is  the  solemn  conviction  of  this  General  Assembly 
that  the  Presbyterian  Church  owes  it  as  a  sacred  duty  to  her  glorified  Head, 
to  yield  a  far  more  exemplary  obedience,  and  that,  in  her  distinctive  cha- 
racter as  a  Church,  to  the  command  which  he  gave  at  his  ascension  into 
heaven:  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.' 
It  is  believed  to  be  among  the  causes  of  the  frowns  of  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church,  which  are  now  resting  on  our  beloved  Zion,  in  the  declension 
of  vital  piety,  and  the  disorders  and  divisions  that  distract  us,  that  we  have 
done  so  little,  comparatively  nothing,  in  our  distinctive  character  as  a  Church 
of  Christ,  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  the  Jews,  and  the  Mahome- 
dans.  It  is  regarded  as  of  vital  importance  to  the  welfare  of  our  Church, 
that  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  missions  should  be  more  zealously  prose- 
cuted, and  more  liberally  patronized;  and  that  as  a  nucleus  of  Foreign  Mis- 
eionary  effort,  and  operation,  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  should 


848  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

receive  the  countenance,  as  it  appears  to  us  to  merit  the  confidence,  of  those 
who  cherish  an  attachment  to  the  doctrines  and  order  of  the  Church  to  which 
we  belong. 

(b)  ^^ Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburgh  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  a  supervision  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  now  under  the  direction  of  that  Synod;  to  ascer- 
tain the  terms  on  which  such  transfer  can  be  made,  to  devise  and  digest  a 
plan  of  conducting  foreign  missions  under  the  direction  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  report  the  whole  to  the  next  Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

''Dr.  Cuyler,  Dr.  Cummins,  Dr.  Hoge,  Mr.  Witherspoon,  and  Dr.  Edgar, 
were  appointed  this  committee." — Minutes,  1835,  pp.  30,  31. 

(c)  '■'■Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh,  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  the  supervision  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly,  be  authorized,  if  they 
shall  approve  of  the  said  transfer,  to  ratify  and  confirm  the  same  with  the 
said  Synod,  and  report  the  same  to  the  next  General  Assembly." — Ihkl. 
p.  33. 

§  113.  Report  hy  tlie  Commission  of  the  terms  of  transfer. 

"The  committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  on  the  transfer  of  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly,  made  a 
teport,  which  was  read  and  accepted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  committee  appointed  under  the  following  resolution  of  the  last 
General  Assembly,  viz.  '■Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  to  confer 
with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  the  supervision  of 
the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly,  be  author- 
ized, if  they  shall  approve  of  the  said  transfer,  to  ratify  and  confirm  the 
same  with  the  said  Synod,  and  report  the  same  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly,' beg  leave  to  report,  That  they  submitted  the  following  terms  of  agree- 
ment to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  at  its  sessions  last  fall,  and  that  it  was 
duly  ratified  by  that  body,  as  will  fully  appear  by  its  minutes. 

"Terms  of  agreement  between  the  Committee  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  in  reference  to  the  transfer  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society: 

"1.  The  General  Assembly  will  assume  the  supervision  and  control  of  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  from  and  after  the  next  annual  meet- 
ing of  said  Assembly,  and  will  thereafter  superintend  and  conduct,  by  its 
own  proper  authority,  the  work  of  foreign  missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  by  a  Board  especially  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  directly 
amenable  to  said  Assembly.  And  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  does  hereby 
transfer  to  that  body  all  its  supervision  and  control  over  the  missions  and 
operations  of  the  Western  Foreign  Society,  from  and  after  the  adoption  of 
this  minute;  and  authorizes  and  directs  said  society  to  perform  every  act 
necessary  to  complete  said  transfer,  when  the  Assembly  shall  have  appointed 
its  Board,  it  being  expressly  understood  that  the  said  Assembly  will  never 
hereafter  alienate  or  transfer  to  any  other  judicatory  or  Board  whatever,  the 
direct  supervision  and  management  of  the  said  missions,  or  those  which  may 
hereafter  be  established  by  the  Board  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  its  next  meeting,  choose  forty  Min- 
isters and  forty  laymen,  and  annually  thereafter,  ten  Ministers  and  ten  lay- 
men, as  members  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  whose  term  of  office 
shall  be  four  years ;  and  these  forty  JMinisters  and  forty  laymen,  so  appointed, 
shall  constitute  a  Board,  to  be  styled  'The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States;'  to  which,  for  the  time  being, 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  349 

shall  be  entrusted,  with  such  directions  and  iustractions  as  may  from  time 
to  time  be  given,  the  superintendence  of  the  foreign  missionary  operations 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  who  shall  make  annually  to  the  General  As- 
sembly a  report  of  their  proceedings ;  and  submit  for  its  approval  such  plans 
and  measures  as  may  be  deemed  useful  and  necessary.  Until  the  transfer 
shall  have  been  completed,  the  business  shall  be  conducted  by  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

"3.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  hold  a  meeting  annually,  at  some  con- 
venient time  during  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  which  it  shall 
appoint  a  President,  Vice-President,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Record- 
ing Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  General  Agents,  and  an  Executive  Committee, 
to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year.  It  shall  belong  to  the  Board  to  receive  and 
decide  upon  all  the  doings  of  the  Executive  Committee,  to  receive  and  dis-, 
pose  of  their  annual  report,  and  present  a  statement  of  their  proceedings  to 
the  General  Assembly.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to 
meet  for  the  transaction  of  business  as  often  as  may  be  expedient,  due  notice 
of  every  special  meeting  being  given  to  every  member  of  the  Board.  It  is 
recommended  to  the  Board  to  hold,  in  different  parts  of  the  Church,  at  least 
one  public  meeting  annually,  to  promote  and  diffuse  a  livelier  interest  in  the 
foreign  missionary  cause. 

"4.  To  the  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  not  more  than  seven 
members,  besides  the  Corresponding  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  shall  belong 
the  duty  of  appointing  all  missionaries  and  missionary  agents,  except  those 
otherwise  provided  for;  of  designating  their  fields  of  labour,  receiving  the 
reports  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  giving  him  needful  directions 
in  reference  to  all  matters  of  business  and  correspondence  entrusted  to  him; 
to  authorize  all  appropriations  and  expenditures  of  money;  and  to  take  the 
particular  direction  and  management  of  the  foreign  missionary  work,  subject 
to  the  revision  of  the  Board  of  Directors.  The  Executive  Committee  shall 
meet  at  least  once  a  month,  and  oftener  if  necessary;  of  whom  three  mem- 
bers, meeting  at  the  time  and  place  of  adjournment  or  special  call,  shall 
constitute  a  quorum.  The  committee  shall  have  power  to  fill  their  own 
vacancies,  if  any  occur  during  a  recess  of  the  Board. 

"  5.  All  property,  houses,  lands,  tenements,  and  permanent  funds,  belong- 
ing to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  be  constituted  by  this  agreement, 
shall  be  taken  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
held  in  trust  by  them  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions for  the  time  being. 

''  6.  The  seat  of  the  operations  of  the  Board  shall  be  designated  by  the 
General  Assembly. 

''After  some  discussion,  the  above  report  was  committed  to  Dr.  Phillips, 
Mr.  Scovel,  Dr.  Skinner,  Dr.  Dunlap,  and  Mr.  Ewing,  who  were  author- 
ized to  review  the  whole  case,  and  present  it  for  the  consideration  of  this 
Assembly. 

^''Resolved,  That  the  report  of  this  committee  be  the  order  of  the  day  for 
Thursday  morning,  at  10  o'clock,  or  earlier  if  prepared." — Minutes,  1836, 
p.  243. 

§  114.   Majority/  report  of  the  Committee  of  Reference. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  the  super- 
vision of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly, 
and  also  the  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  subject  of 
foreign  missions,  report — That  the  attention  of  the  last  Assembly  was  called 
to  the  subject  of  foreign  missions  by  the  following  overture,  viz.  on  page  31 


350  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

of  printed  minutes:  'That  it  is  the  solemn  conviction  of  this  General 
Assembly,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  owes  it,  as  a  sacred  duty  to  her 
glorified  Head,  to  yield  a  fiir  more  exemplary  obedience,  and  that  in  her  dis- 
tinctive character  as  a  Church,  to  the  command  which  he  gave  at  his  ascen- 
sion into  heaven — '  Gro  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.'  It  is  believed  to  be  among  the  causes  of  the  frowns  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church,  which  are  now  resting  on  our  beloved  Zion,  in  the  de- 
clension of  vital  piety,  and  the  disorders  and  divisions  that  distract  us,  that 
we  have  done  so  little — comparatively  nothing — in  our  distinctive  character 
as  a  Church  of  Christ,  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  to  the  Jews,  and 
the  Mahomedans.  It  is  regarded  as  of  vital  importance  to  the  welfare  of  our 
Church,  that  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  missions  should  be  more  zealously 
prosecuted  and  more  liberally  patronized;  and  that  as  a  nucleus  of  foreign 
missionary  effort  and  operation,  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
should  receive  the  countenance,  as  it  appears  to  us  to  merit  the  confidence, 
of  those  who  cherish  an  attachment  to  the  doctrines  and  order  of  the  Church 
to  which  we  belong.' 

"  The  Assembly  feeling  the  force  of  the  suggestions  contained  in  this  over- 
ture, and  believing  it  to  be  their  most  important  and  appropriate  work,  to 
spread  the  gospel  throughout  the  world,  adopted  the  overture  in  the  form  of 
a  resolution,  together  with  the  following,  viz. 

^'Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh  on  the  subject  of  a  transfer  of  a  supervision  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  now  under  the  direction  of  that  Synod,  to  ascer- 
tain the  terms  on  which  such  transfer  can  be  made;  to  devise  and  digest  a 
plan  of  conducting  foreign  missions  under  the  direction  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  and  report  the  whole  to  the  next  Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

"  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  proposition  to  confer  with  the  Synod,  and  to 
assume  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  originated  in  the  Assembly. 

"  At  that  time  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  in  a  prosper- 
ous condition,  enjoying  the  confidence  and  receiving  the  patronage  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  our  Churches,  having  in  their  employ  about  twenty 
missionaries,  and  their  funds  were  unembarrassed.  The  committee  having 
conferred  with  some  of  the  members  of  that  society,  and  finding  that  the 
proposition  was  favourably  regarded  by  them,  indulging  the  hope  that  an 
arrangement  might  be  definitely  made  with  the  Synod,  at  their  next  stated 
meeting,  by  which  the  Assembly  would  be  prepared  to  enter  on  the  work  at 
their  present  sessions,  brought  the  subject  again  before  the  Assembly,  when 
it  was,  after  mature  deliberation, 

''Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburgh,  on  the  subject  of  the  transfer  of  the  supervision  of  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly,  be  autliorized,  if  they 
shall  approve  of  the  said  transfer,  to  ratify  and  confirm  the  same  with  the 
said  Synod,  and  report  the  same  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  (p.  33.) 

"  The  committee  thus  appointed,  and  clothed  with  full  powers  to  ratify 
and  confirm  a  transfer,  submitted  the  terras  on  which  they  were  willing  to 
accept  it,  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  at  their  sessions  last  Fall. 

"  The  members  of  the  committee  not  being  present  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Synod,  and  there  being  no  time  for  further  correspondence,  the  Synod, 
(although  they  would  have  preferred  some  alterations  of  the  terms,)  were 
precluded  from  proposing  any,  on  the  ground  that  such  alteration  would  vitiate 
the  whole  proceedings,  and  therefore  acceded  to  the  terms  of  the  transfer 
which  were  proposed  by  the  committee  of  the  Assembly,  and  solemnly  rati- 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF   FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  351 

fied  the  contract  on  their  part.  Feeling  themselves  bound  by  the  same,  and 
trusting  to  the  good  faith  of  this  body,  they  have  acted  accordingly,  and  have 
made  no  provision  for  their  missionaries  now  in  the  field,  for  a  longer  time 
than  the  meeting  of  this  Assembly,  having  informed  them  of  the  transfer 
which  has  taken  place,  and  of  the  new  relation  they  would  sustain  to  this 
body  after  their  present  sessions. 

,  "  It  appears  then  to  your  committee,  that  the  Assembly  have  entered  into 
a  solemn  compact  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  that  there  remains  but 
one  righteous  course  to  pursue,  which  is  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee appointed  last  year,  and  to  appoint  a  Foreign  Missionary  Board.  To 
pause  now,  or  to  annul  the  doings  of  the  last  Assembly  in  this  matter,  would 
be  obviously  a  violation  of  contract,  a  breach  of  trust,  and  a  departure  from 
that  good  faith  which  should  be  sacredly  kept  between  man  and  man,  and 
especially  between  Christian  societies — conduct  which  would  be  utterly  un- 
worthy of  this  venerable  body,  and  highly  injurious  to  the  Western  Foreign 
Missionary  Society. 

"  The  committee  beg  leave  further  respectfully  to  remind  the  Assembly, 
that  a  large  proportion  of  our  Churches  (being  Presbyterians  from  conviction 
and  preference,)  feel  it  to  be  consistent  not  only,  but  their  solemn  duty  in 
the  sight  of  God,  to  impart  to  others  the  same  good,  and  in  the  same  form 
of  it  which  they  enjoy  themselves,  and  to  be  represented  in  heathen  lands 
by  missionaries  of  their  own  denomination.  They  greatly  prefer  such  an 
organization  as  this  contemplated,  and  which  shall  be  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  cannot  be  enlisted  so  well  in  the  great  and  glori- 
ous work  of  sending  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  under  any  other.  Already, 
with  the  blessing  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  on  the  efforts  of  the 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  in  this  form  of  operation,  has  a  mis- 
sionary spirit  been  awakened  among  them  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  an 
interest  in  the  cause  of  missions  been  created  never  before  felt  by  them. 
They  have  furnished  tnen  for  the  work,  and  are  contributing  cheerfully  to 
their  support  in  the  foreign  field. 

"  As  one  great  end  to  be  accomplished  by  all  who  love  the  Redeemer,  is 
to  awaken  and  cherish  a  missionary  spirit,  and  to  enlist  all  the  Churches  in 
the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world;  as  every  leading  Christian  denomina- 
tion in  the  world  has  its  own  foreign  missionary  board,  and  has  found  such 
distinct  organization  the  most  effectual  method  of  interesting  the  Churches 
under  their  care,  in  this  great  subject;  as  such  an  organization  cannot  inter- 
fere with  the  rights  or  operations  of  any  other  similar  organization,  for  the 
field  is  the  world,  and  is  wide  enough  for  all  to  cultivate;  as  it  is  neither 
desired  nor  intended  to  dictate  to  any  in  this  matter,  but  simply  to  give  an 
opportunity  of  sending  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  by  their  own  missionaries, 
to  those  who  prefer  this  mode  of  doing  so,  giving  them  that  liberty  which 
they  cheerfully  accord  to  others — your  committee  cannot  suppose  for  a  mo- 
ment that  this  General  Assembly  will  in  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  refuse 
to  consummate  this  arrangement  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  thus  pre- 
vent so  many  Churches  under  their  care  from  supporting  their  missionaries 
in  their  own  way.  From  this  view  of  the  case,  they  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  follow  resolutions,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  last 
Assembly,  to  confer  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  on  the  subject  of  a  trans- 
fer of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly,  be 
adopted,  and  that  said  transfer  be  accepted  on  the  terms  of  agreement 
therein  contained. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  will  proceed  to  appoint  a  Foreign  Mis- 


352  OF  MISSIONS,  [Book  V. 

sionarj  Board,  the  seat  of  whose  operations  shall  be  in  the  city  of  New 
York." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  258. 

§  115.  Minority  report. 

"  Dr.  Skinner,  one  of  the  committee,  who  dissented  from  this  report, 
made  a  counter  report,  which  was  read,  accepted,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  Whereas,  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
has  been  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  from  the  year  of  its  incor- 
poration, by  the  very  elements  of  its  existence;  and  whereas,  at  the  present 
time  the  majority  of  the  whole  of  that  Board  are  Presbyterians;  and  whereas, 
as  it  is  undesirable,  in  conducting  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  that  there 
should  be  any  collision  at  home  or  abroad;  therefore, 

'■'■Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  that  the  Assembly  should  organize  a 
separate  Foreign  Missionary  Institution." — Ihid.  257. 

§  116.  Rejection  of  the  Society. 

[A  motion  to  postpone  the  report  for  the  purpose  of  taking  up  that  of  the  minority,  was 
lost  by  Yeas,  133,  Nays,  134;  and  after  protracted  discussion  carried  through  several 
days,] 

"  The  previous  question  was  moved  and  carried,  when  the  main  question 
on  adopting  the  report,  to  transfer  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
to  the  General  Assembly,  was  put,  and  was  decided  in  the  negative,  as 
follows,  viz.  Yeas,  106,  Nays,  110. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  inform  the  Board  of  the  Western  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  that  the  Assembly  have  not  carried  into  effect  the  stipu- 
lation touching  the  receiving  that  society  under  their  care." — 3Iinutes, 
1836,  pp.  278,  279. 

§  117.  Protest. 

''The  following  protest  was  introduced  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
minutes,  viz. 

"The  undersigned  do  solemnly  protest  against  the  decision  of  the  General 
Assembly,  whereby  the  report  of  the  committee  of  the  last  Assembly, 
respecting  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  rejected,  for  the 
following  reasons,  viz. 

"1.  Because  we  consider  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  in  this  case,  as  an 
unjustifiable  refusal  to  carry  into  effect  a  solemn  contract  with  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburgh,  duly  ratified  and  affirmed  under  the  authority  of  the  last 
Assembly. 

"2.  Because  we  are  impressed  with  the  deepest  conviction  that  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  in  her  ecclesiastical  capacity,  is  bound,  in  obedience  to 
the  command  of  her  divine  Head  and  Lord,  to  send  the  glorious  gospel  as 
far  as  may  be  in  her  power,  to  every  creature;  and  we  consider  the  decision 
of  the  Assembly  in  this  case,  as  a  direct  refusal  to  obey  this  command,  and 
to  pursue  one  of  the  great  objects  for  which  the  Church  was  founded. 

"3.  Because  it  is  our  deliberate  persuasion,  that  a  large  part  of  the  ener- 
gy, zeal,  and  resources  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  cannot  be  called  into 
action  in  the  missionary  cause,  without  the  establishment  of  a  missionary 
Board  by  the  General  Assembly.  It  is  evident  that  no  other  ecclesiastical 
organization,  by  fragments  of  the  Church,  can  be  formed,  which  will  unite, 
satisfy,  and  call  forth  the  zealous  co-operation  of  those  in  every  part  of  the 
Church  who  wish  for  a  general  Presbyterian  Board. 

"4.  Because,  while  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  acknowledged  that  they 
had  a  Board  which  fully  met  all  the  wants  and  wishes  of  themselves  and  of 
those  who  sympathized  with  them,  they  refused  to  make  such  a  decision 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  853 

as  would  accord  to  us  a  similar  and  equal  priviletre;  thereby,  as  wc  conceive, 
refusing  that  which  would  have  been  only  just  and  equal,  and  rejecting  a 
plan  which  would  have  greatly  extended  the  missionary  spirit,  and  exerted 
a  reflex  beneficial  influence  on  the  Churches  thus  indulged  with  a  Board 
agreeable  to  their  views. 

"b.  Because,  to  all  these  considerations,  urged  with  solemnity  and  aff"ec- 
tion,  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  were  deaf,  and  have  laid  us  under  the 
necessity  of  protesting  against  their  course;  of  complaining  that  we  are 
denied  a  most  reasonable,  and  to  us  most  precious  privilege;  and  of  lament- 
ing that  we  are  laid  under  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  plans  of  ecclesiastical 
organization,  complicated,  inconvenient,  and  much  more  adapted,  on  a  varie- 
ty of  accounts,  to  interfere  with  ecclesiastical  harmony,  than  the  proposed 
Board  would  have  been. 

"  Fittsbur</h,  June  9th,  1836. 

" Samuel  Miller,  John  Coulter,  Robert  Porter,  A.  E.  Curry,  J.  S.  "Wea- 
ver, James  Lenox,  J.  H.  Symmes,  Edwin  Downer,  H.  M.  Hopkins,  Clement 
Velandingham,  George  Bishop,  J.  H.  Gray,  J.  McElroy,  David  McKinney, 
P.  J.  Sparrow,  E.  W.  Caruthers,  Robert  Johnston,  G.  W.  Musgrave,  S.  G. 
Winchester,  M.  G.  Wallace,  F.  H.  Porter,  R.  H.  Kilpatrick,  Benjamin  C. 
Swan,  James  McCurdy,  Samuel  S.  Davis,  H.  M.  Koontz,  Samuel  Boyd, 
David  Morrow,  John  M.  C.  Bartley,  J.  Bemiss,  Parly  Coburn,  J.  S.  Beri-y- 
man,  William  Wallace,  Jacob  F.  Price,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  J.  LeRoy 
Davies,  Thomas  L.  Dunlap,  James  V.  Henry,  Wm.  Marshall,  Joseph  Nim- 
mo,  J.  Stoneroad,  S.  L.  Graham,  John  W.  Cunningham,  Orson  Douglass, 
Archibald  George,  Wm.  P.  Alrich,  Sylvester  Scovel,  Benjamin  F.  Spilman, 
N.  Ewing,  Charles  Woodward,  J.  R.  Sharon,  S.  B.  Lowers,  James  McFar- 
ren,  R.  Highlands,  Wm.  W.  Phillips,  Alexander  A.  Campbell,  Samuel 
Henderson,  H.  S.  Pratt,  Nathaniel  Todd,  Evander  McNair,  John  Miller, 
William  Wallace,  (of  Lancaster,)  James  D.  Ray,  Alexander  Write,  Jr., 
Archibald  Hanna,  John  Elliott,  Jacob  R.  Castner,  John  Stinson,  Joseph 
Campbell,  James  Kennedy,  David  S.  Tod,  Ananias  Piatt,  Johnston  Eaton, 
William  Williamson,  John  S.  Galloway,  John  H.  Culbertson,  Joseph  Har- 
beson,  John  H.  Van  Court,  Archibald  McCallum,  Thomas  A.  Ogden, 
Thomas  R.  Borden,  John  R.  Hutchison,  John  McClure,  Isaac  W.  Snow- 
den,  James  Patterson,  Jr.,  Ellison  Conger,  James  Alexander,  Geo.  Ander- 
son.* 

"Dr.  Peters,  Mr.  Cleaveland,  and  Mr.  H.  Kingsbury  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  answer  the  above  protest." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  280. 

§  118.  Answer  to  the  protest. 

"  In  answer  to  the  protest  of  the  minority  of  the  General  Assembly,  on 
the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  majority  regard  it  as  due  to  the 
Churches,  and  the  friends  of  missions  generally,  to  state  some  of  the  grounds 
on  which  they  have  declined  to  carry  into  eftect  the  arrangement  adopted 
and  reported  by  the  committee  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  in  regard  to 
the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

"We  are  of  opinion, 

"1.  That  the  powers  intended  to  be  conferred  upon  the  above  committee 
by  the  last  Assembly,  to  ratify  and  confirm  the  transfer  of  the  said  society 
from  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  to  the  General  Assembly,  on  such  terms  as 
the  said  committee  might  approve,  are  altogether  unusual  and  unwarranted; 
and  especially  that  it  was  indiscreet  and  improper  for  that  Assembly  to 

*  [Mr.  Anderson's  name  is  not  appended  to  the  protest  in  the  Slinutes.  The  periodicals  of  the  time 
contain  his  statement  of  having  aflixed  his  signature,  which  hy  some  inadvertence  was  afterwards 
OTerlooked  in  publishing.] 

45 


354  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

attempt  to  confer  sucli  unlimited  powers,  for  such  a  purpose,  in  the  existing 
state  of  the  Churches,  upon  so  small  a  committee,  and  that  too  on  the  last  day 
of  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  when  more  than  one  half  of  the  enrolled 
members  of  the  body  had  obtained  leave  of  absence,  and  had  already  returned 
to  their  homes. 

"2.  That  it  was  unwarrantable  and  improper  for  the  above  committee,  in 
the  exercise  of  the  extraordinary  powei's  supposed  to  be  conferred  on  them, 
to  incorporate,  in  their  agreement  with  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  the  condi- 
tion that  the  supervision  of  the  missions  of  the  Board  intended  to  be  organ- 
ized, should  never  be  alienated  by  the  General  Assembly;  thus  endeavour- 
ing to  bind  irreversibly  all  futui'e  Assemblies  by  the  stipulations  of  that 
committee. 

"3.  It  is,  therefore,  our  deep  conviction  that  it  was  the  duty  of  this 
Assembly  to  resist  the  unwarrantable  and  extraordinary  powers  of  the  above 
committee,  and  to  reject  the  unreasonable  conditions  of  their  contract  with 
the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh. 

"  4.  It  is  our  settled  belief,  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  one  by  divine 
constitution,  and  that  the  command  is  of  universal  obligation — '  Let  there 
be  no  divisions  among  you;'  and  that  whatever  advantages  or  disadvantages 
may  have  resulted  from  the  divisions  of  the  Church  into  numerous  denomi- 
nations, with  conflicting  opinions,  it  cannot  be  our  duty,  as  Christians,  to 
perpetuate  and  extend  these  divisions  by  incorporating  them  in  our  arrange- 
ments to  spread  the  gospel  in  heathen  lands.  We  cannot,  therefore,  regard 
the  decision  of  the  Assembly  in  this  case  as  a  refusal  to  obey  the  command 
of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature. 
That  command,  as  we  understand  it,  is  not  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
her  distinctive  ecclesiastical  capacity,  but  to  the  whole  Church,  to  the  col- 
lective body  of  Christ's  disciples,  of  every  name.  It  was,  that  they  might 
the  more  effectually  obei/  the  above  command,  by  uniting  with  Christians  of 
other  denominations  in  the  noble  work  of  foreign  missions,  that  the  Assem- 
bly declined  to  carry  into  effect  the  proposed  organization,  restricted  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

*'  5.  We  do  not  agree  with  the  protestants  in  the  opinion  that  the  resources 
of  any  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  '  cannot  be  called  into  action  in  the 
missionary  cause,  without  the  establishment  of  a  Missionary  Board  by  the 
General  Assembly.'  The  history  of  missionary  operations  in  this  and  ia 
other  countries,  furnishes  ample  evidence  that  the  energy  and  zeal  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  are  much  more  effectually  enlisted,  and 
their  liberality  greatly  increased,  by  more  expanded  organizations,  which 
overstep  the  limits  of  sects,  and  the  bond  of  whose  union  is  the  one  great 
object  of  spreading  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God.  It  is  our  settled 
belief,  that  societies  formed  on  these  principles,  and  including  different 
denominations  of  Christians,  are  actually  performing,  as  the  proxies  of  the 
Church  in  the  work  of  missions,  that  which  the  Church,  on  account  of  her 
existing  divisions,  can  pei'form  in  no  other  way  so  well.  They  appear  to  us 
to  have  embraced  the  harmonizing  principle  which  is  destined  ultimately  to 
reunite  the  Churches,  and  make  them  one,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning  and 
will  be  in  the  end. 

"  6.  While  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  acknowledge  their  unabated  con- 
fidence in  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  as 
fully  meeting  our  wishes,  and  affording  a  safe  and  open  channel  through  which 
all  our  Churches  may,  as  consistent  Presbyterians,  convey  their  contribu- 
tions to  the  cause  of  foreign  missions,  we  do  not  regard  ourselves  as  having 
denied,  by  the  decision  protested  against,  to  the  minority,  the  privilege  of 
conducting  their  missionary  operations,  with  entire  freedom,  in  any  other 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  355 

plan  which  they  may  prefer.  But  we  think  it  unreasonable  for  them  to  ask 
us  to  form,  aud  to  complain  of  our  not  forming,  by  a  vote  of  the  General 
Assembly,  an  organization,  the  principles  of  which  we  do  not  approve.  We 
do  not  ask  of  them  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  the  plan  which  we  pre- 
fer, and  we  cannot  regard  ourselves  as  chargeable  with  unkindncss  or  injus- 
tice in  having  refused  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  the  plan  which  they 
prefer.  If  we  cannot  agree  to  unite  in  the  same  organization,  for  the  same 
purpose,  it  appears  to  us  manifestly  proper,  that  each  party  should  bear  the 
responsibilities  of  its  own  chosen  plan  of  operations;  and  if  our  brethren 
cannot  so  far  commend  their  principles  as  to  extend  their  ecclesiastical 
organizations  beyond  those  *  fragments  of  the  Church'  of  which  they  speak, 
they  surely  ought  not  to  complain  of  us,  '  if  those  in  every  part  of  the  Church 
who  wish  for  a  general  Presbyterian  Board,'  remain  dissatisfied.  We  would 
respectfully  ask  whether  they  ought  not  to  charge  their  embarrassment,  in 
this  respect,  to  the  plan  which  they  have  adopted,  rather  than  to  those  who 
have  chosen,  on  their  own  responsibility,  in  the  fear  of  God,  to  conduct  their 
missionary  operations  on  other  principles.  If,  therefore,  the  minority  of  the 
Assembly  should  hereafter  judge  themselves  under  Hhe  necessity  of  resort- 
inn  to  plans  of  ecclesiastical  organization,'  which  shall  *  interfere  with  eccle- 
siastical harmony,'  the  majority  cannot  regard  themselves  as  responsible  for 
such  results.  The  settled  belief  of  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  is,  that 
the  operations  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, with  its  numerous  auxiliaries,  both  ecclesiastical  and  voluntary,  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  present  the  best  arrangement  for 
the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  missions  by  our  Churches,  and  it  was  to  pre- 
vent the  ecclesiastical  conflicts  and  divisions  which  have  resulted  from  the 
operations  of  other  similar  organizations,  that  they  have  thought  it  their 
duty  to  decline  the  organization  proposed.  They  have  made  their  decision 
for  the  purpose,  and  with  the  hope  of  securing  and  promoting  the  union  in 
the  missionary  work  which  has  so  happily  existed  in  former  years.  With, 
these  views  and  hopes,  they  commend  the  cause  of  missions,  and  their 
solemn  and  conscientious  decision,  to  the  blessing  of  God,  and  pray  for  the 
peace  of  Jerusalem." — MintUe^,  1836,  p.  291. 

Title  3. — Organization  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 
§  119.    The  Constitution. 

"The  Committee  on  the  Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Salem,  on  the 
subject  of  foreign  missions,  made  a  report,  which  was  accepted,  aud  adopted, 
by  yeas  and  nays,  as  follows,  viz. 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  will  superintend  and  conduct, 
by  its  own  proper  authority,  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  by  a  Board  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  directly  amenable 
to  said  Assembly. 

"2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  its  present  meeting,  choose  forty 
Ministers  and  forty  laymen,  as  members  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
one  fourth  part  of  whom  shall  go  out  annually,  in  alphabetical  order;  and 
thereafter  ten  Ministers  and  ten  laymen  shall  be  annually  elected  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  whose  term  of  office  shall  be  four 
years;  and  these  forty  Ministers  and  forty  laymen  so  appointed,  shall  con- 
stitute a  Board  to  be  styled,  'The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,'  to  which,  for  the  time 
being,  shall  be  intrusted,  with  such  directions  and  instructions  as  may  from 
time  to  time  be  given  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  superintendence  of  the 
foreign  missionary  operations  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.    This  Board  shall 


"356  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

make  annually  to  the  General  Assembly  a  report  of  their  proceedings,  and 
submit  for  its  approval  such  plans  and  measures  as  may  be  deemed  useful 
and  necessary. 

"  3.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  hold  their  first  meeting  at  such  time 
.  and  place  as  may  be  directed  by  the  present  General  Assembly,  and  shall 
hold  a  meeting  annually  at  some  convenient  time  during  the  sessions  of  the 
General  Assembly,  at  which  it  shall  appoint  a  President,  Vice-President,  a 
Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  an  Executive  Committee,  to 
serve  for  the  ensuing  year.  It  shall  belong  to  the  Board  of  Directors  to 
review,  and  decide  upon  all  the  doings  of  the  Executive  Committee;  to 
receive  and  dispose  of  their  annual  report,  and  to  present  a  statement  of 
their  proceedings  to  the  General  Assembly.  It  shall  be  their  duty,  also,  to 
meet  for  the  transaction  of  business  as  often  as  may  be  expedient,  due  no- 
tice of  every  special  meeting  being  seasonably  given  to  every  member  of  the 
Board. 

"4.  To  the  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  not  more  than  nine  mem- 
bers beside  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  the  Treasurer,  shall  belong  the 
duty  of  appointing  all  missionaries  and  agents;  of  designating  their  fields  of 
labour;  reeeiving  the  reports  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  giving  him 
needful  directions  in  reference  to  all  matters  of  business  and  correspondence 
intrusted  to  him;  to  authorize  all  appropriations  and  expenditures  of  money; 
and  to  take  the  particular  direction  and  management  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary work,  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 
The  Executive  Committee  shall  meet  at  least  once  a  month,  and  oftener  if 
necessary;  five  members,  meeting  at  the  time  and  place  of  adjournment  or 
special  call,  shall  constitute  a  quorum.  The  committee  shall  have  power  to 
fill  their  own  vacancies,  if  any  occur,  during  the  recess  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors. 

"  5.  All  property,  houses,  lands,  tenements,  and  permanent  funds,  be- 
longing to  the  said  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  shall  be  taken  in  the  name 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  held  in  trust  by  them  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  'The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,'  for  the  time  being. 

"6.  The  seat  of  operations  of  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  be  designated 
by  the  Boai-d. 

"7.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power,  and  they  are  hereby  author- 
ized to  receive  a  transfer  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Societies,  or  either  of 
them,  now  existing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  all  the  missions,  and 
funds,  under  the  care  of  and  belonging  to  such  societies."  [Yeas,  108; 
Nays,  2d.']—3Imutes,  1837,  p.  452. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  be  directed  to  hold  their 
first  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  on 
Tuesday,  the  31st  of  October  next,  at  3  o'clock,  P.  31." — Ibid.  p.  453. 

"  3Ir.  Yeomans,  from  the  Committee  to  nominate  Directors  for  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  made  a  report,  which  was  accepted  and  adopted,  and  is 
as  follows,  viz. 

''Ministers. — John  N.  Campbell,  D.  D.,  Jacob  Green,  William  W.  Phil- 
lips, D.  D.,  Joseph  M'Elroy,  D.  D.,  Gardiner  Spring,  D.  D.,  John  M.  Kre'bs, 
Elias  W.  Crane,  George  Potts,  Edward  D.  Smith,  Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D., 
Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  John  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  George  Junkin,  D.  D., 
Nicholas  Murray,  Ashbel  Green,  I).  D.,  Cornelius  C.  Cuyler,  D.  D.,  John 
M'Dowell,  D.  1).,  Ilobert  J.  Breckinridge,  Henry  A.  Boardnian,  J.  L.  Din- 
widdle, G.  W.  Musgrave,  John  C.  Backus,  Francis  Herron,  D.  D.,  Matthew 
Brown,  D.  D.,  Elisha  P.  Swift,  Thomas  D.  Baird,  David  Elliott,  D.  D., 
James  Hoge,  D.  D.,  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Andrew  Todd,  William  S. 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OP  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  357 

Plumer,  "William  M.  Atkinson,  George  A.  Baxter,  J).  T>.,  Samuel  L.  Gra- 
ham, D.  D.,  William  M'Pheeters,  D.  JD.,  Aaron  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  Thomas 
Smyth,  John  Witherspoon,  D.  D.,  Thomas  Goulding,  D.  D.,  James  L.  Sloss. 
"  Lawmen. — Ananias  Piatt,  John  Woodworth,  John  Owen,  James  Lenox, 
James  Paton,  Moses  Allen,  Samuel  Boyd,  Henry  Rankin,  Hugh  Auchin- 
closs,  Robert  Jaffray,  Thomas  Pringle,  Benjamin  M'Dowell,  Thomas  M'Keen, 
George  Morris,  George  Brown,  William  M'Donald,  Alexander  Symington, 
Charles  Chauncey,  James  N.  Dickson,  William  Hai-ris,  M.  D.,  Alexander 
Henry,  Matthew  Newkirk,  Solomon  Allen,  Joseph  P.  Engles,  Robert  Wal- 
lace, Nathaniel  Ewing,  Harmar  Denny,  John  Hannen,  Samuel  Thompson/ 
Charles  S.  Todd,  Samuel  C  Anderson,  James  Fitzgerald,  James  Caskie, 
Frederick  Nash,  Eugenius  A.  Nesbit,  Gilbert  T.  Snowden,  James  Adger, 
Joseph  H.  Lumpkin,  John  Ker,  M.  D.,  John  Murphy." — Minutes,  1837, 
p.  470. 

§  120.    Union  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

[The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  immediately  surrendered  to  this  Board  all  its  missions.  The 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Western  Board  was  called  to  the  same  office  in  the  Board 
of  the  Assembly,  and  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Chronicle,  was  adopted  as  its 
official  organ.] 

§  121.  Alterations  in  the  Constitution. 

(a)  "  Resolved,  That  the  Constitution  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
be  so  altered  as  to  make  the  number  of  members  120  instead  of  80." — Min- 
utes, 1838,  p.  21. 

(6)  "  Resolved,  That  the  General  Agent  of  the  Board  of  Missions  be,  ex 
officio,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee." 

(c)  '^Resolved,  That  the  Board  be  authorized  to  increase  the  number  of 
Vice-Presidents  to  twelve." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  165. 

(c?)  "Resolved,  That  at  all  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  thirteen  members  meeting  at  the  time  and  place 
of  adjournment,  or  special  call,  shall  be  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of 
business." — Ibid.  p.  170. 

(e)  "  A  request  from  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  the  Assembly  to 
amend  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Board,  by  adding  after 
the  word  'Treasurer'  in  the  second  line,  the  following:  'with  as  many  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  as  may  be  present.'  On  motion,  the  amendment  was 
adopted." — 3Iinutes,  1845,  p.  25. 

§  122.  Resolutions  upon  receiving  the  first  Report  of  the  Board. 

"On  motion  of  Dr.  Phillips, 

^'Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America, 

"  1.  That  we  would  acknowledge  the  favour  of  God,  in  permitting  our 
beloved  Church  to  engage  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions;  and  we  would 
desire  to  have  our  own  hearts  and  the  hearts  of  all  our  people  constantly 
impressed  with  the  solemn  truth,  that  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  to  him- 
self is  God's  work,  and  that  everything  in  relation  to  its  beginning,  its 
progress,  and  its  completion,  proceeds  from  him,  and  to  him  is  due  all  the 
glory. 

"  2.  That  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  God  employs  the  agency  of  his 
Church  and  people,  and  has  united  the  means  and  the  end  together;  and 
that  he  who  disregards  this  arrangement,  and  withholds  his  aid  and  assist- 
ance, especially  at  such  a  time  as  this,  fails  in  his  duty  to  God  and  to  the 
benighted  heathen. 

"3.  That  it  has  always  been  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  make  known  the 


358  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

gospel  to  all  the  world;  and  in  this  day  of  light,  with  such  facilities  for  this 
purpose,  and  so  many  calls  and  openings  of  Divine  Providence,  this  duty  is 
greatly  increased;  and  no  Church  which  neglects  it  can  expect  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  her  interests. 

"4.  That  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  engaged  in  this  great  work,  and 
as  the  harvest  is  perishing  for  want  of  labourers,  every  member  of  the  Church 
is  called  to  increased  exertion  in  behalf  of  our  benighted  fellow-men. 

''5.  That  in  view  of  all  these  considerations,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  to  provide  the  means  necessary  to  send  out  and  support  every 
properly  qualified  foreign  missionary  that  may  be  accepted  by  the  Board; 
and  the  General  Assembly  would  solemnly  remind  the  members  of  the 
Church,  that  all  are  required,  by  the  word  of  God  and  their  covenant 
engagements  to  him,  according  to  their  talents  and  means,  to  do  what  they 
are  able,  to  promote  the  glory  of  God,  by  sending  the  knowledge  of  the  glo- 
rious gospel  to  the  benighted  heathen. 

"6.  That  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  the  living  teacher,  is  the  prin- 
cipal instituted  means  for  the  conversion  of  the  souls  of  the  perishing  hea- 
then; and  in  connection  with  this  is  the  great  duty  of  training  up  a  native 
ministry;  and  the  General  Assembly  have  seen  with  approbation  the  promi- 
nence given  to  their  vital  principles  in  the  report  of  the  Board. 

"7.  That  for  the  purpose  of  disseminating  information  in  relation  to  for- 
eign missions,  it  be  recommended  to  the  Ministers  and  Elders  of  the 
Churches  to  make  an  efibrt  to  increase  the  circulation  of  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Chronicle. 

"8.  That  we  regard  with  sincere  interest,  all  the  efibrts  of  the  different 
foreign  missionary  institutions,  to  make  known  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  heathen;  and  we  recognize  it  as  a  duty  binding  upon  all  these 
institutions,  to  cultivate  the  best  understanding  with  each  other,  in  carrying 
forward  the  same  great  cause. 

''And  on  motion  of  Mr.  Breckinridge, 

^^ Resolved,  9.  That  in  view  of  the  solemn  principles  and  facts  now  declar- 
ed, the  General  Assembly  would  urgently  invoke  all  the  Ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  especially  such  as  are  not  now  laboriously  engaged 
in  the  appropriate  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  to  come  to  the  help  of  the 
Church,  in  the  great  work  of  converting  the  world." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  44. 

§  123.  Pastoral  letter  to  foreign  missionaries 

"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  to  the  missionaries  under  the  care  of  their  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  wish  grace,  mercy  and  peace. 

"  Very  dear  Brethren — Assembled  as  usual,  as  the  representatives  of  the 
whole  Church  with  which  we  are  connected,  to  deliberate  on  its  affairs,  and 
to  devise  measures  for  extending  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  we  cannot  for- 
bear to  pour  out  the  fulness  of  our  hearts  to  those  beloved  brethren  who 
have  gone  forth  from  our  bosom  to  carry  the  glorious  gospel  to  the  benight- 
ed heathen. 

"Not  that  our  confidence  in  either  the  wisdom  or  fidelity  of  the  Board 
which  we  have  appointed,  or  of  their  Executive  Committee,  is  in  the  least 
impaired.  On  the  contrary,  their  annual  report,  recently  received,  has  our 
entire  approbation,  and  furnishes  new  evidence  both  of  their  competency 
and  faithfulness.  And  we  trust  that  all  the  instructions  and  communica- 
tions of  the  Executive  Committee,  who  are  more  immediately  charged  with 
the  supervision  of  your  labours,  will  be  received  with  all  that  respect  and 
docility  to  which  they  are  so  well  entitled.  But  as  it  is  our  firm  belief  that 
the  Church,  in  her  ecclesiastical  capacity,  is  bound  to  superintend  and 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  359 

direct,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  missions  which  she  authorizes,  we  cannot 
deny  ourselves  the  pleasure  of  directly  addressing  you  on  several  subjects 
which  we  deem  important,  and  in  regard  to  which  we  are  desirous  of  stirring 
up  your  minds  by  way  of  remembrance.  The  solemnity  and  responsibility 
of  your  situation,  as  bearers  of  the  word  of  life  to  those  who  are  sitting  in 
darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death;  the  perils  and  privations  to  which  you 
are  exposed;  and  the  probable  consequences  of  the  manner  in  which  you 
discharge  your  ministry,  all  crowd  into  our  minds,  and  fill  us  with  unspeak- 
able solicitude,  while  we  entreat  your  attention  to  those  considerations 
which,  with  all  respect  and  tenderness,  we  would  impress  upon  your  minds; 
and, 

"1.  We  earnestly  exhort  you  to  aim  continually  at  a  hifjh  standard  of 
personal  piety.  We  doubt  not  you  have  already  become  convinced  by  expe- 
rience, that  a  strong  faith,  an  humble,  tender  confidence  in  the  power  and 
faithfulness  of  your  covenant  God,  and  a  cheerful  submission  to  the  many 
trials  which  await  you,  are  peculiarly  important  to  gospel  labourers  among 
the  heathen.  It  is  perfectly  evident  that  small  attainments  in  piety  are 
altogether  insufficient  to  sustain  and  carry  forward  the  missionary  in  his 
self-denying  and  arduous  work.  Unless  you  live  near  to  God,  and  abound 
in  prayer,  in  reading  his  word,  and  in  habits  of  peculiar  and  devout  com- 
munion with  the  Father  of  your  spirits,  and  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  you  will 
find  but  little  comfort,  and  probably  but  little  success  in  your  labours.  Deep 
and  ardent  piety  is  inestimably  precious  to  every  disciple  of  Christ,  and  espe- 
cially to  every  Minister,  in  every  situation  in  which  either  can  be  placed; 
but  in  no  situation  can  it  be  regarded  as  so  vitally  important  as  to  those  who 
are  called  to  labour  amidst  the  darkness  and  desolations  of  the  heathen 
world,  and  to  encounter  the  numberless  difficulties  which  the  degrading 
superstitions,  the  profligate  habits,  and  the  philosophy,  falsely  so  called,  of 
the  heathen,  constantly  present.  A¥e  entreat  you,  therefore,  first  of  all,  and 
above  all,  to  study  to  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  your  highest  duty — your  most  precious  privi- 
lege— your  surest  consolation  under  all  the  trials  of  life — and  the  most  cer- 
tain pledge  that  your  labours  will  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 

"2.  In  imparting  a  knowledge  of  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  he  careful  to 
communicate  its  pure  and  simple  doctrines,  without  any  of  those  additions 
or  modifications  which  human  philosophy,  falsely  so  called,  is  apt  to  suggest. 
God  has  promised  to  bless  the  truth,  and  he  has  not  promised  to  bless  any- 
thing else.  The  prayer  of  the  Master  is,  sanctify  them  through  thy  truth; 
thy  word  is  truth.  The  precious  message  of  life  and  peace  which  you  bear 
to  the  heathen  is  not  your  message,  but  Christ's.  Your  duty  evidently, 
then,  is  to  *  preach  the  preaching  which  he  bids  you,'  without  turning  from 
it  either  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left.  Let  the  Bible  be  your  great  direc- 
tory in  every  sermon.  You  are  now  laying  the  foundations  of  divine  truth 
and  order  among  the  heathen.  See  that  you  everywhere  make  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified,  the  chief  corner-stone.  Never  admit  for  a  mo- 
ment the  thought  of  accommodating  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  to  the  cor- 
rupt taste  of  your  hearers.  Be  not  backward  to  teach  the  heathen  that,  by 
the  sin  of  our  first  parents  we  lost  our  original  righteousness,  and  became 
guilty  before  God ;  that  we  are  all  by  nature  totally  depraved,  destitute  of 
holiness  and  of  all  strength  in  ourselves  to  regain  either  the  image  or  the 
favour  of  God;  that  there  is  no  other  ground  of  justification  than  the  right- 
eousness of , the  Redeemer,  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by  faith  alone;  and 
that  without  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  no  sin- 
ner can  either  return  to  God,  or  be  prepared  for  the  holy  joys  of  his  pre- 
sence.    These  humbling  and  self-denying  doctrines  form  the  great  theme  of 


360  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

all  the  apostolical  addresses  to  the  primitive  Churches;  and  althoujrh  those 
holy  men,  in  eucouuterinui;  the  prejudices  of  the  heathen,  had  every  tempta- 
tion to  soften  the  aspect  of  their  instruction,  and  to  accommodate  it  to  the 
proud  claims  and  the  voluptuous  habits  of  those  around  them,  they  refused 
to  do  either;  but  whether  the  heathen  would  hear,  or  whether  they  would 
forbear,  they  charged  home  upon  them  their  real  character,  and  assured 
them  that  without  holiness  no  man  should  see  the  Lord.  Let  this  practice 
be  your  model.  You  will  never  be  likely  to  benefit  the  poor  pagans  unless 
you  go  to  them,  not  with  'the  enticing  words  or  man's  wisdom/  but  with 
Hhe  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ;'  unfolding  to  them  without  fear  or  reserve 
what  they  are  by  nature;  what  they  have  made  themselves  by  sinful  prac- 
tice; and  what  they  must  be  by  the  grace  of  God,  or  eternally  perish.  All 
history  bears  witness  that  just  in  proportion  as  the  Ministers  of  religion  fail 
of  preaching  the  pure  and  simple  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  their  ministry 
loses  its  power;  vital  piety  declines,  and  the  Church  becomes  a  scene  of  dis- 
cord and  strife,  instead  of  heavenly  love. 

*'3.  Be  careful  to  let  your  example  at  all  times  manifest  the  poicer  and 
2mriti/  of  the  religion  you  teach.  Endeavour  to  exemplify  in  your  own  con- 
duct the  holy  and  self-denying  system  which  you  bear  to  them  as  the  gospel 
of  the  grace  of  Grod.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  so  many  nominal 
Christians,  with  whom  the  heathen  have  frequent  intercourse,  exhibit  an 
example  adapted  to  fill  them  with  prejudices  against  the  gospel,  and  to 
make  even  the  name  of  Christian  odious  in  their  view.  This  melancholy 
fact  renders  it  of  peculiar  importance  that  those  who  go  among  them  as 
Ministers  of  our  holy  religion  should  study  so  to  conduct  themselves  as  to 
be  'living  epistles'  in  favour  of  the  truth,  known  and  read  of  all  who  see 
them.  This  will  soon  satisfy  them  that  you  really  are  what  you  profess  to 
be,  and  will  be  in  the  place  of  a  thousand  arguments  in  favour  of  the  reli- 
gion you  profess.  For  although  they  are  filled  with  prejudices  against  the 
holy  system  which  you  teach ;  yet  they  are  close  observers  of  facts,  and  will 
not  fail  of  receiving  impressions  from  them. 

"4,  We  entreat  you  to  bear  in  mind  that  all  your  labours  will  be  in  vain, 
unless  they  are  accompanied  and  made  effectual  by  the  potver  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  '  Paul  may  plant,  and  Apollos  water,  but  God  giveth  the  increase.' 
*IIe  that  planteth  is  nothing,  and  he  that  watereth  is  nothing,  but  it  is  God 
that  showeth  mercy.'  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  this  great  princi- 
ple in  the  economy  of  grace  be  ever  borne  in  mind  in  all  your  ministrations. 
The  moment  it  is  forgotten,  you  will  go  forth  in  your  own  strength,  and  God, 
in  righteous  displeasure,  will  probably  disappoint  your  hopes.  His  glory  he 
will  not  give  to  another.  Let  all  your  labours,  then,  be  begvm  and  con- 
stantly attended  with  humble,  importunate  prayer  for  that  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  by  which  alone  they  can  become  efficacious.  When  most  sensible  of 
your  own  weakness  and  insufficiency,  and  most  deeply  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  your  need,  at  every  step,  of  divine  aid,  the  greater  is  the  proba- 
bility of  your  happy  success.  Ever  study  to  walk  humbly  with  God,  and  to 
look  to  the  power  of  his  grace  alone  for  the  fruit  of  all  your  labours.  And 
let  your  views  of  the  power  and  riches  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence  be 
large  and  confident.  The  territories  of  heathenism  have  already  been  repeat- 
edly blessed,  within  our  memory,  with  powerful  and  most  precious  revivals 
of  religion;  and  the  time  is  not  f\ir  distant  when  nations,  sunk  in  sin  and 
death,  shall  be  'born  in  a  day.'  PJxpect  great  things,  then;  and  pray 
without  ceasing  for  great  displays  of  the  power  of  God  in  convincing  and 
converting  sinners,  and  building  up  believers  in  faith  and  holiness  unto 
salvation. 

"5.  Let  the  heathen  among  whom  you  labour  see  that  you  love  them,,  and 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  361 

that  yoih  are  intent  on  jyromoting  their  lest  interests.  Your  labours  will  be 
pleasant  to  yourselves,  as  well  as  more  likely  to  benefit  them  in  proportion  to 
the  degree  iu  which  you  feel  and  manifest  an  ardent  desire  to  advance  their 
happiness.  You  can  probably  do  much  for  promoting  their  temporal  as  well 
as  their  eternal  welfare,  by  recommending  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
liquors;  industry,  the  introduction  of  important  arts  and  trades;  and,  in 
short,  everything  which  has  a  bearing  on  personal  and  domestic  comfort. 
Every  benefit  of  this  natui-e  which  you  confer  on  the  heathen  will  endear 
you  to  them,  and  will  also  prepare  them  more  fully  to  profit  by  your  evan- 
gelical ministrations.  In  a  word,  everything  that  you  can  do  to  lift  them 
up  in  the  scale  of  knowledge  and  civilization,  as  well  as  of  Christianity,  will 
be  important,  and  will  forward  the  great  purpose  for  which  you  are  sent  t,o 
them. 

"6.  We  recommend  to  your  attention,  and  to  your  unceasing  prayers,  the 
children  of  the  heathen.  We  are  far  from  despairing  of  the  conversion  of 
adults  among  them.  Experience,  as  well  as  the  word  of  God,  shows  that 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can  overcome  the  most  obstinate  hardness,  as 
well  as  the  most  inveterate  habits  of  pagan  profligacy.  And,  therefore,  it 
will  be  your  duty  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  classes,  in  every  form,  and  by 
all  the  means  in  your  power.  Proclaiming  the  word  of  life,  by  the  living 
teacher,  is  Grod's  own  ordinance,  which  ought  never  to  be  exchanged  for  any 
other,  where  it  is  possible  to  employ  it.  But  still  we  consider  the  children 
and  young  people  as  pre-eminently  the  hope  of  your  missionary  labours. 
The  greater  susceptibility  of  the  youthful  mind — the  durability  of  impres- 
sions made  in  early  life — and  the  comparative  ease  with  wbich  habits  are 
changed  which  have  not  become  inveterate — all  recommend  diligent  and  per- 
severing efforts  to  form  the  minds  of  children  and  youth,  as  among  the  most 
promising  and  probably  productive  departments  of  missionary  labour.  But 
this  is  not  all.  Parents  themselves  are  never  more  likely  to  be  effectually 
reached  and  profited  than  through  the  medium  of  their  children.  They  will, 
of  course,  regard  with  favour  those  whom  they  see  to  be  labouring  for  the 
happiness  of  their  offspring;  and  when  they  see  their  children  growing  in 
knowledge  and  in  good  habits  under  the  instruction  of  the  missionaries, 
this  will  form  a  new  bond  of  attachment,  and  open  a  new  avenue  to  their 
hearts. 

"  We  exhort  you,  therefore,  next  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  to  make 
the  instruction  of  heathen  youth,  in  every  form  which  you  may  find  practi- 
cable and  expedient,  an  object  of  your  constant  and  diligent  attention.  But 
let  all  your  schools  and  instructions  be  strongly  stamped  with  a  Christian 
character.  Let  the  Bible  be  everywhere  carefully  introduced.  Let  all 
your  efforts  for  the  benefit  of  youth  be  consecrated  with  prayer;  and  let  the 
excellent  catechisms  of  our  Church  be  as  early  and  as  extensively  employed 
as  possible,  as  formularies  of  instruction.  Recollect  that  it  is  our  object  to 
raise  up,  as  soon  as  practicable  among  the  heathen,  a  native  ministry.  The 
attainment  of  this  object  will  require  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  educate  the 
young,  the  selection  of  the  most  promising  of  their  number  for  special  cul- 
ture, and  elevating  the  means  of  their  instruction  as  far  as  circumstances 
will  admit. 

*'  Be  careful  to  maintain  in  all  your  missions,  the  loorship  and  order,  as 
roell  as  the  doctrine  of  your  own  Church.  We  have  no  desire  either  to 
cherish  ourselves,  or  to  recommend  to  you  a  sectarian  spirit.  But  we  can- 
not think  that  a  warm  attachment  to  our  own  beloved  Church,  and  a  decided 
preference  of  its  rites  and  polity,  deserve  to  be  so  styled.  As  long  as  we 
believe  them  to  be  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  we  must  consider  an  adhe- 
rence to  them  as  our  incumbent  duty.  And  as  you  are  the  representatives 
46 


362  OP  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

among  the  heathen  of  the  Church  of  your  choice,  we  trust  you  will  faith- 
fully maintain  all  its  claims  and  usages.  The  only  departure  from  this  prin- 
ciple which  we  can  consider  as  likely,  in  some  cases,  to  be  necessary,  is  that 
which  relates  to  the  appointment  of  Ruling  Elders.  In  the  infancy  of  the 
Church,  at  some  of  the  missionary  stations,  it  may  not  be  always  practicable 
to  obtain  suitable  candidates  for  this  office  among  the  converts  from  pagan- 
ism. In  this  case,  as  we  have  no  doubt  happened  in  the  apostolic  age,  it 
will  be  proper  for  the  teaching  elder  or  elders  at  each  station,  to  perform  the 
usual  duties  of  the  Church  session  until  suitable  Ruling  Elders  can  be 
obtained.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  however,  that  this  expedient  ought 
not  to  be  continued  an  hour  longer  than  is  absolutely  necessary. 

"  8.  We  hope  you  will  be  diligent  in  collecting  all  the  information  of 
every  kind,  which  can  be  considered  as  bearing  on  the  missionary  cause,  not 
only  for  your  own  benefit,  but  also  for  transmission  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, for  the  enlargement  of  their  views,  and  their  guidance  in  the  great 
work  entrusted  to  their  management. 

"  Finally,  dear  brethren,  you  are  engaged  in  the  noblest  cause  that  can 
employ  the  attention  and  efforts  of  mortals.  Be  faithful  unto  death,  and 
you  shall  receive  a  crown  of  life.  And  unite  with  us  in  prayer  that  the 
whole  Church  may,  with  one  heart  and  one  soul,  come  up  to  the  performance 
of  this  great  work.  We  pledge  ourselves,  in  the  fear  of  God,  to  you  and  to 
the  heathen  world,  that,  by  the  favour  of  the  Almighty  King  of  Zion,  we 
will  go  forward  in  this  cause,  and  employ  all  the  means  which  He  may  put 
at  our  disposal,  in  prosecuting  the  enterprise  before  us.  May  the  Lord 
inspire  you  with  wisdom,  and  gird  you  with  strength !  And  may  the  Spirit 
of  Missions  be  poured  out  in  large  measures  upon  all  the  Churches,  that  they 
may  all  feel  their  obligation,  and  all,  with  one  consent,  and  with  united 
Strength,  come  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty ! 

William  S.  Plumer,  Moderator. 
John  M.  Krebs,  Permanent  Clerk. 

Philadelphia^  June  \st,  1838. — Minutes,  1838,  p.  51. 

§  124.  Letter  to  the  Churches  on  Foreign  Missions. 

"  To  the  Churches  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly: 

"  Brethren  beloved  in  the  Lord — You  believe  that  '  where  no  vision  is,  the 
people  perish' — that  '  he  who  believeth  not  shall  be  damned' — that  many 
millions,  therefore,  of  immortal  souls  are  sinking  yearly  to  eternal  death 
without  a  ray  of  saving  hope,  where  the  gospel  is  not  known;  and  can  you 
thus  believe,  and  not  yearn  with  bleeding  sympathy  for  perishing  man  ? 

"  You  believe  that  'out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  from  Jerusalem' — that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  the  chosen  instrument 
for  disseminating  the  light  of  life  in  the  world — that  she  is  the  depository  of 
truth,  a  city  set  upon  an  hill — that  nations  shall  come  to  her  light,  and  kings 
to  the  brightness  of  her  rising,  and  can  you  be  members  of  this  honoured 
society,  and  feel  no  mighty  obligation  resting  on  you?  God  the  Father 
looks  for  you  to  seek  after  his  treasure  that  is  lost.  *  Behold,  all  souls  are 
mine.'  God  the  Son  has  laid  upon  you  his  parting  injunction  to  give  his 
gospel  to  every  creat\ire,  and  looks  for  you  to  lengthen  the  cords,  till  he  shall 
see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied.  God  the  Spirit  looks  for  the 
bride  to  say  'come,'  as  widely  as  he  says  'come,'  and  his  invitation  is  wide 
as  the  world.  You  are  commissioned  to  bear  it  and  proclaim  it,  and  you  grieve 
that  Spirit  when  your  purpose  and  effort  are  not  expansive  as  his  offer.  The 
Church  which  is  not  animated  with  the  spirit  of  missions,  is  less  than  a 
Church,  by  one  capital  defect.  Look  to  the  charter — '  Go  ye,  therefore, 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  iu  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  363 

Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Could  you  call  that  people  a  Church,  who 
wilfully  neglect  a  standing  ministry  and  the  ordinance  of  teaching?  Could 
you  call  that  people  a  Church,  who  wilfully  neglect  the  initiatory  seal 
of  the  covenant,  the  ordinance  of  baptism;  and  is  not  the  warrant  for  mis- 
sions as  broadly  written  and  sealed  on  this  commission,  as  that  for  teaching 
and  baptizing  ? 

"  Beloved  brethren,  shall  we  stand  in  doubt  of  any  of  you — shall  we  find 
in  any  of  our  Churches  a  sinful  want  so  radical  and  subversive?  We  hope 
better  things  of  you.  We  hope  that  every  member  of  our  favoured  Zion 
will  feel  an  awful  responsibility  which  cannot  be  evaded — will  feel  that 
grace  occupies  his  soul,  not  to  be  absorbed  upon  himself,  but  to  make  him  a 
radiating  centre  of  light  and  love  to  others,  and  that  it  is  a  high  privilege 
to  do  this  work  of  God — that  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 

"  God  is  calling  you  to  this  work  by  the  smiles  of  his  Providence.  Even 
if  failure  and  disaster  had  followed  every  attempt  hitherto  made,  it  would 
be  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  go  forward  in  darkness,  trusting  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  staying  herself  upon  her  God.  But  everywhere  the  infant 
efforts  of  our  Board  are  blessed.  Everywhere  effectual  doors  are  thrown 
more  widely  open.  China,  mother  of  myriads,  is  manifestly  approaching 
some  mighty  revolution,  that  may  soon  let  in  the  missionary  of  Christ  to  the 
very  centre  of  jealousy  and  darkness.  India,  with  her  hundred  millions  of 
souls,  is  ready  to  throw  down  her  gorgeous  superstitions,  and  to  cast  away 
her  idols.  Ethiopia  is  literally  stretching  forth  her  hands.  An  African 
king  asks  to  become  a  nursing  father  to  the  Church,  at  any  expense ;  he 
begs  for  the  gospel — he  would  take  by  force  the  kingdom  of  heaven  that 
suffereth  violence.  The  Islands  of  the  sea  are  waiting  for  us.  Our  own 
Aborigines  ask  us,  as  they  sink  in  the  west,  for  some  inheritance  with  them 
that  are  sanctified,  that  some  of  their  wasting  sons  and  daughters  may  be 
saved  from  utter  extinction,  by  heirship  with  Him  who  shall  have  a  seed  to 
serve  him  while  sun  and  moon  endure.  The  '  preserved  of  Israel,'  the  stub- 
born Jew  himself,  feels  that  he  is  under  some  withering  curse — that  some 
veil  is  on  his  eye,  and  begins  to  seek  again  for  'the  root  and  fatness  of  the 
olive.'  Time  would  fail  to  survey  the  opening  field.  While  the  field  abroad 
invites  and  urges  with  such  a  glorious  prospect,  the  field  at  home  is  like  a 
garden  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed.  The  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the 
gospel  has  been  poured  down  upon  our  Churches  within  the  last  year,  giving 
them  bread  enough  and  to  spare.  We  have  peace  in  our  borders  and  har- 
mony in  our  councils,  and  cords  of  confidence  and  love  binding  us  to  unity 
and  strength  in  the  Lord.  The  conflict  for  truth  has  been  crowned  with 
signal  success;  and  shall  the  truth,  more  precious  than  many  sums  of  gold 
and  silver,  be  redeemed  only  to  be  hidden  in  a  corner?  If  what  we  call 
truth,  is  not  diffusive  as  the  light  of  heaven,  by  our  hands,  it  is  not  the  truth, 
or  we  have  not  the  heart  to  apprehend  it  aright. 

"By  every  consideration — by  the  power  of  many  a  pure  and  elevated 
motive  which  we  need  not  mention  here,  you  are  summoned  to  the  work  of 
God  in  sending  salvation  to  the  heathen.  You  need  scarcely  ask,  Whom 
shall  we  send?  Devoted  men,  called  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  are 
standing  idle,  till  you  send  them — beseeching  you  with  the  loud  and  repeated 
call,  '  send  us.'  We  have  Bibles — we  have  missionaries — we  have  stations 
and  fecilities — everything  but  the  funds,  which  you  must  furnish.  The  call 
of  God  is  now  upon  you,  both  in  his  word  and  providence.  We  are  waiting 
for  your  answer,  the  poor  heathen  are  waiting — another  generation  of  mil- 
lions going  down  to  death  while  you  hesitate.  kShall  our  missionaries  be 
detained  at  home — shall  our  prosperous  stations  be  abandoned — shall  the 
bidding  of  God  be  mocked,  and  his  truth  dishonoured,  and  his  bounty 


364  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  V. 

abused?  Shall  the  heathen  perish,  and  your  money  perish,  and  your  own 
souls  p;o  quickly  to  meet  at  the  bar  of  God  millions  of  despairing  eyes  to  turn 
on  you  the  reproach  of  their  eternal  death  and  horrid  woe? 

"The  Assembly  would,  in  conclusion,  call  the  attention  of  the  Churches 
to  the  great  want  of  missionary  intelligence  among  the  people.  We  cannot 
expect  them  to  awake  duly  to  this  great  work,  we  cannot  expect  them  to 
pray  with  understanding  for  the  beloved  labourers  in  the  field,  unless  they 
are  acquainted  with  their  stations,  their  trials,  and  encouragements.  Such 
intelligence  is  furnished  in  The  Foreign  Missionary  Chronicle,  a  monthly 
paper,  whose  general  circulation  would  be  eminently  calculated  to  promote 
a  deeper  tone  of  missionary  feeling.  Some  of  our  Church  Sessions  have 
procured  copies  of  this  work  with  the  money  collected  at  the  Monthly  Con- 
certs. The  Assembly  highly  approve  of  this  plan,  and  recommend  a  general 
adoption  of  it,  as  the  means  of  securing  a  fuller  attendance  at  the  Monthly 
Concert,  and  diffusing  the  information  so  much  needed,  and  eventually 
quickening  the  energies  that  have  slumbered  so  long  in  tjiis  momentous 
duty.  William  M.  Engles,  Moderator." 

Minutes,  1840,  pp.  295,  296,  304,  318. 

Title  4. — Miscellaneous  Provisions. 
§  125.  Duty  of  Pastors  and  Sessions. 

(a)  ."  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  every  Pastor  and  Session  to 
circulate  the  Missionary  Chi-onicle  diligently  among  the  people,  and  to  make 
every  member  of  the  Church  feel,  by  direct  and  personal  appeals,  that  it  is 
a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  help  this  cause;  and  that  the  Assembly  address  a 
circular  letter  to  all  the  Churches  under  our  care,  affectionately  inviting  and 
urging  them  to  entertain  deeper  sympathies,  to  offer  more  ardent  and 
unceasing  prayers,  to  make  immediate,  regular,  and  vigorous  efforts  to  col- 
lect funds  for  this  object,  and  that  it  be  read  from  the  pulpit  of  every 
Church  at  a  suitable  time." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  295. 

{U)  "  Resolved,  That  this  Greneral  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  the 
Bishops  and  Elders  under  its  care,  to  take  special  pains  in  directing  the 
attention  of  the  children  and  youth  of  the  Church  to  the  great  subject  of 
missions ;  •  and  in  order  to  do  this  more  effectually,  advise  the  formation  of 
Juvenile  Missionary  Societies  wherever  practicable,  in  every  Sabbath-school 
throughout  the  bounds  of  the  Church." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  25. 

§  126.   Injunction  on  Presbyteries  in  regard  to  collections. 

"The  General  Assembly,  impressed  with  the  importance  of  making  more 
decided  and  prompt  efforts  to  secure  from  all  the  members  of  its  communion 
systematic  contributions  to  the  funds  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
hereJ>y  enjoins  on  all  the  Presbyteries  which  have  not  already  anticipated 
such  action,  First,  to  require  of  every  Pastor  and  Minister  supplying  a 
Church,  and  of  the  sessions  of  all  vacant  Churches,  the  adoption  of  some 
plan  by  which,  if  possible,  all  members  of  their  respective  Congregations 
shall  hear  the  claims  of  this  great  Christian  charity,  and  annually  enjoy  an 
opportunity  of  contributing  to  its  sustenance  to  the  extent  of  their  abilitj', 
however  limited;  and  Second,  to  embody  in  their  annual  Presbyterial  report 
to  the  General  Assembly,  an  account  of  the  diligence  of  the  Presbytery,  and 
the  success  of  its  efforts  in  this  matter." — Minutes,  1842,  p.  35. 

§  127.   Standing  day  of  'prayer  for  missions. 

''Resolved,  That  in  order  to  call  the  attention  of  our  Churches  in  a  special 
manner  to  such  an  endeavour,  [to  raise  $100,000  or  more  in  the  year,  for 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  305 

foreign  missions,]  and  to  the  throne  of  grace,  to  humble  ourselves  before 
God,  and  implore  the  aids  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  his  blessing  upon  the  cause 
of  missions  in  general,  the  first  Monday  of  October  next  be,  and  the  same 
hereby  is  appointed  and  set  apart  as  a  day  of  public  instniction  on  the 
subject  of  foreign  missions,  and  of  supplication  and  prayer  throughout  the 
bounds  of  our  Church,  to  the  intent  that  our  past  sins  and  neglect  may  be 
duly  recognized  and  deplored,  our  duty  to  the  heathen  distinctly  set  before 
the  Churches;  our  dependence  upon  the  grace  of  God  in  this  matter  clearly 
presented,  and  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  ourselves  and  our 
missionary  stations  fervently  invoked.  And  it  is  herein  further  recom- 
mended to  all  our  Presbyteries  to  take  order  for  a  similar  observance  and 
with  a  similar  view,  of  the  first  Monday  in  January  annually." — Minutes, 
1842,  p.  25. 

§  128.    Organization  of  Mission  Preshi/teries.  ^ 

(a)  Missionaries  authorized  to  form  themselves  into  Presbyteries  and  Synods. 

"Resolved,  1.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  the  Ministers  who 
are  located  as  foreign  missionaries  permanently  out  of  the  bounds  of  their 
respective  Presbyteries,  ought,  where  they  are  sufficiently  numerous,  and 
where  they  are  so  located  as  to  render  occasional  intercourse  possible,  in  all 
cases  to  organize  themselves  into  Presbyteries,  and  gather  the  converts 
whom  God  may  give  them  into  Presbyterian  Churches,  ordaining  elders  in 
them  all. 

''2.  The  Synods  are  hereby  enjoined  to  take  the  needful  order  on  this 
important  and  interesting  subject." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  42. 

"  3.  Resolved,  Agreeably  to  the  provisions  established  and  hereby  recog- 
nized in  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1838  and  1841,  respecting 
the  formation  of  Presbyteries  by  the  act  of  the  missionaries  in  foreign  fields, 
that,  in  all  cases,  where  there  is  no  Synod  that  can  take  action,  the  mis- 
sionaries, whether  they  belong  to  the  same  or  to  difierent  Presbyteries  and 
Synods  in  this  country,  whensoever  they  shall  find  themselves  together  in 
suificient  numbers,  may  form  themselves  into  Presbyteries,  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly;  provided  that  in  the  judgment  of  the  respective 
missions,,  such  a  procedure  shall  be  deemed  expedient;  that  such  Presby- 
byteries  shall  be  attached,  in  the  first  instance,  to  any  Synod  of  this  Church 
which  may  be  most  convenient,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Presbyteries  con- 
cerned, and  shall  be  enrolled  accordingly:  and  further 

"4.  Resolved,  That  whensoever  there  shall  be  a  sufficient  number  of  such 
Presbyteries  in  any  one  district,  they  shall  be  authorized  to  organize 
themselves  into  a  Synod,  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America." — Minutes,  1848, 
p.  21. 

(6)   Synod  of  Northern  India  erected. 

"The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  overture  of  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  relative  to  the  formation  of  Presbyteries  in  heathen  lands, 
report,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  1838  expressed  it  as  their  judgment 
that  our  foreign  missionaries  ought,  if  circumstances  permit  them,  to  organ- 
ize themselves  into  Presbyteries,  and  your  committee,  believing  that  the 
usefulness  of  the  missionaries  would  be  greatly  increased  by  such  a  measure, 
recommend  to  this  Assembly  for  their  adoption  the  following  resolutions, 
viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Henry  R.  Wilson,  Jr.,  of  the  Presby- 
bytery  of  Carlisle,  in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia;  James  L.  Scott,  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle  in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia;  William  H.  McAuley, 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  in  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey;  John 


366  OF  MISSIONS.  [Book  v. 

C.  Ranldn,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  in  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina, 
be,  and  they  hereby  are  organized  into  a  Presbytery,  to  be  known  as  the 
Presbytery  of  Furrukhabad. 

"2.  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  James  Wilson,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson, 
in  the  Synod  of  New  York;  John  H.  Morrison,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  in  the  Synod  of  New  York;  Joseph  Warren,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Ohio,  in  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh ;  John  E.  Freeman,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Elizabethtowu,  in  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey;  Joseph  Owen,  of  the  Presby- 
bytery  of  Bedford,  in  the  Synod  of  New  York,  be,  and  they  hereby  are 
organized  into  a  Presbytery,  to  be  known  as  the  Presbytery  of  Allahabad. 

"3.  That  these  two  Presbyteries  be  required  to  meet  at  such  times  and 
places  as  the  interests  of  the  mission  seem  to  require,  and  then  and  there  to 
constitute  as  Presbyteries,  agreeably  to  this  action  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  that  the  eldest  Minister  in  each  Presbytery  who  is  present,  preach  the 
opening  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen,  and  that  they 
report  their  proceedings  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"4.  That  these  two  Presbyteries  now  organized,  together  with  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Lodiana,  which  is  hereby  detached  from  the  Synod  of  New  York, 
be,  and  they  are  hereby  erected  into  a  Synod,  to  be  known  as  the  Synod  of 
Northern  India,  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America;  and  that  said  Synod  meet 
and  constitute  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  circumstances  and  interests  of 
the  mission  may  suggest,  and  that  the  opening  sermon  be  preached  by  the 
eldest  Minister  present,  who  shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

"5.  That  by  this  procedure,  this  Assembly  has  no  intention  to  question 
the  right  of  these  brethren,  now  removed  providentially  out  of  our  bounds, 
to  organize  themselves,  if  they  prefer  it,  into  Presbyteries,  according  to  the 
views  expressed  by  the  Assembly  of  1838." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  425. 

(c)  Presbyteries  erected  in  China,  West  Africa,  and  the  Indian  Territory. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  M.  S.  Culbertson,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Carlisle,  A.  W.  Loomis,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  R.  Q.  Way,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Charleston,  and  J.  W.  Quarterman,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Georgia,  be,  and  they  hereby  are,  detached  from  their  respective  Presbyte- 
ries, and  constituted  a  Presbytery  to  be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Ningpo. 

<'That  the  Rev.  A.  P.  Happer  and  William  Speer,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Ohio,  and  the  Rev.  John  B.  French,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  be, 
and  they  hereby  are,  detached  from  their  respective  Presbyteries,  and  con- 
stituted a  Presbytery,  to  be  called  by  such  name  as  those  brethren  may 
choose. 

"And  that  the  Rev.  John  Lloyd,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Huntingdon,  and 
Huo-h  S.  Brown,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Logansport,  so  soon  as  a  third  Minis- 
ter of  our  Church  shall  be  associated  with  them,  be  authorized  to  form 
themselves  into  a  Presbytery,  to  be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Amoy;  and 
shall  ipso  facto  be  detached  from  the  respective  Presbyteries  with  which 
until  then  they  shall  be  connected. 

'^Eesolved,  That  the  foregoing  new  Presbyteries  shall  meet  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  organized,  at  such  times  and  places  as  the  members  thereof 
shall  respectively  agree  on,  and  that  the  eldest  Minister  of  each  who  may 
be  present  shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

''Resolved,  That  the  aforesaid  Presbyteries  be  rated  for  the  present,  as 
component  parts  of  the  Synod  of  New  York;  but  that  as  soon  as  the 
Presbytery  of  Amoy  shall  be  organized,  the  three  Presbyteries  in  China 
shall  be  authorized  to  form  themselves  into  a  Synod,  to  be  called  the  Synod 


Part  II.]  BOARD   OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  367 

of  China;  that  they  meet  for  the  purpose  of  being  organized  at  such  time 
and  place  as  they  shall  mutually  agree  upon,  and  that  the  eldest  Minister 
who  may  be  present  shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  James  31.  Connelly,  of  the  Presbytery  of  West 
Tennessee,  James  M.  Priest,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  the  Rev. 
H.  W.  Ellis,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Tuscaloosa,  be,  and  they  hereby  are, 
detached  from  their  respective  Presbyteries,  and  constituted  a  Presbytery  to 
be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Western  Africa;  that  they  shall  meet  for  the 
purpose  of  being  organized  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  mutually 
agree  upon;  and  that  the  eldest  Minister  present  shall  preside  until  a  Mod- 
erator be  chosen.  And  further,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Western  Africa 
shall  be  attached  for  the  present  to  the  Synod  of  Alabama. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  R.  M.  Loughridge,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Tusca- 
loosa, H.  Ballentine,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  and  D.  W. 
Eakins,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  be,  and  they  hereby  are,  detached 
from  their  respective  Presbyteries,  and  constituted  a  Presbytery  to  be  called 
the  Presbytery  of  Creek  Nation;  that  they  shall  meet  for  the  purpose  of 
being  organized,  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  mutually  agree  upon, 
and  that  the  eldest  Minister  present  shall  preside  until  a  Moderator  be 
chosen.  And  further,  that  the  Presbytery  of  the  Creek  Nation  be  attached 
for  the  present  to  the  Synod  of  Mississippi." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  20. 

§  129.  Mission  Church  Courts  have  in  certain  cases  a  necessary  discretion 
as  to  the  letter  of  the  Form,  of  Government. 

[Upon  a  memorial  from  missionaries  in  Northern  India] — 

''Whereas,  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  in  the  different  fields  of  foreign 
missionary  labour,  formed  by  the  missionaries  under  the  care  and  in  con- 
nection with  this  General  Assembly,  from  the  immature  and  forming  state 
of  the  Churches,  must  of  necessity  be  subject  to  some  deviations  from  the 
letter  of  the  Form  of  Government,  which  was  primarily  designed  for  the 
Churches  in  the  United  States,  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  in  India  must  be  left  to  their  own  dis- 
cretion in  the  premises;  and  that,  when  they  shall  have  organized  a  Synod, 
they  adhere,  as  nearly  as  practicable  in  their  circumstances,  to  our  Book, 
and  report  to  this  body  all  deviations  which  necessity  may  have  compelled 
them  to  make." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  19. 


PART  III. 

OF  LITERARY  AND  THEOLOGICAL  EDUCATION. 
CHAPTER  I. 

MEASURES  PRIOR  TO  THE  CREATION  OF  THE  BOARD. 

Title  1. — Early  measures  of  the  General  Synod. 

§  130. 

(a)  "  Overturcd,  That  something  be  allowed  to  a  student.  All  which  was 
referred  to  the  committee  of  the  fund." — Minutes,  1733,  p.  106. 

(Jj)  "The  Synod  do,  moreover,  recommend  to  all  their  members,  as  far  as 
prudence  may  direct,  to  make  another  annual  collection  for  the  support  of 
young  students,  whose  circumstances  render  them  incapable  to  maintain 
themselves  at  learning,  and  for  other  charitable  purposes ;  which  contribu- 
tions shall  be  at  the  disposal  of  such  respective  Presbyteries  where  they  are 
made." — Minutes,  1751,  p.  246. 

(c)  "An  overture  for  erecting  a  school,  or  seminary  of  learning  being 
brought  in  by  the  committee,  the  Synod  unanimously  approved  the  design 
of  it,  and  in  order  to  the  accomplishing  it  did  ndlninate  Messrs.  Pemberton, 
Dickinson,  Cross,  and  Anderson,  two  of  which,  if  they  can  be  prevailed 
upon,  to  be  sent  home  to  Europe  to  prosecute  this  affair  with  proper  direc- 
tions. And  in  order  to  this,  it  is  appointed  that  the  commission  of  the 
Synod,  with  correspondents  from  every  Presbytery,  meet  at  Philadelphia  the 
third  Wednesday  of  August  next.  And  if  it  be  found  necessary,  that  Mr. 
Pemberton  should  go  to  Boston  pursuant  to  this  design,  it  is  ordered,  that 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York  supply  his  pulpit  during  his  absence." — Min- 
utes, 1739,  p.  149. 

§  131.   A  Commission  of  the  Synod. 

(a)  "  The  commission  of  the  Synod  did  meet  last  year  according  to  appoint- 
ment, in  order  to  conclude  upon  a  method  for  prosecuting  the  overture 
respecting  the  erecting  a  seminary  of  learning.  The  minutes  of  that  pro- 
ceeding were  read,  and  although  herein  it  is  found,  that  they  concluded 
upon  calling  the  whole  Synod  together  as  necessary  in  that  affair;  yet  the 
war  breaking  out  between  England  and  Spain,  the  callind!  of  the  Synod  was 
omitted,  and  the  whole  affair  laid  aside  for  that  time." — Minutes,  1740, 
p.  151. 

(fc)  Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  this  Commission. 

"The  affair  of  the  overture  brought  in  last  Synod,  that  gave  occasion  for  our  present 
meeting,  was  taken  under  consideration,  and  after  much  reasoning  upon  it,  the  commission 
unanimously  concluded  to  enter  on  said  af!air ;  but  previous  to  any  particular  steps  to  be 
fallen  upon  in  order  thereto,  it  was  agreed  to  ask  counsel  of  God,  by  appointing  one  of 
their  number  to  pray,  which  was  done  by  appointing  Mr.  Evans  to  that  service.    Upon 


Part  III.]        LITERARY  AND  THEOLOGICAL  EDUCATION.  369 

which  they  proceeded  to  inquire  what  they  should  do,  and  hecause  of  the  weight  of  the 
aflair  in  hand,  they  agreed  to  defer  the  main  inquiries  till  the  afternoon.  But  as  prelimi- 
nary thereto,  do  judge  it  to  be  the  most  reasonable  and  probable  method  to  accomplish  the 
good  design  of  said  overture,  to  apply  to  the  several  Congregations  within  our  l)ounds  for 
their  concurrence  and  assistance  in  the  affair,  and  that  a  letter  of  address  be  sent  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  for  their  assistance.  Accordingly  Mr. 
Andrews  was  appointed  to  draw  up  the  said  letter  to  the  General  Assembly  before  men- 
tioned, and  Mr.  Thompson  to  draw  up  a  letter  to  our  Congregations,  to  be  brought  in 
next  sederunt.'" 

[In  the  evening]  "the  affair  of  the  overture  respecting  the  erecting  a  school  of  learning 
resumed,  and  the  Commission  after  some  further  deliberation  of  it,  weighing  the  import- 
ance of  tlie  matter,  and  considering  the  small  number  of  members  now  present,  together 
with  the  many  preparatory  letters  and  instructions  that  are  necessary  for  such  an  under- 
taking as  going  to  Europe  for  assistance,  according  to  the  unanimous  judgment  of  the 
Synod,  will  require,  they  do  now  with  one  consent  judge  it  most  advisable  to  defer  doing 
any  more  in  said  affair  at  present,  but  leave  it  to  the  consideration  and  determination  of 
the  whole  Synod,  and  accordingly  agree  to  call  the  Synod  together,  to  meet  at  Philadel- 
phia the  last  Wednesday  of  September  next,  and  enjoin  the  members  present  to  inform 
their  respective  Presbyteries  of  this  appointment;  and  that  the  Moderator  send  letters  to 
the  Presbyteries  of  JN'ew  York  and  New  Brunswick,  ordering  their  attendance  at  the  time 
appointed.  And  the  Commission  further  orders,  that  Messrs.  Andrews,  Cross,  and  Treat, 
do  prepare  what  addresses,  letters,  credentials,  or  other  instruments  may  be  proper  against 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod.  And  further,  that  a  letter  be  remitted  to  Dr.  Colman,  to  be 
communicated  to  our  reverend  brethren  in  Boston,  earnestly  desiring  their  concurrence  and 
assistance  in  this  aildir,  and  that  said  letter  be  inclosed  in  one  to  Mr.  Pemberton  to  be  for- 
warded by  him. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Moderator  preach  at  the  opening  of  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1740, 
p.  151. 

§  132.  A  Free  School  founded. 

"The  minutes  of  a  committee  held  at  the  Great  Valley,  November  16, 
1743,  by  a  private  agreement  between  the  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia,  New 
Castle,  and  Donegal,  were  laid  before  us;  showing  that  the  said  committee 
considered  the  necessity  of  using  speedy  endeavours  to  educate  youth  fur 
supplying  our  vacancies.  But  the  proper  method  for  this  end  cannot  be  so 
well  compassed  without  the  Synod;  they  refer  the  further  consideration  of 
the  affair  to  that  reverend  body,  but  agree  that  in  the  mean  time  a  school 
be  opened  for  the  education  of  youth.  And  the  Synod  now  approve  that 
design,  and  take  the  said  school  under  our  care,  and  agree  upon  the  following 
for  carrying  on  that  design. 

"  1.  That  there  be  a  school  kept  open  where  all  persons  who  please  may 
send  their  children  and  have  them  instructed  gratis  in  the  languages,  phi- 
losophy, and  divinity. 

"  2.  In  order  to  carry  on  this  design,  it  is  agreed  that  every  congregation 
under  our  care  be  applied  to  for  yearly  contributions,  more  or  less,  as  they 
can  afford,  and  as  God  may  incline  them  to  contribute,  until  Providence 
open  a  door  for  our  supporting  the  school  some  other  way. 

"3.  That  if  anything  can  be  spared  besides  what  may  support  a  master 
and  tutor,  that  it  be  employed  by  the  trustees  for  buying  books  and  other 
necessaries  for  said  school,  and  for  the  beneht  of  it,  as  the  trustees  shall  see 
proper.  And  Mr.  Alison'  is  chosen  master  of  said  school,  and  has  the  privi- 
lege of  choosing  an  usher  under  him  to  assist  him;  and  the  said  Mr.  Alison 
is  exempted  from  all  public  business,  save  only  attending  Church  judica- 
tures, and  what  concerns  his  particular  pastoral  charge.  And  the  Synod 
agree  to  allow  Mr.  Alison  twenty  pounds  per  annum,  and  the  usher  fifteen 
pounds. 

"4.  Agreed  that  Messrs.  Jedidiah  Andrew^,  Cross,  and  Evans,  junior,  of 
Philadelphia  Presbytery;  and  Johu  Thomson,  Black,  and  Boyd,  of  Douc- 

47 


370  LITERARY   AND  THEOLOGICAL  [Book  V. 

gal;  and  Gillespie  and  Grriffith,  Cathcart,  and  Steel,  and  McDowell,  of  New 
Oastle  Presbytery,  be  appointed  trustees  for  the  management  of  the  affairs 
of  the  said  school,  for  this  year;  and  as  many  more  as  can  conveniently, 
may  meet  with  them.  And  it's  ordered,  that  said  trustees  meet  on  the  third 
Wednesday  of  September  next,  and  that  any  five  of  them  be  a  quorum,  and 
that  they  appoint  three  of  their  number  to  meet  at  three  other  times  in  the 
year  at  said  school.  These  trustees  are  to  inspect  into  the  master's  dilitrence 
in,  and  method  of,  teaching;  consider  and  direct  what  authors  are  chiefly 
to  be  read  in  the  several  branches  of  learning;  to  examine  the  scholars  from 
time  to  time,  as  to  their  proficiency,  and  apply  the  money  procured  from  our 
people  as  ordered  above,  and  to  what  other  uses  they  find  proper;  and  in 
sum,  to  order  all  affairs  relating  to  said  school  as  they  see  expedient,  and  be 
accountable  to  the  Synod,  making  report  of  their  proceedings  and  the  state 
of  the  school  yearly.  And  ordered,  that  Messrs.  Thomson,  Griffith,  and 
Steel,  and  McDowell,  be  the  four  that  shall  meet  first  at  said  school,  and 
that  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  June  next." — Minvfes,  1744,  p.  175. 

§  133.  A  tuition  fee  imposed. 

"  The  Synod  on  serious  consideration,  finding  that  the  salaries  appointed 
for  master  and  usher  of  the  public  school,  were  not  sufficient  encourage- 
ment, order,  that  the  master  be  allowed  forty  pounds,  and  the  usher  twenty 
pounds  per  annum,  which  salaries  are  to  be  raised  by  collections  from  the 
several  Congregations,  whether  enjoying  the  stated  ordinances  or  vacant,  and 
by  sessing  each  scholar  twenty  shillings  per  annum,  only  allowing  the  com- 
mittee for  said  school  to  exempt  such  scholars  as  they  shall  think  proper; 
and  if  these  two  methods  will  not  answer  the  above  demands,  the  remainder 
is  to  be  paid  out  of  the  yearly  interest  of  the  Synod's  fund." — Mimites, 
1748,  p.  194. 

§  134.   Branches  taiujht. 

"  Mr.  McDowell,  under  whose  care  and  inspection  the  school  has  been 
for  these  two  last  years,  has  declined  to  have  the  whole  burden.  Therefore, 
Mr.  Wilson  is  appointed  to  teach  the  languages,  Mr.  McDowell  undertaking, 
from  a  sense  of  the  public  good,  to  continue  to  teach  logic,  mathematics, 
natural  and  moral  philosophy,  &c.;  and  it  is  agreed,  that  Mr.  Wil?on  have 
the  same  encouragement  which  Mr.  McDowell  had;  and  it  is  further  agreed, 
that  the  Presbytery  have  a  special  regard  to  Mr.  Wilson  in  their  appoint- 
ments, in  not  sending  him  to  those  vacancies  which  are  too  far  distant  for 
his  attendance  in  the  beginning  of  the  week." — Mimites,  1754,  p.  212. 

§  135.  Library  founded. 

"'Tis  agreed  that  the  books  sent  from  Dublin  be  the  foundation  of  a 
public  library,  under  the  care  of  the  Synod.  That  books  proper  for  our 
school  in  the  country  be  lent  to  the  master,  and  that  he  give  his  obligation 
to  return  the  same  indemnified,  when  demanded;  or  if  any  be  lost  or  dam- 
nified, that  he  repair  the  damages.  And  further,  that  any  Minister  belong- 
ing to  this  Synod  may  borrow  any  of  the  said  books,  and  that  they  be 
allowed  to  keep  a  folio  for  one  year,  a  quarto  half  a  year,  and  an  octavo,  or 
a  lesser  volume,  for  three  months;  that  they  give  their  obligation  for  the 
full  price  of  the  volume,  to  return  it  safe,  or  to  pay  damages.  And  if  any 
book  be  detained  beyond  the  time  appointed,  every  Minister  so  failing  shall 
pay  one  shilling  per  month  for  a  folio,  eight  pence  per  month  for  a  quarto, 
and  four  pence  per  month  for  octavos  and  lesser  volumes.  'Tis  agreed  like- 
wise, to  lend  none  of  them  beyond  Potomac  river;  and  that  the  books  be 
committed  to  the  Trustees  of  the  fund  for  Ministers'  widows,  who  shall 


Part  III.]  EDUCATION.  871 

choose  a  librarian,  to  take  care  of  the  library  for  these  ends,  and  for  the 
beuefit  of  students  of  divinity  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia." — Minutes, 
1755,  p.  219. 

§  136.    The  School  aided  from  a  German  fund. 

'^The  Rev.  Mr.  William  Smith,  Provost  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia, 
waited  on  the  Synod;  when  Mr.  Cross,  according  to  order,  returned  the 
thanks  of  the  Synod  to  him  for  his  particular  care  and  pains  taken  in  trans- 
mitting our  petition  to  the  honourable  Trustees  of  the  fund  for  the  Gerraau 
emigrants  in  London;  which  Messrs  Cross  and  Alison  had  presented  to  the 
honourable  Trustees  in  this  province,  to  be,  for  the  approbation  of  the  hon- 
ourable Trustees  there,  by  them  transmitted  thither,  and  which  is  as  follows : 

''To  the  Trustees  general  of  the  society  schools  for  the  instruction  of  poor 
Grermans,  &c.,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  adjacent  British  colonies,  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  humbly  showeth, 

"  That  we,  your  petitioners,  opened  a  public  school  about  twelve  years 
ago,  when  learning  was  under  great  discouragements,  and  opportunities  of 
education  scarce  in  this  and  the  neighbouring  provinces,  and  gave  instruc- 
tions gratis  for  some  years,  to  all  ranks  and  denominations  that  pleased  to 
accept  of  the  same. 

"That  we  have  still  continued  to  instruct  cheap,  and  the  poor  for  nothing, 
and  have  had  the  pleasure  to  see  a  number  educated  under  our  care,  who 
have  been  of  public  service.  As  there  is  a  fair  prospect  of  making  this 
province  the  seat  of  learning  in  this  part  of  the  world,  we  think  it  would 
contribute  much  to  the  growth  of  the  College  in  this  city,  to  support  and 
encourage  schools  in  the  country,  to  provide  them  with  able  masters,  and 
to  keep  them  under  proper  directions. 

"And  as  you  are  engaged  in  an  useful  undertaking  of  this  nature,  your 
petitioners  have  made  bold  to  plead  for  your  countenance,  and  some  assist- 
ance to  enable  us  to  continue  our  school.  We  have  the  juster  reasons  to 
hope  for  this  favour,  because  our  school  has  been  as  free  to  the  Germans  as 
any  other  nation,  and  two  of  the  present  lleformed  German  Ministers,  born 
in  this  country,  were  educated  there;  and  because  your  petitioners  under- 
stand that  our  mother  Church  of  Scotland  have  greatly  promoted  the  charity 
under  your  management. 

"That  we  may  share  your  bounty  in  a  way  agreeable  to  your  generous 
plan,  we  propose  to  remove  our  school  to  Chesnut  Level,  where  some  poor 
Dutch,  scattered  in  that  neighbourhood,  may  have  their  children  taught 
gratis,  to  read  and  write  English,  if  favoured  with  your  assistance,  and  we 
will  also  teach  a  certain  number  of  Germans  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages, 
in  order  to  prepare  them  for  the  ministry,  if  they  apply  for  this  advantage. 
And  as  the  German  inhabitants  about  the  river  Susquehanna  and  the  lower 
parts  of  Conestoga  are  wealthy,  and  may  have  lodgings  cheap  in  a  country 
place,  we  doubt  not  but  they  will  be  encouraged  to  send  their  sons  to  our, 
as  well  as  any  public  school. 

"As  our  request  seems  agreeable  to  the  pious  design  of  the  donors,  who 
support  your  good  and  useful  institution ;  and  as  it  may  be  greatly  service- 
able to  the  interests  of  religion,  virtue,  and  learning,  in  this  province,  your 
petitioners  entertain  great  expectations  from  your  generosity  and  goodness. 
And,  indeed,  our  circumstances  are  so  low,  that  we  are  no  longer  able  to 
bear  the  necessary  expenses,  but  must  dismiss  our  school,  unless  we  can 
procure  some  assistance. 

"Your  petitioners  have  ordered  Messrs.  Cross  and  Alison  to  wait  on  you 
with  this  petition,  and  receive  your  instructions.     If  you  find  it  is  agreeable 


372  LITERARY   AND   THEOLOGICAL  [Book  V. 

to  your  public  design,  we  earnestly  request  that  you  would  be  pleased  at 
present  to  tirant  us  some  assistance,  and  that  you  recommend  us  to  the  soci- 
ety in  Enuland  for  the  time  to  come.  And  your  petitioners  as  in  duty 
bound  shall  pray. 

"  Signed,  by  order  of  the  Synod,  by 

William  Donaldson,  Si/nod  Clerk. 

''June  2d,  1755. 

"The  Provost  presented  to  the  Synod  the  resolves  of  the  Trustees  upon 
the  Synod's  address,  which  are  as  follows : 

''June  l\th,  1755. 

"Met  at  Mr.  Allen's  house,  near  Germantown,  the  following  Trustees, 
viz.   Messrs.  Allen,  Peters,  Franklin  and  Smith. 

"And,  taking  into  their  consideration  the  aforesaid  petition  of  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  were  under  some  difficulty  how  to  act  concerning  it.  On 
the  one  hand  they  thought,  that  to  grant  the  petition  in  favour  of  an  Eng- 
lish Synod,  might  gi^-e  offence  to  the  Germans,  who  generally  considered 
this  charity  as  intended  solely  for  their  own  particular  benefit.  The  Trus- 
tees were  also  of  opinion  that  it  did  not  fall  directly  under  the  great  design 
for  promoting  the  English  tongue  among  the  Germans.  But  they  consid- 
ered, on  the  other  hand,  the  pleas  urged  by  the  petitioners.  They  knew  it 
to  be  a  truth,  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  a  time  when  ignorance, 
even  among  the  ministry,  was  like  to  overrun  the  whole  province,  had  begun, 
and  with  much  difficulty  long  supported  a  public  school  under  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Francis  Alison ;  and  that  many  able  Ministers,  and  some  of  them  Dutch, 
had  been  educated  in  the  said  school.  The  Trustees  were  also  of  opinion, 
that  it  was  no  small  argument  in  favour  of  the  petitioners,  that  the  mother 
Church  of  Scotland  had  contributed  so  largely  to  this  useful  charity,  and 
that,  if  any  future  application  to  said  Church  should  be  necessary,  the 
interest  and  recommendation  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  might  be  useful 
in  that  respect,  as  well  as  in  countenancing  the  several  schools  in  their  pre- 
sent infant  state,  and  educating,  according  to  their  proposal,  some  young 
men  for  the  Dutch  ministry,  gratis. 

"  In  consideration  of  all  which,  it  was  resolved  to  grant  twenty-five 
pounds  currency  for  one  year  to  assist  the  said  Synod  to  support  their  said 
public  school  on  the  following  terms,  viz. 

"  1.  That  it  shall  be  under  the  same  common  government  with  the  other 
free  schools,  and  be  subject  to  the  visitations  of  the  Trustees  general  or 
their  deputies,  appointed  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Synod. 

"2.  That  the  master  shall  teach  four  Dutch  or  English  gratis,  upon  the 
recommendation  of  the  Trustees  general,  to  be  prepared  for  the  ministry, 
and  ten  poor  Dutch  children  in  the  English  tongue  gratis,  if  so  many  offer. 

"o.  That  the  deputy  trustees,  together  with  the  master,  and  any  of  the 
clergy,  visit  the  school,  at  least  once  a  quarter,  and  send  down  a  statement 
thereof  to  be  transmitted  by  the  general  Trustees  to  the  honourable  society. 

"  Agreed  that  this  case  be  transmitted  to  the  honourable  society,  to  obtain 
their  directions  thereupon. 

"Ordered,  That  the  terras  of  the  Trustees  be  complied  with,  and  that 
Messrs.  Boyd  and  IMcDowell,  Moses  Irwin,  James  Marshal,  Martin  Beam, 
and  Jacob  Graft,  be  recommended  as  deputy  Trustees  for  the  ensuing  year, 
and  visit  the  school  every  quarter,  the  third  Tue^sday,  commencing  with  the 
third  Tuesday  of  August  next,  if  the  Trustees  general  approve." — Minutes, 

1757,  p.  227. 

[Aiil  from  this  fund  was  received  till  1762,  when  the  fund  was  exhausted.] — Minutes, 

1758,  p.  290,  and  1762,  p.  315.  ^ 


Part  III.]  EDUCATION.  373 

§  137.    General  collection  for  education  purposes. 

"The  Synod  [of  New  York]  do  recommend  to  all  their  members,  as  far 
as  prudence  may  direct,  to  make  another  annual  collection  [beside  that  for 
missions]  for  the  support  of  young  students,  whose  circumstances  render 
them  incapable  to  maintain  themselves  at  learning,  and  for  other  charitable 
purposes;  which  contributions  shall  be  at  the  disposal  of  such  respective 
Presbyteries  where  they  are  made." — Minutes,  1751,  p.  246. 

Title  2. — The  College  of  New  Jersey. 
§  138.    Collection  for  it. 

"A  motion  being  made  to  the  Synod  by  the  trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  to  obtain  a  public  collection  from  all  the  Congregations  belong- 
ing to  the  Synod,  and  the  Synod  having  taken  the  matter  into  consideration, 
do  unanimously  approve  the  motion,  and  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  the 
Presbyteries  to  see  that  every  one  of  their  members  do  endeavour  to  collect 
money  in  their  respective  Congregations  for  that  purpose,  and  also  in  vacan- 
cies, where  they  have  opportunity  so  to  do;  and  the  Synod  order,  that  all 
other  public  collections  before  appointed  by  them  to  be  annually  observed, 
be  suspended  on  that  account. 

''The  Synod  do  likewise  order  that  the  said  collection  for  the  college  be 
made  betwixt  this  time  and  May  next,  and  that  an  account  of  what  is 
gathered  by  every  Presbytery,  be  transmitted  to  the  president  of  the  college 
by  each  Presbytery." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1752,  p.  248. 

§  139.    The  mission  of  Davies  and  Tennent  to  Eitrope. 

(a)  "Application  was  made  to  the  Synod  in  behalf  of  the  trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  requesting  the  Synod  to  appoint  two  of  their  mem- 
bers, viz.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent,  and  Samuel  Davies,  to  take  a  voyage  to 
Europe  on  the  important  afi'uirs  of  said  college;  to  which  the  Synod  unani- 
mously consent. 

"The  Congregation  of  Philadelphia,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Tennent, 
requested  that  in  the  absence  of  their  Pastor,  they  may  be  suppled  with 
such  members  of  the  Synod  as  they  shall  choose,  till  their  next  meeting; 
which  was  unanimously  agreed  unto." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1753,  p.  252. 

(6)  Address  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

"To  the  very  venerable  and  honourable  the  Moderator  and  other  members 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  meet  at  Edinburgh, 
May,  1754.  The  petition  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  convened  at  l*hila- 
delphia,  October  3,  1753,  humbly  showeth: 

"That  a  college  has  been  lately  erected  in  the  province  of  New  Jersey  by 
his  majesty's  royal  charter,  in  which  a  number  of  youth  has  been  already 
educated,  who  are  now  the  instruments  of  service  to  the  Church  of  God ; 
and  which  would  be  far  more  extensively  beneficial  were  it  brought  to  matu- 
rity. That  after  all  the  contributions  that  have  been  made  to  the  said  col- 
lege, or  can  be  raised  in  these  parts,  the  fund  is  far  from  being  sutficient  for 
the  erection  of  proper  buildings,  supporting  the  president  and  tutors,  furnish- 
ing a  library,  and  defraying  other  necessary  expenses;  that  the  trustees  of 
said  college,  who  are  zealous  and  active  to  promote  it  for  the  public  good, 
have  already  sent  their  humble  petition  to  this  vcTierable  house  for  some 
assistance  in  carrying  on  so  important  a  design;  and  also  petitioned  this 
Synod  to  appoint  two  of  their  members,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent 
and  Samuel  Davies,  to  undeitake  a  voyage  to  Europe  in  behalf  of  said 
college. 


374  LITERARY  AND   THEOLOGICAL  [Book  V. 

"Your  petitioners,  therefore,  most  heartily  concur  in  the  said  petition  of 
the  trustees  to  the  Reverend  Assembly,  and  appoint  the  said  Messrs.  Ten- 
nent  and  Davies  to  be  their  commissioners  for  that  purpose. 

"And  as  your  petitioners  apprehend  the  design  of  said  petition  to  be  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  the  interests  of  learning  and  religion  in  this  infant 
country,  and  are  confident  of  the  zeal  of  so  pious  and  learned  a  body  as  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  promote  such  a  design;  they 
beg  leave  to  lay  before  this  venerable  house,  a  general  representation  of  the 
deplorable  circumstances  of  the  Churches  under  their  Synodical  care,  leav- 
ing it  to  the  commissioners  to  descend  to  particulars. 

"In  the  colonies  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  and  Carolina,  a  great  number  of  Congregations  have  been  formed 
upon  the  Presbyterian  plan,  which  have  put  themselves  under  the  Synodical 
care  of  your  petitioners,  who  conform  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  and  have  adopted  her  standards  of  doctrine,  worship,  and  disci- 
pline. There  are  also  large  settlements  lately  planted  in  various  parts,  par- 
ticidarly  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  where  multitudes  are  extremely  desir- 
ous of  the  ministrations  of  the  gospel;  but  they  are  not  yet  formed  into 
Congregations,  and  regularly  organized,  for  want  of  Ministers. 

"These  numerous  bodies  of  people,  dispersed  so  wide  through  so  many 
colonies,  have  repeatedly  made  the  most  importunate  applications  to  your 
petitioners,  for  Ministers  to  be  sent  among  them;  and  your  petitioners  have 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  for  their  relief,  both  by  sending  their  mem- 
bers and  candidates  to  officiate  some  time  among  them,  and  using  all  practi- 
cable measures  for  the  education  of  pious  youth  for  the  ministry. 

"But  alas!  notwithstanding  these  painful  endeavours,  your  petitioners 
have  been  utterly  incapable  to  make  sufficient  pro\asion  for  so  many  shep- 
herdless  flocks;  and  those  that  come  hundreds  of  miles  ci-ying  to  them  for 
some  to  break  the  bread  of  life  among  them,  are  often  obliged  to  return  iu 
tears,  with  little  or  no  relief,  by  reason  of  the  scarcity  of  Ministers. 

"Though  every  practicable  expedient,  which  the  most  urgent  necessity 
could  suggest,  has  been  used  to  prepare  labourers  for  this  extensive  and 
growing  harvest;  yet  the  number  of  Ministers  in  this  Synod  is  far  from  being 
equal  to  that  of  the  Congregations  under  their  care.  Though  svmdry  of 
them  have  taken  the  pastoral  charge  of  two  or  three  Congregations  for  a 
time,  in  order  to  lessen  the  number  of  vacancies;  and  though  sundry  youth 
have  lately  been  licensed,  ordained,  and  settled  in  Congregations,  that  were 
before  destitute;  yet  there  are  no  less  than  forty  vacant  Congregations  at 
present  under  the  care  of  this  Synod,  besides  many  more  which  are  incapa- 
ble at  present  to  support  Ministers;  and  the  whole  colony  of  North  Carolina, 
where  numerous  Congregations  of  Presbyterians  are  forming,  and  where 
there  is  not  one  Presbyterian  Minister  settled. 

"The  great  number  of  vacancies  in  the  bounds  of  this  Synod,  is  owing, 
partly,  to  the  new  settlements  lately  made  in  various  parts  of  this  continent, 
partly  to  the  death  of  sundry  Ministers  belonging  to  this  Synod,  but  princi- 
pally to  the  small  number  of  youth  educated  for  the  ministry,  so  vastly  dis- 
proportionate to  the  numerous  vacancies;  and  unless  some  effectual  measures 
can  be  taken  for  the  education  of  proper  persons  for  the  sacred  character, 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  these  parts  must  continue  in  the  most  destitute 
circumstances,  wandering  shopherdless  and  forlorn  through  this  wilderness, 
thousands  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,  the  children  of  God  hungry  and 
unfed,  and  the  rising  age  growing  up  in  a  state  little  bettor  than  that  of 
heathenism,  with  regard  to  the  public  ministrations  of  the  gospel. 

"The  numerous  inconveniences  of  a  private,  and  the  many  important 
advantages  of  a  public  education  are  so  evident,  that  we  need  not  inform  this 


Part  III.]  EDUCATION.  ^  375 

venerable  assembly  of  tbem,  who  cannot  but  be  sensible  from  bappy  experi- 
ence, of  the  many  extensive  benefits  of  convenient  colleges. 

"The  difficulty,  (and  in  some  cases  impossibility,)  of  sending  youth  two, 
three,  four,  or  five  hundred  miles  or  more,  to  the  colleges  in  New  England, 
is  also  evident  at  first  sight.  Now  it  is  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey  only, 
that  we  can  expect  a  remedy  of  these  inconveniences;  it  is  to  that  your  peti- 
tioners look  for  the  increase  of  their  number;  it  is  on  tliat  the  Presbyterian 
Churches,  through  the  six  colonies  above  mentioned,  principally  depend  for 
a  supply  of  accomplished  Ministers;  from  that  has  been  obtained  consider- 
able relief  already,  notwithstanding  the  many  disadvantages  that  unavoidably 
attend  it  in  its  present  infant  state;  and  from  that  may  be  expected  a  suffi- 
cient supply  when  brought  to  maturity. 

Your  petitioners,  therefore,  most  earnestly  pray,  that  this  very  reverend 
Assembly  would  afford  the  said  college  all  the  countenance  and  assistance  in 
their  power.  The  young  daughter  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  helpless  and 
exposed  in  this  foreign  land,  cries  to  her  tender  and  powerful  mother  for 
relief.  The  cries  of  Ministers  oppressed  with  labours,  and  of  Congregations 
famishing  for  want  of  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  implore  assistance.  And 
were  the  poor  Indian  savages  sensible  of  their  own  case,  they  would  join  in 
the  cry,  and  beg  for  more  missionaries  to  be  sent  to  propagate  the  religion 
of  Jesus  among  them. 

"Now,  as  the  college  of  New  Jersey  appears  the  most  promising  expedi- 
ent to  redress  these  grievances,  and  to  promote  religion  and  learning  in  these 
provinces,  your  petitioners  most  heartily  concur  with  the  trustees,  and  hum- 
bly pray,  that  an  act  may  be  passed  by  this  venerable  and  honourable  Assem- 
bly, for  a  natioBal  collection  in  favour  of  said  college.  And  your  petitioners 
as  in  duty  bound  shall  ever  pray,  &c." — Minutes,  N.  Y.,  1753,  p.  256. 

§  140.  Davies's  Presidency/. 

"An  application  to  the  Synod  from  the  Board  of  trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  for  the  liberation  of  Mr.  Davies  from  his  pastoral  charge,  that 
he  may  accept  the  presidency  of  said  college  to  which  they  had  elected  him, 
was  brought  in  and  read. 

"A  supplication  was  also  brought  in  from  Mr.  Davies's  Congregation, 
earnestly  requesting  his  continuance  with  them. 

"  The  Synod  having  seriously  considered  the  Congregation's  supplication, 
and  fully  heard  all  the  reasonings  for  and  against  Mr.  Davies's  liberation, 
after  solemn  prayer  to  God  for  direction,  do  upon  the  whole,  judge  that  the 
arguments  in  favour  of  said  liberation  do  preponderate,  and  agree  that  Mr. 
Davies's  pastoral  relation  to  his  Congregation  be  dissolved  in  order  to  his 
removal  to  the  college,  and  do  accordingly  hereby  dissolve  it." — Minutes, 
1759,  p.  292. 

§  141.  A  general  collection  for  the  college. 

"An  application  from  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was 
brought  in  and  read,  requesting  the  assistance  of  the  Synod  to  raise  money 
for  the  necessary  support  of  the  said  college.  The  Synod  looking  upon  this 
as  a  matter  of  great  importance,  appoint  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Mr.  Blair,  and 
Mr.  William  P.  Smith,  a  committee  to  make  a  suitable  representation  of 
the  state  of  the  college  to  lay  before  this  Synod,  which  we  may  recommend 
for  the  information  of  our  several  Congregations.  And  the  Synod  agree, 
that  certain  particular  persons  be  appointed  to  go  through  our  bounds  and 
use  their  utmost  endeavours  to  obtain  subscriptions,  in  part,  and  after  they 
have  done  all  they  can,  they  shall  leave  the  several  subscriptions  opened  by 
them  with  the  most  convenient  Ministers,  or  other  proper  persons,  to  have 


376  LITERARY  AND   THEOLOGICAL  [Book  V. 

them  filled  up  where  anything  more  can  be  done;  and  each  Presbytery  is 
enjoined  to  take  care  that  every  member  be  active  and  diligent  to  forward 
and  complete  those  subscriptions,  of  which  they  are  to  give  an  account  at 
our  next  Synod;  and  the  persons  appointed  to  this  business,  and  the  bounds 
assigned  them,  are  as  follows,  viz. 

[The  entire  bounds  of  the  Synod  from  the  Carolinas  northward,  were  districted  and 
assigned  to  twenty-four  members  of  the  Synod.] — Minutes,  1769,  p.  .396. 

§  142.  A  chair  of  thcolugy  in  the  collaje. 

(a)  ''A  supplication  was  brought  in  from  the  honourable  Board  of  tins- 
tees  of  the  New  Jersey  College,  praying  assistance  in  supporting  a  Professor 
of  Divinity  from  the  last  year's  collection,  and  was  fully  considered,  and  the 
Synod  judge,  that  they  cannot  give  any  part  of  the  money  collected  last 
year  towards  the  support  of  a  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  said  college,  but 
do  agree,  and  hereby  order,  a  general  collection  to  be  made  for  this  purpose, 
in  all  our  Congregations;  and  that  the  money  raised  by  this  separate  col- 
lection be  applied  particularly  by  this  Synod  yearly,  for  this  purpose,  till 
expended;  and  in  the  meantime,  in  order  to  assist  in  supporting  a  Professor 
of  Divinity  in  said  college,  the  Synod  do  agree  to  give  the  present  Professor 
the  sum  of  fifty  pounds  out  of  the  money  now  in  the  hands  of  our  treasurer, 
to  be  refunded  next  year." — 3IiHiites,  1768,  p.  386. 

(h)  "The  Synod  agree  to  give  the  honourable  Board  of  trustees  of  the 
New  Jersey  College,  towards  supporting  a  Professor  of  Divinity  in  that  insti- 
tution, sixty  pounds  for  the  last  year,  and  sixty  pounds  for  the  current  year, 
out  of  the  collections  made  in  our  Congregations  for  this  purpose,  agreeable 
to  an  order  of  last  session.  The  fifty  pounds  lent  that  honourable  Board 
last  year,  is  refunded." — Minutes,  1769,  p.  399. 

§  143.  Rebuilding  of  the  college  assisted. 

"  A  representation  from  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was 
laid  before  the  Assembly,  in  which  the  said  Trustees  petition  the  Assembly 
to  recommend  to  all  the  Congregations  under  their  care,  to  take  up  liberal 
collections,  to  aid  in  rebuilding  said  college  edifice,  which  has  lately  been 
consumed  by  fire.     Whereupon,  after  deliberation,  the  Assembly 

^'■Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  is  hereby  recommended  to  all  the  Congrega- 
tions, both  settled  and  vacant,  under  the  care  of  th^  General  Assembly,  to 
endeavour  to  raise  liberal  contributions  for  rebuilding  the  edifice  and  replen- 
ishing the  library  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  And  that  it  be  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  Minister  and  Session  of  each  Congregation  to  make  the 
contribution  either  by  subscription,  or  a  collection  in  the  Church,  or  by 
both.  The  Presbyteries  are  to  take  measures  to  carry  this  recommendation 
into  effect,  and  the  Sessions  to  see  that  the  sums  collected  be  forwarded  as 
safely  and  expeditiously  as  possible  to  the  llev.  Doctor  Rodgers,  of  New 
York;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green,  of  Philadelphia;  or  to  Mr.  Enos  Kelsey,  Trea- 
surer of  the  Trustees  of  the  aforesaid  College,  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey." — 
Minutes,  1802,  p.  247. 

§  144.   Its  later  arrangements  for  Theological  Students. 

[The  following  letter  was  published  by  the  Assembly  for  the  information  of  Presbyte- 
ries and  candidates.] 

"  The  College  of  New  Jersey  was  originally  founded  with  a  particular  view  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  religion,  as  well  as  learning,  by  training  up  men  of  piety  and  talents 
for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel.  The  Trustees  of  the  Institution  have  ever  been  attentive 
to  this  great  object,  and  have  made  the  most  generous  provision  for  the  support  of  theo- 
logical students.  As  the  encouragements  here  oflered  to  such  students  are  but  little  known, 
the  faculty  take  the  liberty  of  mentioning  them  to  you,  and  requesting  vou  to  co-operate 


Part  III.]  EDUCATION.  37T 

with  them  in  carrying  into  eflect  the  benevolent  designs  of  the  Trustees,  by  sending  hither 
any  young  men  with  whom  you  are  acquainted,  who  may  need  the  advantages  here  to 
be  enjoyed. 

"All  persons  who  are  actually  engaged  in  the  study  of  theology,  at  whatever  insti- 
tution they  may  have  received  the  preliminary  parts  of  their  education,  may,  on  pro- 
ducing proper  testimonials  of  their  character,  pursue  their  farther  studies  here,  at  the 
moderate  charge  or  one  dollar  a  week  for  board,  and  enjoy  the  assistance  of  the  President 
and  Professor  of  Theology,  without  any  fee  for  instruction.  This  Professor  gives  lectures 
to  the  theological  students  twice  in  the  week ;  and  at  each  succeeding  meeting,  examines 
them  strictly  on  the  subject  of  the  preceding  lecture.  His  course  of  lectures  embraces 
divinity,  ecclesiastical  history.  Church  government,  Christian  and  Jewish  antiquities,  and 
the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office.  He  instructs  those  who  desire  it  in  the  Hebrew  language, 
so  useful  and  almost  indispensable  to  a  good  divine. 

"  At  every  meeting  one  or  more  of  his  pupils  submits  to  his  criticisms  and  remarks,  an 
essay  or  sermon  on  a  subject  previously  assigned.  The  Professor,  together  with  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  College,  holds  a  theological  society  once  in  the  week,  for  the  discussion  of  im- 
portant questions,  immediately  relative  to  the  science  of  divinity. 

"  The   emulation  and  encouragement  communicated  by  a  variety  of  fellow  students,  the 
opportunity  of  cultivating  any  branch  of  science,  and  an  access  at  all  times  to  a  large  and 
well  selected  theological  library,  are  other  advantages  of  no  small  consequence. 
In  behalf  of  the  faculty, 

Samuel  S.  Smith,  President.^^ 
—Minutes,  1806,  p.  362. 

Title  3. — More  Recent  Measures. 
§  145. — A  general  educatioii  plan  adopted. 

"  A  scheme  for  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth,  formed  and  adopted 
by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  transmitted  by  the  Committee  of  Over- 
tures, was  brought  in  and  read,  and  is  as  follows : 

"A  scheme  for  supporting  young  men  of  piety  and  parts  at  learning  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  that  so  our  numerous  vacancies  may  be  supplied 
with  preachers  of  the  gospel,  &c. 

"  1st.  That  every  vacant  Congregation  in  our  bounds,  who  ask  this  Pres- 
bytery for  supplies,  do  annually  at  our  fall  meeting  pay  into  the  hands  of  a 
treasurer  to  be  chosen,  the  sum  of  two  pounds. 

"2d.  That  every  Minister  belonging  to  this  Presbytery  pay  into  the  hands 
of  said  treasurer,  at  the  said  time,  the  sum  of  one  pound. 

"  3d.  That  any  gentleman  willing  to  contribute  to  this  pious  design,  may 
have  an  opportunity  of  subscribing  to  pay  annually. 

"  4th.  That  at  every  spring  meeting  of  this  Presbytery,  there  shall  be  a 
treasurer  chosen,  (a  member  of  Presbytery,)  who  shall  keep  a  fair  stated 
account  of  all  the  money  received  and  the  disbursements,  and  shall  pay  no 
money  without  a  written  order,  an  act  of  the  Presbytery  signed  by  their 
Moderator  and  Clerk  for  the  time  being. 

"  5th.  That  every  member  of  this  Presbytery  may  recommend  any  young 
man  they  think  proper,  who,  after  such  an  examination  as  shall  be  thought 
convenient,  shall  receive  or  be  refused  the  benefit  of  this  donation,  by  the 
major  vote  of  this  Presbytery. 

"6th.  That  after  any  young  man  is  thus  received,  the  Presbytery  shall 
look  upon  themselves  as  the  guardians  of  his  education,  and  as  such  shall 
give  all  orders  relative  thereto,  and  in  case  of  any  diflerence  of  opinion  the 
major  vote  shall  always  determine. 

*'7th.  That  every  young  man  thus  educated,  shall  be  looked  upon  as 
natively  belonging  to  this  Presbytery,  and  when  introduced  into  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  shall  continue  at  least  one  year  preaching  in  the  vacancies  within 
the  bounds  of  this  Presbylery. 

"8th.  That  every  young  man  thus  educated,  and  afterwards  not  inclining 
48 


378  LITERARY   AND   THEOLOGICAL  [Book  V. 

to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  shall  give  a  bond  to  some  Minister  of  this  Pres- 
bytery, to  the  amount  of  all  the  money  expended  by  this  Presbytery  in  his 
education,  payable  in  five  years  after  date. 

"  The  Synod  do  highly  approve  of  this  plan,  and  do  most  earnestly  recom- 
mend it  to  the  several  Presbyteries  to  fall  upon  that  or  the  like  scheme,  for 
the  excellent  purpose  above  mentioned,  and  order  that  inquiry  be  made  at 
the  next  meeting  of  Synod,  how  far  the  several  Presbyteries  have  been  able 
to  proceed  in  executing  said  plan,  and  that  they  be  re((uired  to  give  au 
account  of  their  diligence  in  this  matter." — Minutes,  1771,  p.  419.  Re- 
enjoined  1772,  p.  426. 

§  146.    Transylvania  Seminary. 

"  The  General  Assembly  took  into  consideration  the  application  made  to 
them  by  Commissioners  from  a  corporation  in  the  State  of  Kentucky  for  the 
promotion  of  literature;  and  from  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  requesting 
their  countenance  and  assistance,  in  order  that  the  said  Commissioners  may 
be  aided  in  obtaining  donations  for  the  aforesaid  institution;  and  after  mature 
deliberation, 

"  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  earnestly  wish  that  the  cause  of 
learning  and  religion  may  be  promoted  throughout  the  world,  and  especially 
in  these  United  States,  did,  and  hereby  do,  assure  all  persons  to  whom  the 
Commissioners,  Mr.  Rice  and  Mr.  Blythe,  may  address  themselves,  that  they 
are  Ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  of  good  standing  and  high 
reputation  with  us,  and  therefore  do  recommend  them  and  their  cause  to  all 
to  whom  they  may  apply,  for  their  liberality  for  the  promotion  of  the  semi- 
nary about  to  be  erected  in  that  State." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  105. 

§  147.    A  plan  for  increasing  the  number  of  candidates. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  overture  of  last  Assembly,  for 
increasing  the  number  of  gospel  Ministers,  reported,  and  submitted  a  record, 
proper  to  be  made  by  the  Assembly  on  the  subject. 

"  The  report  having  been  read  and  amended,  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  commissioners  from  all  the  Presbyteries  represented  in  this  Assem- 
bly, having  been  called  to  state  the  opinion  entertained  by  their  respective 
Presbyteries  on  this  subject,  it  appeared  that  the  overture  had  been  serious- 
ly considered  and  highly  approved  by  most  of  them ;  that  some  Presbyteries 
had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  using  the  measures  contemplated  in  the  over- 
ture, for  bringing  forward  youth  of  piety  and  talents,  as  candidates  for  the 
gospel  ministry;  and  that  others  had  adopted  and  organized  such  measures 
within  the  last  year,  in  consequence  of  the  overture  under  consideration. 

"  After  maturely  deliberating  on  the  overture,  the  Assembly  determined, 
that  the  part  of  it  which  relates  to  the  selection  and  education  of  young  men 
of  piety  and  talents  for  the  gospel  ministry,  presents  a  plan  which  they  con- 
sider as  well  deserving  their  countenance  and  support.  It  is  indeed  an  obvi- 
ous and  melancholy  fact,  that  the  candidates  for  the  gospel  ministiy  within 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  at  present  fall  very  f;ir  short  of  the 
demand  which  is  made  for  their  services,  and  that  the  rapid  increase  of 
vacant  Congregations,  taken  in  connection  with  the  youth  who  are  studying 
for  the  ministry,  presents  a  most  gloomy  prospect  of  what  is  likely  to  be  the 
state  of  our  Church  in  a  few  years,  if  prompt  and  effectual  measures  be  not 
taken  to  furnish  a  supply  of  Ministei's  much  gi-eater  than  the  existing  state 
of  things  is  likely  to  produce.  On  the  whole,  the  Assembly  were  deeply 
affected  with  the  view  which  they  had  taken  of  this  subject,  and  were 
extremely  solicitous  to  adopt  the  most  efficient  measures  which  circum- 
stances will  permit,  to  remedy  the  existing  evil,  and  prevent  its  augmenta- 


Part  III.]  EDUCATION.  879 

tion.  But  as  the  Presbyteries  of  which  the  Assembly  have  the  oversight  are 
scattered  over  a  wide  extent  of  country,  and  their  circumstances  are  known 
to  be  extremely  various,  it  occurred  that  an  absolute  injunction  on  all  the 
Presbyteries,  immediately  to  enter  into  the  execution  of  the  plan  proposed, 
might  bear  hard  on  some,  if  not  be  entirely  incapable  of  execution ;  on  the 
other  hand,  merely  to  recommend  an  attention  to  the  plan,  without  attach- 
ing any  responsibility  to  the  neglect  of  the  recommendation,  appeared  to  the 
Assembly  incompatible  with  the  high  importance  of  the  subject,  and  with 
their  own  duty  as  guardians  of  the  Church,  bound  especially  to  provide  for 
their  people  a  supply  of  the  word  of  life.  It  was,  therefore,  determined  to 
take  a  middle  course  between  these  extremes,  so  as  to  avoid,  if  possible,  the 
inconveniences  of  both.  With  this  view  it  was  resolved  to  recommend,  and 
the  Assembly  do  hereby  most  earnestly  recommend  to  every  Presbytery 
under  their  care,  to  use  their  utmost  endeavours  to  increase,  by  all  suitable 
means  in  their  power,  the  number  of  promising  candidates  for  the  holy 
ministry;  to  press  it  upon  the  parents  of  pious  youth  to  endeavour  to  edu- 
cate them  for  the  Church;  and  on  the  youth  themselves  to  devote  their 
talents  and  their  lives  to  the  sacred  calling;  to  make  vigorous  exertions  to 
raise  funds  to  assist  all  the  youth  who  may  need  assistance;  to  be  careful 
that  the  youth  they  take  on  their  funds  give  such  evidence  as  the  nature  of 
the  case  admits,  that  they  possess  both  talents  and  piety;  to  inspect  the 
education  of  these  youth,  during  the  course  of  both  their  academical  and 
theological  studies,  choosing  for  them  such  schools,  seminaries,  and  teach- 
ers, as  they  may  judge  most  proper  and  advantageous;  so  as  eventually  to 
bring  them  into  the  ministry,  well  furnished  for  their  work.  And  the 
Assembly  did,  and  do  hereby  order,  that  every  Presbytery  under  their  care, 
make  annually  a  report  to  the  Assembly,  stating  particularly  what  they  have 
done  in  this  concern,  or  why,  (if  the  case  so  shall  be,)  they  have  done 
nothing  in  it;  and  that  the  Assembly  will,  when  these  reports  are  received, 
consider  each  distinctly,  and  decide  by  vote,  whether  the  Presbyteries  seve- 
rally shall  be  considered  as  having  discharged  or  neglected  their  duty  in 
this  important  business." — Minutes,  1806,  p.  366. 

§148. 

[From  the  adoption  of  this  plan  until  1822,  the  inquiry  thus  proposed  was  annually 
made,  and  the  result  placed  on  record.     Thus :] 

''The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute,  stating  the  attention 
which  the  Presbyteries  appear  to  have  paid  to  the  resolution  of  the  Assem- 
bly in  relation  to  the  education  of  pious  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry, 
reported,  and  their  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Ontario,  Onondaga,  Cayuga,  Bath.  Oneida, 
Columbia,  Albany,  Londonderry,  Hudson,  Newton,  New  York,  Long  Island, 
Jersey,  New  Brunswick,  Philadelphia,  New  Castle,  Carlisle,  Redstone,  Erie, 
Lancaster,  Portage,  Grand  River,  Hartford,  Ohio,  Winchester,  Hanover, 
Lexington,  Washington,  West  Lexington,  Orange,  Fayetteville,  Union,  and 
Abingdon,  have  fully  attended  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Assembly. 

"That  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva  was  excused  for  not  complying  with  the 
order,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  generously  contributed  toward  the  same 
object  in  another  way, 

"That  the  Presbyteries  of  Niagara,  Champlain,  St.  Lawrence,  Baltimore, 
Northumberland,  Huntingdon,  Concord,  and  Miami,  having  offered  reasons 
for  their  noncompliance  with  the  order  of  the  Assembly,  were  excused. 

"That  no  reports  have  been  received  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Richland, 
West  Tennessee,  Transylvania,  South  Carolina,  Muhlenberg,  Mississippi; 
Harmony,  and  Shiloh. 


380  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.  [Book  V. 

''And  that  from  the  information  derived  from  the  whole  of  the  reports 
submitted  on  this  subject,  it  appears  that  there  are  at  present  hfty-nine 
youug  men  of  tlie  description  contemphited  by  the  Assembly,  under  the  care 
of  the  Presbyteries." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  701. 

.  §  149.    This  plan  amended. 

"Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  consider  the  education  of  poor 
and  pious  youth  of  promising  talents  for  the  gospel  ministry,  a  subject  of 
interesting  importance,  especially  considering  the  rapid  population  and 
increasing  number  of  destitute  settlements  of  our  country, 

"2.  It  is  therefore  expected,  that  all  the  Presbyteries  under  their  care 
will  pay  particular  attention  to  this  important  object,  and  that  they  be  care- 
ful to  forward  annually,  written  reports  to  the  Assembly,  how  many  young 
men  they  have  under  their  care;  the  funds  they  have  raised  for  education, 
with  the  whole  of  their  transactions  in  this  concern. 

''3.  When  this  report  is  read  in  the  Assembly,  the  inquiry  shall  not  be 
as  heretofore,  whether  the  Presbyteries  have  done  their  duty,  but  whether 
their  report  shall  be  accepted,  and  if  so,  the  inquiry  ends. 

"4.  Those  Presbyteries  which  do  not  comply  with  these  regulations,  must 
assign  satisfactory  reasons  for  their  non-compliance,  or  be  recorded  as  delin- 
quents in  their  duty,  or  censured  by  the  Assembly,  as  they  may  deem 
proper." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  12. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 

JTiTLE  1. — Organization  of  the  Board. 
§  150.    The  erection  of  a  Board  resolved  iqjon. 

''The  consideration  of  the  overture  for  the  establishment,  by  the  Assem- 
bly, of  a  Genei'al  Board  of  Education,  was  resumed,  and  after  a  motion  made 
and  seconded,  to  postpone  the  ferther  consideration  of  it  till  the  meeting  of 
the  next  General  Assembly,  having  been  put,  was  lost,  and  after  a  consider- 
able discussion,  the  overture,  being  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

"  Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  forms  the  bond  of  union  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States,  and  aflFords  the  acknowledged  means  of 
combining  the  intelligence  and  concentrating  the  efforts  of  that  denomina- 
tion: whereas,  the  present  state  of  our  country  most  loudly  calls  for 
increasing  energy  and  zeal  in  training  young  men  for  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel,  and  it  has  become  necessary  to  originate  new  and  more  efficient  mea- 
sures for  carrying  on  this  great  and  important  work,  to  systematize  and 
unite  the  efforts  that  are  now  making  within  our  bounds;  and  whereas,  it  is 
desirable  that  a  fund  be  established,  under  the  direction  of  the  General 
Assembly,  which,  among  other  objects,  might  afford  assistance  to  those 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  the  Church  that  may  require  the  same;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  establish  a  General  Board  of 
Education. 

"2.  That  it  be  recommended  that  Boards  of  Education  be  formed  within 
our  bounds,  auxiliary  to  the  Board  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  extensively 
as  possible. 


Part  III.]  THE    BOARD    OF   EDUCATION.  381 

''3.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  several  Presbyteries  to  form  them- 
selves into  education  societies  auxiliary  to  the  Board,  and  to  adopt  the  most 
vigorous  efforts  to  accomplish  this  important  object. 

"4:.  That  as  a  fundamental  principle,  no  young  man  shall  be  patronized 
and  assisted  by  the  funds  of  the  Board,  who  shall  not,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Board,  or  of  some  auxiliary  society,  give  hopeful  evidence  of  piety  and 
promising  talents. 

"5.  That  it  be  the  object  of  this  Education  Board,  and  its  auxiliaries,  to 
assist  the  young  men,  under  their  patronage  and  direction,  to  obtain  all 
parts  of  an  education  necessary  to  their  introduction  into  the  pulpit,  includ- 
ing both  their  classical  and  theological  course. 

"6.  That  the  Boards  auxiliary  to  the  Board  of  the  Assembly  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  make  such  arrangements  and  selections  of  places  for  the  young 
men  under  their  care  to  prosecute  their  education,  whether  classical  or  theo- 
logical, as  they  may  prefer. 

"7.  That  that  the  auxiliaries  shall  annually  report  their  proceedings  to 
the  Board ;  and  that  the  Board  report  to  the  Assembly. 

"8.  That  the  auxiliaries  shall  send  to  the  Board  all  the  surplus  funds  in 
their  hands,  which  shall  not  be  necessary  for  those  young  men  under  their 
own  immediate  care. 

"9.  That  the  Board  according  to  its  best  discretion,  assign  to  the  several 
auxiliary  societies  their  just  proportion  of  the  whole  disposable  funds  of  the 
Board. 

"10.  That  Doctors  Hill,  Richards,  and  Blatchford,  with  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Martin,  and  Herron,  be  appointed  a  committee  to  digest  and  draw  up  a  con- 
stitution embracing  these  fundamental  objects,  and  to  present  it  to  this 
Assembly  for  their  adoption." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  712. 

§  151.  Constitution  of  the  Board. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  draught  a  Constitution  for  establishing  a 
General  Board  of  Education,  agreeably  to  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
Assembly  on  the  subject,  reported  one,  which  being  read  and  amended,  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"I.  There  shall  be  a  General  Board  of  Education,  known  by  the  nam'e  of 
The  Board  of  Education,  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"II.  The  Board  shall  consist  of  thirty-six  members;  of  whom  there  shall 
be  twenty  Ministers  and  sixteen  Elders,  one  Minister  and  one  Elder  to  be 
chosen  from  each  Synod,  and  the  remainder  from  Philadelphia,  and  from  a 
distance  convenient  to  it.  Seven  members,  including  the  President  or 
Vice-President,  shall  be  a  quorum  to  transact  business. 

"III.  The  whole  number  of  members  shall  be  divided  into  four  classes — 
one-fourth  to  be  annually  elected. 

"  IV.  The  election  of  the  members  of  the  Board  shall  be  made  by  nomi- 
nation and  ballot  by  the  General  Assembly. 

"V.  The  officers  shall  be  a  President,  three  Vice-Presidents,  a  Recording 
and  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer,  to  be  annually  elected  by 
the  Board. 

"VI.  The  objects  of  this  Board  shall  be, 

"1.  To  recognize  such  Presbyteries  and  other  associations  as  may  form 
themselves  into  education  societies,  as  auxiliary  to  the  General  Board. 

"2.  To  assist  such  Presbyteries  and  associations  in  educating  pious  youth 
for  the  gospel  ministry,  both  in  their  academical  and  theological  course. 

"3.  To  assign  according  to  their  best  discretion,  to  the  several  auxiliaiy 
societies,  a  just  proportion  of  the  whole  disposable  funds  under  their  control. 


382  THE  BOAKD  OF  EDUCATION.  [Book  V. 

"4.  To  concert  and  execute  such  measures  as  they  shall  judge  to  be  pro- 
per for  increasing  their  funds,  and  promoting  the  general  object. 

"  VII.  No  young  man  shall  be  patronized  or  assisted  by  any  auxiliary 
society,  unless  he  shall  produce  a  testimonial  of  his  hopeful  piety  and  talents 
from  some  Presbytery  under  whose  care  he  shall  have  been  taken. 

"VIII.  Auxiliary  societies  may  make  such  arrangements  and  selection  of 
a  seminary  for  the  young  men  under  their  patronage,  as,  in  their  opinion, 
shall  be  most  eligible  for  the  prosecuting  of  their  education,  whether  classi- 
cal or  theological. 

**IX.  The  auxiliary  societies  shall  send  to  the  Board  all  the  surplus  funds 
in  their  hands  which  shall  not  be  necessary  for  the  accommodation  of  those 
immediately  depending  on  them  for  support. 

*'X.  Every  auxiliary  society  shall  annually  forward  a  report  of  their  pro- 
ceedings to  the  Board,  sufficiently  early  to  enable  the  Board,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  report  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"XI.  The  Board  shall  have  power  to  make  such  by-laws  to  regulate  their 
own  proceedings,  and  effectually  to  accomplish  the  great  objects  of  their 
appointment,  as  shall  not  be  inconsistent  with  this  Constitution. 

"  XII.  The  Board  may  propose  to  the  General  Assembly,  from  time  to 
time,  such  plans  as  they  may  consider  useful  and  necessary  for  the  success 
of  this  institution,  to  be  recommended  to  the  several  societies  or  Churches, 
as  the  Assembly  may  think  proper. 

"XIII.  No  addition  or  amendment  to  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution 
shall  be  made,  unless  by  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  present  at  any  of  their  sessions;  of  which  notice  shall  be 
given  at  least  one  day  previous." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  714. 

Title  2. — Amendments  to  the  Constitution. 
§152. 

(a)  ^'Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education  be,  and  hereby  are  author- 
ized to  select  and  educate  such  young  men  as  are  contemplated  in  the 
Constitution  of  that  Board." — il/r»H^es,"l824,  p.  218. 

(6)  "Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education  may  appoint  any  person 
whom  they  deem  suitable,  to  be  their  Treasurer,  to  continue  in  office  during 
their  pleasure;  and  that  he  shall  be,  ex  oj/icio,  a  member  of  the  Board." — 
Minutes,  1825,  p.  276. 

§  153. 

"Resolved,  That  the  second  article  of  the  Constitution  be  so  amended  as 
to  read  thus,  viz. 

"The  Board  shall  consist  of  fifty-three  members  elected  by  the  General 
Assembly;  of  whom  twenty-five  shMl  be  IMinisters,  and  twenty-eight  other 
male  communicating  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  one  Minister 
and  one  layman  to  be  chosen  from  each  Synod,  and  the  remainder  from  Phi- 
ladelphia, and  from  a  distance  convenient  to  it;  together  with  such  Vice- 
Presidents  as  the  Board  may  appoint.  Five  members,  including  the  Presi- 
dent or  a  Vice-President,  shall  be  a  quorum  to  transact  business. 

"Resolved,  That  the  fifth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation be  so  amended  as  to  read  thus,  viz. 

The  officers  of  the  Board,  to  be  annunlly  appointed  by  the  Board,  shall  be 
a  Pi'esident,  a  Recording  Seci'etary,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  General 
Agent,  a  Treasurer,  and  so  many  Vice-Presidents  as  the  Board  may  deem  it 
expedient  to  appoint." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  388. 


Part  III.]  THE   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION.  383 

§  154. 

[The  second  article  was  again  amended,  to  read  thus:] 

"  The  Board  shall  consist  of  sixty-seven  members,  elected  by  the  General 
Assembly,  of  whom  thirty-two  shall  be  Ministers,  and  thirty- five  other  male 
communicating  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  one  Minister  and  one 
layman  to  be  chosen  from  each  Synod,  &c." — Minutes,  1831,  p.  182. 

§  155.' 

(a)  "  As  misapprehension  has  sometimes  arisen  in  the  minds  of  the  benefi- 
ciaries of  the  Board,  as  well  as  in  the  minds  of  others,  in  regard  to  the  light 
in  which  the  Board  and  the  Church  view  the  assistance  furnished  to  candi- 
dates for  the  gospel  ministry  under  their  care, 

"Eesohcd,  That  the  2d  Article  of  the  Constitution  be  so  altered  that  it 
may  read  as  follows,*  viz.  '  In  all  other  cases,  the  aid  contributed  to  any 
candidates  for  the  ministry,  shall  be  considered  as  a  donation  which  he  is 
under  no  other  obligation  to  return,  than  that  moral  obligation  which  must 
necessarily  arise  out  of  the  nature  of  the  case.'" — Minutes,  1839,  p.  175.    ; 

(6)  "Resolved,  That  the  second  Article  of  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws 
of  the  Board  of  Education  be  so  amended  that  the  Corresponding  Secretary 
shall  be,  ex  officio,  a  member  of  the  Board." — J/int<tes/ 1846,  p.  199. 

Title  3. — Regulations  in  regard  to  the  Board  of  Education. 

§  156.   Honorary  members. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education  have  power  to  make  persons 
honorary  members  of  the  same,  by  the  payment  of  a  sum  to  be  specified  by 
the  Board;  and  that  these  persons,  thus  made  honorary  members,  shall  have 
a  right  to  sit  in  the  meetings  of  the  Board,  and  engage  in  their  delibera- 
tions, but  shall  have  no  right  to  vote." — Mimites,  1837,  p.  438. 

§  157.  Employment  of  candidates  xmder  the  direction  of  Pastors. 

"'Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  on  the  one  hand  to  the  Board  to 
encourage  their  candidates  to  engage  in  active  means  of  doing  good  during 
the  progress  of  their  studies,  and  especially  during  periods  of  vacation  from 
study;  and  on  the  other  hand,  to  pastors  who  may  have  it  in  their  power,  to 
take  them  under  their  care  at  such  times,  and  to  direct  their  labours  so  as 
to  cultivate  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  subordinate  duties  of  the  pastoral 
office,  and  a  personal  acquaintance  with  men  and  manners,  along  with  intel- 
lectual and  theoretical  education." — Minutes,  1843,  p.  188. 

§  158.  Presbyteries  enjoined  to  caution  in  recommending  candidates. 

"Resolved ,  That  we  renew  our  earnest  and  solemn  urgency  on  the  Pres- 
byteries, to  be  careful  and  cautious  in  their  choice  of  beneficiaries;  and  that 
they  be  enjoined  to  require  not  only  clear  evidences  of  piety  and  prudence, 
but  also  talents  of  a  high  order." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  31. 

§  159.  A  like  injunction  on  teachers. 

"Resolved,  That  all  teachers  who  have  beneficiaries  of  the  Board  under 
their  care,  whether  in  academies,  colleges,  or  theological  seminaries,  be 
urged  to  watch  the  progress  of  these  students  with  the  utmost  vigilance;  and 
to  report  promptly  and  faithfully  every  instance  in  which  a  student  falls 
below  a  high  standard  in  any  of  the  varied  qualifications  now  specified  in  the 
form  of  report  to  this  Board." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  31. 

*  This  reference  should  be  to  the  2d  Article  of  Chapter  vi.  of  the  By-Laws  of  the  Board. 


384  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION".  [Book  V. 

§  160.    Thorough  and  full  cotirse  of  stud ^  required. 

"Ecmlved,  That  to  suffer  a  candidate  under  the  care  of  this  Board  to 
slight  his  solemn  pledge,  by  entering  the  ministiy  without  'a  thorough 
course  of  study  preparatory/  or  '  a  three  years  course  of  theological  study/ 
be  regarded  by  the  Assembly  as  injurious  to  the  cause  of  education,  ensnaring 
to  the  conscience  of  beneficiaries,  dangerous  to  the  honour  and  best  interests 
of  Ziun,  and  to  be  excused  only  under  circumstances  of  extraordinary  neces- 
sity.''— Minutes,  1845,  p.  31.     See  also  the  next  section. 

§  161.  Appropriations  may  he  thrown  into  the  form  of  scholarships. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  the  wants  of  the 
Church,  and  the  general  improvement  of  the  age,  demand  increasing  atten- 
tion to  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for  the  ministry;  and  that  with  the 
view,  partly,  of  keeping  more  pi'ominent  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of  literary 
attainments  in  our  candidates,  and  partly  with  the  view  of  other  advantages, 
the  Board  of  Education  are  hereby  allowed  to  give  to  their  appropriations 
the  title  of  scholarships,  and  the  Presbyteries  are  enjoined  to  use  their  best 
endeavours  to  raise  the  standard  of  qualification  for  the  ministry.'^ — Min- 
utes, 1851,  p.  29. 

§  162.    The  pledge  required  of  candidates. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  practice  of  requiring  from  young  men  a  pledge  to 
enter  the  ministry,  especially  in  thp  early  stages  of  their  preparatory  studies, 
is  not  deemed  conducive  to  the  best  interests,  either  of  the  candidates  or  of 
the  Church;  and  the  Board  of  Education  are  hereby  authorized  to  modify 
their  rules  accordingly." — Ihid. 

§  163.  Distinction  of  probationers  and  candidates. 

^'Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  prefer  that  young  men  within  their 
bounds,  who  are  looking  forward  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  should  be 
officially  recognized  as  candidates  under  the  care  of  Presbyteries  only  when 
they  are  prepared  to  enter  upon  their  theological  studies;  and  that  until  that 
time  they  be  regarded  simply  as  students  on  probation,  under  the  general 
watch  and  patronage  of  the  Presbyteries." — Ibid. 

§  164.   Discrimination  of  funds. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  collecting  funds  for  the  purposes  of  education,  the 
Board  shall  in  all  cases  keep  specific  contributions  for  candidates,  or  for 
schools,  academies,  and  colleges,  distinct  from  each  other;  but  if  no  special 
direction  is  indicated,  then  the  funds  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  education 
of  candidates  for  the  ministry." — Jbid.  pp.  80,  31. 

§  165.   Synodical  Agents. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  upon  each  Synod  to  appoint  a  Synodi- 
cal Agent,  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  education,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
confer  with  similar  Presbyterial  agents  and  co-operate  with  the  Board  in 
having  this  important  cause  more  fully  presented  to  all  our  Churches." — 
Minutes,  1848,  p.  53. 

(b)  "An  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  requesting  the  General 
Assembly  either  to  rescind  the  order  enjoining  it  upon  each  Synod  to 
appoint  an  agent  for  the  Board  of  Education,  or  to  modify  the  resolution  so 
as  to  leave  the  matter  discretionary  with  the  Synods.  The  committee  recom- 
mended that  the  Assembly  refuse  to  rescind  the  injunction  in  form,  but  that 
it  be  left  discretionary  with  each  Synod  to  appoint  such  an  agency  as  will 
accomplish  the  object  intended;  namely,  the  due  presentation  of  the  cause 


Part  III.]  CHURCH-SCHOOLS   AND    COLLEGES.  385 

of  education,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  all  our  Churclaes.'' — Mlnntcs,  1850, 
p.  455,  and  1849,  p.  239. 

(c)  '^Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education,  in  its  important  depart- 
ments of  benevolent  operation,  be  recommended  to  the  patronage  of  our 
Churches ;  and  that  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  endeavour  to  have  its 
objects  annually  presented  in  such  manner  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  with 
a  view  to  increasing  the  means  of  educating  pious  young  men  for  the  min- 
istry."— Minutes,  1852,  p.  212. 

§  166.    Theological  Seminaries  referred  to  the  Board. 

^'Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  one  or  more  of  the  Theological  Seminaries 
of  the  Church,  during  the  temporary  interval  of  its  endowment,  is  in  a  con- 
dition that  needs  assistance,  the  Board  of  Education  be  and  hereby  is 
authorised  to  apply  such  funds  as  may  be  appropriated  by  the  donors,  to 
advance  the  interests  of  theological  education." — Mimites,  1848,  p.  52. 

Title  4. — Church-Schools  and  Colleges. 
§  167.   Earlier  precedents. 

(a)  "  That  special  care  be  taken  of  the  principles  and  characters  of  school- 
masters that  they  teach  the  Westminster  Catechism  and  Psalmody;  and  that 
the  Ministers,  Church  Sessions,  and  foresaid  committees,  (where  they  con- 
sistently can,)  visit  the  schools  and  see  these  things  be  done;  and  where 
schools  are  composed  of  diiferent  denominations,  that  said  committees  and 
sessions  invite  proper  persons  of  said  denominations,  to  join  with  them  in 
such  visitations." — Minutes,  1766,  p.  359. 

(i)  ^'Resolved,  also,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  our  Congregations  to  pay 
a  special  regard  to  the  good  education  of  children,  as  being  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  interests  of  morality  and  religion;  and  that,  as  schools  under 
bad  masters,  and  a  careless  management,  are  seminaries  of  vice  rather  than 
of  virtue,  the  session,  corporation,  or  committee  of  every  Congregation,  be 
required  to  endeavour  to  establish  one  or  more  schools  in  such  place,  or 
places,  as  shall  be  most  convenient  for  the  people;  that  they  be  particularly 
careful  to  procure  able  and  virtuous  teachers;  that  they  make  the  erection 
and  care  of  schools  apart  of  their  congregational  business,  and  endeavour  to 
induce  the  people  to  support  them  by  contribution,  being  not  only  the  most 
effectual,  but  eventually  the  cheapest  way  of  supporting  them;  that. the 
Presbyteries  appoint  particular  members,  or  if  possible,  committees,  to  go 
into  vacant  Congregations  to  promote  similar  institutions;  that  the  corpora- 
tion, session,  or  committee  of  the  Congregation,  visit  the  school,  or  schools, 
at  least  once  in  three  months,  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the  master,  and 
the  improvement  of  the  children,  and  to  observe  particularly  his  care  to 
instruct  them,  at  least  one  day  in  the  week,  in  the  principles  of  religion; 
that  the  Presbyteries,  in  appointing  ministers  to  supply  vacant  Congrega- 
tions, require  it  as  an  indispensable  part  of  their  duty,  to  visit  at  the  same 
time  the  schools,  and  require  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  an 
account  of  their  fidelity  in  this  respect,  and  of  the  state  of  the  schools;  and 
that,  in  these  schools  effectual  provision  be  made  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  poor;  and  that,  at  the  visitations  of  the  schools,  one  or  two 
of  the  most  ingenious  and  virtuous  of  the  poor  children  be  annually  selected, 
in  order  to  give  them  a  more  perfect  education,  and  thereby  qualify  these 
ingenious  charity  scholars  to  become  afterwards  useful  instructors  in  our  con- 
gregational schools." — Minutes,  1785,  p.  513. 

(p)  [The  Assembly  enjoins  it  upon  all  the  Presbyteries  that  in  discharge 
of  pastoral  duties]  "  they  endeavoui-  to  engage  the  sessions  of  the  respective 
49 


386  EDUCATION.  [Book  V. 

Congregations,  or  other  men  most  distinguished  for  intelligence  and  piety 
in  them,  to  assume,  as  trustees,  the  superintendence  and  inspection  of  the 
schools  established  for  the  initiation  and  improvement  of  children  in  the 
elements  of  knowledge ;  to  see  that  they  be  pp)vided  with  teachers  of  grave 
and  respectable  characters;  and  that  these  teachers,  among  other  objects  of 
their  duty,  instruct  their  pupils  in  the  principles  of  religion,  which  should 
be  done  as  often  as  possible  in  the  presence  of  one  or  more  of  the  aforesaid 
trustees,  under  the  deep  conviction  that  the  care  and  education  of  children, 
the  example  set  before  them,  and  the  first  impressions  made  on  their  minds, 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  civil  society  as  well  as  to  the  Church." — 
Minutes,  1799,  p.  182. 

§  168.    Centre  College. 

"  A  memorial  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  was  overtured  on  the  subject 
of  instituting  a  seminary  of  learning  within  its  bounds  upon  scriptural  prin- 
ciples, to  be  entirely  under  its  direction  and  control,"  [read  and  referred  to 
the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly.] 

<'  The  Trustees  of  the  Assembly,  to  whom  had  been  referred  an  application 
from  the  agents  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  relative  to  instituting  a  seminary 
of  learning  within  its  bounds,  reported,  and  their  report  being  read  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  on  due  examination  of  the  papers  containing  this  application,  a 
feeling  was  produced  peculiarly  favourable  to  the  wishes  of  the  highly 
respectable  source  from  which  it  emanated;  and  to  have  acquiesced  in  the 
proposition  consistently  with  a  sense  of  duty,  would  have  been  a  personal 
gratification  to  the  trustees.  They  however  are  constrained,  (without  enter- 
ing into  the  constitutional  powers  vested  in  the  trustees,  to  meet  this  object, 
or  considering  the  effects  of  precedent  on  future  cases  of  a  similar  nature,) 
that,  in  their  opinion,  the  funds  of  the  Assembly  might  be  involved,  by  the 
authority  necessarily  required  from  a  principal  to  its  agents,  so  as  to  endan- 
ger the  sphere  of  usefulness  to  which  those  funds  are  now  applicable;  and  fur- 
ther, that  the  power  asked  for  being  irrrevocable,  except  in  the  event  of  the 
Legislature  of  Kentucky  granting  a  satisfactory  act  of  incorporation,  exposes 
the  trustees  to  the  continuance  of  a  connection,  after  experience  had  demon- 
strated that  it  operated  unfavourably  to  the  general  interests  of  the  Assem- 
bly, though  in  a  degree  favourable  to  the  establishment  in  Kentucky.  The 
following  resolution  is  therefore  respectfully  submitted  to  the  consideration 
of  the  Assembly. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  entertain  the  most 
cordial  feelings  in  favour  of  the  design  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  highly 
approve  of  their  endeavours  to  establish  'a  school  in  which  literature  and 
science,  blended  with  the  doctrines  of  the  word  of  God,  shall  be  taught;' 
they  are  of  opinion,  and  respectfully  report  to  the  Assembly,  that  it  is  not 
expedient  to  concur  in  the  request  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  the  act  of  Assembly  by  which  the  trus- 
tees are  incorporated,  and  might  be  attended  with  results  injurious  to  the 
sphere  of  usefulness  to  which  the  funds  of  the  General  Assembly  are  now 
applicable."     [Adopted.]— i/mw^es,  1824,  pp.  2U7,  217. 

§  169.   Report  on  jwrocJiial  schools. 

[In  the  Assembly  of  1844  a  committee  was  appointed]  "  to  consider  the  expediency  of 
establishing  Presbyterian  parochial  schools,  and  to  report  on  the  whole  subject  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  376. 

[The  committee  being  continued  made  a  report  to  the  Assembly,  in  1846,  five  hundred 
copies  were  printed  for  the  use  of  the  members,  and  after  deliberation  it  was  adopted  as 
follows.] 


Part  III.]  CHUKCH-SCHOOLS   AND    COLLEGES.  387 

(a)  "The  phrase  parochial  schools  must  be  used  with  a  certain  latitude 
in  such  a  country  as  ours;  inasmuch  as,  having  no  established  Church,  we 
can  have  no  parishes,  strictly  so  called.  At  the  same  time,  the  analogy 
which  exists  between  Presbyterian  institutions  in  the  old  world  and  the 
new,  and  the  identity  of  wants  in  the  two,  justify  us  in  employing  these 
familiar  terms,  in  reference  to  schools  connected  with  Congregations,  and 
under  Church  authority.  And  the  question  proposed,  as  understood  by 
your  committee,  is  whether  it  is  desirable  and  practicable  to  institute  any 
such  schools  in  the  United  States. 

"In  the  very  outset,  it  is  important  to  be  observed,  that  all  precedents 
derived  from  the  Reformed  Churches  in  Europe  must  fail  in  several  parti- 
culars, from  the  absence  of  State  connection,  already  noted,  as  well  as  from 
the  differences  of  condition  among  us,  arising  from  our  recent  settlement 
and  thin  population.  And,  still  further,  such  is  the  diversity,  even  in  our 
own  States,  between  the  North  and  the  South,  between  older  and  newer  set- 
tlements, and  between  city  and  country,  that  your  committee  dare  not  hope 
to  strike  out  a  plan,  which  shall  be  equally  suited  to  every  part  of  the 
Church.  It  is  this  which,  to  some  extent,  seems  to  absolve  them  from  the 
task,  at  which  indeed  they  would  tremble,  of  suggesting  details,  on  a  topic 
so  new  and  so  momentous. 

"It  must  however  be  acknowledged,  that  a  public  opinion  has  been  matur- 
ing, in  various  parts  of  our  communion,  which  favours  the  investigation  now 
proposed,  and  that  a  wide-spread  and  growing  anxiety  is  manifested,  in 
regard  to  the  religious  training  of  the  infant  population. 

"It  cannot  be  expected  of  your  committee  to  discuss  the  questions  of 
general  education,  or  of  Christian  Catechetical  instruction:  these  have  been 
ably  treated  at  length,  by  other  hands,  under  the  direction  of  your  venerable 
body.  It  is  our  province,  to  advert  rather  to  that  branch  of  popular  educa- 
tion, which  while  it  shall  be  carried  on  day  by  day,  shall  at  the  same  time 
convey  the  knowledge  of  divine  things. 

(6)  "If  we  are  asked,  whether  the  Presbyterian  population  of  these  United 
States  can  safely  rely,  for  such  scriptural  training,  on  the  common  school 
si/stems  of  the  several  States?  we  must,  reluctantly,  but  without  a  remaining 
doubt,  answer  in  the  negative.  The  question  finds  a  prompt  solution,  wnen 
we  consider,  that  our  State  schools,  in  their  best  estate,  can  teach  no  higher 
morals  or  religion,  than  what  may  be  called  the  average  of  public  morals 
and  religion.  So  long  as  the  majority  do  not  receive  the  truths  of  grace, 
State  schools,  their  creature,  can  never  teach  the  gospel.  In  some  States, 
it  is  already  a  matter  of  debate,  whether  the  word  of  God  shall  be  admitted, 
and  even  if  this  were  settled  to  our  wishes,  it  needs  scarcely  be  said,  our 
necessities  demand  something  far  higher  than  the  bare  reading  of  the  Bible. 
In  our  State  schools — Bible  or  no  Bible — we  have  evei'y  assurance  that 
Christ,  and  grace,  and  gospel  libei'ty,  cannot,  by  authority,  be  so  much  as 
named;  and  without  these  there  can  be  no  Christian  education. 

"Equally  vain  is  it  to  seek  our  invaluable  ends,  by  aiming  at  a  rateable 
proportion  of  public  school  funds.  Although  such  a  separate  maintenance 
has  been  sought  by  the  llomau  Catholics,  and  not  without  marked  favour; 
we  are  too  well  instructed  by  our  history  to  expect  any  such  allowance  for 
scruples  and  demands  on  the  side  of  Presbyteriauism.  Nor  have  we  learned 
that  such  a  requisition  has  ever  been  attempted. 

"Nor  can  we  accept  the  other  horn  of  the  dilemma,  and  by  yielding  to 
the  latitudinary  encroachments  of  the  age,  consent  to  have  our  children 
reared  under  a  system  of  such  compromise,  as  prevails  in  some  States;  and 
according  to  which  the  child's  creed  shall  be  so  dilute  as  to  be  e(|ually  pal- 
atable to  the  Sociuian,  the  Jew,  or  the  Mussulman,     For  we  hold  it  as  a 


388  EDUCATION.  [Book  y. 

judgment  common  to  us  with  our  fathers,  that  we  owe  it  to  God  and  to  our 
baptized  offspring,  to  tr-ach  the  rising  race  nothing  less  than  the  whole  coun- 
sel of  Grod,  in  regard  to  their  salvation.  Others  will  not  do  this  work  for 
us:  nay  others,  whether  Cliristian  or  unchristian,  are  doing  the  very  oppo- 
site, with  all  their  might. 

(c)  "If  there  is  any  period  of  life  in  which  man  receives  deep  impres- 
sions, it  is  the  period  of  childhood.  If  there  are  any  hours  of  childhood,  in 
which  permanent  opinions  are  communicated,  the  hours  spent  in  school  ai"e 
such.  If  there  is  any  place  where  it  is  important  to  inculcate  the  truth, 
the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  it  is  the  place  of  daily,  common 
instruction.  And  with  all  our  reverence  and  affection  for  Sabbath-schools, 
for  which  we  bless  the  name  of  God,  we  are  unwilling  to  let  six  days  pass 
by,  without  a  word  of  Christ,  however  faithfully  he  may  be  held  forth  to  our 
offspring  on  the  seventh. 

"In  saying  this,  we  do  no  more  than  re-assert  the  constant  judgment  of 
the  best  Reformed  Churches.  Calvin,  and  Knox,  and  the  Melvilles,  were 
not  more  zealous  for  the  preaching  of  the  Sabbath,  than  for  the  teaching 
of  the  week.  In  Scotland,  the  two  went  forward  with  equal  step.  Wher- 
ever there  was  a  parish  church,  there  was  a  parish  school.  The  same  court 
which  ordained  the  Pastor,  appointed  the  schoolmaster.  The  same  office- 
bearers who  ruled  the  Church,  superintended  the  school.  And  Scotland 
rejoices  to  this  day,  in  a  system  which  has  made  the  daily  lessons  of  every 
hamlet  and  mountain  glen  the  means  of  training  up  a  generation  armed  at  all 
points  against  religious  error.  On  this  topic,  however  familiar,  we  trust  we 
may  be  allowed  one  or  two  additional  statements.  The  British  Act  of  1803, 
(53  Geo.  III.  cap.  54,)  is  founded  on  the  Scotch  statute  of  160B.  This 
statute  directs  that  a  school  shall  be  estaUishrd  in  every  parish.  The  same 
acts  give  the  appointment  of  the  teacher  to  the  Minister  and  certain  others, 
called  heritors.  And  so  stringent  is  the  enactment,  that  if  even  four  months 
elapse,  without  a  supply,  the  vacancy  is  to  be  filled  by  the  commissioners  of 
the  county  or  stewartry.  The  record  of  such  election  is  carried  by  the  school- 
master to  the  Presbytery  of  the  bounds :  and  upon  the  production  of  such 
record,  the  court  takes  trial  of  his  competency,  and  receives  the  signature  of 
the  nominee  to  the  Confession  of  Faith.  As  a  necessary  adjunct,  these  acts 
provide  for  the  teacher's  sustenance,  by  an  annual  salary,  by  a  commodious 
school-house,  by  a  dwelling-house  and  garden,  and  by  certain  fees,  fixed  by 
the  Minister  and  his  associates.  By  the  same  acts,  the  superintendence  of 
the  schools  is  entrusted  to  the  Minister;  the  Presbytery  is  empowered  to 
regulate  the  hours,  and  the  vacations;  and  to  animadvert  on  the  incumbent, 
in  all  cases  of  just  complaint.  The  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  is  final,  and 
is  followed  by  civil  consequences. 

((/)  "Such  was  the  sedulous  provision  of  the  Scottish  Church,  and  the 
State  authority,  for  the  continuance  of  Presbyterian  education;  and  the 
spirit  of  the  founders  breathes  in  every  clause,  as  it  is  felt  in  every  family 
of  Scotland.  It  forms  no  part  of  our  inquiry,  to  determine  how  faithfully 
the  Established  Church  discharged  these  trusts:  under  the  worst  abuses, 
the  system  has  not  failed  to  make  the  people  of  North  Britain  a  people  of 
peculiar  Christian  sagacity  and  information.  But  that  which,  perhaps  more 
than  all  other  things,  testifies  to  the  value  set  upon  these  institutions,  is  the 
course  of  action  adopted  by  the  Free  (Mnux'h.  No  sooner  were  the  seceding 
brethren  released  from  the  bonds,  and  deprived  of  the  endowments  of  the 
State,  than  they  put  their  hands  to  the  work,  to  reconstruct  a  system,  pre- 
cisely similar,  except  in  the  very  points  which  furnish  the  happiest  resem- 
blance to  our  own  condition.  For  being  now,  like  ourselves,  destitute  of 
all  aid  from  government,  they  have  undertaken   the  work  on  the  voluntary 


Part  III.]  CHURCH-SCHOOLS   AND    COLLEGES.  389 

principle;  and  this  with  a  self-denial,  an  energy,  and  a  success,  such  as 
may  well  fill  us  with  astonishment  and  provoke  us  to  emulation.  Few 
readers  of  British  news  can  be  ignorant  of  the  extraordinary  labours  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  McDonald,  in  collecting  moneys  for  the  schools  of  the  Free 
Church. 

(e)  "It  is  not  pretended  that,  in  circumstances  so  different,  we  could 
wisely  follow  the  example  of  our  honoured  brethren  in  every  particular. 
But  these  facts  seemed  to  lie  too  near  the  subject  entrusted  to  your  com- 
mittee, to  be  altogether  neglected  in  such  a  report.  And  they  regret  that 
they  have  not  received  in  time  more  ample  and  minute  information,  for 
which  an  application  has  been  made  to  Scotland,  on  their  behalf.  Even 
these  hints  will  cause  many  to  ponder  upon  the  great  support  which  some 
method  of  the  kind,  conformed  to  our  usages  and  condition,  would  afford  to 
the  cause  of  truth  and  order. 

"In  the  midst  of  abounding  error,  we  cannot  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact, 
that  the  gross  defections  of  our  day  are  mainly  among  those  who  have  not 
had  '  line  upon  line'  in  the  course  of  their  common  education.  Our  losses 
have  been  small  indeed,  compared  with  those  of  some  sects,  but  the  families 
in  which  Universalists,  Socinians,  Papists,  ritualists,  enthusiasts,  and  other 
errorists,  have  grown  up,  are  notoriously  families  in  which  our  Catechisms 
have  been  sneered  at,  or  at  least  neglected.  The  colour  which  has  been 
washed  out  of  the  web,  was  never  received  by  a  deep  dye  into  the  raw  mate- 
rial. Our  children  may  live  to  see  an  age  of  conflict.  The  contest  of  our 
sons,  it  appears  to  some  among  us,  is  to  be  between  Christ  and  Avtichrist; 
and  the  forces  are  marshalling.  The  uncatechized  offspring  of  Presbyte- 
rians are  good  materials  for  hierarchical,  ritual,  and  at  length  papal  struc- 
tures. And  the  errorists  of  the  schools  last  indicated,  are  too  wise  in  their 
generation  not  to  seize  on  the  policy  which  our  supineness  overlooks.  They 
know  the  power  of  schools.  They  found  them  in  every  part  of  our  land. 
They  employ  them  as  the  direct  means  of  imbuing  the  youthful  mind  with 
all  their  most  distinctive  and  dangerous  tenets,  in  regard  to  rites,  and  orders, 
and  sacraments,  as  opposed  to  Christ  and  his  free  salvation.  Such  being 
the  neglect  of  our  own  body,  and  the  zeal  and  diligence  of  our  opposers,  we 
are  ready  to  conclude,  that  next  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  and  the 
instruction  of  the  family,  there  is  nothing  which,  under  God's  blessing, 
promises  so  much  for  the  sustentation  of  our  covenanted  truth,  as  schools, 
Presbyterian  schools,  thorough-paced  and  above-board;  such  schools  as 
shall,  every  day  in  the  week,  direct  the  infant  mind,  not  only  to  a  meagre 
natural  religion,  but  to  the  whole  round  of  gracious  truth,  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  principles  herein  asserted  are  not  new  among  us;  but  it  is  high 
time  that  we  should  carry  our  principles  into  action. 

(/)  "The  ideal  of  such  a  school  as  is  proposed  already  occurs  to  almost 
every  reflective  mind :  to  realize  it  is,  we  admit,  more  difficult.  Our  desire 
would  be  for  a  Christian  school.,  of  respectable,  literary  and  scientljic  charac-. 
ter,  in  every  Congregation.  The  pi'oposal  is  doubtless  startling;  but  we 
shall  not  lose  by  aiming  high. 

"Even  if  we  admit  the  impracticability  of  securing  this,  in  such  a  popu- 
lation as  ours,  thei*e  is  a  certain  approximation,  which  we  may  profitably 
hold  up  before  our  minds.  Concessions  must  be  made  to  the  valid  objec- 
tions of  respected  brethren.  Allowance  must  be  had  for  such  circumstances 
as  forbid  the  attempt,  in  its  completeness,  in  many,  perhaps  in  most  of  our 
Congregations;  siich  as  poverty — thin  population — rural  dispersion — the 
mingling  of  small  grotips  of  Presbyterians  among  other  sects.  But  after  all 
this  abatement,  the  question  is  not  to  be  hastily  set  aside :  Is  there  not  still 
something  to  be  discreetly  and  hopefully  attempted,  in  this  very  direction  ? 


890  EDUCATION.  [Book  V. 

In  cities,  towns,  and  country  districts  of  homogeneous  population,  a  near 
approach  might  be  attained.  Only  grant  the  general  principle  of  distinctive 
instruction,  in  common  schools,  under  Church  care,  as  a  matter  to  be  aimed 
at,  and  a  new  face  will  begin  to  be  put  upon  the  whole  aifair  of  education. 
Wisdom  will  be  profitable  to  direct  how  far  any  given  Church  shall  go. 
The  principle  would  abide  firm,  if  several  Churches,  or  even  a  whole  Pres- 
bytery, should  unite  in  a  school.  The  endeavour,  under  every  variety  of 
application,  would  be  to  exchange  our  present  schools,  in  which  the  doc- 
trines of  grace  are  often  unheard  of,  for  institutions  aiming  at  Education 
for  Christ;  including  the  nurture  of  Ministers,  Ruling  Elders,  and  godly 
laymen.  And  the  Church  might  at  least  authorize  methods  leading  towards 
this  as  the  proper  end  of  every  school,  academy,  and  college. 

"  Could  we  in  any  degree  realize  the  maxims  of  education  thus  expressed, 
in  a  working  scheme  of  Church-schools,  we  should  see  growing  around  us  a 
host  of  young  persons,  every  one  of  whom  would  have  '  from  a  child  known 
the  Holy  Scriptures :'  and  who,  instead  of  being  nourished  on  books  from 
which  every  particle  of  evangelical  truth  has  been  carefully  filtered  out  by 
school-committees  and  temporizing  state-directors,  would  have  learned  the 
same  thorough  doctrinal  matter,  which  gave  strength  to  our  forefathers. 

(g)  "Church-schools,  could  such  flourish  among  us,  would  immediately 
act  upon  the  supply  of  Ministers.  It  is  vain  to  hope  for  a  stronger  body  of 
leaders,  unless  we  can  make  our  levies  from  a  larger  number  of  educated 
youth.  And  here  a  view  of  the  subject  presents  itself,  as  connected  with 
education  for  the  ministry,  which  is  too  important  to  be  overlooked,  and 
which  has  long  occupied  the  minds  of  those  who  are  solicitous  for  a  learned 
and  able  ministry.  There  are  difficulties  in  the  present  methods  of  training 
youth  for  the  sacred  office,  which  might  be  lessened,  if  not  removed,  by  a 
system  of  parish-schools.  So  far  as  that  system  goes  into  effect,  it  will  fur- 
nish primary  instruction  to  all  our  young  men  of  suitable  capacity  and  pro- 
mise. When  such  persons  require  aid  from  our  Boai'd  of  Education,  they 
may  receive  it  at  an  advanced  stage  of  their  training.  In  this  there  would 
be  a  double  advantage.  First,  because  the  Board  would  thereby  be  absolved 
from  the  charge  of  elementary  education,  already  a  burden  to  them;  and 
secondly,  because  they  would  be  liable  to  fewer  risks  from  incompetent  bene- 
ficiaries. It  appears  from  the  statistics  of  that  Board,  that  one-third  of  the 
applicants  for  aid  are  in  this  very  stage  of  juvenile  training.  It  further 
appears,  that  where  failures  have  occurred,  during  the  last  six  years,  nine 
out  of  every  ten  have  occurred  in  the  case  of  candidates  taken  up  during 
this  preparatory  stage.  And  let  it  be  remembered,  by  those  who  are  dis- 
couraged by  such  cases,  that  at  so  early  a  period  of  development,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  judge  with  any  precision  as  to  the  real  character  and  qualifi- 
cations. And  yet,  however  hazardous  or  even  unwise  it  may  be,  to  receive 
such  youth  at  this  early  stage,  we  cannot  do  without  them;  the  Church 
needs  them;  the  Church  must  educate  them.  If  we  leave  them  to  straggle 
for  themselves,  one  of  these  two  results  must  inevitably  ensue;  either  many 
will  be  lost  to  the  Church  and  the  ministry,  for  want  of  assistance,  who  are 
eminently  fitted  for  usefulness;  or  else  local  societies  will  spring  up  all  over 
the  Church,  to  impair  the  unity  and  strength  of  our  present  system.  How 
much  simpler,  and  how  much  more  congenial  with  our  polity,  to  have  every 
Congregation  a  nursery  of  Christian  men,  who  may  be  called  out,  if  need 
be,  to  the  ministry.  For  it  is  a  lavourable  peculiarity  of  the  method,  that 
the  boy  thus  trained  for  the  Church,  in  a  parish-school,  need  not  have 
extorted  from  him  a  pi-emature  engagement  to  preach  the  gospel;  often  a 
snare  to  himself  and  a  mortification  to  his  patrons.  In  these  two  respects, 
therefore,  a  scheme  of  parish-schools  would  rather  relieve  than  embarrass 


Part  III.]  CHURCH-SCHOOLS  AND   COLLEGES.  391 

our  Board  of  Education.  It  would,  moreover,  bring  forward  a  great  body 
of  talent  which,  under  the  present  system,  cannot  be  developed  at  all.  And, 
meanwhile,  the  applicants  for  the  aid  of  the  Board  would  be  fully  tried,  and 
that  aid  could  be  limited  to  young  men  of  any  desired  standing,  as  to  piety, 
capacity,  and  general  influence. 

(A)  "  It  may  seem  chimerical,  to  speak  of  remote  results,  while  the  very 
inception  of  such  a  scheme  is  matter  of  doubt;  but  that  which  is  ultimate  in 
the  intention,  is  not  seldom  weighty  as  a  motive  to  begin.  We,  therefore,  ven- 
ture to  suggest,  that  if  parish-schools  could  become  part  of  our  system,  some 
among  them,  in  favourable  sites,  might  be  cherished  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
become  academies  of  high  rank  in  the  literary  scale.  Nor  is  it  incredible, 
that  in  many  of  them,  a  series  of  classes  might  ascend  from  the  youngest, 
each  one  accessible  only  to  the  more  promising  for  talents  and  piety  of  the 
class  below;  so  as  to  sift  out  the  very  best  of  the  students  for  the  service  of 
our  beloved  Church.  Some  method  of  this  sort,  even  though  only  half  exe- 
cuted, would  do  more  to  strengthen  our  ministry,  than  all  our  existing  ran- 
dom efforts. 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  value  of  these  hints,  touching  education  for  the 
ministry,  your  committee  feel  assured  that  the  Assembly  will  admit,  with 
them,  the  importance  of  the  general  topic.  Our  children  must  have  such  a 
discipline  as  shall  include  the  knowledge  of  salvation;  and,  not  by  snatches, 
at  distant  intervals,  but  by  that  reiteration  of  daily  '  precept  upon  precept,' 
which  imbues  the  whole  mind  and  is  the  prime  ingredient  of  common  school 
tuition. 

"  After  all,  however,  that  has  been  written  above,  we  are  painfully  im- 
pressed with  the  difficulty  and  importance  of  what  remains;  namely,  the 
indication  of  ways  and  means  for  the  attainment  of  the  ends  proposed. 
Among'the  great  number  of  our  brethren  who  agree  in  desiring  a  system  of 
religious  education  which  shall  include  the  vital  doctrines  of  our  covenanted 
testimony,  there  are  not  a  few,  who  despair  of  ever  securing  it.  It  is  not  to 
be  denied,  that  the  difficulties  are  formidable,  and  that  there  is  reason  to 
shrink  from  adding  a  new  requisition  upon  the  liberality  of  our  people,  at  a 
time  when  it  is  found  hard  even  to  sustain  the  ministry  of  the  word.  And 
we  may,  we  trust,  be  pardoned,  if,  after  all  the  meditation  bestowed  on  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  we  should  nevertheless  betray  our  reluctance  to  sub- 
mit a  method  of  supply,  which  shall  be  fitted  to  every  poition  of  the  Church. 
It  is  less  seasonable,  just  now,  to  adjust  this,  than  to  awaken  attention  to 
the  reality  and  greatness  of  our  want:  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  hope,  that 
when  we  shall  be  ready  to  attempt  the  work,  we  shall  find  some  means  for 
accomplishing  that  which  appears  so  necessary  to  our  carrying  on  the  labours 
of  the  gospel. 

(i)  "That  parish-schools  must  be  to  a  certain  portion  of  the  community 
free-schools,  is  evident  at  first  sight.  In  a  sermon  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  upon 
this  very  subject,  published  many  years  ago,  but  never  reprinted  in  America, 
that  experienced  friend  of  education  and  of  the  poor,  argues  with  much 
force,  that,  in  every  case,  a  part  of  the  expense  even  though  it  were  a  very 
small  part,  should  be  borne  by  the  persons  receiving  the  immediate  advan- 
tage. Even  where  schools  are  entirely  free,  in  respect  to  those  who  directly 
profit  by  them,  they  may,  nevertheless,  as  is  at  once  apparent,  draw  their 
support  from  the  Congregation  or  other  community,  for  whose  benefit  they 
are  founded.  It  is  the  obtaining  of  this  support,  in  an  easy  and  equitable 
manner,  which  constitutes  the  difficulty  of  the  problem  now  suggested, 
through  us,  by  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Church.  Were  the  greatness  of 
the  benefit  duly  appreciated,  so  that  our  Congregations  should  feel  willing  to 
add  to  the  sum  which  sustains  the  Pastor,  the  additional  sum  which  would 


392  EDUCATION.  [Book  V. 

sustain  the  teacher,  the  pi'oblem  would  be  solved.  And  whenever  the  expe- 
riment shall  be  fairly  made,  Christian  parents  will  find  that  they  are  amply 
repaid  in  the  persons  of  their  oii'spring,  and  that  it  is  in  a  good  degree  a 
mere  diversion  of  a  small  stream  of  domestic  outlay  from  the  channel  of 
schools  as  now  existing,  to  the  better  channel  of  Christian  education.  ]Jut 
it  is  too  much  to  exact,  that  such  a  revolution  should  be  attempted  at  once ; 
still  less  can  we  expect  that  it  should  be  made  part  of  a  uniform  Church- 
scheme.     Your  committee,  therefore,  have  none  such  to  offei". 

(A:)  ''  The  analogy  of  Scottish  Presbyterianism,  as  established  by  law, 
entirely  fails  us  here ;  and  we  are  as  yet  uninformed  of  the  plans  adopted  by 
the  Free  Church.  While  we  await  more  full  instruction  on  this  point,  we 
may  remark,  that  even  in  Scotland,  the  means  of  parish  education  have  been 
sometimes  aided  by  individual  bounty.  As  a  striking  instance,  may  be 
mentioned,  what  is  known  as  the  '  Dick  Bequest,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Paro- 
chial Schoolmasters  and  Schools  in  the  counties  of  Aberdeen,  Banff,  and 
Moray/  now  for  ten  years  in  successful  operation.  This  beciuest  consists  of 
funds  bequeathed  by  James  Dick,  E8(j.,  of  Finsbury  S([uare,  London; 
amounting,  at  present  to  a  capital  sum  of  £118,787  lis.  (more  than  half  a 
million  of  dollars.)* 

"  In  our  own  country,  examples  are  not  entirely  wanting  of  benevolent 
regard  for  the  same  object.  Allusion  to  these  may  answer  several  valuable 
purposes,  especially  that  of  showing  that  Church-schools  have  been  actiially 
attempted  in  America :  a  feet  which  is  perhaps  new  to  a  large  number  of 
our  members.  The  parochial  school  attached  to  the  Scotch  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  as  the  result  of  a  munificent  foundation, 
has  been  long  in  existence,  is  largely  attended,  and  is  believed  to  be  of  great 
value.  In  several  other  Churches,  and  more  particularly  in  each  of  the 
new  Churches,  founded  by  private  liberality,  parish-schools  are  in  successful 
progress.  The  limits  of  this  report  exclude  detail;  but,  so  far  as  the  expe- 
riment has  been  made,  both  Pastors  and  parents  are  disposed  to  regard  it  as 
promising  solid  advantages  to  the  people,  and  peculiar  additions  of  strength 
to  the  Church. 

"  No  inquiries  of  your  committee,  however,  have  resulted  in  bringing  to 
their  knowledge  any  Churches  which  by  an  original  effort,  in  their  congre- 
gational capacity,  have  founded  schools  under  the  care  of  the  Sessions.  The 
attempt,  if  made,  must  therefore  be  upon  untried  ground.  Yet  we  are  not 
deterred  from  re-asserting  the  opinions  respectfully  suggested  above,  and  in 
recommending  that  the  General  Assembly  give  the  sanction  of  their  voice 
to  some  principles  which  may  encourage  future  experiments  in  this  most 
interesting  field. 

(§  170.) 

''  In  conclusion,  the  committee  respectfully  submit  the  following  resolu- 
tions, viz. 

"  I.  Resolved,  That,  in  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly,  any 
scheme  of  education  is  incomplete,  which  does  not  include  instruction  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  in  those  doctrines  of  grace  which  are  employed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  renewal  and  sanctification  of  the  soul. 

''  II.  That  in  consideration  of  the  blessings  derived  to  us  through  our 
forefathers,  from  the  method  of  mingling  the  doctrines  of  our  Church  with 
the  daily  teachings  of  the  school,  the  Assembly  earnestly  desire  as  near  an 
approach  to  this  method,  as  may  comport  with  the  circumstances  of  our 
country. 

*  For  full  details,  see  "Report  of  the  Dick  Bequest,"  1  vol.  8to.    Edinb.  184i. 


Part  III.]  CHURCH-SCHOOLS   AND    COLLEGES.  393 

"  III.  That  the  Assembly  regard  with  great  approval  the  attempt  of  such 
Churches  as  have  undertaken  schools  under  their  proper  direction;  as  well 
as  the  zeal  which  has  led  individual  friends  of  the  truth  to  aid  the  same 
cause. 

"IV.  That  the  Assembly  commends  the  whole  subject  of  Parochial  Edu- 
cation to  the  serious  attention  of  the  Church;  counselling  all  concerned,  to 
regard  the  maintenance  of  gospel  faith  and  order,  in  the  founding  of  new 
schools,  the  appointment  of  teachers,  and  the  selection  of  places  of  edu- 
cation. 

^''  Resolved  further,  That  the  whole  subject  of  the  report  be  referred  to 
the  Board  of  Education,  that  th^y  may,  from  time  to  time,  report  to  the 
General  Assembly  any  further  action  which  may  be  needed  for  extending 
through  our  Churches  a  system  of  Parochial  Schools." — Mlimtes,  1840, 
pp.  216,  227. 

§  171.  Estahlishment  of  Parochial  and  Presbyterial  schools. 

"  The  Board  of  Education,  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  report  from 
time  to  time  on  the  subject  of  parochial  schools,  reported  through  their  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer;  and  their  report  was  referred  to 
a  special  committee,  consisting  of  Drs.  Hodge,  Jones,  and  Janeway,  and 
Messrs.  Snowden  and  Mcllwaine."  ***** 

"  The  order  of  the  day  was  then  taken  up,  viz.  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  on  parochial 
schools.  The  resolutions  were  considered  seriatim,  amended,  and  adopted, 
and  are  as  follows,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  report  be  committed  to  the  Board  of  Education, 
in  order  that  it  may  be  printed  and  circulated  among  the  Churches. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  do  hereby  express  their  firm  conviction 
that  the  interests  of  the  Church  and  the  glory  of  our  Redeemer  demand 
that  immediate  and  strenuous  exertions  should  be  made,  so  far  as  practica- 
ble, by  every  Congregation,  to  establish  within  its  bounds  one  or  more  pri- 
mary schools,  under  the  care  of  the  Session  of  the  Church,  in  which  toge- 
ther with  the  usual  branches  of  secular  learning,  the  truths  and  duties  of 
our  holy  religion  shall  be  assiduously  inculcated. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  do  hereby  earnestly  call  upon  all  the 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  under  their  care,  to  take  the  subject  of  Christian 
education  under  consideration,  and  to  devise  and  execute  whatever  measures 
they  may  deem  most  appropriate  for  securing  the  establishment  of  Parochial 
and  Presbyterial  schools  in  our  bounds. 

''4.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  consisting  of  one  Minister  and  one  Rul- 
ing Elder  be  appointed  by  each  Presbytery  to  collect  information  as  to  the 
number  and  condition  of  schools  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  the 
number  of  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age  belonging  to  their  Congrega- 
tions; the  state  of  public  opinion  in  respect  to  education;  the  ability  of  the 
Churches  to  sustain  teachers  and  build  school-houses;  and  whatever  other 
statistical  information  relating  to  education  they  may  deem  Important;  and 
that  these  committees  forward  their  reports  to  the  Board  of  Education  on  or 
before  the  1st  of  January,  1848.  -^ 

"5.  Rcsolced,  That  this  whole  subject  be  referred  to  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, and  that  the  Board  is  hereby  authorized  to  expend  whatever  moneys 
are  committed  to  them  for  that  purpose  in  aid  of  the  establishment  of  Paro- 
chial and  Presbyterial  schools." — Minutes,  1847,  pp.  379,  399.  See  subse- 
quent Minutes,  passim. 

§  172.   Board  of  Puhlication  to  inquire  for  stiitahle  lools. 
"Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  of  Publication  to  make 
50 


394  EDUCATION.  [Book  V. 

inquiries  on  the  subject  of  elementary  school  books,  with  a  view  of  adapting 
them,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  a  system  of  reliuious  instruction;  and  that  the 
Board  report  on  this  subject  to  the  next  General  Assembly." — Minutes, 
1847,  p.  400. 

§  173.    Church  coUcges. 

"Resolved,  That  colleges  as  an  integral  part,  and  in  their  wide-spread 
relations  to  the  best  interests  of  society  a  vitally  important  part  of  a  complete 
system  of  Christian  education,  demand  the  fostering  care  of  the  Church; 
and  that  the  Board  of  Education  be,  and  hereby  is  authorized  to  assist  in 
the  promotion  of  the  cause  of "  collegiate  education,  by  means  of  any  funds 
that  may  be  given  for  that  purpose." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  52. 

« It  is  recommended  to  our  Churches  and  members  to  assist,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  the  endowment  of  our  colleges,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  Board 
of  Education  in  sustaining  them  during  the  interval  for  which  they  may 
need  aid." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  30. 

§  174.  Makemie  College. 

"Resolved,  That  the  effort  of  the  Synod  of  Arkansas  to  establish  'Make- 
mie College'  within  its  wide  and  destitute  bounds,  upon  the  frontier  of  popu- 
lation, is  entitled  to  the  special  support  of  the  friends  of  Christian  education ; 
and  it  is  recommended,  not  only  to  the  attention  of  the  Board,  but  to  the 
efficient  and  liberal  co-operation  of  all  who  have  it  in  their  power  to  render 
it  aid." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  454. 

§  175.  Greek  Testament  in  institutions  of  learning. 

"The  same  committee  on  Overture  No.  9 — it  being  a  memorial  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Richland,  and  ordered  to  be  brought  before  the  Assembly  by 
the  Synod  of  Ohio,  praying  for  a  reform  in  colleges  respecting  the  use  of 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  especially  in  the  original  languages,  or  in  case  such 
reform  be  impracticable  or  unadvisable,  that  then  the  Assembly  recommend 
the  establishment  of  certain  new  institutions  of  learning — reported  the  fol- 
lowing minute,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  memorial  relates  to  matters  not  under  the  direct 
control  of  this  body. 

"2.  Resolved,  Nevertheless,  that  this  Assembly  embrace  this  opportunity 
of  expressing  their  heartfelt  regret,  that  the  Greek  Testament  has  fallen 
into  disuse  in  some  of  our  seminaries  of  classical  learning,  and  that  we 
regard  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the  original  languages,  by  the 
youth  of  our  land,  as  in  many  respects  important,  and  recommend  to  all  our 
members.  Elders  and  Ministers,  who  have  the  control  of  the  studies  of  youth, 
to  "ive  due  prominence  to  this  branch  of  learning." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  359. 

§  176.  Action  of  the  Assembly  o/1854. 
(a)  Relation  to  corporation  and  State  schools. 

"Resolved,  That  the  efforts  of  the  rrcsbyterian  Church  in  behalf  of 
schools,  academies,  and  colleges,  on  a  definite  religious  basis,  and  under  her 
own  care,  have  met  with  a  success,  important  in  present  results  and  hopeful 
for  the  future;  and  that  these  operations  deserve  to  be  continued  and  enlarg- 
ed, with  an  entire  friendliness  to  all  other  educational  efforts,  not  positively 
injurious  in  their  tendency;  and  especially  that  institutions  under  the  man- 
agement of  members  of  our  own  Church,  either  privately  or  in  corporations 
not  subject  to  ecclesiastical  supervision,  in  which  religion  is  duly  inculcated, 
ought  to  be  regarded  as  entitled  to  confidence. 

''Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly,  by  affirming  the  Church  to  be 


Part  III.]  CHURCH-SCHOOLS   AND    COLLEGES.  895 

one  of  the  parties  in  ©ducation,  and  by  actinp;  on  that  principle  in  accord- 
ance with  the  practice  of  all  the  Reformed  Churches,  has  never  denied  the 
importance  of  State  co-operation  in  this  great  work,  however  defective  it 
may  be  in  some  parts  of  the  country;  but,  on  the  contrary,  rejoices  in  the 
general  enlightenment  of  the  masses  under  the  public  school  system,  and 
hopes  that  all  Presbyterians,  besides  supporting  their  own  institutions,  will 
continue,  as  heretofore,  to  be  known  as  the  sound  friends  of  general  educa- 
tion throughout  the  country,  and  as  the  advocates  of  the  introduction  of  the 
Bible  into  the  common  schools." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  31. 
(6)  Increase  of  appropriations. 

"Eesohed,  That  this  Assembly  approve  of  the  recommendation  of  the 
Board  to  increase  the  appropriations  to  candidates,  so  that  those  in  the 
academical  course  shall  receive  $80;  those  in  the  collegiate,  $100;  and  those 
in  the  theological,  $120;  with  liberty,  in  special  cases,  of  increasing  the 
appropriations,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Presbyteries." — 3Iinutes, 
1851,  p.  31. 

(f)  Measures  referred  to  the  Board. 

"Resolved,  That  the  mode  of  conducting  the  operations  of  the  Board  in 
their  enlarged  scale,  be  referred  to  the  Board  itself,  to  take  such  action  as 
may  prevent  either  department  from  interfering  with  the  other,  and  as  may 
continue  to  keep  prominently  before  the  Churches  the  education  of  pious 
and  indigent  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry." — Ibid. 


TART  lY. 

THE  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 


Title  1. — Early  Measures. 
§  177.    Committee  to  revise  controversial  treatises. 

"Upon  a  motion  made  by  a  member,  the  Synod  do  agree  that  if  any  of 
our  members  shall  see  cause  to  prepare  anything  for  the  press  upon  any  con- 
troversy in  religious  matters,  that  before  such  member  publish  what  he  hath 
thus  prepared,  he  shall  submit  the  same  to  be  perused  by  persons  to  be 
appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  that  Messrs.  Andrews,  Dickinson,  Eobert 
Cross,  Pemberton,  and  Pierson,  be  appointed  for  this  purpose  in  the  bounds 
of  the  Synod  to  the  northward  of  Philadelphia;  and  Messrs.  Anderson, 
Thomas  Evans,  Cathcart,  Stevenson,  and  Thomson,  in  the  bounds  of  the 
Synod  southward  of  Philadelphia.  Any  three  of  each  committee  to  be  a 
quorum.     Approved." — Minutes,  1735,  p.  117. 

§  178.    Collection  and  distribution  of  religious  publications. 

(a)  "  The  Synod  finding  the  money  collected  some  years  ago  for  defray- 
ing the  expense  attending  the  missions  appointed  on  our  frontiers,  is  nearly 
expended,  agree  to  have  a  collection  this  year  through  their  bounds  upon 
the  same  plan  with  the  former.  And  as  it  is  judged  it  might  be  useful  to 
extend  this  public  charity  to  purchase  such  religious  books  as  the  Synod  may 
approve  of,  to  be  given  to  poor  congregations;  the  following  members  are 
appointed  to  consider  this  matter,  and  bring  in  an  overture  to  be  subjected 
to  the  Synod  as  soon  as  they  conveniently  can,  viz.  Messrs.  McWhorter, 
Montgomery,  and  Ogden." — Minutes,  1772,  p.  428. 

(h)  "  The  committee  appointed  last  Friday  to  draw  up  an  overture  with 
respect  to  the  general  collection  and  the  distribution  of  books,  brought  one 
in,  which  after  correction  is  as  follows : 

"  1.  That  the  Synod  recommend  a  general  collection  in  all  the  Churches 
under  their  care. 

"2.  That  the  Synod  write  a  pastoral  letter,  in  which  they  shall  return 
thanks  to  their  several  Congregations  for  their  former  generosity,  and  solicit 
their  future  favours. 

"3.  That  the  Synod  particularly  desire  the  charity  of  the  public  for  those 
purposes,  viz.  For  defraying  the  expenses  of  sending  missionaries  to  the 
frontiers,  and  such  other  places  as  are  unable  to  support  the  gospel;  for 
purchasing  useful  books  to  distribute  in  said  places  under  the  direction  of 
committees  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose;  for  propagating  Christian 
knowledge  among  the  Indians ;  and  for  such  other  pious  uses  as  may  occur 
from  time  to  time. 

"  The  following  books  were  proposed  and  agreed  to  be  procured  and  dis- 
tributed, viz.   Bibles,  Westminster  Confessions  of  Faith,  small  edition  of 


Part  IV.]  RELIGIOUS    PUBLICATIONS.  397 

Vincent's  Catecliism,  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion,  A  Com- 
passionate Address  to  the  Christian  World,  Allein's  Alarm  to  the  Uncon- 
verted, Dr.  Watts's  Divine  Songs  for  Children,  and  the  Assembly's  Cate- 
chism. 

"  And  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  and  distributing  those  books  we 
appoint  for  a  committee  at  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Alison,  Mr.  Sproat,  Mr.  IMont- 
gomery,  Mr.  Bayard,  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Smith;  and  at  New  York,  Dr.  Rod- 
gers,  Mr.  Treat,  Mr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  Caldwell,  Mr.  V.  B.  Livingston,  and 
Mr.  Robert  Ogden.  And  the  committees  are  restricted  not  to  lay  out  this 
year  above  ten  pounds  pro.  currency  each  for  the  purposes  aforesaid.  But 
if  any  well  disposed  persons  will  send  the  committees  books  or  pamphlets 
which  they  judge  will  answer  the  intention  of  the  Synod  to  promote  Chris- 
tian knowledge,  they  are  desired  to  distribute  these  also." — Minutes,  1772, 
p.  429. 

(c)  "  For  the  purpose  of  procuring  books  to  bestow  on  the  poor:  in  Phila- 
delphia, Dr.  Francis  Alison,  Mr.  Sproat,  Mr.  Montgomery,  Mr.  John  Bay- 
ard, and  Mr.  Jonathan  Smith;  and  in  New  York,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Mr.  Treat, 
Mr.  Mc^\Tiorter,  Mr.  Caldwell,  and  Mr.  Noel,  are  appointed  as  committees, 
and  that  they  do  not  exceed  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  proclamation  cur- 
rency, to  be  laid  out  by  each  committee,  and  that  they  draw  on  the  trea- 
surer for  this  sum." — Mimitcs,  1773,  p.  441. 

(d)  "  The  committees  appointed  last  Synod  to  purchase  books  and  distri- 
bute them  among  the  poor  on  the  frontiers,  report,  that  they  have  complied 
with  the  order,  and  disposed  of  the  whole  of  the  sum  allowed  at  New  Yoi'k, 
and  the  whole  also  of  the  sum  allowed  at  Philadelphia,  except  one  pound 
seven  shillings  and  eight  pence,  but  as  the  committee  at  Philadelphia  have 
not  yet  received  an  account  of  any  distribution  made  by  the  persons  to 
whose  care  they  have  committed  them  on  the  frontiers,  the  Synod  direct 
them  to  inquire  as  soon  as  possible  into  that  matter,  and  use  their  best 
endeavours  to  have  said  distribution  made,  (if  not  already  done,)  and  pro- 
cure what  information  they  can,  of  the  success  attending  said  distribution, 
and  make  report  at  next  meeting  of  Synod." — Minutes,  1774,  p.  452.  See 
also  1794,  p.  93,  &c. 

(e)  "  That  there  be  made  a  purchase  of  as  many  cheap  and  pious  books 
as  a  due  regard  to  the  other  objects  of  the  Assembly's  funds  will  admit, 
with  the  view  of  distributing  them,  not  only  along  the  frontiers  of  these 
States,  but  also  among  the  poorer  classes  of  people,  and  the  blacks,  or 
wherever  it  is  thought  useful ;  which  books  shall  be  given  away,  or  lent,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  distributor.  And  that  there  be  received  from  Mr. 
Robert  Aitken,  toward  the  discharge  of  his  debt,  books  to  such  amount  as 
shall  appear  proper  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly,  who  are  hereby 
requested  to  take  proper  measures  for  the  distribution  of  the  same." — Min- 
utes, 1801,  p.  229;  1802,  p.  259,  &c. 

(/)  "A  communication  was  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  Erie,  pray- 
ing that  Bibles  and  other  pious  books  may  be  sent  into  the  bounds  of  that 
Presbytery,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  certain  persons,  to  the  intent  that 
they  may  be  employed  as  a  circulating  library,  for  the  spiritual  edification  of 
the  numerous  poor  and  ignorant  persons  in  that  place,  who  are  perishing  for 
lack  of  knowledge.     On  motion,  it  was 

^'Resolved,  That  the  same  be  referred  to  the  standing  Committee  of  Mis- 
sions."— Minutes,  1803,  p.  268. 

(<7)  ^'■Resolved,  That  the  Presb^'teries  and  individuals  who  have  received, 
or  may  hereafter  receive  religious  books  for  distribution,  report  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Missions  from  year  to  year,  stating  in  what  manner  the  books 


398  RELIGIOUS    PUBLICATIONS.  [Book  V. 

have  been  disposed  of,  the  effects  produced,  and  the  books,  if  any,  remain- 
ing on  hand." — Minutes,  18U4,  p.  807. 

(Ji)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  Cunimittee  of  Missions  be  authorized  and 
requested  to  procure  two  hundred  and  fiffy  copies  of  Fuller's  '  Gospel  Wor- 
thy of  all  Acceptation,'  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  copies  of  Vincent's  Expo- 
sition of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  to  be  distributed  in  places  where  such 
books  are  especially  wanted,  either  gratis  or  otherwise,  as  the  case  may 
require. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be,  and  they  are 
hei'eby  authorized  and  requested,  to  grant  a  warrant  in  favour  of  the  llev. 
John  Rice,  for  the  payment  of  thirty-five  dollars,  to  be  applied  to  pur- 
chasing religious  books,  to  be  distributed  among  the  people  of  colour  within 
the  bounds  of  Hanover  Presbytery."-^ — Minutes,  1805,  p.  346. 

(i)  "  That  the  Assembly  appropriate,  annually,  when  the  funds  will 
admit  of  it,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  for  the  purchase  of  religious 
books,  to  be  distributed  in  those  parts  of  our  Church  which  may  most  need 
i\iQm:'— Minutes,  1806,  p.  361.     See  1811,  p.  478,  &c. 

(k)  Proposed  organization  of  a  Tract  Society. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  report  on  the  establishment  of  a  society  for 
procuring  and  distributing  religious  tracts,  reported  the  following  resolution, 
and  ijt  was  adopted: 

"  Resolved,  That  whereas  it  appears  to  this  Assembly,  that  great  and 
increasing  good  has  accrued  to  the  Church  of  Christ  by  the  distribution  of 
small  cheap  religious  tracts;  it  is  hereby  earnestly  recommended  that  each 
Synod  take  measures  for  establishing  as  many  religious  ti'act  societies  within 
their  bounds,  by  association  of  one  or  more  Presbyteries,  as  may  be  most 
convenient  for  this  purpose;  and  that  such  societies  may  adopt  such  plan 
for  carrying  into  effect  the  object  of  this  resolution,  as  may  be  most  condu- 
cive in  their  judgment  to  this  end." — Minutes,  1809,  p.  429. 

§  179.  Reeommendation  of  a  Publisher's  works  declined. 

"  Mr.  Henry  Sherman  presented  a  number  of  copies  of  a  book  entitled 
Dr.  Haweis's  Communicant's  Companion,  and  requested  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Assembly  to  the  work;  on  motion, 

"  Resolved,  That  as  the  precedent  of  recommending  books  would  involve 
the  Assembly  in  much  trouble  by  numerous  similar  applications,  the  motion 
for  recommending  be  postponed,  and  that  the  thanks  of  the  Assembly  be 
presented  to  Mr.  Sherman  for  the  donation." — Minutes,  1811,  p.  475. 

Title  2. — Encouragement  to  editions  op  the  Bible. 
§  180.  A  collection  for  the  distribution  of  Bibles. 

(a)  "The  Synod  taking  into  consideration  the  situation  of  many  people 
under  their  care,  who,  through  the  indigence  of  their  circumstances,  are  not 
able  to  purchase  Bibles,  and  are  in  danger  of  perishing  for  lack  of  know- 
ledge : 

^'■Ordered,  That  every  member  of  this  body  shall  use  his  utmost  influence 
in  the  Congregation  under  his  inspection,  and  in  the  vacancies  contiguous 
to  them,  to  raise  contributions  for  the  purchasing  of  Bibles,  to  be  distributed 
among  such  poor  persons;  and  that  Drs.  Sproat  and  Ewing,  and  Mr.  Duf- 
field,  be  a  committee  to  receive  such  contributions,  to  purchase  Bibles 
therewith,  and  send  them  to  the  several  members  of  this  Synod,  who,  in 
conjunction  with  their  respective  Sessions,  shall  distribute  them.  And  as 
Mr.  Aitken,  from  laudable  motives,  and  with  great  expense,  hath  under- 


Part  IV.]  RELIGIOUS   PUBLICATIONS.  '  399 

taken  and  executed  an  elegant  impression  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  wliich, 
on  account  of  the  importation  of  Bibles  from  Europe  will  be  very  injurious 
to  his  temporal  circumstances,  Synod  further  agree,  that  the  above  commit- 
tee shall  purchase  Bibles  of  the  said  impression  and  no  other,  and  earnestly 
recommend  it  to  all,  to  purchase  such  in  preference  to  any  other." — Min- 
utes, 1783,  p.  5U0.     [llepeated.  Minutes,  1784,  p.  503,  and  1785,  p.  506.] 

(6)  Collins' s  edition. 

''The  Greneral  Assembly,  considering  the  importance  of  preserving  faith- 
ful and  correct  impressions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  and  as  Mr.  Collins, 
printer  to  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  proposes  to  make  an  impression  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  wishes  the  countenance  and  support  of  all 
denominations  of  Christians. 

"  On  motion.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  order  to  give  effectual  encou- 
ragement to  this  undertaking,  do  hereby  appoint  the  llev.  Mr.  Joshua  Hart, 
Mr.  Judd,  Dr.  Alexander  McWhorter,  Mr.  James  F.  Armstrong,  Dr.  George 
Duffield,  Mr.  Thomas  Read,  Dr.  Matthew  Wilson,  Dr.  Patrick  Alison,  Mr. 
Robert  Cooper,  Mr.  James  Fiuley,  Mr.  Moses  Hoge,  3Ir.  John  Blair  Smith, 
Mr.  James  McKee,  Mr.  Hezekiah  Balch,  Mr.  Thomas  H.  McCaulle,  and  Mr. 
David  Rice,  to  lay  Mr.  Collins's  proposals  before  their  respective  Presbyte- 
ries, and  to  recommend  to  them,  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  a 
person  or  persons  be  appointed  in  every  Congregation,  vacant  or  supplied, 
to  procure  subscriptions;  and  that  the  Presbyteries  transmit  by  their  com- 
missioners to  the  next  General  Assembly  the  number  of  subscribers.  The 
General  Assembly  also  confirm  the  appointment  made  by  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  that  Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Smith, 
and  Mr.  James  F.  Armstrong,  be  a  committee  to  concur  with  any  such  com- 
mittee as  may  be  appointed,  whether  from  any  other  denomination,  or  from 
any  other  Synod  of  our  denomination,  to  revise  and  correct  the  proof-sheets; 
and,  if  necessary,  to  fix  upon  the  most  correct  edition  of  the  Scriptures  to 
be  recommended  to  the  printer,  from  which  to  make  his  impression;  and 
that  the  said  committee  be  ordered  to  agree  with  the  printer,  that  Oster- 
vald's  notes,  if  not  inconsistent  with  the  views  of  other  denominations  of 
Christians  engaged  in  this  undertaking,  be  printed  with  it,  in  such  manner 
as  may  best  promote  the  publication. 

*'The  General  Assembly,  desirous  to  spreaji  the  knowledge  of  eternal  life 
contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  earnestly  recommend  to  all  the  Congrega- 
tions under  their  care  to  encourage  this  undertaking." — Minutes,  1789, 
p.  12.     [Repeated,  1790,  p.  25;  1791,  p.  41.] 

§  181.    The  American  Bible  Society. 

(a)  "  Bible  and  tract  societies  have  greatly  iriultiplied  in  our  country  dur- 
ing the  last  year.  From  Georgia  to  Maine,  endeavours  have  been  made  to 
convey  the  word  of  life,  the  consolations  and  support  of  the  gospel,  to  the 
remotest  cottage  on  our  borders.  They  who  have  been  long  sitting  in  the 
darkness  of  the  shadow  of  death,  without  the  light  of  revelation,  ignorant 
of  what  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  done,  and  what  it  can  do,  are  no  longer  in 
this  distressing  situation!  The  lamp  of  revelation  now  shines  in  many  a 
hitherto  gloomy  mansion;  and  illuminates,  and  directs,  and  cheers  many  a 
hitherto  darkened  soul !  In  the  distribution  of  religious  tracts,  (in  which 
the  reality  and  power  of  godliness  have  appeared,  as  manifested  in  the  lives 
and  death  of  eminent  Christians,)  a  divine  blessing  has  been  evident,  and 
encouragement  communicated  not  to  become  weary  in  this  species  of  well- 
doing. 


400  THE   BOARD   OF   PUBLICATION.  [Book  V. 

''The  General  Assembly  record  with  gratification  and  heartfelt  pleasure, 
the  information  they  have  received  of  the  formation  of  an  'American  Bible 
Society,'  a  few  days  since,  in  the  city  of  New  York;  and  from  the  unanimity 
manifested  by  all  denominations  of  Christians  on  that  occasion,  the  fervour 
of  zeal  displayed,  and  eagerness  manifested  by  the  numerous  and  highly 
respectable  delegation  which  attended,  to  combine  their  exertions  in  pro- 
moting the  best  interests  of  their  fellow-men,  by  furnishing  them  with  the 
word  of  life,  they  cannot  but  believe  that  it  is  the  work  of  God;  that  it  will 
stand,  and  prove  a  rich-  blessing  to  those  who  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  its 
exertions." — Minutes,  1816,  p.  620. 

{l>)  '^  This  Assembly,  taking  grateful  occasion  to  reaffirm  its  appreciation 
of  the  importance  and  usefulness  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  which, 
under  God,  has  been  instrumental  of  so  much  good  in  this  and  other  lands; 
in  view  of  the  multitudes  of  families  in  our  own  favoured  country  living 
without  the  sacred  volume;  the  vast  number  of  immigrants  arriving  among 
us;  the  many  transient  persons,  labourers,  boatmen,  and  seamen  in  the 
midst  of  us,  who  greatly  need  the  word  of  life,  and  the  wide  and  inviting- 
fields  opened  by  missionary  labour  in  Papal,  Mohammedan,  and  Pagan 
countries, 

"1.  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  the  fostering  hand  of  Almighty  God  in 
enabling  the  Society  to  erect  its  new  and  spacious  Bible  House,  without 
using  for  the  purpose  any  of  its  ordinary  revenues. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  increased  facilities  for  printing,  and  the  greatly 
increased  demands  for  the  inspired  Scriptures,  call  for  far  greater  and  more 
general  exertion,  self-denial,  and  prayer,  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  God. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  the  Churches 
under  its  care  to  take  up  stated  annual  collections  for  the  American  Bible 
Society." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  447.     See  Minutes,  passim. 

Title  8. — The  Board  of  Publication. 

§  182.    The  Constitution. 

(a)  "Whereas,  Sabbath-School  and  tract  publications  cannot  fail  to  exert  a 
very  great  influence  upon  the  growth  of  our  Church  and  country;  and 
whereas,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Church  to  exercise 
such  a  supervision  over  this  subject,  as  will  secure  the  diifusion  of  sound 
and  scriptural  principles,  for  'the  promotion  of  charity,  truth,  and  holiness,' 
through  all  the  Churches  under  our  care :  therefore, 

^'Resolved,  1.  That  the  Geuei'al  Assembly  will  superintend  and  conduct, 
by  its  own  proper  authority,  the  work  of  furnishing  the  Churches  under  its 
care  with  suitable  tract  and  Subbath-School  publications,  by  a  Board  appoint- 
ed for  that  purpose,  and  directly  amenable  to  said  Assembly. 

"2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  its  present  meeting,  choose  /orf^ 
Ministers  and  fortj/  laymen,  as  members  of  the  Tract  and  Sabbath-School 
Board,  one  fourth  part  of  whom  shall  go  out  annually,  in  alphabetical  order; 
and  thereafter  ten  Ministers  and  ten  laymen  shall  be  annually  elected  as 
members  of  the  Tract  and  Sabbath-School  Board,  whose  term  of  office  shall 
be  four  years;  and  these  fort^  Ministers  and y'o;V_y  laymen  so  appointed  shall 
constitute  a  Board,  to  be  styled  'The  Board  of  Publication  of  Tracts  and 
Sabbath-School  Books  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  United  States  of 
America,'  to  which  for  the  time  being  shall  be  entrusted  such  directions 
and  instructions  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  given  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  superintendence  of  all  the  operations  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  relation  to  the  subject  of  tracts  and  Sabbath-School  books.  The  Board 
shall  make  annually  to  the  General  Assembly  a  report  of  their  proceedings, 


Part  IV.]  THE   BOARD   OF   PUBLICATION.  401 

and  submit  for  its  approval  such  plans  and  measures  as  shall  be  deemed 
useful  and  necessary. 

"3.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  hold  their  first  meeting  at  such  time 
and  place  as  may  be  directed  by  the  present  General  Assembly,  and  shall 
hold  a  meeting  annually,  at  some  convenient  time  during  the  sessions  of  the 
Greneral  Assembly,  at  which  time  it  shall  appoint  a  President,  Vice-Presi- 
dent, a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  an  Executive  Committee, 
to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year.  It  shall  belong  to  the  Board  of  Managers  to 
review  and  decide  upon  all  the  doings  of  the  Executive  Committee;  to 
receive  and  dispose  of  their  annual  report,  and  to  present  any  statement  of 
their  proceedings  which  they  may  judge  proper  and  necessary  to  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly.  It  shall  be  their  duty,  also,  to  meet  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  as  often  as  may  be  expedient,  due  notice  of  every  special  meeting 
being  seasonably  given  to  every  member  of  the  Board. 

"4.  To  the  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  not  more  than  nine  mem- 
bers beside  the  Corresponding  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  shall  belong  the 
duty  of  selecting  and  preparing  suitable  tracts  and  books  for  publication; 
of  superintending  and  directing  their  distribution;  of  receiving  the  reports 
of  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  giving  him  needful  directions  in  refer- 
ence to  matters  of  business  and  correspondence  entrusted  to  him ;  of  autho- 
rizing all  appropriations  of  money;  and  of  taking  the  particular  direction 
and  management  of  the  whole  subject  of  tract  and  Sunday-School  publica- 
tions, subject  to  the  control  and  direction  of  the  Board  of  Managers.  The 
Executive  Committee  shall  meet  at  least  once  a  month,  and  oftener,  if  neces- 
sary; five  members  meeting  at  the  time  and  place  of  adjournment  or  special 
call,  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  except  that  the  approval  of  a  majority  of  the 
whole  committee  shall  be  necessary  to  direct  the  publication  of  any  tract  or 
book.  The  committee  shall  have  power  to  fill  their  own  vacancies,  if  any 
occur,  during  the  recess  of  the  Board. 

"5.  All  property,  houses,  lands,  tenements,  and  permanent  funds  belong- 
ing to  the  said  Tract  and  Sabbath-School  Board,  shall  be  taken  in  the  name 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  held  in  trust  by  them,  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  'The  Board  of  Publication  of  Tracts  and  Sabbath-School 
Books  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,'  for  the  time  being. 

"6.  The  seat  of  operations  of  the  Board  of  Managers  shall  be  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia. 

"7.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  have  power,  and  they  are  hereby 
authorized  to  receive  a  transfer  of  '  The  Presbyterian  Tract  and  Sabbath- 
School  Book  Society,'  now  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
with  all  the  tracts,  books,  and  funds  belonging  to  said  society." — Minutes, 
1838,  p.  23. 

(6)  Amendments  of  the  Constitution. 

*'2.  Resolved,  that  the  name  of  the^  Board  for  the  Publication  of  Tracts 
and  Sabb.ath-School  Books  be  changed  to  the  name  of  The  Preshyterian 
Board  of  Puhlication;  and  that  its  constitution  be  so  altered  as  to  require 
said  Board  to  publish  not  only  tracts  and  Sabbath-School  books,  but  also 
approved  works  in  support  of  the  great  principles  of  the  Reformation,  as 
exhibited  in  the  doctrines  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  what- 
ever else  the  Assembly  may  direct.  , 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  third  article  of  the  constitution  of  the  Assem- 
bly's Board  of  I'ublication  be  amended  by  adding  to  it  the  following  clause, 
viz.  ^Eleven  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transactionof  busi- 
ness.' 

"4.  Resolved,  That  the  fourth  article  of  the  constitution  of  the  Board  be 
51 


402  THE   BOARD   OF   PUBLICATION.  [Book  V. 

so  altered  as  to  provide  that  '  the  Executive  Committee  shall  consist  of  nine 
members,  besides  the  Corresponding  Secretary  and  Treasurer.' 

"5.  Resolced,  That  to  this  Board  be  committed,  on  behalf  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  the  publication  of  such  works,  permanent  and  periodical,  as 
are  adapted  to  promote  sound  learning  and  true  religion." — 3Iimites,  1839, 
p.  170. 

(c)  "Resolved,  That  the  number  of  members  of  the  Board  be  increased 
to  1U4. 

"Resolved,  That  the  General  Agent  of  the  Board  of  Publication  be,  ex 
officio,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee." — Minutes,  1840,  p.  301. 

(d)  "■  Resolved,  That  article  third  of  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication  be  so  amended  as  to  read  as  follows,  viz. 

**  Art.  III.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  hold  their  first  meeting  at  such 
time  and  place  as  may  be  directed  by  the  present  General  Assembly,  and 
shall  hold  a  meeting  annually  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  June,  at  which 
time  it  shall  appoint  a  President,  Vice-President,  a  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, a  Treasurer,  a  Recording  Secretary,  and  an  Executive  Committee,  to 
serve  for  the  ensuing  year." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  449. 

§  183.  Various  enactments. 

(a)  "  That  we  approve  the  recommendation  of  the  Board  [of  Missions]  to 
the  rich  in  our  Churches,  to  place  the  books  of  the  Board  of  Publication  in 
the  hands  of  our  domestic  missionaries,  for  distribution :  and  that  the  Assem- 
bly's Board  of  Missions  be  authorized  to  receive  dontitions  for  this  specific 
object." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  445. 

{li)  *'2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board,  to  append  to  at  least  one 
edition  of  the  Psalm  and  Hymn  Book,  about  to  be  published,  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  with  the  Scripture  references,  and  the  Directory  for  Worship. 

''3.  That  this  Assembly  would  recommend,  that  at  least  one  set  of  the 
publications  of  the  Board  be  obtained  by  every  Church,  as  a  Congregational 
Library,  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the  Church  Session." — Minutes,  1841, 
p.  446. 

(c)  "2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  to  publish  a  series  of  works 
suited  to  children  and  youth. 

"3.  That  the  funds  committed  by  the  Church  to  the  Board  of  Publica- 
tion, ought  to  be  managed  upon  the  principle  of  yielding  a  net  yearly  reve- 
nue of  about  six  per  centum  per  annum  upon  the  actual  amount  of  its  whole 
capital.  And  the  Board  is  hereby  rebommeuded  to  adhere  to  a  system  of 
rigid  economy  in  every  department  of  its  outlay,  so  as  to  effect  the  object 
now  contemplated,  and  yet  afford  their  publications  at  the  lowest  rate." — 
3Iinutes,  1842,  p.  30. 

(d,)  "Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  every  Presbytery,  or 
at  least  to  every  Synod,  to  establish  a  depository  which  shall  be  their  own 
property,  by  collecting,  on  such  plan  as  they  may  deem  best,  a  sufficient 
sum  of  money  to  fill  the  depository  on  the  principle  of  cash  purchase." — 
Minutes,  1843,  p.  187:  and  1840,  p.  301. 

(e)  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  to  establish  deposi- 
tories of  their  publications  at  such  important  points  as  they  may  deem  pro- 
per, provided  such  depositories  can  be  sustained  without  expense  to  the 
Board." — Minutes,  1844,  p.  377. 

§  184.    Of  Coljwrtage. 

(a)  "Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  is  highly  gratified  that  the  Board  has 
entered  on  a  system  of  colportage,  as  an  agency  for  the  circulation  of  its 
books;  and  while  repeating  the  recommendation  of  former  Assemblies,  that 


Part  IV.]  THE    BOARD    OF   PUBLICATION.  403 

funds  be  raised  by  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  for  the  establishment  of  depo- 
sitories, owned  and  managed  by  themselves,  the  Assembly  would  further 
recommend  that  they  employ,  in  connection  with  these  depositories,  the  col- 
porteurs appointed  by  the  Board." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  400. 

(h)  ^'■Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  to  inquire  whether 
still  greater  efficiency  cannot  be  given  to  the  colporteur  enterprise,  by 
making  some  increase  in  the  salaries  of  the  colporteurs. 

'■'■Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Board  to  pursue  still  further 
the  policy  of  gratuitous  distribution  to  the  destitute,  so  far  as  may  consist 
with  the  safety  of  their  financial  operations,  and  for  this  purpose,  to  appeal 
to  the  liberality  of  the  Churches." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  43. 


PART  Y. 

THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS. 


CHAPTER  L 

MEASURES  OF  THE  GENERAL  SYNOD. 

§  185.  Efforts  to  secure  a  Professor  of  Tlieology. 

''An  overture  was  brought  in,  that  as  a  Professor  of  Divinity,  to  instruct 
youths  for  the  sacred  ministry,  is  much  wanted,  and  highly  necessary,  the 
Synod  would  try  to  fall  upon  some  measures  to  obtain  one.  And  the  Synod, 
sensible  of  the  need  and  importance  of  this,  earnestly  recommend  the  consi- 
deration of  it  to  every  Presbytery,  that  they  may  consult  together  how  this 
may  be  accomplished,  and  endeavour  to  make  the  people  under  their  care, 
sensible  of  the  importance  of  it;  also  that  they  may  be  prepared  and  dis- 
posed to  contribute  to  so  good  a  design.'' — Minutes,  1760,  p.  303. 

§  186.  Provisional  arrangement. 

''The  affair  of  a  Professor  of  Divinity  came  to  be  considered,  and  the 
Synod  agree  to  promote  this  good  purpose;  but  as  several  useful  designs 
are  at  present  under  consideration,  which  may  prevent  our  raising  a  suffi- 
cient fund  for  this  end  at  this  time,  it  is  deferred  till  a  more  convenient 
season. 

"But  the  Synod  being  deeply  sensible,  that  the  Church  suffers  greatly 
for  want  of  an  opportunity  to  instruct  students  in  the  knowledge  of  divinity, 
it  is  hereby  agreed,  that  every  student,  after  he  has  been  admitted  to  his 
first  degree  in  the  college,  shall  read  carefully  and  closely  on  this  subject, 
at  least  one  year,  under  the  care  of  some  Minister  of  an  approved  charac- 
ter for  his  skill  in  theology;  and  under  his  direction  shall  discuss  difficult 
points  in  divinity,  study  the  sacred  Scriptures,  form  sermons,  lectures,  and 
such  other  useful  exercises  as  he  may  be  directed  to  in  the  course  of  his 
studies. 

"And  it  is  enjoined  likewise,  that  every  preacher,  for  the  first  year  after 
his  licensure,  shall  show  all  his  sermons  to  some  jMinister  in  our  Presbyte- 
ries, on  whose  friendship  and  candour  he  depends,  written  fairly  to  have 
them  corrected  and  amended.  And  as  they  are  but  young  preachers,  we 
are  persuaded  that  no  better  method  can  be  taken  in  present  circumstances 
to  improve  them  in  Christian  knowledge  and  render  them  eminently  useful  in 
their  stations.  It  is  also  enjoined  that  they  preach  as  often  as  they  can 
before  stated  Ministers,  that  they  may  correct  their  gesture,  pronunciation, 
delivery,  and  the  like.  And  it  is  further  enjoined  that  all  our  Ministers 
and  probationers  forbear  reading  their  sermons  from  the  pulpit,  if  they  can 
couvenieutly." — 3Iinutes,  1761,  p.  309. 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  405 

CHAPTER  11. 

princeton  seminary. 

Title  1. — Incipient  Measures. 
§  187.  Different  plans  proposed. 

"  The  committee  [of  Bills  and  Overtures]  laid  before  the  Assembly  an 
overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  establishment  of  a 
theological  school. 

*'  The  overture  was  read,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dwight,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Irwin,  Hosack,  Romeyn,  Anderson,  Lyle,  Burch,  Lacey,  and  Messrs.  Bay- 
ard, Slaymaker,  and  Harrison,  Elders,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  take 
the  overture  into  consideration,  and  report  upon  it." — Mimites,  1809, 
p.  417. 

"The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  overture  in  relation  to  the 
establishment  of  a  theological  school,  brought  in  the  following  report,  which 
being  read,  was  adopted,  viz. 

"The  committee  appointed  on  the  subject  of  a  theological  school  over- 
tured  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  report : 

"  That  three  modes  of  compassing  this  important  object  have  presented 
themselves  to  their  considei'ation. 

"  The  first  is,  to  establish  one  great  school  in  some  convenient  place,  near 
the  centre  of  the  bounds  of  our  Church. 

"  The  second  is,  to  establish  two  schools,  in  such  places  as  may  best 
accommodate  the  northern  and  southern  divisions  of  the  Church. 

"The  thii-d  is,  to  establish  such  a  school  within  the  bounds  of  each  of  the 
Synods.  In  this  case  your  committee  suggest  the  propriety  of  leaving  it  to 
each  Synod  to  direct  the  mode  of  forming  the  school,  and  the  place  where  it 
shall  be  established. 

"  The  advantages  attending  the  first  of  the  proposed  modes  are,  that  it 
would  be  furnished  with  larger  funds,  and  therefore  with  a  more  extensive 
library,  and  a  greater  number  of  professors.  The  system  of  education  pur- 
sued in  it  would,  therefore,  be  more  extensive  and  more  perfect;  the  youths 
educated  in  it  would  also  be  more  united  in  the  same  views,  and  contract  an 
early  and  lasting  friendship  for  each  other;  circumstances  which  could  not 
fail  of  promoting  harmony  and  prosperity  in  the  Church.  The  disadvan- 
tages attending  this  mode  would  be  principally  those  derived  from  the  dis- 
tance of  its  position  from  the  extremities  of  the  Presbyterian  bounds. 

"The  advantages  attending  the  second  of  the  proposed  modes,  and  the 
disadvantages,  will  readily  suggest  themselves  from  a  comparison  of  this 
with  the  other  two. 

"  The  advantages  which  would  attend  the  third,  to  wit,  the  establishment 
of  theological  schools  by  the  respective  Synods,  would  be  the  following. 
The  local  situation  of  the  respective  schools  would  be  peculiarly  convenient 
for  the  several  parts  of  a  country  so  extensive  as  that  for  the  benefit  of 
which  they  were  designed.  The  inhabitants  having  the  seminaries  brought 
near  to  them,  would  feel  a  peculiar  interest  in  their  prosperity,  and  may  be 
rationally  expected  to  contribute  to  it  much  more  liberally  and  generally, 
than  to  a  single  school,  or  even  to  two.  The  Synods  also,  having  the  imme- 
diate care  of  them,  and  directing,  either  in  person  or  by  delegation,  all  their 
concerns,  would  feel  a  similar  interest,  and  would  probably  be  better  pleased 


406  THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

with  a  system  formed  bj^  themselves,  and  therefore  peculiarly  suited  to  the 
wishes  aud  interests  of  the  several  parts  of  the  Church  immediately  under 
their  direction.  Greater  efforts,  therefore,  may  be  expected  from  Ministers 
and  people,  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  these  schools,  than  of  any  other. 
The  disadvantages  of  this  mode  would  be  the  inferiority  of  the  funds,  a 
smaller  number  of  professoi-s,  a  smaller  library,  and  a  more  limited  system 
of  education  in  each.  The  students  also,  would,  as  now,  be  strangers  to 
each  other. 

"  Should  the  last  of  these  modes  be  adopted,  your  committee  are  of 
opinion,  that  every  thing  pertaining  to  the  erection  and  conduct  of  each 
school,  should  be  left  to  the  direction  of  the  respective  Synods.  If  either 
of  the  first,  the  whole  should  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. 

"  Your  committee  also  suggest,  that  in  the  former  of  these  cases,  the 
funds  for  each  school  should  be  raised  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod 
within  which  it  was  stationed.  In  the  latter  they  should  be  collected  from 
the  whole  body  of  the  Church. 

Your  committee  therefore  submit  the  following  resolution,  to  wit: 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  above  plans  be  submitted  to  all  the  Presbyteries 
within  the  bounds  of  the  General  Assembly  for  their  consideration,  and  that 
they  be  careful  to  send  up  to  the  next  Assembly,  at  their  sessions  in  May, 
1810,  their  opinions  on  the  subject." — Minutes,  1809,  p.  430. 

§188. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  reports  of  the  several  Presby- 
teries on  the  subject  of  theological  schools,  and  to  report  to  the  Assembly 
the  opinions  expressed  by  them  severally  on  the  three  different  plans  sent 
down  for  their  consideration,  reported,  that  after  carefully  examining  the 
reports  of  the  several  Presbyteries  on  this  subject,  they  find  the  following 
result.  Ten  Presbyteries  have  expressed  an  opinion  in  favour  of  the  first 
plan,  viz.  the  establishment  of  a  single  school.  One  Presbytery  has  given 
an  opinion  in  favour  of  the  second  plan,  viz.  the  establishment  of  two  schools. 
Ten  Presbyteries  have  expressed  a  judgment  in  favour  of  the  third  plan, 
viz.  the  establishment  of  a  school  in  each  Synod.  Six  Presbyteries  have 
expressed  an  opinion  that  it  is  not  expedient,  at  present,  to  attempt  the 
establishment  of  any  school;  and  from  the  remaining  Presbyteries  no  report 
has  been  received." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  439. 

§  189.  Act  establishing  (he  Seminari/. 

"  The  committee  appointed  farther  to  consider  the  subject  of  theological 
schools  reported,  aud  the  report  being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and 
is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  That  after  maturely  deliberating  on  the  subject  committed  to  them,  they 
submit  to  the  Assembly  the  following  results:  ' 

"1.  It  is  evident  that  not  only  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries,  which  have 
reported  on  this  subject,  but  also  a  majority  of  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the 
care  of  this  Assembly,  have  expressed  a  decided  opinion  in  favour  of  the 
establishment  of  a  theological  school  or  schools  in  our  Church. 

"2.  It  appears  to  the  committee,  that  although  according  to  the  state- 
ment already  reported  to  the  Assembly,  there  is  an  equal  number  of  Pres- 
byteries in  favour  of  the  first  plan,  which  contemplates  a  single  school  for 
the  whole  Church;  and  in  favour  of  the  third  plan,  which  contemplates  the 
erection  of  a  school  in  each  Synod;  yet  as  several  of  the  objections  made  to 
the  first  plan  are  founded  entirely  on  misconception,  aud  will  be  completely 
obviated  by  developing  the  details  of  that  plan,  it  seems  fairly  to  follow,  that 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON  SEMINARY.  407 

there  is  a  greater  amount  of  Presbyterial  suffrage  in  favour  of  a  single 
school,  than  of  any  other  plan. 

"3.  Under  these  circumstances  the  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  as 
much  light  has  been  obtained  from  the  reports  of  Presbyteries  on  this  sub- 
ject, as  would  be  likely  to  result  from  a  renewal  of  the  reference;  that  no 
advantage  will  probably  arise  from  farther  delay  in  this  important  concern; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  much  serious  inconvenience  and  evil;  that  the  pre- 
sent Assembly  is  bound  to  attempt  to  carry  into  execution  some  one  of  the 
plans  proposed,  and  that  the  first  plan,  appearing  to  have  on  the  whole, 
the  greatest  share  of  public  sentiment  in  its  favour,  ought  of  course  to  be 
adopted. 

"  4.  Your  committee  therefore  recommend,  that  the  present  General 
Assembly  declare  its  approbation  and  adoption  of  this  plan,  and  immediately 
commence  a  course  of  measures  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  as  promptly 
and  extensively  as  possible;  and  for  this  purpose  they  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  state  of  our  Churches,  the  loud  and  affecting 
calls  of  destitute  frontier  settlements,  and  the  laudable  exertions  of  various 
Christian  denominations  around  us,  all  demand  that  the  collected  wisdom, 
piety,  and  zeal  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  be,  without  delay,  called  into 
action,  for  furnishing  the  Church  with  a  large  supply  of  able  and  faithful 
Ministers. 

"  2.  That  the  General  Assembly  will,  in  the  name  of  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church,  immediately  attempt  to  establish  a  seminary  for  securing  to  can- 
didates for  the  ministry,  more  extensive  and  efficient  theological  instruction 
than  they  have  heretofore  enjoyed.  The  local  situation  of  this  seminary  is 
hereafter  to  be  determined. 

*'  3.  That  in  this  seminary  when  completely  organized,  there  shall  be  at 
least  three  Professors,  who  shall  be  elected  by,  and  hold  their  offices  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  who  shall  give  a  regular  course 
of  instruction  in  Divinity,  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature,  and  in  Ecclesi- 
astical History  and  Church  Government,  and  on  such  other  subjects  as  may 
be  deemed  necessary.  It  being  however  understood,  that  until  sufficient 
funds  can  be  obtained  for  the  complete  organization  and  support  of  the  pro- 
posed seminary,  a  smaller  number  of  Professors  than  three  may  be  appointed 
to  commence  the  system  of  iijstruction. 

"4.  That  exertion  be  made  to  provide  such  an  amount  of  funds  for  this 
seminary,  as  will  enable  its  conductors  to  afford  gratuitous  instruction,  and 
when  it  is  necessary,  gratuitous  support,  to  all  such  students  as  may  not 
themselves  possess  adequate  pecuniary  means. 

"  5.  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  Green,  Woodhull,  Romeyn,  and  IMiller,  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Archibald  Alexander,  James  Richards,  and  Amzi  Armstrong,  be  a 
committee  to  digest  and  prepare  a  plan  of  a  theological  seminary,  embracing 
in  detail  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  institution,  together  with  regula- 
tions for  guiding  the  conduct  of  the  instructors  and  the  students,  and  pre- 
scribing the  best  mode  of  visiting,  of  controlling,  and  supporting  the  whole 
system.     This  plan  is  to  be  reported  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

"  6.  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Jedediah  Chapman,  Jonas  Coe,  William  Mor- 
rison, James  Carnahan,  and  Mr.  Isaac  Hutton,  of  the  Synod  of  Albany;  Rev. 
Drs.  Samuel  Miller,  Philip  Milledoler,  John  B.  Romeyn,  and  Aaron  Wool- 
worth,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  James  Richards,  Comfort,  and  Isaac  Vandoren,  and 
Col.  Henry  Rutgers,  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey;  Rev.  Drs. 
Ashbel  Green,  John  McKuight,  and  James  Muir,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Nathaniel 
Irwin,  John  Glendy,  Archibald  Alexander,  John  E.  Latta,  John  B.  Slem- 
mons,  John  B.  Patterson,  and  James  Inglis,  and  Mr.  Robert  Ralston,  of  the 


408  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

Synod  of  Philadelphia;  the  Rev.  John  D.  Blair,  William  Williamson, 
Samuel  Houston,  Samuel  Doake,  and  Benjamin  Grri^sby,  of  the  Synod  of  Vir- 
ginia; the  Rev.  Samuel  Ralston,  James  Guthrie,  William  Speer,  and  James 
Hughes,  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh;  the  Rev.  Robert  Gr.  Wilson,  James 
Blythe,  Archibald  Cameron,  and  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky; the  Rev.  Drs.  James  Hall,  Henry  Kolloek,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Malcom  McNair,  James  Mcllheuny,  and  Andrew  Flinn,  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  be,  and  they  hereby  are,  appointed  agents,  to  solicit  donations  in 
the  course  of  the  current  year,  within  the  bounds  of  their  respective  Synods, 
for  the  establishment  and  support  of  the  proposed  Seminai-y;  and  if  any  of 
said  agents  should  be  unable  or  unwilling  to  act  in  this  case,  it  will  be  his  or 
their  duty  to  inform  the  Moderator  of  his  or  their  Synod,  for  the  time  being, 
who  is  hereby  authorized,  if  he  think  proper,  to  appoint  a  substitute  or  sub- 
stitutes, as  the  case  may  require.  These  agents  are  to  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  Assembly  generally,  and  all  the 
clergy  of  our  denomination  within  our  bounds,  do  aid  the  exertions  of  those 
who  shall  go  on  this  business. 

''  7.  That,  as  filling  the  Church  with  a  learned  and  able  ministry,  without 
a  corresponding  portion  of  real  piety,  would  be  a  curse  to  the  world,  and  an 
offence  to  God  and  his  people,  so  the  General  Assembly  think  it  their  duty 
to  state  that,  in  establishing  a  seminary  for  training  up  Ministers,  it  is  their 
earnest  desire  to  guard,  as  far  as  possible,  against  so  great  an  evil;  and 
they  do  hereby  solemnly  pledge  themselves  to  the  Churches  under  their  care, 
that  in  forming  and  carrying  into  execution  the  plan  of  the  proposed  semi- 
nary, it  will  be  their  endeavour  to  make  it,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  a 
nursery  of  vital  piety,  as  well  as  of  sound  theological  learning,  and  to  train 
up  persons  for  the  ministry  who  shall  be  lovers  as  well  as  defenders  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  friends  of  revivals  of  religion,  and  a  blessing  to  the 
Church  of  God. 

"8.  That  as  the  constitution  of  our  Church  guarantees  to  every  Presbytery 
the  right  of  judging  of  its  own  candidates  for  licensure  and  ordination;  so 
the  Assembly  think  it  proper  to  state  most  explicitly,  that  every  Presbytery 
and  Synod  will,  of  course,  be  left  at  full  liberty  to  countenance  the  proposed 
plan,  or  not,  at  pleasure;  and  to  send  their  students  to  the  projected  semi- 
nai'y,  or  keep  them  ds  heretofore  within  their  o^n  bounds  as  they  think  most 
conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Church. 

"  9.  That  the  Professors  in  the  Seminary  shall  not  in  any  case  be  con- 
sidered as  having  a  right  to  license  candidates  to  preach  the  gospel ;  but  that 
all  such  candidates  shall  be  remitted  to  their  respective  Presbyteries,  to  be 
examined  and  licensed  as  heretofore. 

10.  "Resolved  finally.  That  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  and  Rev.  James  Richards 
be  a  committee  to  prepare  a  draught  of  an  address  from  this  Assembly  to 
the  Churches  under  our  care,  calling  their  attention  to  the  subject  of  a  theo- 
logical school,  and  earnestly  soliciting  their  patronage  and  support  in  the 
execution  of  the  plan  now  proposed." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  453. 

§  190.  Pastoral  letter  on  the  subject  of  a  theological  school. 

'■''Dear  Brethren — Among  the  various  objects  which  have  engaged  our 
attention  in  the  course  of  our  present  sessions,  one  of  the  most  important  is 
the  plan  of  a  theological  seminary,  proposed  to  be  established  in  some  con- 
venient spot  within  the  bounds  of  our  Church.  This  plan,  so  far  as  it  has 
been  matured,  accompanies  the  present  address,  and  solicits  your  serious 
consideration. 

"We  trust;  dear  brethren,  it  is  not  necessary  to  employ  much  argument 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  409 

to  convince  you  tliat  tlie  time  has  arrived  in  which  some  new  and  vigorous 
exertions  are  indispensable  for  increasing  the  number,  and  raising  the  quali- 
fications of  candidates  for  the  gospel  ministry  in  our  Church,  when  you  are 
apprized  that  we  have  near  four  hundred  vacant  Congregations  within  our 
bounds;  that  the  frontier  settlements,  as  well  as  many  large  and  important 
districts  in  the  interior  of  our  country,  are  every  year  calling  upon  us  for 
missionary  labours  which  we  are  not  able  to  supply,  and  that  there  is  no 
prospect  that  any  means  of  relief  yet  devised  will  be  sufficient  to  preserve 
many  parts  of  the  Church  from  a  most  distressing  famine  of  the  word  of 
life,  we  trust  you  will  perceive  the  absolute  necessity  of  using  our  utmost 
exertions  for  sending  forth  more  labourers  into  so  great  a  harvest. 

"We  feel  persuaded  that,  if  the  plan  which  we  have  adopted  can  be  car- 
ried into  vigorous  execution,  it  will  tend,  under  the  divine  blessing,  to 
increase  the  number  of  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry.  If  we  are  enabled, 
by  the  possession  of  suitable  funds,  not  only  to  afford  a  more  complete  and 
ample  course  of  instruction  in  theology  than  has  been  heretofore,  in  ordi- 
nary cases,  attainable,  but  also  to  afford  this  instruction  gratuitously  to  those 
who  are  themselves  destitute  of  adequate  pecuniary  resources,  we  cherish 
the  hope  that  these  facilities  will  be  the  means  of  drawing  into  public  view 
many  ingenuous  and  pious  youth,  who  are  at  present  either  discouraged 
from  making  the  attempt  to  gain  an  education  for  the  ministry,  or  not  pro- 
perly awakened  to  the  loud  and  important  demands  of  the  Church. 

"But  farther:  such  a  seminary  as  that  which  is  now  proposed  is  not  less 
calculated  to  improve  the  education  than  to  increase  the  number  of  candi- 
dates for  the  sacred  office.  Without  some  provision  of  this  kind,  it  is  in 
most  cases  utterly  impossible  to  bring  forward  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
with  that  furniture  and  those  qualifications  for  their  work  which  the  state 
of  society  now  renders,  in  a  great  measure,  indispensable  to  their  i-espect- 
ability  and  usefulness.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  shall  never  cease  to  con- 
sider vital  and  experimental  religion  as  the  first  and  most  indispensable 
qualification  in  every  candidate  for  the  holy  ministry.  All  attainments 
without  this,  would  unquestionably  be  not  only  inadequate,  but  pernicious. 
Yet  it  must  also  be  admitted,  that  piety  alone  cannot  qualify  a  man  to  be  a 
teacher  of  the  gospel,  especially  in  circumstances  where  the  literary  and 
scientific  attainments  of  many  avowed  infidels,  and  the  general  improvement 
of  almost  all  descriptions  of  people,  will  render  it  impossible  for  the  religious 
teacher  to  maintain  weight  of  character,  and  permanent  influence,  if  his 
knowledge  be  scanty,  and  his  literature  circumscribed.  The  Minister  him- 
self, in  such  a  situation,  will  feel,  and  be  disconcerted  by  a  sense  of  his  infe- 
riority, and  will  neither  speak  with  confidence  in  himself,  nor  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  beget  and  preserve  confidence  in  the  minds  of  others. 

"Influenced  by  these  considerations,  it  has  been  the  universal  custom  of 
the  Protestant  Churches  in  Europe,  and  of  none  more  than  of  that  Church 
from  which  we  derive  our  origin,  to  encourage  a  learned  and  pious  ministry, 
and  to  institute  schools  for  the  purpose.  These  schools,  particularly  in 
Scotland  and  Holland,  have  been  cherished  with  the  greatest  care  ever  since 
the  time  of  the  glorious  lleformation,  and  have  been  attended  with  the  hap- 
piest consequences;  nor  would  it  be  difficult  to  prove  that  they  have  had  a 
most  important  efficacy  in  preserving  the  influence  of  evangelical  truth  in 
those  countries.  Churches  in  this  country  derived  from  those  of  kScotland 
and  Holland,  and  still  more  recently,  our  Congregational  brethren  in  Massa- 
chusetts have  undertaken  similar  institutions,  and  have  already  begun  to 
reap  fruits  of  the  most  promising  kind.  Unless  we  imitate  their  laudable 
example,  the  consequences  will  probably  be,  that  in  a  few  years,  while  they 
52 


410  THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

rise  and  flourLsh,  we  shall  decline,  and  fall  into  a  state  of  discouraging  weak- 
ness and  iiiterioi'ity. 

"Impressed  with  these  convictions,  and  placed  in  these  solemn  circum- 
stances, the  Assembly  have  resolved,  in  the  name,  and  as  they  trust,  with 
an  humble  reliance  on  the  aid  of  the  great  King  of  Zion,  to  go  forward  and 
attempt  the  execution  of  the  plan,  which  will  be  herewith  submitted  to  your 
consideration.  They  have  preferred  the  establishment  of  a  single  school,  to 
the  erection  of  a  great  number,  because  after  comparing  the  reports  from 
the  several  Presbyteries,  and  the  sentiments  of  commissionei's  to  the  Assem- 
bly from  the  various  parts  of  the  Church,  there  appeared  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  former  plan  would  be  most  acceptable  and  most  generally 
approved;  and  also  because  they  are  of  opinion,  that  this  plan,  by  concen- 
trating the  strength  and  resources  of  the  whole  Church,  will  furnish  a  more 
complete  system  of  education,  and  tend  more  than  any  other  to  promote  the 
purity,  peace,  harmony  and  vigour  of  the  Presbyterian  body  in  the  United 
States. 

"And  now,  dear  brethren,  it  depends,  under  God,  on  your  patronage  and 
liberality,  whether  the  plan  proposed  shall  be  carried  into  execution ;  and  if 
executed  at  all,  whether  with  languor  and  comparative  inutility,  or  with 
vigour  and  effect.  To  support  several  professors;  to  provide  an  adequate 
library;  and  to  furnish  the  means  of  gratuitous  instruction  and  boarding  to 
a  large  number  of  poor  and  pious  youth,  will  require  large  funds.  For 
obtaining  these,  we  have  no  human  dependence  but  your  liberality.  And 
accordingly  to  solicit  contributions  in  difierent  portions  of  the  Church,  we 
have  appointed  agents,  who  are  directed  to  report  the  result  of  their  solici- 
tations to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

"We  call  upon  you,  Christian  brethren,  as  the  professed  disciples  of 
Christ,  to  consider  the  important  crisis,  and  the  momentous  objects  which 
are  now  brought  to  your  view.  You  acknowledge  that  you  are  not  your 
own,  but  that  you  are  bought  with  a  price,  and  are  bound  to  glorify  God  in 
your  bodies  and  spirits,  which  are  his.  If  it  be  so,  yo?a'  silrer  and  your 
gold  are  the  Lord's;  and  you  are  under  obligations  to  employ  them  in  such 
a  manner,  as  will  most  effectually  promote  the  glory  of  him,  by  whose  bounty 
they  were  given  you.  With  this  great  principle  in  view,  consider  the  press- 
ing calls  of  large  and  flourishing  Churches,  who  solicit  in  vain  for  Ministers 
to  break  to  them  the  bread  of  life.  Consider  the  loud  and  affecting  cries  of 
many  destitute  settlements,  which  know  nothing  of  those  precious  privileges 
with  which  you  are  surrounded.  Consider  the  honour  of  the  Church,  with 
which  you  are  connected;  the  interests  of  religion,  for  which  you  profess  to 
feel;  the  infinite  value  of  immortal  souls,  who  are  perishing  for  lack  of 
knowledge;  the  authority  of  that  God  who  commands  you  to  compassionate 
them;  and  the  guilt  which  you  will  contract  if  the  health  of  the  Church 
should  languish,  or  souls  perish,  by  your  negligence  or  parsimony.  Consider 
these  things,  and  then  say  whether  you  can  consent  to  withhold  a  portion 
of  your  substance  when  called  upon  to  aid  in  one  of  the  most  important  con- 
cerns ever  presented  to  your  consideration. 

"Brethren,  we  leave  this  subject  for  your  solemn  and  prayerful  delibera- 
tion. Praying  that  He  who  has  the  hearts  of  all  flesh  in  his  hands,  may 
dispose  you  to  do  that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  and  honourable 
to  your  Christian  profession;  and  that  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  may  be  mul- 
tiplied unto  you  from  God  the  Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we 
are,  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel,  your  friends  and  brethren. 
Signed  by  order  of  the  Assembly. 

John  B.  Romeyn,  Moderator." 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  411 

"  The  Stated  Clerk  was  directed  to  have  printed  five  hundred  copies  of 
the  plan  for  a  theological  school,  and  of  the  letter  on  the  subject,  and  a 
number  of  subscription  papers." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  457. 

§  191.  Agreement  with  the  Trustees  of  A^ew  Jersey/  College. 

(ci)  "  An  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  stating  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  their  Board,  to  confer 
with  a  committee  of  this  Assembly  on  the  establishment  of  a  theological 
school,  being  received,  was  read,  and  Drs.  Alexander,  and  Nott,  the  Eev. 
John  P.  Campbell.  Messrs.  Connelly,  and  Bethune,  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  the  committee  of  the  Trustees." — Minutes,  1811, 
p.  466. 

(6)  "This  committee  reported  among  other  things,  that  they  deem  it 
expedient  on  the  part  of  this  Assembly,  to  appoint  a  committee  with  ample 
powers  to  meet  a  committee  on  the  part  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  invested  with  similar  powers  to  frame  the  plan  of  a  Constitution 
for  the  theological  seminary,  containing  the  fundamental  principles  of  a 
union  with  the" Trustees  of  that  college,  and  the  seminary  already  established 
by  them,  which  shall  never  be  changed  or  altered  without  the  mutual  con- 
sent of  both  parties,  provided  that  it  should  be  deemed  proper  to  locate  the 
Assembly's  seminary  at  the  same  place  with  that  of  the  college."  [The 
committee  was  appointed.] — Minutes,  1811,  pp.  470,  471. 

§192.    Ter'ms  of  agreement. 

"The  following  plan  of  an  agreement  between  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  last  G-eneral  Assembly,  and  a  committee  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  for  the  location  and  establishment  of  a  Theological  Semi- 
nary, was  submitted  to  this  Assembly,  and  was  adopted. 

"1.  That  the  Theological  Seminary,  about  to  be  erected  by  the  General 
Assembly,  shall  have  its  location  in  Princeton  or  its  immediate  vicinity,  in 
the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  in  such  connection  with  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  as  is  implied  in  the  following  articles. 

"2.  That  the  Trustees  of  the  College  engage,  that  the  General  Assembly 
and  Directors  to  be  by  them  appointed,  shall  carry  into  full  and  complete 
effect,  without  any  interposition,  interference,  let  or  hinderance  from  them 
the  Trustees  or  their  successors,  the  whole  plan  of  a  Theological  Seminary 
as  laid  down  and  agreed  upon  at  a  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  the  present 
year  of  our  Lord,  1811.  That  is  to  say,  that  the  said  General  Assembly 
shall  appoint  their  Directors,  choose  their  Professors,  carry  on  their  instruc- 
tion, govern  their  pupils,,  and  manage  their  funds  as  to  them  shall  appear 
best. 

*'3.  That  the  Trustees  of  the  College  engage  to  the  General  Assembly 
freely  to  allow  them  to  erect,  at  their  own  expense,  on  the  grounds  belonging 
to  the  College,  such  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  pupils  and  profes- 
sors as  they  may  judge  proper,  and  which  may  not  interfere  with  the  build- 
ings and  their  conveniences  already  erected  by  the  Trustees;  and  to  prevent 
all  future  dissatisfaction  on  this  subject,  that  it  be  agreed  that  when  the 
General  Assembly  or  the  directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  may  wish 
to  erect  any  building  on  the  College  grounds,  and  there  shall  be  any  dis- 
cordance of  views  relative  to  the  same,  then  the  General  Assembly,  or  the 
directors  aforesaid,  shall  appoint  three  men,  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  the 
same  number,  and  these  six  shall  choose  one  man  not  belonging  to  either 
body;  and  these  seven  men,  by  a  majority  of  votes,  shall  determine  whether 
said  building  can  be  properly  erected  on  said  grounds,  and  if  so,  what  shall 
be  the  site  and  size  of  the  same;  and  that  this  determination  shall  be  con- 


412  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

elusive  and  final  with  both  parties.  Provided  nothing  contained  in  this 
article  shall  be  understood  to  prohibit  the  General  Assembly,  or  the  Direc- 
tors of  the  Theological  Seminary,  from  making  use  of  any  other  ground 
within  the  limits  prescribed  in  article  first  for  the  purposes  aforesaid. 

"  4.  That  the  Trustees  engage  to  the  General  Assembly  to  grant  them 
every  practicable  accommodation  in  the  buildings  now  existing,  not  only  till  , 
others  may  be  erected  by  the  Assembly,  but  afterwards,  so  long  as  the  same 
may  be  desirable. 

"  5.  That  the  Trustees  engage  to  endeavour  to  receive  into  the  College 
all  the  youth  whom  the  Assembly,  or  the  Directors  by  them  appointed,  may 
send  to  it  for  the  purpose  of  education,  subject  to  such  examination  at 
entrance,  and  to  such  discipline  during  their  residence  in  College,  as  the 
other  pupils  of  the  College  are  subjected  to;  the  Trustees  to  receive  for  the 
expenses  of  board,  tuition,  and  room-rent,  the  same  as  for  others;  and  giv- 
ing to  the  Assembly  the  assurance,  that  as  pupils  increase,  and  the  funds  of 
the  College  will  permit,  they  will  reduce  as  low  as  possible  all  the  expenses 
of  the  pupils  under  their  care. 

*'  6.  That  the  Trustees  agree  to  receive  and  hold,  for  the  use  of  the 
Assembly,  such  sums  of  money  as  they  may  voluntarily  choose  to  deposit  in 
the  hands  of  the  Trustees  for  improvement,  so  as  to  incur  no  inconvenience 
to  such  Trustees  from  the  limitation  of  their  charter;  and  that  such  sums 
of  money  be  accordingly  invested  in  such  funds  as  the  Assembly  shall 
direct;  that  the  Trustees  pay  the  interest  thereof,  when  received,  to  the 
order  of  the  Assembly;  keep  it  wholly  separate  from  the  funds  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  pay  over  or  transfer  to  the  order  of  the  Assembly,  the  principal 
sum  whenever  they  shall  so  direct. 

"  7.  That  the  Trustees  grant  to  the  professors  and  pupils  of  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  the  free  use  of  the  College  library,  subject  to  such  rules  as 
may  be  adopted  for  the  preservation  of  the  books,  and  the  good  order  of  the 
same. 

"  8.  That  if  the  General  Assembly  shall  wish  to  establish  at  Princeton 
an  elementary  school,  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  such  learning  as  usual- 
ly precedes  their  entrance  into  College,  the  Trustees  agree  to  aid  them  in 
this  undertaking,  by  every  accommodation,  and  all  the  patronage  in  their 
power;  so,  however,  as  not  to  engage  to  make  drafts  on  the  funds  of  the 
College  for  that  purpose. 

"9.  That,  if  at  any  time,  the  General  Assembly  shall  find  that  the  con- 
nection between  their  Seminary  and  the  College  does  not  conduce  sufficient- 
ly to  the  great  purposes  contemplated  to  be  answered  by  the  said  Seminary, 
they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  remove  it  to  some  other  place.  And  the  Trastees 
engage  that,  while  the  Theological  Seminary  shall  remain  at  Princeton,  no 
professorship  of  theology  shall  be  established  in  the  College. 

"  10.  That,  whereas  the  Trustees  of  the  College  have  in  their  hands  a 
fund,  the  annual  income  of  which  is  nearly  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  appro- 
priated by  the  donors  to  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth  for  the  gos- 
pel ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination;  the  Trustees  give  an  assu- 
rance to  the  Assembly,  that  if  the  first  of  these  articles  take  eftect,  they  will 
pay  a  high  regard  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Assembly,  or  of  their 
Directors,  as  to  the  youth  who  shall  receive  the  benefit  of  this  fund. 

AsHBEL  Green,  John  Woodiiull, 

Richard  Stockton, 

Committee  of  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  College. 
Archibald  Alexander,         Robert  Ralston, 
Jacob  J.  Janeway,  John  McDowell, 

Committee  of  the  General  Assembly . 

^'Princeton,  June  26,  1811."  —Minutes,  1812,  p.  499. 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  413 

§  193.    The  location  fixed  at  Princeton. 

"The  resolution  for  locating  the  Theological  Seminary  was  again  resumed, 
and  after  considerable  discussion,  and  special  prayer  for  direction  on  the 
important  subject,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

'■^Resolved,  That  Princeton  be  the  site  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  leav- 
ing the  subject  open  as  to  its  permanency,  agreeably  to  the  stipulations 
agreed  upon  by  the  joint  committees  of  the  last  Assembly  and  the  Trustees 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey."— Mm/ie.?,  1812,  p.  497. 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  permanent  location  of  the  Theological  Seminary  be 
in  the  borough  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  in  conformity  with  the  agreement 
with  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  signed  at  Princeton,  June  26th,  1811, 
and  ratified  by  the  General  Assembly  at  their  sessions  in  May,  1812." — 
Minutes,  1813,  p.  533. 

Title  2. — Constitution  of  the  Seminary. 
§191. 

[The  following  are  all  the  provisions  of  the  Plan  of  the  Seminary  that  are  of  general 
interest.  Such  as  relate  to  the  mere  internal  management  are  omitted.  The  plan  was 
drawn  up  by  a  committee,  (see  above,  Title  2,  §  5,)  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly,  (^Min- 
utes, 181 1,  p.  472,)  and  subsequently  by  occasional  amendments  modified,  to  its  present 
form.  In  the  following  articles  those  sections  which  have  no  reference  affixed  to  them 
stand  as  originally  adopted.  All  the  other  seminaries  of  our  Church  are  organized  upon 
the  same  essential  plan.] 

§195.  Article  I. —  Of  the  General  Assemhli/. 

"Section  1.  As  this  institution  derives  its  origin  from  the  Grcneral 
Assembly,  so  that  body  is  to  be  considered  at  all  times  as  its  patron,  and 
the  fountain  of  its  powers.  The  Assembly  shall,  accordingly,  ultimately 
sanction  all  its  laws,  direct  its  instructions,  and  appoint  its  principal  offi- 
cers. 

"Sect.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  choose  a  Board  of  Directors,  con- 
sisting of  twenty-one  Ministers  and  nine  Ruling  Elders,  by  whom  the  Semi- 
nary shall  be  inspected  and  conducted.  Of  this  number,  one-third,  or  seven 
Ministers  and  three  Elders,  shall  be  chosen  annually,  to  continue  in  office 
three  years.  And  if  any  vacancy  shall  occur  in  the  Board,  by  death,  resig- 
nation, or  incapacity  to  serve,  the  Assembly  may  annually  fill  up  such 
vacancies. — Minutes,  1815,  p.  581. 

"Sect.  3.  All  professors  of  the  Seminary  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Assem- 
bly. But  in  cases  of  necessity,  the  Board  of  Directors  may  employ  a  suita- 
ble person  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  professor,  till  a  meeting  of  the  Assem- 
bly shall  take  place. 

"Sect.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  all  times,  have  the  power  of 
adding  to  the  Constitutional  Articles  of  the  Seminary,  and  of  abrogating, 
altering,  or  amending  them;  but,  in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  the  contem- 
plated additions,  abrogations,  alterations,  or  amendments,  shall,  in  every 
case,  be  proposed  at  one  Assembly,  and  not  adopted  till  the  Assembly  of 
the  subsequent  year,  except  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

§  196.  Article  II. —  Of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

"Sect.  1.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  meet  statedly,  once  in  each  year  at 
the  close  of  the  session;  and  oftener  on  their  own  adjournments,  if  they 
shall  judge  it  expedient.  Nine  members  of  the  Board  shall  be  a  quorum; 
provided  always,  that  of  this  number  five  at  least  be  Ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  President,  or  in  case  of  his  absence,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  be 
one. — 3Iinutes,  1841,  p.  436, 


414  THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

''Sect.  2.  The  Board  shall  choose,  out  of  their  own  number,  a  President, 
two  Vice-Presidents,  and  a  Secretaiy.  In  the  absence  of  the  President  and 
Vice-Presidents,  the  senior  member  present  shall  preside. 

"Sect.  8.  The  President  of  the  ]Joard,  or  in  the  event  of  his  death, 
absence,  or  inability  to  act,  the  first  Vice-President,  shall,  at  the  request  of 
any  three  members,  expressed  to  him  in  writinc;,  call  a  special  meetiufr  of 
the  Board  of  Directors  by  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  each;  in  which 
letter  notice  shall  be  given,  not  only  of  the  place  and  time  of  meeting,  but 
of  the  business  intended  to  be  transacted  at  the  meeting  notified;  and  this 
letter  shall  be  sent  at  least  twenty  days  before  the  time  of  said  meeting. — 
Minutes,  1812,  p.  508. 

"Sect.  4.  The  Secretary  of  the  Board  shall  keep  accurate  records  of  all 
tbe  proceedings  of  the  Directors;  and  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  lay  these 
records,  or  a  faithful  transcript  of  the  same,  before  the  Gleneral  Assembly, 
annually,  for  the  unrestrained  inspection  of  all  the  members. 

"Sect.  7.  The  Board  shall  direct  the  Professors  of  the  Seminary  in  regard 
to  the  subjects  and  topics  on  which  they  are  severally  to  give  instruction  to 
the  pupils,  so  far  as  the  same  shall  not  be  prescribed  by  this  plan,  or  by  the 
orders  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"Sect.  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  inaugurate  the 
Professors  of  the  Seminary,  and  to  direct  what  forms  shall  be  used,  and 
what  services  performed,  on  such  occasions. 

"Sect.  9.  Every  Director,  previously  to  his  taking  his  seat  as  a  member 
of  the  Board,  shall  solemnly  subscribe  the  following  formula,  viz.  '  Approv- 
ing the  plan  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  I  solemnly  declare  and  promise,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God  and  of  this  Board,  that  I  will  faithfully  endeavour  to  carry 
into  effect  all  the  articles  and  provisions  of  said  plan,  and  to  promote  the 
great  design  of  the  Seminary.' 

"Sect.  10.  The  Board  of  Directors" shall  inspect  the  fidelity  of  the  Pro- 
fessors, especially  in  regard  to  the  doctrines  actually  taught;  and  if,  after 
due  inquiry  and  examination,  they  shall  judge  that  any  Professor  is  either 
unsound  in  the  faith,  opposed  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Presbyterian 
Church  Government,  immoral  in  his  conduct,  unfaithful  to  his  trust,  or 
incompetent  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  they  shall  faithfully  report  him 
as  such  to  the  General  Assembly.  Or  if  the  longer  continuance  of  a  Pro- 
fessor be  judged  highly  dangerous,  the  Directors  may  immediately  suspend 
him,  and  appoint  another  in  his  place,  till  the  whole  business  can  be  report- 
ed and  submitted  to  the  Assembly. 

"Sect.  11.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  watch  over 
the  conduct  of  the  students;  to  redress  grievances;  to  examine  into  the 
whole  course  of  instruction  and  study  in  the  Seminary;  and  generally  to 
superintend  and  endeavour  to  promote  all  its  interests. 

"Sect.  12.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  make,  in  writing,  a  detailed  and 
faithful  report  of  the  state  of  the  Seminary  to  every  General  Assembly ; 
and  they  may,  at  the  same  time,  recommend  such  measures  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  Seminary  as  to  them  may  appear  proper. 

§  197.  Article  HI.— 0/ the  Professors. 

"Sect.  1.  The  number  of  the  Professors  in  the  Seminary  shall  be  increased 
or  diminished,  as  the  Assembly  may  from  time  to  time  direct.  But  when 
the  Seminary  shall  be  completely  organized,  there  shall  not  be  less  than 
three  Professors. 

"  Sect.  2.  No  person  shall  be  inducted  into  the  office  of  Professor  of  Divi- 
nity, but  an  ordained  Minister  of  the  gospel. 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  415 

"  Sect.  3.  Eveiy  iDerson  elected  to  a  professorship  iu  this  Seminary,  shall, 
ou  being  inaugurated,  solemnly  subscribe  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Cate- 
chisms, and  Form  of  G-overnment  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  agreeably  to 
the  following  formula,  viz. — '  In  the  presence  of  G  od  and  of  the  Directors  of 
this  Seminary,  I  do  solemnly,  and  ex  animo  adopt,  receive,  and  subscribe 
the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Catechisms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  as  the  confession  of  my  faith;  or,  as  a  summary 
and  just  exhibition  of  that  system  of  doctrine  and  religious  belief  which  is 
contained  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  therein  revealed  by  God  to  man  for  his 
salvation;  and  I  do  solemnly  ex  animo  profess  to  receive  the  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment of  said  Church,  as  agreeable  to  the  inspired  oracles.  And  I  do 
solemnly  promise  and  engage,  not  to  inculcate,  teach,  or  insinuate  anything 
which  shall  appear  to  me  to  contradict  or  contravene,  either  directly  or  im- 
pliedly, anything  taught  in  the  said  Confession  of  Faith  or  Catechisms;  nor 
to  oppose  any  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Presbyterian  Church  Govern- 
ment, while  I  shall  continue  a  Professor  in  this  Seminary.' 

"  Sect.  4.  The  salaries  of  the  Professors  shall  be  recommended  by  the 
Directors;  but  they  shall  be  fixed  only  by  a  vote  of  the  General  Assembly. 

'*  Sect.  6.  Each  Professor  shall  lay  before  the  Board  of  Directors,  as  soon 
as  practicable  after  his  appointment,  a  detailed  exhibition  of  the  system  and 
method  which  he  proposes  to  pursue,  and  the  subjects  which  he  proposes  to 
discuss,  in  conducting  the  studies  of  the  youth  that  shall  come  under  his 
care :  and  iu  this  system  he  shall  make  such  alterations  or  additions  as  the 
Board  shall  direct;  so  that,  eventually,  the  whole  course  through  which  the 
pupils  shall  be  carried,  shall  be  no  other  than  that  which  the  Board  of 
Directors  shall  have  approved  and  sanctioned,  conformably  to  Sect.  8,  Art.  II. 
And  as  often  as  any  Professor  shall  think  that  variations  and  additions  of 
importance  may  be  advantageously  introduced  into  his  course  of  teaching, 
he  shall  submit  the  same  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  for  their  approbation  or 
rejection. 

"  Sect.  8.  Any  Professor  intending  to  resign  his  office,  shall  give  six 
months'  notice  of  such  intention  to  the  Board  of  Directors. 

"  Sect.  9.  The  Professors  of  the  institution  shall  be  considered  as  a 
Faculty.  They  shall  meet  at  such  seasons  as  they  may  judge  proper.  In 
every  meeting  the  senior  Professor  present  shall  preside.  The  Faculty  shall 
choose  a  clerk,  and  keep  accurate  records  of  all  their  proceedings;  which 
records  shall  be  laid  before  the  Directors  at  every  meeting  of  the  Board. 
The  President  of  the  Faculty  shall  call  a  meeting  whenever  he  shall  judge 
it  expedient,  and  whenever  he  shall  be  requested  to  do  so  by  any  other 
member.  By  the  Faculty,  regularly  convened,  shall  be  determined  the 
hours  and  seasons  at  which  the  classes  shall  attend  the  Professors  severally, 
so  as  to  prevent  interference  and  confusion,  and  to  afford  to  the  pupils  the 
best  opportunities  of  improvement.  The  Faculty  shall  attend  to,  and  decide 
on  all  cases  of  discipline,  and  all  questions  of  order,  as  they  shall  arise. 
They  shall  agree  ou  the  rules  of  order,  decorum,  and  duty,  (not  inconsistent 
with  any  provision  in  the  Plan  of  the  Seminary,  nor  with  any  order  of  the 
Board  of  Directors,)  to  which  the  students  shall  be  subjected;  and  these 
they  shall  reduce  to  writing,  and  cause  to  be  publicly  and  frequently  read. 
They  shall  determine  the  hours  at  which  the  whole  of  the  pupils  shall, 
morning  and  evening,  attend  for  social  worship,  and  the  manner  in  which, 
and  the  person  or  persons,  of  their  own  nuu)ber,  by  whom  the  exercises  of 
devotion  shall  be  conducted. — Jlinutc.^,  1840,  p.  293. 

"  Sect.  10.  The  Faculty  shall  be  empowered  to  dismiss  from  the  Seminary 
any  student  who  shall  prove  unsound  in  his  religious  sentiments;  immoral 


416  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

or  disorderly  in  his  conduct;  or  who  may  be,  in  their  opinion,  on  any 
account  whatsoever,  a  dangerous,  or  unprofitable  member  of  the  institution, 
"  >SVc/.  12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Professors,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Board  of  Directors,  to  supply  the  pupils  of  the  institution  with  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  of  the 
Christian  Church;  if  this  supply  shall  not,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Directors, 
be  satisfactorily  furnished  by  a  Church  or  Churches  in  the  place  where  the 
institution  shall  be  established. 

§  198.  Article  IV. —  Of  study  and  attainments. 

"  Sect.  1.  Every  student,  at  the  close  of  his  course,  must  have  made  the  fol- 
lowing attainments,  viz.  He  must  be  well  skilled  in  the  original  languages 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  must  be  able  to  explain  the  principal  difficulties 
which  arise  in  the  perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  either  from  erroneous  transla- 
tions, apparent  inconsistencies,  real  obscurities,  or  objections  arising  from 
history,  reason,  or  argument.  He  must  be  versed  in  Jewish  and  Christian 
antiquities,  which  serve  to  explain  and  illustrate  scripture.  He  must  have 
an  acquaintance  with  ancient  geography,  and  with  oriental  customs,  which 
throw  light  on  the  sacred  records.  Thus  he  will  have  laid  the  foundation 
for  becoming  a  sound  biblical  critic. 

"  He  must  have  read  and  digested  the  principal  arguments  and  writings 
relative  to  what  has  been  called  the  deistical  controversy. — Thus  will  he  be 
qualified  to  become  a  defender  of  the  Christian  faith. 

"  He  must  be  able  to  support  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Catechisms,  by  a  ready,  pertinent,  and  abundant  quotation  of  Scripture 
texts  for  that  purpose.  He  must  have  studied,  carefully  and  correctly, 
Natural,  Didactic,  Polemic,  and  Casuistic  Theology.  He  must  have  a  con- 
siderable acquaintance  with  G-eneral  History  and  Chronology,  and  a  particu- 
lar acquaintance  with  the  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  Thus  he  will 
be  preparing  to  become  an  able  and  sound  divine  and  casuist. 

'^  He  must  have  read  a  considerable  number  of  the  best  practical  writers  on 
the  subject  of  religion.  He  must  have  learned  to  compose  with  correctness 
and  readiness  in  his  own  language,  and  to  deliver  what  he  has  composed  to 
others  in  a  natural  and  acceptable  manner.  He  must  be  well  acquainted 
with  the  several  parts,  and  the  proper  structure  of  popular  lectures  and  ser- 
mons. He  must  have  composed  at  least  two  lectures  and  four  popular  ser- 
mons, that  shall  have  been  approved  by  the  Professors.  He  must  have 
carefully  studied  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  care.  Thus  he  will  be  prepared 
to  become  a  useful  preacher,  and  a  faithful  pastor. 

''  He  must  have  studied  attentively  the  form  of  Church  Government,  author- 
ized by  the  Scriptures,  and  the  administration  of  it  as  it  has  taken  place  in 
Protestant  Churches.  Thus  he  will  be  qualified  to  exercise  discipline,  and 
to  take  part  in  the  government  of  the  Church  in  all  its  judicatories. 

"  Sect.  2.  The  period  of  continuance  in  the  Theological  Seminary  shall,  in 
no  case,  be  less  thaix  three  years,  previously  to  an  examination  for  a  certifi- 
cate of  approbation.  But  students  may  enter  the  Seminary,  and  enjoy  the 
course  of  instruction  for  a- shorter  time  than  three  years,  provided  they  in  all 
other  respects  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  Seminary,  of  which  facts  they  may 
receive  a  written  declaration  from  the  Professors. 

"  Sect.  8.  There  shall  be  an  examination  of  all  the  pupils  in  the  Seminary 
at  every  stated  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors.  Those  pupils  who  shall 
have  regularly  and  diligently  studied  for  three  years,  shall  be  admitted  to 
an  examination  on  the  subjects  specified  in  this  article.  All  examinations 
shall  be  conducted  by  the  Professors,  in  the  presence  of  the  Directors,  or  a 
committee  of  them.     Every  Director  present  shall  be  at  liberty,  during  the 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  417 

progress  of  any  examination,  or  after  the  same  shall  have  been  closed  by  the 
Professors,  to  put  to  any  pupils  such  questions  as  he  shall  deem  proper. 
Jjvery  pupil  that  shall  have  passed  his  final  examination  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Directors  present,  shall  receive  a  certificate  of  the  same,  signed  by  the 
Professors,  with  which  he  shall  be  remitted  to  the  Presbytery,  under  whose 
care  he  is  placed,  to  be  disposed  of  as  such  Presbytery  shall  direct.  Those 
who  do  not  pass  a  satisfactory  examination,  shall  remain  a  longer  space  in 
the  Seminary." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  707. 

^^Sect.  4.  It  shall  be  the  object  of  the  Professors  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments in  the  instruction  of  their  pupils,  as  shall  be  best  adapted  to  enable 
them,  in  the  space  of  three  years,  to  be  examined  with  advantage  on  the 
subjects  specified  in  this  article.'' 

Article  V. —  0/ devotion  and  improvement  in  practical  piety. 
[Omitted.] 

§  199.  Article  Vl.—  OftJie  Students. 

"  Sect.  1.  Every  student,  applying  for  admission  to  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, shall  produce  satisfactory  testimonials  that  he  possesses  good  natural 
talents,  and  is  of  a  prudent  and  discreet  deportment;  that  he  is  in  full  com- 
munion with  some  regular  Church;  that  he  has  passed  through  a  regular 
course  of  academical  study;  or,  wanting  this,  he  shall  submit  himself  to  an 
examination  in  regard  to  the  branches  of  literature  taught  in  such  a  course. 

"  Sect.  2.  The  first  six  months  of  every  student  in  the  Seminary  shall  be 
considered  as  probationary;  and  if,  at  the  end  of  this  period,  any  student 
shall  appear  to  the  Professors  not  qualified  to  proceed  in  his  studies,  they 
shall  so  report  him  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  who,  if  they  are  of  the  same 
opinion  with  the  Professors,  shall  dismiss  him  from  the  Seminary. 

"  Sect.  3.  The  hours  of  study  and  of  recreation  for  the  students  shall  be 
fixed  by  the  Professors,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Directors;  and  every 
student  shall  pay  a  strict  regard  to  the  rules  established  relative  to  this 
subject. 

''  Sect.  4.  Every  student  shall  be  obliged  to  write  on  such  theological  and 
other  subjects,  as  may  be  prescribed  to  him  by  the  Professors,  once  a  month; 
and  shall  also  commit  to  memory  a  piece  of  his  own  composition,  and  pro- 
nounce it  in  public,  before  the  Professors  and  students. — Minutes,  1840, 
p.  293. 

*'  Sect.  9.  Every  student,  before  he  takes  his  standing  in  the  Seminary, 
shall  subscribe  the  following  declaration,  viz.  'Deeply  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  the  importance  of  improving  in  knowledge,  prudence,  and  piety,  in 
my  preparation  for  the  gospel  ministry,  I  solemnly  promise,  in  a  reliance  on 
divine  grace,  that  I  will  faithfully  and  diligently  attend  on  all  the  instruc- 
tions of  this  Seminary,  and  that  I  will  conscientiouslj'  and  vigilantly  observe 
all  the  rules  and  regulations  specified  in  the  Plan  for  its  instruction  and 
government,  so  far  as  the  same  relate  to  the  students ;  and  that  I  will  obey 
all  the  lawful  requisitions,  and  readily  yield  to  all  the  wholesome  admoni- 
tions of  the  Professors  and  Directors  of  the  Seminary,  while  I  shall  continue 
a  member  of  it.' 

"  Sect.  10.  The  exercises  of  the  Seminary  shall  be  suspended  during 
fourteen  weeks  in  every  year;  the  number  of  vacations,  and  the  times  at 
which  they  shall  begin  and  end,  to  be  determined  by  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors.— Minutes,  1840,  p.  293. 

^2^0.  Article  VIL— Of  the  Fimds. 

"  Sect.  1.  The  funds  of  the  Institution  shall  be  kept,  at  all  times,  entirely 
distinct  and  separate  from  all  other  moneys  or  funds  whatsoever;  and  they 


418  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

shall  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  such  corporation,  or  disposed  of  for  safe 
keeping  and  improvement,  in  such  other  manner  as  the  General  Assembly 
shall  direct. 

"  Sect.  2.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall,  from  time  to  time,  as  they  may 
see  proper,  lay  before  the  Assembly  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the  funds, 
and  propositions  for  the  appropriation  of  such  sums  as  they  may  think  neces- 
sary for  particular  purposes. 

"  Serf.  8.  No  money  shall,  at  any  time,  be  drawn  from  the  funds,  but  by 
an  appropriation  and  order  of  the  Assembly  for  the  purpose. 

"  Sect.  4.  A  fair  statement  shall  annually  be  laid  before  the  Assembly, 
by  the  proper  officer,  of  the  amount  of  the  funds  belonging  to  the  Seminary, 
of  the  items  which  constitute  that  amount,  and  of  the  expenditures  in  detail 
for  the  preceding  year. 

"  Sect.  5.  The  intention  and  directions  of  testators  or  donors,  in  regard  to 
moneys  or  other  property  left  or  given  to  the  Seminary,  shall,  at  all  times, 
be  sacredly  regarded.  And  if  any  individual,  or  any  number  of  individuals, 
not  greater  than  three,  shall  by  will,  or  during  his  or  their  lives,  found  or 
endow  a  professorship  or  professorships,  a  scholarship  or  scholarships,  or  a 
fund  or  funds,  destined  to  special  purposes,  said  professorships,  scholarships, 
or  funds  shall  for  ever  afterwards  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  or 
names  of  those  who  founded  or  endowed  them;  and  if  any  Congregation, 
Presbytery,  Synod,  or  Association,  shall  found  a  professorship  or  professor- 
ships, a  scholarship  or  scholarships,  or  a  fund  or  funds,  said  professorships, 
scholarships,  or  funds,  shall  for  ever  afterwards  be  called  and  known  by  such 
names  as  the  body  founding  them  shall  give. 

"  Sect.  6.  After  supporting  the  Professors,  and  defraying  the  other  neces- 
sary charges  of  the  Seminary,  the  funds  shall  be  applied,  as  far  as  circum- 
stances will  admit,  to  defray  or  diminish  the  expenses  of  those  students  who 
may  need  pecuniary  aid,  as  well  as  to  lessen,  generally,  the  expense  of  a 
residence  at  the  Seminary." 

Title  3. — Rules  relating  to  Professors  and  Directors. 
§  201.   Election  of  Directors. 

"  That  when  the  Assembly  shall  proceed  to  the  election  of  Directors  of 
the  Theological  Seminary,  the  Clerk  shall  call  on  the  members  severally  to 
nominate  any  number  of  persons,  not  exceeding  the  number  to  be  elected,  if 
he  shall  think  it  expedient  to  make  any  nomination. 

''2.  That  when  the  members  have  been  severally  called  upon  in  the 
order  of  the  roll  to  make  a  nomination  agreeably  to  the  above  rule,  the 
names  of  the  persons  nominated  shall  be  immediately  read  by  the  Clerk 
for  the  information  of  the  members,  and  that  on  the  day  following,  the 
Assembly  proceed  to  elect  by  ballot  the  whole  number  of  Directors  to  be 
chosen. 

"3.  That  two  members  be  appointed  to  take  an  account  of  the  votes  given 
for  the  candidates  nominated  for  Directors  of  said  Theological  Seminary, 
and  to  report  to  the  x\ssembly  the  number  of  votes  for  each  of  the  said  can- 
didates who  have  a  plurality  of  votes,  who  shall  be  declared  duly  elected; 
but  if  the  whole  number  to  be  elected  should  not  be  elected,  and  two  or 
more  of  the  candidates  should  have  an  equal  number  of  votes,  then  in  that 
case  the  house  shall  proceed  to  elect  from  the  nomination  a  sufficient  num- 
ber to  complete  the  Board,  and  shall  continue  to  vote  in  this  manner  until 
the  full  number  specified  by  the  constitution  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
be  completed. 

'*4.  When  the  votes  shall  have  been  counted,  and  the  requisite  number 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  419 

of  Directors  shall  have  been  elected  in  the  manner  ahove  specified,  the 
Moderator  shall  announce  to  the  Assembly  the  names  of  those  persons  who 
shall  appear  to  have  the  highest  number  of  votes,  and  are  thus  elected." — 
Minutes,  1812,  p.  503. 

§  202.    Calling  the  roll  discontinued. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  rule  requiring  the  roll  to  be  called  when  nominations 
for  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminaries  are  made,  be,  and  it  is  hereby 
repealed;  and  that  when  this  subject  is  taken  up,  any  member  shall  have 
the  right,  without  a  call  of  his  name,  to  nominate  as  many  Directors  as  are 
to  be  chosen," — Minutes,  1828,  p.  230. 

§  203.   The  Directors  to  report  vacancies. 

"Besolved,  That  it  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  every  year,  ill 
their  report  to  the  Assembly,  to  give  a  list  of  the  Directors  whose  term  of 
service  may  have  expired,  as  well  as  of  those  whose  seats  may  have  become 
vacant  by  death,  resignation,  or  incapacity  to  serve." — Minutes,  1815, 
p.  581. 

§  204.  Manner  of  electing  Professors. 

''That  whenever  a  Professor  or  Professors  are  to  be  elected,  the  Assembly 
by  a  vote  shall  determine  the  day  when  said  election  shall  be  held,  which 
day  shall  be  at  least  two  days  after  the  above  determination  has  been 
made.  Immediately  after  the  vote  fixing  the  day  has  passed,  the  Assem- 
bly shall  have  a  season  for  special  prayer  for  direction  in  their  choice. 
The  election  in  all  cases  shall  be  made  by  ballot.  The  ballots  having  been 
counted  by  two  members  previously  appointed,  they  shall  report  a  statement 
of  said  votes  to  the  Moderator,  and  in  case  there  shall  appear  to  be  an 
equal  number  of  votes  for  any  two  or  more  candidates,  the  Assembly  shall 
proceed  either  immediately,  or  at  some  subsequent  period  of  their  ses- 
sions to  a  new  election.  The  choice  being  made,  it  shall  be  announced 
to  the  Assembly  by  the  Moderator." — Minutes,  1812,  p.  503. 

§  205.   Proposed  precaution  in  electing  Professors. 

[The  Synod  of  North  Carolina]  "respectfully  suggest  to  the  General 
Assembly  the  propriety  of  adopting  it  as  a  standing  rule  of  that  body,  that 
no  Professor  of  the  Theological  Seminary  be  appointed,  unless  a  resolution 
specifying  the  time  of  such  appointment  be  passed  at  a  previous  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  made  known  to  the  Churches  through  the  printed 
'  Extracts'  of  the  General  Assembly."     [In  reply] 

'■'^ Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  highly  approve  of  the  solicitude 
manifested  by  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  to  prevent  haste,  partiality  or 
error  in  a  concern  so  deeply  interesting  to  the  Church  as  the  appointment 
of  a  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  recognize  the  high  impoit- 
ance  of  using  all  practicable  means  to  ensure,  in  every  election  of  a  theolo- 
gical Professor,  the  choice  of  a  teacher  who  will  not  only  be  able  to  commu- 
nicate knowledge,  but  be  solicitous  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  Church,  and 
a  strict  adherence  to  its  standards  in  doctrine  and  in  government;  yet  that 
the  Assembly  judge  that  the  measure  suggested  by  the  Synod  of  North 
Carolina  would  not,  if  adopted,  be  the  best  calculated  to  promote  the  design 
intended;  and  therefore,  that  it  will  remain  for  the  Assembly  to  guard 
against  the  evil  contemplated,  by  other  provisions,  more  practicable  in  their 
nature,  and  efficient  in  their  tendency." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  8. 


420  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

§206.  No  appointment  of  instructors  to  be  made  loithout  authority  of  the 

General  Assembly. 

''It  is  currently  reported  and  believed  that  regular  instruction  is  given  in 
the  Hebrew  language,  in  the  Seminary,  by  one  person,  upon  whose  character 
and  qualifications  the  Assembly  has  not  passed;  yet  no  allusion  is  made  iu 
the  report  [of  the  Board  of  Directors]  to  this  important  fact.  The  Assem- 
bly considers  such  an  omission  as  improper,  and  such  action  in  reference  to 
the  appointment  of  a  Hebrew  teacher  without  the  knowledge  of  this  body, 
as  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  the  institution,  and  with  the  relations  in 
which  it  stands  to  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  51. 

§  207.    The  reports  of  the  Board  should  be  full  and  specific. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  report  of  the  Directors  of 
Princeton  Seminary,  beg  leave  to  say  that  this  document  appears  to  have 
been  prepared  after  the  manner  of  former  reports.  The  whole  report  covers 
less  than  five  small  letter  sheet  pages,  openly  written,  of  which  nearly  three 
are  mere  lists  of  names.  It  is  impossible  from  the  report  to  form  any  idea 
concerning  the  presence  or  absence  of  missionary  spirit  amongst  the  students, 
of  the  general  spirit  of  piety  during  the  last  year  in  the  Seminary ;  or  indeed 
to  form  any  correct  opinion  whether  the  students  now  in  the  Seminary  pro- 
mise usefulness  in  the  pastoral  ofi&ce,  or  the  contrary.  ***** 

"It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Directors  have  not  favoured  the  Assembly 
with  more  of  that  information  in  regard  to  the  Seminary  which  ought  to  be 
expected  and  received.  We  are  constrained  to  regard  it  as  an  exceedingly 
grave  defect,  when  a  report  from  such  a  source  and  upon  such  a  subject, 
leaves  the  Assembly  so  much  in  the  dark  with  regard  to  the  vital  matters 
of  the  trust;  nor  does  it  seem  to  us  to  be  expedient  that  the  Church  should 
be  left,  as  in  this  instance,  to  general  rumour  for  its  knowledge  of  what  is 
officially  done  by  the  Directors  of  the  Seminary." — Minutes,  18-48,  p.  51. 

Title  4. — A  Missionary  Department  proposed. 

§  208. 
"Resolved,  That  the  Kev.  Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Miller,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  the  Rev.  James  Carnahan,  D.  D., 
the  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Sanford,  and  the  Rev. 
John  Breckinridge,  be  a  committee  to  consider  the  expediency  of  establish- 
ing a  missionary  institution,  for  the  instruction  and  training  of  missionaries  ; 
which  shall  be  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  connection 
with  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton;  and  that  this  committee  be 
instructed  to  mature  and  report  a  plan  of  the  same  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  provided  they,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  approve  of  such  an 
establishment." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  384. 

§  209. 

[The  report  of  this  committee  was  amended  and  adopted,  (Minutes,  1830,  pp.  II,  17,) 
as  follows:] 

(a)  "That  after  repeated  meetings,  and  mature  deliberations  on  the  sub- 
ject committed  to  them,  they  are  of  the  opinion  that  such  an  institution  as 
this  appointment  seems  to  contemplate  is  much  needed,  and  if  wisely  estab- 
lished and  maintained,  may  be  expected,  under  the  divine  blessing,  to  con- 
tribute much  to  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

"The  missionary  cause  is  assuming  an  importance  and  its  operations  an 
extent  which  must  more  and  more  interest  the  religious  public.  Every- 
thing, therefore,  that  is  adapted  to  impart  a  new  impulse  to  the  missionary 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  421 

spirit;  to  give  it  a  wise  and  happy  direction;  or  to  bring  a  larger  number  of 
individuals,  and  especially  of  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry  under  its 
immediate  influence,  cannot  fail  of  proving  both  reasonable  and  useful.  The 
committee  are,  therefore,  persuaded  that  the  General  Assembly  could 
scarcely  adopt  a  measure  better  adapted  to  aid  the  missionary  cause ;  to  draw 
down  the  richest  and  most  appropriate  blessings  on  the  students  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary;  to  meet  and  gratify  public  opinion;  and  to  furnish  a  centre 
of  information,  of  instruction,  and  of  impulse,  in  reference  to  this  great  sub- 
ject, from  which  invaluable  results  might  be  expected. 

(b)  ''The  spirit  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  essentially  a  spirit  of 
missions;  and  undoubtedly  one  of  the  first  and  highest  duties  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  is  to  nurture  and  extend  this  spirit,  and  to  make  all  her  estab- 
lishments tributary  to  its  advancement.  The  importance  therefore  of  con- 
necting an  institution  of  the  kind  proposed,  with  a  seminary  in  which  a 
large  number  of  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry  are  assembled  is  obvious. 
Its  native  tendency,  if  properly  conducted,  will  be  to  kindle  among  the  rising 
ministry,  a  new  and  more  fervent  zeal  on  behalf  of  missions;  to  call  forth, 
animate  and  prepare  larger  numbers  of  missionaries,  both  for  the  foreign  and 
domestic  field;  and  eventually  to  diffuse  throughout  all  our  Churches  more 
of  that  deep  and  practical  sense  of  obligation  in  reference  to  this  subject,  of 
the  want  of  which  we  have  much  reason  to  complain,  and  the  increase  of 
which  is  so  earnestly  to  be  desired. 

(c)  "In  another  view  also,  the  committee  believe  that  such  an  institution 
as  that  which  is  now  contemplated,  would  be  productive  of  incalculable 
benefit.  The  great  importance  of  maintaining  a  spirit  of  deep  and  elevated 
piety  in  our  theological  seminaries,  has  been  always  acknowledged  by  the 
friends  of  vital  religion,  and  is  beginning,  it  is  hoped,  to  attract  more  of  the 
attention  of  those  who  are  entrusted  with  their  management.  Unless  such 
a  spirit  can  be  in  some  good  degree  maintained  among  assembled  candidates 
for  the  holy  ministry,  theological  seminaries  will  assuredly  not  prove  a  real 
blessing  to  the  Church,  but  rather  the  reverse.  Now,  the  committee  are 
fully  convinced  that  it  would  not  be  easy  to  suggest  a  plan  better  adapted 
to  subserve  this  great  object,  than  to  connect  with  a  theological  institution 
a  department  of  instruction,  the  primary  purpose  of  which  should  be,  to 
cherish  fervent  love  for  immortal  souls;  large  views  and  plans  of  evangelical 
usefulness;  and  every  species  of  knowledge,  and  of  practical  accomplish- 
ment adapted  to  prepare  the  sons  of  the  Church  for  spreading  the  gospel 
throughout  the  world.  Even  those  who  never  actually  engage  in  missionary 
work,  will  be  likely  to  be  essentially  benefited  by  such  an  appendage  to  the 
usual  course  of  instruction;  to  have  their  personal  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
men  increased;  their  preparation  for  pastoral  fidelity  promoted;  their  know- 
ledge of  the  wants  and  miseries  of  perishing  souls  extended;  and  their  ulti- 
mate capacity  for  actively  favouring  the  missionary  cause,  wherever  their 
lot  may  be  cast,  greatly  enlarged.  In  this  and  in  various  other  ways  it  is 
manifest,  that  in  theological  seminaries,  as  well  as  in  the  Church  at  large, 
every  effectual  step  that  is  taken  to  extend  the  missionary  cause,  tends  no 
less  surely  to  promote  piety  and  pastoral  fidelity  at  home;  and  to  render 
every  new  Minister  that  is  added  to  the  Church  a  new  centre  of  influence 
and  of  action  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

(d)  "It  would  moreover,  be  desirable  to  have  some  place  provided  where 
men  destined  to  foreign  missions,  might  profitably  spend  a  year  or  a  few 
months  in  such  studies  and  exercises  as  would  tend  to  prepare  and  qualify 
them  for  their  arduous  and  interesting  work.  At  present  much  time  fre- 
quently elapses  before  the  missionary  can  be  conveniently  sent  to  his  field 


422  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

of  labour;  which  time  would  be  much  more  advantap^eously  spent  in  retire- 
ment, study,  and  devotion,  than  in  travelling  as  an  agent. 

"It  has  also  occurred  to  your  committee,  that  if  the  proposed  institution 
should  be  established,  and  adequately  fostered  by  the  favour  of  the  Church, 
it  might  hereafter  be  expedient  to  have  provision  made  for  the  comfortable 
support  of  aged  and  invalid  missionaries  on  their  return  to  their  native 
country.  It  is  due  to  men  who  have  exhausted  their  health,  their  strength 
and  their  years  in  the  seiTice  of  the  Church,  to  be  furnished  with  a  peaceful 
asylum  for  their  latter  days. 

(e)  "Indeed,  so  deeply  convinced  are  the  committee  of  the  salutary  ten- 
tency  of  such  an  appendage  to  an  institution  destined  for  training  up  Minis- 
ters, that  they  indulge  the  hope  of  seeing,  before  the  lapse  of  many  years, 
such  an  addition  to  every  theological  seminary  in  the  land,  which  has  a 
suflBcient  number  of  pupils  to  demand  and  warrant  the  enterprise.  They 
firmly  believe  that  the  pecuniary  resources  of  such  institutions  cannot  be 
bestowed  upon  an  object  more  likely  to  be  productive  of  the  richest  bless- 
ings to  themselves,  and  to  the  whole  Church. 

(/)  "The  committee  are  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  a  large  and  expen- 
sive establishment  ought  not,  in  the  outset,  to  be  attempted.  A  small  and 
humble  beginning  will,  perhaps,  be  most  likely  to  lead  to  the  best  results, 
by  gradual  enlargement,  as  experience  may  dictate.  Some  of  the  most 
extensive  and  important  institutions  now  in  existence,  took  their  rise  from 
small  beginnings.  Nothing  more  therefore,  ought,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
committee  to  be  contemplated,  at  present,  than  the  commencement  of  a 
plan,  which  may  be  enlarged  and  strengthened,  as  the  Assembly  may  here- 
after think  proper,  and  be  able  to  command  resources.  And  as  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Seminary  at  Princeton  admits,  without  alteration  of  an  indefinite 
addition  to  the  number  of  its  Professors,  the  committee  therefore  unani- 
mously recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  there  be  appointed  an  additional  Professor  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  to  bear  the  name  and  title  of  the  'Pro- 
fessor of  Pastoral  Theology,  and  Missionary  Instruction.' 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  said  Professor  have  committed  to  him  the  instruc- 
tion in  everything  which  relates  to  the  pastoral  ofl&ce,  and  that  he  be  espe- 
cially charged  with  collecting  and  imparting  instruction  on  the  subject  of 
missions;  and  with  using  all  proper  means,  by  public  lectures,  and  private 
interviews,  to  promote  among  all  the  students,  an  enlarged  spirit  of  pastoral 
fidelity,  of  missionary  zeal,  and  of  liberal  preparation  and  active  effort  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  18. 

"8.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  will  proceed  to  appoint  a  Pro- 
fessor in  conformity  with  the  recommendation  contained  in  said  report,  as 
soon  as  a  sufficient  annual  income  can  be  secured  to  support  the  said  Pro- 
fessor. 

"4.  That  the  whole  subject  be  referred  back  to  the  original  committee.'* 
—Hid.  p.  17. 

Title  5. — Organization  and  Statistics  of  the  Seminary. 

§  210.  The  Professors. 
[I.  Rev,  Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  elected  Professor  of  Didactic  and 
Polemic  Theology. — Minuiea,  1812,  p.  .512.  Changed  to  Pastoral  and  Polemic  Theo- 
logy.— 3Iinnles,  1840,  p.  293.  The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Seminary]  "have  the 
painful  duty  of  reporting  to  the  Assembly,  that  it  has  pleased  Divine  Providence,  since  their 
last  report,  to  remove  by  death  the  venerable  Professor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Alex- 
ander.    He  departed  this  life,  October  22d,  1851.    In  consequence  of  his  death,  a  special 


Part  v.]  PRINCETON   SEMINARY.  423 

meeting  of  the  Board  was  held,  November  18,  1851.    At  that  meeting  the  following  min- 
ute was  adopted,  in  relation  to  the  death  of  Dr.  Alexander. 

"The  deceased  was  born  April  17,  1772,  and  departed  this  Hfe,  October  22d,  1851. 
For  more  than  thirty-nine  years  he  was  a  Professor  in  this  Seminary.  In  noticing  his 
death,  the  Board  express  its  deep  sympathy  with  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and  with  the 
Church  of  God,  thus  bereaved.  The  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord,  in  raising  up  so  efficient 
and  honourable  an  instrument  of  good  to  this  Seminary,  during  all  its  early  history,  has 
been  great,  and  demands  our  lively  gratitude.  His  personal  relations  to  his  brethren  in 
the  ministry  were  uniformly  pleasant;  his  labours  were  abundant,  judicious,  and  success- 
ful; his  piety  was  fervent,  humble,  and  scriptural ;  his  spirit  was  eminently  tender,  devout, 
and  evangelical;  his  counsels  were  wise,  and  practical;  and  his  zeal  in  his  Master's  cause 
remained  unabated  to  the  end  of  his  life.  It  is  particularly  due  to  the  honour  of  divine 
grace,  that  we  should  record,  that  Christ  was  graciously  with  him  to  the  last,  and  enabled 
him  to  leave  the  world  in  a  manner  every  way  desirable;  and  at  a  time  judged  by  himself, 
not  only  proper,  but  in  all  respects  the  best  time.  We  cannot  doubt  that  he  has  departed 
to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better  than  the  lot  of  any  of  God's  servants  on  earth." — 
Minutes,  1852,  p.  401. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  cordially  responds  to  the  just  tribute  of 
respect  and  affection  to  the  memory  of  that  venerable  man  of  God,  the  late 
Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  contained  in  the  Report  of  the  Directors  of  the 
Seminary,  of  which  he  was  the  first  Professor,  and  over  which  he  presided 
for  nearly  forty  years.  Called  to  the  duties  of  his  high  office,  not  only  by 
the  unanimous  voice  of  the  General  Assembly,  but,  as  we  fully  believe,  by 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  he  devoted  himself  most  faithfully  to  his 
work ;  and  was  a  pattern,  in  all  that  can  adorn  a  Christian  teacher,  and  a 
minister  of  the  gospel. 

"Distinguished  for  talent,  for  learning,  for  sound  judgment,  for  sound 
doctrine,  for  integrity,  for  firmness,  for  simple  manners,  and  for  fervent 
piety,  and  withal,  for  his  catholic  spirit,  he  was  eminently  qualified  to  train, 
for  their  high  and  holy  office,  those  whose  aim  it  was  to  serve  God  in  the 
ministry  of  his  Son.  Never,  perhaps,  was  a  man  more  beloved  by  his  pupils, 
as  hundreds  of  them,  yet  living,  can  testify,  and  who  ever  found  in  him  a 
counsellor,  at  once  judicious,  kind,  and  tender.  Having  finished  his  work, 
he  calmly  and  sweetly  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  leaving  to  the  Church  the 
legacy  of  his  bright  example,  by  which,  though  dead^  he  yet  speaketh. 

"  In  view  of  his  long  and  useful  life,  and  of  his  peaceful  and  happy  death, 
we  should  rather  give  thanks  for  what  he  was  enabled  to  accomplish,  in  a 
ministry  of  sixty  years,  than  mourn  his  removal  from  the  Church  on  earth 
to  the  Church  in  heaven;  and  with  all  earnestness  pray,  that  in  the  wise  and 
holy  providence  of  God,  more  of  like  spirit  and  of  like  attainments  may  be 
raised  up,  to  adorn  and  bless  our  Church,  and  to  teach  in  our  schools." — 
Minutes,  1852,  p.  211. 

[II.  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  elected  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and 
Church  Government. — Minutes,  1813,  p.  536.     Tendered  his  resignation  1849.] 

"  In  relation  to  the  tender  of  resignation  of  his  professorship,  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Miller,  they  [the  committee]  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions  by  the  Assembly,  viz. 

'^  1.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  unite  with  the  Board  of  Directors  in 
expressions  of  thankfulness  to  God,  that  he  has  spared  the  life  and  health  of 
the  venerable  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government 
for  so  many  years,  and  that  our  beloved  Church  has  enjoyed  the  benefit  of 
his  valued  instructions  and  labours  from  the  infancy  of  the  Seminary  to  this 
time. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  unite  with  the  Board  in  recording  their 
grateful  sense  of  the  manifold  faithful  and  most  important  services  which 
the  venerab)le  Professor  haa  rendered  to  our  Church,  and  to  the  cause  of 


424  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

truth  and  righteousness,  and  they  beg  to  assure  him  of  their  cordial  sympa- 
thy in  the  bodily  infirmities  which  have  led  him  to  seek  a  release  from  the 
duties  of  his  office. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  be  and  hereby  is 
entirely  released  from  all  obligation  to  give  instniction  in  each  and  all  of 
the  departments  of  his  professorship. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  Dr.  Miller  be  requested  to  give  such  instructions  and 
perform  such  services  as  on  consultation  with  his  fellow  professors  may  be 
convenient  and  agreeable  to  himself. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  J).  D.,  shall  continue  to  enjoy 
intact  the  salary  and  all  the  other  rights  of  his  professorship  during  his 
natural  life,  under  the  title  of  Emeritus  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History 
and  Church  Government." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  249. 

[Died  18-00.  The  Board  of  Directors  report  that]  «  at  the  time  of  this  inauguration,* 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 
Government,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  Board  to  take  a  part  in  the  exercises,  was 
unable  to  be  present  by  reason  of  the  feeble  state  of  his  health.  He  continued  gradually 
to  sink,  honouring  religion,  and  enjoying  in  a  high  degree  its  supports  and  consolations, 
until  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1850,  he  departed  this  life  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his 
age;  having  been  Professor  from  the  year  1813.  The  Board  would  here  express  their 
grateful  sense  of  the  divine  goodness,  in  raising  up  for  the  Seminary  in  its  infancy  a  man  of 
such  distinguished  personal  excellence,  and  such  fitness  for  the  high  and  important  office 
in  which  he  was  so  ably,  so  successfully,  and  so  long  employed." — Minutes,  1850,  p.  631. 

''  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  record  with  deep  emotion  the  decease  of 
the  venerable  Professor  Emeritus  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 
Government,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  whom  becoming  mention  is  made 
in  the  Report  of  the  Board ;  and  while  the  Church  is,  in  this  dispensation 
of  Divine  Providence,  called  to  mourn  the  departure  of  one  who  has  long 
stood  among  the  foremost  in  her  counsels,  and  in  her  confidence — one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  able  defenders  of  her  feith  and  order — one  of  the 
staunchest  friends  of  all  her  benevolent  institutions — one  whose  conspicuous 
talents,  ripe  judgment,  and  elevated  piety,  made  him  eminently  a  fit  model 
and  a  safe  guide  for  her  rising  ministry;  and  whose  rare  excellence  and 
purity  of  character  beautifully  exemplified,  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  knew  him, 
that  religion  to  the  cause  of  which  his  life  was  devoted — it  is  matter  of 
profound  thankfulness  that  such  a  man  was  raised  up  to  the  Church,  and 
spared  to  her  through  so  many  years  of  usefulness,  and  permitted  to  perform 
so  valuable  a  part  in  founding  our  first  Theological  Seminary — which  has 
served  to  a  great  extent  as  the  model  of  all  our  after  institutions — in 
arranging  its  plan  and  giving  it  establishment;  and  that  it  was  not  until  this 
great  work  of  his  life  was  done,  and  he  had  ceased  from  the  active  discharge 
of  these  duties,  that  he  was  taken  to  his  glorious  reward." — Minutes,  1850, 
p.  465. 

[HI.  Rev.  Charles  Hopge,  D.  D.,  appointed  assistant  teacher  of  the  original  languages 
of  the  Scriptures. — Minutes,  1821,  p.  27.  Elected  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Oriental  Lite- 
rature.— Minutes,  1822,  p.  21.  Transferred  to  the  chair  of  Exegetical  and  Didactic 
Theology.— MirJM/M,  1840,  p.  292, 

IV.  Rev.  .losKPH  Addison  Alkxanheh,  D.  D.,  appointed  assistant  instructor  in  Oriental 
and  Biblical  Literature. — Minutes,  1833,  p,  507.  Elected  Associate  Professor  of  Oriental 
and  Biblical  Literature. — Minutes,  1835.  p.  30.  By  the  transfer  of  Dr.  Hodge  to  the  chair 
of  Theology,  became  sole  Professor  of  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature. — Minutes,  1840, 
p.  292.  Transferred  to  the  chair  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical  History. — Minutes,  J 85 1, 
pp.  22,  27. 

V,  Rev.  John  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology. — Min- 
utes, 1835,  p.  30.     Resigned.— Minutes,  1839,  p.  192. 

*  Of  Prof.  Junes  W.  Alexander. 


Part  v.]  .Ai-i-EaHENT  seminary.  425 

VI.  Rev.  James  W.  Aiexandeh,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and 
Church  Government. — Minutes,  1849,  p.  257.     Resigned,  1851,  p.  21. 

VII.  Rev.  W.  Henrt  Gheen,  elected  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Oriental  Literature. 
— Minutes,  1851,  p.  29. 

VIII.  Rev.  Alexander  T.  McGill,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Church  Government, 
Pastoral  Theology,  and  the  Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons. — Minutes,  1854,  p.  31.] 

§  211.    0/  the  funds,  huildings,  &c. 

[State  of  the  funds  (in  1852),  see  below,  §  296,  297. 
The  buildings  and  land  in  1851,  were  valued  at  ^85,000. 
Number  of  volumes  in  the  library,  13,860. 
Number  of  alumni,  1915. 

"  "  deceased. — . 

"  «  missionaries,  — . 

Now  in  the  Seminary,  (1854-5,)  115.] 


CHAPTER  III. 

WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  ALLEGHENY  CITY,  PA. 

§  212.  Incipient  measures. 

"An  overture  on  the  subject  of  establishing  a  Theological  Seminary  in  the 
West,  was  reported  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures." 

"The  General  Assembly,  taking  into  consideration  the  numerous  and 
rapidly  increasing  population  of  that  part  of  the  United  States  and  their 
territories,  situated  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  believing  that 
the  interests  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  imperiously  require  it,  and  that  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  will  be  thereby  promoted,  do  resolve,  That  it  is  expe- 
dient forthwith  to  establish  a  Theological  Seminary  in  the  West,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1826,  pp.  260,  261. 

§  213.   Constitution  of  the  Seminary. 

"Resolved,  1.  That  the  style  or  name  of  the  contemplated  institution  shall 
be.  The  Western  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States. 

"2.  That  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  the  plan  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton  ought  to  be  also  the  plan  of  the  contemplated  semi- 
nary in  the  West,  with  no  other  alterations  whatever  than  those  which  are 
indispensably  necessary  to  accommodate  it  to  the  local  situation  and  circum- 
stances of  the  new  institution,  and  a  single  provision  of  a  temporary  kind, 
which  will  be  specified  in  the  next  particular. 

"3.  That  a  Board  of  Directors,  consisting  of  twenty-one  Ministers  and 
nine  Ruling  Elders,  be  appointed  by  ballot  by  the  present  General  Assem- 
bly, who  shall  continue  in  office  no  longer  than  till  they  shall  have  had 
opportunity  to  report  to  the  Assembly  of  the  next  year,  and  that  Assembly 
shall  have  made  provision  for  a  future  election,  agreeably  to  an  arrangement 
to  be  made  for  the  purpose,  by  said  Assembly. 

"4.  That  five  commissioners  be  appointed  by  the  present  General  Assembly 
to  examine  carefully  the  several  sites  which  may  be  proposed  for  the  con- 
templated seminary,  as  to  the  healthfulness  of  the  places  and  regions  where 
these  sites  may  be  found,  as  to  the  amount  of  pecuniary  aid  and  other  pro- 
perty which  may  be  obtained  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  sites,  and  their 
vicinity  severally,  in  establishing  the  contemplated  seminary;  and  as  to  all 
54 


426  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

other  circumstances  or  considerations  which  ought  to  have  influence  iu 
deciding  on  the  location  of  the  seminary;  and  that  these  commissioners 
report  the  proposals  that  shall  have  been  made  to  them,  and  their  opinion 
on  the  whole  subject  of  the  location,  to  the  Board  of  Directors;  and  that 
the  Board  of  Directors,  after  considering  the  report  of  the  commissioners, 
recommend  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  the  most  suitable  place  in  their 
judgment  for  the  establishment  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary. 
These  commissioners  are  first  to  meet  at  the  time  and  place  of  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Directors,  specified  in  the  next  article. 

"5.  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  appointed  this  year 
by  the  Assembly,  shall  be  on  the  third  Friday  of  July  next,  at  2  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  at  Chillicothe,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  when  they  shall  choose  their 
officers,  and  do  whatever  else  shall  be  found  necessary  to  their  full  organi- 
zation; and  that  the  Board  afterwards  meet  on  their  own  adjournments,  as 
often  as  they  shall  think  it  expedient.  And  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  this 
Board  to  take  under  consideration  the  plan  of  the  Seminary  at  Princeton, 
and  point  out  and  report  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1826,  such  alterations 
in  said  plan,  as  in  their  judgment  may  be  necessary  to  accommodate  it  to 
the  local  situation  of  the  Western  Seminary.  Nine  members  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  shall  be  a  quorum,  provided  that  at  least  five  of  this  number  be 
Ministers  of  the  gospel. 

"6.  That  a  suitable  number  of  agents  be  appointed  by  the  present  Assem- 
bly to  solicit  donations  in  behalf  of  the  Western  Seminary,  and  report 
thereon  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  said  seminary;  and  that  said  Board 
of  Directors  take  such  measures  as  they  shall  think  most  proper  for  the 
safe  keeping  of  the  moneys  or  other  property  which  the  agents  shall  obtain. 

<'7.  That  it  shall  be  considered  as  a  principle  fully  imderstood  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Western  Seminary,  and  to  be  regarded  as  fundamental 
in  all  time  to  come,  that  no  part  of  the  funds  already  obtained,  or  which 
shall  hereafter  be  obtained  for  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  shall,  on  any  con- 
sideration whatever,  be  appropriated  or  employed,  or  loaned  in  aid  of  the 
Western  Seminary ;  and  in  like  manner,  that  no  part  of  the  funds  obtained 
for  the  Western  Seminary,  shall  ever  be  employed  or  loaned  in  aid  of  the 
Seminary  at  Princeton. '^ 

*' After  the  adoption  of  the  above  resolutions  the  Assembly  united  in 
prayer,  returning  thanks  to  God,  for  the  harmony  and  unanimity  manifested 
on  this  subject;  and  imploring  the  divine  blessing  upon  the  seminary  which 
the  Assembly  had  just  resolved  to  establish." — Minutes,  1825,  p.  267. 

§  214.  Location  of  the  Seminary. 

"The  Assembly  proceeded  to  elect  commissioners,  in  regard  to  the  loca- 
tion of  the  Western  Seminary;  when  the  following  persons  were  appoint- 
ed, viz.  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Tennessee;  Hon.  Benjamin  Mills,  of 
Paris,  Kentucky;  Hon.  John  Thompson,  of  Chillicothe,  Ohio;  Rev.  Oba- 
diah  Jennings,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Bov.  Andrew  Wylie,  of  Pennsylvania." 
— Minutes,  1825,  p.  271. 

§  215. 

"  The  business  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary  was  taken  up.  A 
report  from  the  Board,  and  their  minutes  were  read.  The  report  of  the  Board 
recommended  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  five  that  Alleghenytown,  opposite  the 
city  of  Pittsburgh,  should  be  the  site  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary." 
— Minutes,  1826,  p.  13. 

[After  full  discussion  it  was] 
-   ^'•Resolved,   That  the   Western   Theological  Seminary  shall   be  located 


Part  v.]  ALLEGHENY   SEMINARY.  427 

eittier  in  Alleglienytown,  in  the  vicinity  of  Pittsburgh ;  or  at  Walnut  Hills, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati;  or  at  Charleston,  Indiana;  as  the  Greneral 
Assembly  of  1827  shall  decide."— Minutes,  1826,  p.  14. 

[After  considerable  discussion  and  various  motions,  it  was] 

*' Resolved,  That  the  roll  be  now  called  and  each  member  be  allowed  to 
vote  either  for  Alleghenytowu  or  Walnut  Hills. 

The  roll  was  called,  when  it  was  decided  that  Alleghenytown  be  the  site 
of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  122. 

§  216.    This  location  final. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  consider  the  Western  Theological 
Seminary  as  permanently  fixed  in  its  present  location." — Minutes,  1850, 
p.  464. 

§  217.  Plan  of  the  Western  Seminary. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  constitution  or  plan  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of 
Princeton,  be  the  constitution  of  the  Western  Seminary,  with  the  following 
alterations,  viz. 

"  In  the  second  paragraph  of  the  introduction,  the  sentence  beginning 
with  the  words,  '  Influenced  by  the  views  and  considerations  now  recited,' 
&c.,  shall  be  altered  so  as  to  read  as  follows: 

" '  Influenced  by  the  views  and  considerations  now  recited,  the  Assembly 
after  mature  deliberation,  have  resolved,  in  reliance  upon  the  patronage  and 
blessing  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  to  establish  an  additional  theolo- 
gical seminary  in  the  town  of  Allegheny,  opposite  to  the  city  of  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  consecrated  solely  to  the  education  of  men  for  the  gospel  min- 
istry, and  to  be  denominated  The  Western  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,'  &c. 

**  In  the  third  paragraph  of  the  said  introduction,  the  phraseology  shall 
be  so  changed  as  to  read : 

"  '  Believing  that  learning  without  religion  in  the  Ministers  of  the  gospel 
will  prove  injurious  to  the  Church ;  and  religion  without  learning  will  leave 
the  ministry  exposed  to  the  impositions  of  designing  men,  and  insufficient  in 
a  high  degree  for  the  great  purposes  of  the  gospel  ministry.' 

''  In  the  tenth  section  of  the  second  article,  the  word  '  Western,'  shall  be 
inserted  before  'Theological  Seminary;'  and  the  word  'is'  shall  be  substi- 
tuted for  'shall  be,'  in  the  last  line  of  the  12th  section  of  the  third  article. 

''Resolved,  That  $20,000  be  the  sum  for  endowing  a  professorship,  and 
$2000  for  endowing  a  scholarship. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  salary  of  the  Professor  of  Theology  be  $1500  per 
annum." — 3Iinutes,  1828,  p.  231, 

§  218.  Arrangement  of  the  Chairs  of  Instruction. 

[Upon  occasion  of  the  election  of  Dr.  Plumer  to  a  professorship,  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  adopted,  viz.] 

"  Resolved,  That  should  the  Professor  elect  accept,  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors of  this  Seminary,  in  connection  with  the  Professors,  be  authorized  to 
make  such  an  adjustment  of  the  departments  of  instruction  as  to  them  may 
seem  best;  provided,  that  the  rights  of  each  Professor  be  duly  regarded,  and 
that  any  changes  adopted  shall  be  reported  to  the  next  Assembly,  for 
approval  and  sanction." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  36. 

§  219. 

[In  accordance  with  this  provision,  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted  at  a  subse- 
quent meeting  of  the  Board,  viz.] 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  this  Board  entertaining  a  high  respect  for  the  distinguished  abilities  of 


428  THEOLOGICAL    SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

the  Professor  elect  and  for  his  qualifications  for  the  department,  do  hereby,  in  accordance 
with  the  expressed  wish  of  Dr.  Elliott,  tender  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Plumer  the  chair  of  Didactic 
and  Pastoral  Theology  ;  and  earnestly  request  his  acceptance  of  the  same. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  in  case  of  such  acceptance,  then  the  professorship  held  by  Dr. 
Elliott  be  so  changed  as  to  be  entitled  that  of  Polemic  and  Historical  Theology  and 
Church  Government;  and  that  the  professorship  held  by  Dr.  Jacobus,  be  called  that  of 
Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature  and  Exegesis. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  as  the  General  Assembly  have  recognized  a  full  course  of  instruc- 
tion as  embracing  four  professorships,  and  have  recommended  the  endowment  of  a  fourth 
in  this  Institution,  that  this  professorship  be  called  thai  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  the 
Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons,  and  that,  until  an  endowment  can  be  secured,  the 
Faculty,  including  the  Professor  elect,  be  requested  to  teach  these  branches,  dividing 
the  labour,  according  to  the  plan  indicated  in  the  communications  of  Drs.  Elliott  and 
Jacobus." 

§  220.    The  Instructors  in  the  Western  SeTninary. 

[L  Rev.  E.  P.  Swift,  D.  D.  Instructor  in  Theology,  &c.,  by  appointment  of  the  Board. 
— Minutes,  1828,  p.  252. 

II.  Rev.  Joseph  Stockton,  D.  D.  Instructor  in  Hebrew,  by  appointment  of  the  Board. 
—Ibid. 

III.  Rev.  J.  J.  Janewat,  D.  D.  Elected  Professor  of  Theo\ogy.— Minutes,  1827, 
pp.  125,  130,  132.  Entered  upon  his  duties  in  1828.  Resigned.— Minutes,  1829, 
p.  374. 

IV.  Rev.  Luther  Halsey,  D.  D.  Elected  Professor  of  Theology. — Minutes,  1829, 
p.  386.  Transferred  to  the  chair  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  &c. — Minutes,  1836,  p.  276. 
Resigned,  1837. 

V.  Rev.  Ezra  Fisk,  D.  D.  Elected  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 
Government. — Minutes,  1833,  p.  499.     Died  when  on  his  way  to  assume  the  chair. 

VI.  Rev.  John  W.  Nevin,  D.  D.  Appointed  by  the  Board  Teacher  of  Biblical  and 
Oriental  Literature. — Minutes,  1830,  p.  48.     Resigned Minutes,  1840,  p.  318.* 

VII.  Rev.  David  Elliott,  D.  D.,  LL.D.  Elected  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History 
and  Church  Government. — Minutes,  1835,  p.  30.  Transferred  to  the  chair  of  Didactic 
and  Polemic  Theology. — Minutes,  1836,  p.  276.  Modified  to  Polemic  and  Historical 
Theology  and  Church  Government  in  1854.     See  above,  §  219. 

VIII.  Rev.  Alan  D.  Campbell,  D.D.  Appointed  by  the  Board  Teacher  of  Church 
Government  and  General  Agent. — Minutes,  1838,  p.  64.     Resigned,  1840. 

IX.  Rev.  Lewis  W.  Green,  D.D.  Elected  Professor  of  Biblical  Criticism  and  Ori- 
ental Literature. — Minutes,  1838,  p.  64.     Resigned,  1840. 

X.  Rev.  Alexander  T.  McGiLL,  D.  D.  Elected  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History 
and  Church  Government. — Minutes,  1842,  p.  43.  Tendered  his  resignation,  which  the 
Assembly  declined. — Minutes,  1851,  pp.  19,  25.  Resigned. — Minutes,  1863,  p.  437. 
Re-elected,  Ibid.  p.  450.  Elected  to  Princeton  Seminary  and  resigned. — Minutes,  1854, 
p.  31. 

XL  Rev.  Melanchthon  W.  Jacobus,  D.  D.  Elected  Professor  of  Oriental  and  Bib- 
lical Literature — Minutes,  1851,  p.  22. 

XII.  Rev.  William  S.  Plumer,  D.D.  Elected  Professor  of  Didactic  and  Pastoral 
Theology. — Minutes,  1854,  p.  36,  and  §  219,  above.] 

§  221.    The  students. 

[Whole  number  of  alumni,  390. 
Deceased,  57. 
Foreign  missionaries,  23. 
Now  in  the  Institution,  51.] 

§  222.  Endowment,  &c. 

[Endowment  of  Professorships,  $76,687. 
Six  Scholarships,  §12,000. 

The  Seminary  building,  and  nearly  all  the  library  were  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  23d  of 
January,  1854.     A  new  and  beautiful  seminary  edifice  is  in  process  of  erection,  and  will 

*  Dr.  Nevin  was  by  the  Board,  1836,  nominated  to  the  chair  of  Biblical  and  Oriental  Literature,  but 
at  his  recLuest  the  nomination  was  not  submitted  to  the  Assembly. 


part  v.]  DANVILLE   SEMINARY.  429 

be  completed  and  ready  for  occupancy  before  the  opening  of  the  session  of  1855.     Mea- 
sures are  in  successful  progress  for  restoring  and  enlarging  the  hbrary. 

Two  houses  are  completed  and  occupied  by  Professors  Elliott  and  Jacobus.    The  means 
are  provided  for  the  erection  of  two  others,  which  will  be  built  immediately.] 


CHAPTER  IV. 

danville  seminary. 

Title  1. — Papers  in  regard  to  a  Seminary  for  the  West. 

§  223. 

[In  the  General  Assembly  in  1853,  communications  were  received  from  various  sources 
on  the  subject  of  a  Seminary  for  the  West.  In  addition  to  the  following  were  communi- 
cations from  the  Synods  and  Boards  controlling  New  Albany  Seminary,  which  will  be 
found  below ;  §  252,  et  seq.] 

§  224.    Overture  /rom  Cincinnati  Seminar^/. 

"Rev.  Moderator  of  the  General  .Assembly — The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Cincinnati 
Theological  Seminary  have  directed  and  authorized  the  undersigned  to  make  to  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  offer  of  the  interests  and  property  of  this 
institution,  with  the  view  of  leaving  the  establishment  and  location  of  a  Seminary  for  the 
West  entirely  unembarrassed  and  free  from  all  conditions,  so  far  as  this  incipient  Semi- 
nary is  concerned. 

"  We  have  made  no  attempts  to  secure  an  endowment,  or  to  acquire  property.  Only  a 
legacy  of  one  thousand  dollars  has  been  left  us,  and  a  library  of  a  few  hundred  volumes 
has  been  procured.  These  we  freely  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  Assembly  for  the  use  of 
a  new  Seminary  for  the  West. 

«  While  it  would  gratify  the  predilections  of  the  Presbyterian  population  of  Cincinnati 
and  the  surrounding  region,  that  the  Assembly  should  locate  their  institution  at  this 
place,  and  doubtless,  in  that  case,  this  people  would  make  some  suitable  efforts  to  obtain 
an  endowment  here,  in  addition  to  moneys  already  secured,  which  are  or  will  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Assembly  for  this  purpose;  yet  we  propose  no  condition  of  this  kind. 
The  former  Professors  in  the  Cincinnati  Seminary  have  also  resigned,  so  that  our  offer 
is  in  this  respect  unencumbered. 

"  We  think  it  proper  to  state,  moreover,  that  as  it  is  probably  known  to  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  Assembly,  there  is  a  suit  pending  respecting  the  claim  of  our  branch 
of  the  Church  to  the  control  and  occupying  of  the  Lane  Seminary,  in  this  vicinity,  which 
it  is  hoped,  will  be  decided  within  a  year.  The  annual  income  from  the  property  of  the 
liane  Seminary  is  large,  several  thousand  dollars,  the  precise  amount  not  known  to  us. 
It  is  the  decided  opinion  of  many  well-informed  legal  gentlemen  that  we  will  succeed  in 
this  suit.  It  may  then  become  the  imperative  duty  of  our  Church  in  this  region  to  take 
charge  of  this  institution,  and  to  carry  it  on  agreeably  to  the  known  design  of  the  original 
donors.  And  this  may  be  done  most  efficiently  and  safely  by  placing  it  in  the  hands  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

"  May  the  Head  of  the  Church  direct  you  in  all  your  proceedings,  and  particularly  in 
this  case,  so  important  in  its  relations  to  the  Western  portion  of  the  Church. 

James  Hoge,  ^  n  -n        e 

•  ,,,  ,  Committee  of 

Willis  Lord,  rn.    >     ■     ,  c      ■ 

J.  S.  Scott,  \  ^'"^^Sicat  Sennnary, 

.,-.,„  Cincinnati. 

John  D.  i  hohpe, J 

—Minutes,  1853,  p.  630. 


430  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

§  225.    Overture  from  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly  from  Presby- 
teries in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

"Philadelphia,  May  23,  1 853. 
"Certain  members  of  the  present  General  Assembly,  being  Commissioners  to  it  from 
Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  desire  to  malie  the  following  statement 
to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  1.  If  the  General  Assembly  will  see  fit  to  establish  a  Theological  Seminary  in  the 
West,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  seven  Synods,  now  officially  laid  before  the  As- 
sembly— and  will  pledge  itself,  with  God's  blessing,  to  make  a  Seminary  of  the  first  class, 
the  Synod  and  people  of  Kentucky  will  contribute  $20,000  towards  the  endowment  of 
one  of  the  chairs  of  said  Seminary — let  it  be  located  where  it  may — upon  condition  that 
three  other  chairs  are  endowed,  with  a  like  sum. 

"  2.  If  the  Assembly  shall  see  fit  to  locate  and  sustain  said  Seminary  at  or  near  the 
town  of  Danville,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  the  Synod  and  people  of  that  State  will  give 
towards  the  support  of  the  said  Seminary,  1.  $60,000  towards  the  endowment  of  three 
chairs  in  said  Seminary ;  2.  Ten  or  more  acres  of  land,  in  or  near  Danville,  as  a  site  for 
said  Seminary  ;  3.  The  perpetual  and  free  use  of  two  charters,  one  held  by  the  Trustees 
of  Centre  College,  of  Kentucky,  and  the  other  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  by  means  of 
which  the  Seminary  may  be  established,  and  its  funds  held ;  4.  The  most  earnest  co-ope- 
ration in  doing  whatever  else  is,  or  may  be  needful,  towards  the  full  endowment  and  per- 
manent establishment  of  said  Seminary. 

John  C.  Young,  Thos.  J.  Monthomeht, 

W.  L.  Breckinridge,         F.  Senocr, 
Louis  Marshall,  F.  W.  Uret, 

J.  Wood  Wilson,  John  A.  Ltle, 

Samukl  Cassadai,  James  Matthews, 

W.  C.  Matthews,  R.  J.  Breckinridge." 

— Minutes,  \853,  p.  631. 

§  226.  Action  of  a  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  in  relation  to  a  new  Theo- 
logical Seminary  for  the  West. 

"Philadelphia,  May  23,  1853. 

"Agreeably  to  a  notice  announced  by  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  to  that 
body  while  in  session,  delegates  and  others  from  within  the  bounds  of  eleven  Synods,  who 
felt  interested  in  the  cause  of  Theological  Education  in  the  West  and  Southwest,  met  in 
the  lecture-room  of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city,  and,  on  motion,  the  Rev. 
William  C.  Matthews,  D.  D.,  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Rev.  William  P.  Buell  appointed 
Secretary. 

"The  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  be,  to  afford 
an  opportunity  to  all  the  friends  of  this  important  cause,  to  confer -together  as  to  the  best 
means  of  securing  united  and  harmonious  views  before  submitting  the  whole  subject  to 
the  General  Assembly  for  its  action  and  final  adjudication. 

"During  the  several  sittings  of  this  meeting  the  following  resolutions  were  submitted 
and  unanimously  adopted,  to  wit: 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  General  Assembly  ought,  at  this  time,  to 
establish  in  the  West,  under  its  own  care,  a  Theological  Seminary  of  the  first  class,  and 
that  we  will  earnestly  labour  to  have  it  done. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  question  of  the  location  of  the  Seminary  contemplated  in  the 
above  resolution,  ought  to  be  left  absolutely  to  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  if  the  Assembly  should  locate  and  sustain  a  Seminary  in  the  West, 
according  to  the  preceding  resolutions,  no  attempt  ou^ht  to  be  made  in  the  same  general 
legion  of  the  Church  to  set  up,  or  to  carry  on,  any  Theological  Seminary  by  our  Synods 
or  otherwise,  at  least  until  full  opportunity  has  been  given  to  the  Assembly  to  try  its  pro- 
ject of  a  Seminary. 

"  4.  Resolved,  That  the  result  arrived  at  be  properly  attested  by  the  Chairman  and 
Secretary  of  the  meeting  and  laid  before  the  General  Assembly. 

"All  of  which  is  most  respectfully  submitted. 

W.  C.  Matthews,  Chairman. 

"  Wm.  p.  Buell,  Secretary."  — Ibid, 


Part  v.]  DANVILLE   SEMINARY.  431 

Title  2. — Erection  op  the  Danville  Seminary. 

§  227.  Resolve  to  establish  a  Seminary  for  the  West. 
[The  Committee  on  Seminaries  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted.] 
"There  are  ia  the  hands  of  this  committee,  1.  Reports  from  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  at  New  Albany,  Indiana;  2.  Report  from  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  3.  Papers  containing  extracts  from  the  Slin- 
utes  of  the  Synods  of  Nashville,  Kentucky,  Cincinnati,  Indiana,  Northern 
Indiana,  Missouri;  4.  Resolutions  adopted  in  this  city  during  the  sessions 
of  this  Assembly,  by  Commissioners  and  others,  from  eleven  Synods  in  the 
West  and  Southwest,  met  in  convocation  in  this  city;  5.  A  written  proposi- 
tion concerning  the  endowment  of  the  new  Seminary,  laid  before  this  As- 
sembly by  all  the  Commissioners  in  it,  from  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky.  All  these  papers  have  been  before  the  Assembly;  have  been 
referred  by  it  to  this  committee,  and  the  matters  contained  in  them  have 
been  considered  by  the  committee. 

"All  these  documents  contemplate  the  establishment  of  a  new  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  in  the  West,  by  the  Assembly,  and  to  be  under  its  entire 
control  and  care.  The  most  of  them  urge  this  upon  the  Assembly;  and  all 
of  them  appear  to  desire  to  turn  over  to  the  Assembly  all  existing  interests 
connected  with  this  great  subject,  in  the  immense  region  represented. 
There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  entire  region  occupied  by  the  seven 
Synods  heretofore  united  in  the  control  of  the  Seminary  at  New  Albany, 
and  also  certain  portions  of  the  great  Valley  of  the  West,  which  hitherto 
have  not  united  in  that  enterprise,  are  desirous  of  the  interposition  of  the 
Assembly,  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  they  all  seem  to  have  at 
heart. 

"Whether  the  greatness  of  the  object  aimed  at  be  considered,  or  the 
impossibility  of  accomplishing  it  aright,  except  under  the  control  of  some 
permanent  and  common  authority;  or  the  immense  interest  which  our 
Church  and  our  country  have  in  the  proper  and  effectual  execution  of  the 
plan  suggested;  or  the  settled  and  long-pursued  policy  and  principles  of  our 
Church  upon  the  whole  subject;  or  the  very  favourable  circumstances  pre- 
sented at  the  present  moment  and  in  the  actual  posture  of  affairs,  the  com- 
mittee is  of  opinion  that  the  Assembly  should,  at  this  time,  enter  with  faith 
and  zeal  upon  this  great  enterprise,  which  the  Lord  has,  in  a  manner, 
brought  and  laid  before  us. 

"  The  whole  region  interested  in  this  enterprise — so  far  as  it  is  Presbyte- 
rian at  all — appears,  before  this  Assembly,  not  only  voluntarily,  but  empha- 
tically pledged,  1.  To  the  point  that  the  Assembly  ought  to  establish  an 
additional  Theological  Seminary,  of  the  first  class,  in  the  West;  2.  That  the 
Assembly  itself  ought  to  determine,  by  a  vote  of  its  members,  at  this  time, 
the  place  where  it  should  be  built  up;  3.  That  no  other  Theological  Semi- 
nary shall  be  set  up  or  carried  on  in  the  same  general  region  by  our  judica- 
tories or  people,  if  the  Assembly  will  now  do  what  is  desired  of  it  in  the 
premises,  at  least  until  the  project  of  the  Assembly  shall  have  had  a  full 
trial. 

"The  committee  is  therefore  of  opinion,  that  the  call  of  God's  providence 
is  clear  to  the  Assembly,  and  that  it  should  now  go  forward  in  dependence 
on  divine  strength  and  guidance  in  so  great  an  enterprise.  It  therefore 
recommends  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

"That  the  Assembly  will  now  decide,  by  a  majority  of  votes  of  its  mem- 
bers, at  what  point  in  the  West  a  new  Theological  Seminary  shall  be  estab- 
lished by  li."— Minutes,  1853,  p.  439. 


432  TBEOLOGICAL    SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

[New  Albany,  St.  Louis,  Peoria,  Danville,  Nashville,  and  Cincinnati,  were  nominated.] 
—Minutes,  1853,  pp.  440,  442. 

§  228.   The  Seminary  located  at  Danville. 

"The  unfinished  business  was  taken  up,  viz. — a  new  Seminary  in  the 
West : — the  question  being  on  the  location  of  said  institution,  after  extended 
discussion,  the  previous  question  was  called  and  sustained;  and  in  proceed- 
ing to  the  vote,  Peoria,  Nashville,  and  Cincinnati,  were  withdrawn  from  the 
nomination. 

'^The  roll  was  then  called,  and  the  vote  resulted  in  33  for  New  Albany, 
78  for  St.  Louis,  and  122  for  Danville.  Being  thus  chosen,  on  the 
first  ballot,  by  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given,  Danville  in  the  State 
of  Kentucky  was  declared  to  be  duly  appointed  as  the  location  of  this 
Seminary. 

"On  motion,  the  Moderator  led  the  Assembly  in  off"ering  thanks  to  God 
for  the  harmony  of  feeling  in  coming  to  this  result,  and  imploring  his  bless- 
ing on  the  enterprise,  at  this  beginning." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  442. 

§  229.  Constitution  of  the  Danville  Seminary. 

"An  additional  report  from  the  Committee  on  Theological  Seminariea 
was  presented,  which  was  accepted,  and  after  filling  the  blanks,  adopted,  as 
follows,  viz. 

"The  Committee  on  Seminaries,  after  considering  the  additional  matters 
referred  to  it,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  as  con- 
taining provision,  adequate  for  the  present,  for  all  the  objects  contemplated, 
as  necessary  to  the  organization  of  the  new  Theological  Seminary,  to  be 
established  in  the  West. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  new  Seminary  shall  be  called  The  Danville 
Theological  Seminary,  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Its  first  session 
shall  be  opened  at  Danville,  Kentucky,  on  the  13th  day  of  October,  1853, 
under  the  care  of  the  Professors  to  be  elected  by  the  present  Assembly,  or 
as  many  of  them  as  may  accept  the  chairs  tendered  to  them. 

<•  2.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  will  proceed,  on  Tuesday  the  31st 
May,  at  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  to  elect  four  persons  as  Professors  in  the  said 
Seminary,  who,  upon  signifying  their  acceptance  of  their  said  ofiices,  respec- 
tively, by  a  note  in  writing,  addressed  to  the  Moderator,  for  the  time  being, 
of  the  General  Assembly,  shall  be  fully  invested  with  the  right  of  office; 
and  shall  thenceforth  hold  their  respective  chairs  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
General  Assembly;  and  they  shall  be  inducted  into  office  with  such  for- 
malities as  the  Board  of  Directors  to  be  appointed  by  this  Assembly  shall 
direct.  The  chairs  to  be  thus  filled,  to  be  called  by  the  same  names,  and 
to  have  attached  to  them  the  same  subjects,  studies,  and  duties,  as  are  now 
provided  for  by  the  plan  for  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton ;  and 
the  Professors  of  the  new  Seminary  shall  receive,  as  a  compensation  for 
their  services,  the  sum  of  $1500  a  year  each,  payable  half  yearly;  and  also 
a  house  to  reside  in — which  said  houses  shall  be  provided  only  when  the 
state  of  the  funds  of  the  Seminary  will  conveniently  allow  of  their  purchase 
or  erection;  and  the  said  plan  for  Princeton,  as  now  existing,  shall  be  in 
force,  in  all  respects,  in  the  new  Seminary,  until  the  further  order  of  the 
General  Assembly — except  so  far  as  its  provisions  may  conflict  with  any 
action  of  the  present  Assembly. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  twenty-seven 
Ministers  and  twenty-seven  Ruling  Elders,  any  nine  of  whom,  met  at  the 
appointed  time  and  place,  shall  be  a  quorum  to  do  business.     The  whole  of 


Part  v.]  DANVILLE  SEMINARY.  433 

these  shall  be  elected  during  the  present  sessions  of  the  Assemhly;  but  they 
shall  be  so  elected  as  that  one-third  of  each  class  shall  go  out  of  ofl5ce 
annually.  The  fii-st  meeting  of  the  Board  shall  take  place  at  Danville,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  first  day  of  September,  1853,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  may  be 
possible,  at  which  time  they  shall  provide  for  the  organization  of  the  Semi- 
nary, and  the  induction  of  the  Professors  into  office  at  that  time,  or  as  soon 
afterwards  as  may  be  convenient. 

"  4.  Resolved,  That  William  L.  Breckinridge,  Edward  P.  Humphrey, 
Wm.  C.  Matthews,  Samuel  Cassaday,  Wni.  Richardson,  J.  S.  Beri-yman,  or 
any  three  of  them,  shall  be  a  committee  to  take  charge  of  the  whole  matter 
of  raising  funds  to  endow  the  said  Seminary,  with  power  to  appoint  one  or 
more  agents  to  do  the  work.  They  shall  report  their  proceedings  to  the 
General  Assembly  from  year  to  year,  and  shall  continue  to  act  till  the  fur- 
ther order  of  the  Assembly. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  Thomas  W.  Bullock,  Ben- 
jamin Warfield,  Richard  Pindell,  James  Matthews,  J.  Wood  Wilson,  John 
A.  Lyle,  and  John  D.  Matthews,  or  any  three  of  them,  shall  be  a  committee 
to  arrange  with  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  and  the  Trustees  of  the  Centre 
College  of  Kentucky,  the  terms  and  conditions  on  which  the  General  Assem- 
bly can  use  and  enjoy,  on  its  own  behalf,  and  for  the  purposes  of  the  said 
Theological  Seminary,  the  charters,  franchises,  and  benefits,  held,  and  capa- 
ble of  being  afforded,  by  said  Synod  and  College.  They  shall  also  endeavour 
to  procure  from  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  an  act  of  incorporation  for  a 
Board  of  Trustees  for  the  General  Assembly,  similar  in  its  general  features 
to  that  granted  by  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1799.  The  Trus- 
tees appointed  under  which  act,  when  obtained,  shall  take  charge  of  the 
funds  collected  for  said  Seminary;  and  this  committee  shall  report  their 
doings  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

"  G.  Resolved,  That  John  C.  Young,  John  T.  Edgar,  Willis  Lord,  James 
Wood,  Samuel  Steele,  James  Smith,  N.  L.  Rice,  Z.  Butler,  James  Hoge, 
J,  J.  Bullock,  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  and  E.  D.  MacMaster,  or  any  three 
of  them,  shall  be  a  committee  to  revise  the  plan  of  the  Seminary,  now  pro- 
visionally adopted,  and  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  in  detail,  a 
complete  plan  for  said  Seminary,  embracing  every  department  thereof,  and 
'  covering  the  whole  matter  of  studies,  professorships,  students,  terms,  vaca- 
tions, scholarships,  classes,  course  of  studies,  and  whatever  else  may  fall 
under  the  practical  and  interior  operations  of  the  Seminary. 

''  7.  Resolved,  That  whatever  funds  are  now  held,  or  may  be  hereafter 
raised,  for  the  benefit  of  said  Seminary,  shall  be  liable,  as  to  the  income  of 
all  funds  now  vested,  and,  so  far  as  may  be  needful,  both  principal  and 
interest  of  funds  yet  to  be  raised,  to  meet  the  necessary  current  expenses  of 
the  Seminary  of  all  kinds.  And  to  this  end,  the  Professors,  who  may  be 
inducted  into  office,  shall,  after  their  said  induction,  be  a  committee  to 
receive  said  income  and  funds,  as  far  as  may  be  necessary,  as  aforesaid,  from 
any  agents,  corporations,  or  others,  having  charge  thereof;  and  they  shall 
appropriate  the  moneys  so  received  to  the  necessary  current  expenses  of  the 
Seminary,  of  all  kinds — keeping  a  strict  account  thereof — and  reporting  in 
detail  to  the  next  General  Assembly;  this  order  to  be  in  force  only  until  a 
Board  of  Trustees  for  the  Assembly,  and  a  Treasurer  for  said  Board  shall  be 
duly  appointed  under  the  laws  of  Kentucky. 

'^  8.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  has  gone  forward  in  this  pre- 
sent work,  under  the  leadings  of  Divine  Providence,  relying  on  the  ability 
and  willingness  of  God's  people  to  furnish  the  large  means  necessary  to 
accomplish  it  in  a  proper  manner,  and  upon  God  himself  to  bless  it  abun- 
dantly. They  do  therefore  commend  the  subject  to  the  prompt  and  efficient 
55 


434  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V.  " 

liberality  of  all  the  Churches  under  its  care,  and  more  especially  those 
Churches  which  lie  in  the  wide  region  which  will  be  first  and  most  largely 
blessed  with  the  Institution.  Deeply  sensible  that  nothing  can  be  done 
without  the  blessing  of  God,  humbly  and  confidently  relying  on  him,  they 
see  no  I'eason  to  doubt,  that  what  they  have  projected  can  be  surely  accom- 
plished."— Minutes,  1853,  p.  444. 

§  230.  Professors  elected. 

"The  order  of  the  day  for  ten  o'clock  was  then  taken  up,  an  election  of 
Professors  for  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Danville;  which  resulted  in  the 
choice  of  the  llev.  11.  J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Exegetic, 
Didactic,  and  Polemic  Theology; 

"  The  Rev.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesias- 
tical History; 

"  The  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Oriental  and  Biblical 
Literature;  and 

"The  Rev.  Phineas  B.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology, 
Church  Government,  and  Composition  and  Delivery  of  Sermons. 

"The  Rev.  Drs.  Matthews  and  Steele,  and  Mr.  Buell,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  inform  these  persons  elected  of  their  appointment." — Minutes, 
1853,  p.  450. 

§  231.    Organization  of  the  Seminari/. 

[The  first  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Directors  presented  the  following  results. 
(Jflimites,  1854,  p.  230,  231.) 

The  Instmdors  are,  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckiitrisge,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Exegetic, 
Didactic,  and  Polemic  Theology. 

Rev.  E.  P.  HoMPHHET,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical  History. 

Rev,  Joseph  G.  Reasoh,  Instructor  in  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature. 

Twenty-four  students  were  matriculated  the  first  session,  and  thirty-seven  the  second. 
The  permanent  funds  of  the  Institution  amount  to  $76,868. — Minutes,  1854,  p.  222,  230.] 

Title  3. — Plan  of  Danville  Theological  Seminary. 

[So  much  of  the  plan  is  given  as  indicates  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the  Institu- 
tion. It  was  prepared  by  a  committee  (above,  §  229 ;  6)  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly. — 
Minutes,  1854,  p.  42.] 

§  233.  Design  of  the  Institution — 3Io(le  of  condxicting  it. 

"1.  The  design  of  this  Seminary  is  to  provide  the  means  for  the  proper 
professional  training  of  candidates  for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

"The  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — the  acts  of  its  General  Assem- 
blies, passed  from  time  to  time — this  Plan — the  orders  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  this  Seminary — and  the  decisions  of  its  Faculty,  and  the  several 
Professors  who  at  any  time  compose  it,  must  determine  the  proper  course  of 
that  professional  training,  so  far  as  this  Seminary  is  concerned — and  the 
proper  mode  of  pursuing  it. 

"  That  professional  training,  in  its  appropriate  sphere,  must  be  understood, 
as  extending  to  everything : — seeing  that  it  contemplates  a  profession  the 
most  peculiar,  the  most  difficult,  and  the  most  exalted.  Not  only  that 
which  is  social  and  public,  but  also  that  which  is  private  and  personal;  not 
only  study  and  instruction,  but  discipline  and  practice;  not  only  growth  in 
knowledge,  but  growth  in  grace  also ;  everything  is  to  be  embraced,  accord- 
ing to  its  importance  in  the  future  career  of  a  minister  of  the  blessed 
gospel. 

3.  The  Seminary  shall  be  conducted  under  the  authority,  oversight,  and 
care  of  the  General  Assembly  itself. 


Part  v.]  DANVILLE   SEMINARY.  435 

Its  immediate  interests,  in  their  various  aspects  and  departments,  are 
committed,  in  part,  to  the  control  and  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Directors ; 
in  part  to  that  of  the  Faculty,  made  up  of  the  Professors  for  the  time  being; 
and  in  part  to  that  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  under  the  charter  of  thie 
Seminary. 

"  A  chapter,  in  this  Plan,  is  devoted  to  each  of  these  subordinate  authori- 
ties; and  an  additional  one  to  the  students  of  the  Institution.  Under  those 
four  heads,  all  the  general  principles,  and  all  the  detailed  application  of 
them,  further  necessary  in  a  plan  like  this,  will  be  stated. 

§  234,    The  Board  of  Directors. 

"  1.  The  Board  of  Directors,  as  heretofore  determined  by  the  act  creating 
the  Seminary,  shall  consist  of  fifty-four  members;  of  whom  one-half  shall 
be  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  the  other  half  Ruling  Elders,  in  good  stand- 
ing in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

''  These  Directors  shall  be  divided  into  three  sections  of  eighteen  persons 
each,  one-half  of  each  section  being  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  the  other 
half  Ruling  Elders;  and  one  of  these  sections  of  eighteen  persons  shall  be 
elected  by  the  General  Assembly — and  all  vacancies  filled  in  the  other  two 
sections — at  each  annual  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  in  such  manner  that 
each  section  shall  serve  three  years,  and  until  their  successors  are  elected — 
and  the  third  part  of  the  whole  Board  shall  be  elected  every  year.  The 
form  of  the  election  shall  be  as  the  Assembly  shall,  from  time  to  time,  pre- 
scribe. 

"  Every  Director  before  he  takes  his  seat  as  such,  shall  subscribe,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Board,  a  written  declaration  to  be  kept  in  a  book  for  that 
purpose,  that  he  sincerely  and  truly  receives  and  adopts  the  standards  of 
doctrine,  government,  discipline,  and  worship  of  our  Presbyterian  Church. 
And  every  Director  who  refuses,  or  who  fails,  without  some  sufficient  excuse, 
for  one  whole  year  next  after  his  election,  to  appear  and  qualify  and  take 
his  seat,  shall  thereby  forfeit  his  right  to  do  so;  and  his  place  shall  thereon 
become  vacant,  and  be  so  reported  to  the  next  Assembly,  which  shall  fill 
the  vacancy. 

"The  Board  of  Directors  shall  meet  on  its  own  adjournment — or  it  may 
be  convened  by  a  call  on  due  notice  of  any  one  of  its  permanent  officers,  or 
by  any  five  members  of  the  Board.  Its  ordinary  place  of  meeting  shall  be 
Danville,  in  Kentucky :  but  it  may  meet  at  any  other  place,  where  the  con- 
venience of  the  Board  or  the  interests  of  the  Seminary  may  require  it.  Any 
nine  members  met  together  at  the  time  and  place  previously  appointed, 
shall  be  a  quorum  competent  to  transact  any  business.  The  annual  meeting 
of  the  Board  shall  be  at  the  Seminary,  about  the  close  of  the  Seminary  year, 
and  shortly  before  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Assembly. 

''  They  may  appoint  permanent  committees,  having  all  the  powers  of  the 
Board,  or  any  part  thereof,  to  act  during  the  recess  of  the  Board.  But  all 
such  committees  must  report  at  every  meeting  of  the  Board;  and  all  of  them 
must  be  I'enewcd  at  least  once  every  year,  or  their  powers  cease. 

"  They  may  also  appoint  such  officers,  agents,  and  servants,  members  of 
the  Board,  to  exei'cise  certain  powers  thereof;  or,  not  members  of  the 
Board,  to  discharge  certain  functions  on  its  behalf,  as  may  be  thought  neces- 
sary, from  time  to  time.  And  such  compensation  may  be  allowed  to  any 
such  persons  as  the  Board  may  consider  reasonable,  out  of  any  funds  subject 
to  the  control  of  the  Board. 

"3.  It  appertains  especially  to  the  Board  of  Directors  to  exercise  a  gene- 
ral supervision  over  the  professors,  teachers  and  pupils  of  the  Seminary;  to 
take  care  of  all  the  great  interests  thereof;  and,  standing  between  the  Semi- 


436  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

nary  and  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  the  ordinary  medium  of  communica- 
tiou  between  them. 

"The  special  object  of  this  arrangement  is,  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
Assembly  may  have  the  assurance  derived  from  the  careful  superintendence 
of  the  Board  of  Directors,  that  its  acts  and  purposes  are  fairly  and  truly  car- 
ried out  in  the  Seminary,  and  with  regard  to  it;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
that,  on  the  part  of  the  professors,  teachers,  students,  and  general  interests 
of  the  Seminary,  such  representations  may  be  statedly  made  to  the  Assem- 
bly, as  will  encourage  and  enable  it  to  execute  the  Lord's  purposes  of  mercy 
by  this  means. 

"  The  management  of  the  funds  and  property,  and  the  care  and  execution 
of  the  charter  and  franchises  belonging  to  the  Seminary,  are  duties  and 
powers  which  do  not  appertain  to  the  Board  of  Directors.  But  for  the  fur- 
therance of  particular  objects,  which  may  be  at  any  time  specially  import- 
ant, and  which  may  not  fall  under  the  particular  duties  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  the  Board  of  Directors  may  collect,  manage,  and  expend,  tempo- 
rarily or  permanently,  such  funds  as  may  be  necessary :  keeping  a  regular 
account,  and  making  report  thereof  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  Whatever  money  may  at  any  time  be  collected,  managed,  or  expended 
by  the  Board  of  Directors,  or  under  its  authority,  shall  be  kept  perfectly 
distinct  from  the  permanent  funds  of  the  Seminary. 

"4.  They  shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  nominate  any  person  to  the  Assembly, 
as  a  professor  in  the  Seminary;  nor  shall  they  have  power  to  add  anything 
to  the  department  of  any  professor,  after '  the  schedule  of  the  several 
departments  is  regularly  made  out,  without  the  consent  of  the  professor  in 
that  department :  nor,  to  take  anything  away,  without  the  like  consent. 

'^  In  case  of  clear  and  urgent  necessity,  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  have 
power  to  suspend  the  functions  of  a  professor,  till  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Assembly;  and  then  to  proceed,  temporarily,  as  in  case  of  a  vacancy.  But 
this  can  only  be  done  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  all  the  members  of  the 
Board  then  present;  and  being  so  done,  a  complete  record  of  the  facts,  rea- 
sons and  votes,  shall  be  laid  before  the  Assembly  at  its  next  meeting,  upon 
which  the  Assembly  will  act  as  it  sees  fit. 

<'5.  The  exact  period  of  each  year  at  which  the  exercises  of  the  Seminary 
will  commence,  and  that  at  which  they  will  close;  the  number  and  the 
length  of  the  terms  and  of  the  vacations;  everything  relating  to  exhibitions, 
examinations,  and  public  exercises ;  together  with  matters  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, belong  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  are  to  be  determined,  from 
time  to  time,  after  conference  with  the  professors,  in  such  manner,  as  may 
seem  most  proper:  the  General  Assembly  hereby  reserving  to  itself  the 
power  to  make  such  further  provision,  touching  all  such  matters,  as  it  may 
at  any  time  consider  necessary. 

"  If  it  should  so  happen  that  less  than  nine  members  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  should  convene  at  the  time  and  place  appointed  for  any  regular 
meeting  of  the  Board,  that  shall  not  absolutely  defeat  the  meeting :  but  as  many 
Directors  as  may  be  present  shall  proceed  with  such  ordinary  business  as 
may  require  attention ;  and  their  actings  and  doings  shall  be  valid,  unless 
they  are  rescinded  at  the  next  regular  meeting  of  a  quorum  of  the  Board. 

''  It  shall  be  the  particular  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  take  care 
that  the  periodical  elections  of  the  members  of  the  Board  are  not  omitted : 
that  vacancies  in  the  office  of  professor  in  the  Seminary  are  duly  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  vVssembly;  that  newly  elected  Directors  and  Professors 
are  duly  inducted  into  office;  that  all  persons  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  Seminary,  faithfully  perform  their  respective  duties;  and  that  all  the 


Part  v.]  DANVILLE   SEMINARY.  437 

interests  of  the  institution  are  regularly  organized,  and  foithfully  advanced, 
according  to  the  great  design  had  in  view,  in  its  establishment  and  support. 

§  235.    The  Professors — the  Facxdtrj. 

"1.  The  Professors  in  this  Seminary  shall  be  elected  by  the  General  As- 
sembly at  any  of  its  regular  meetings,  and  in  any  manner  it  shall  deem  pro- 
per.    No  one  can  be  a  Professor  in  any  other  way. 

"  They  shall  hold  their  respective  offices,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  But  it  shall  require  the  votes  of  the  absolute  majority  of 
all  the  Commissioners  sent  to  the  particular  Assembly,  to  dismiss  or  super- 
sede any  Professor.  And  in  all  such  cases,  the  vote,  with  the  reasons  for  it, 
and  the  names  of  all  the  Commissioners  voting,  shall  be  entered  at  large  on 
the  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  No  Professor  shall  ever  be  elected,  except  to  fill  a  chair  actually  exist- 
ing and  vacant :  nor  shall  any  Professor  ever  receive  merely  honorary 
authority  or  compensation  for  past  services,  or  otherwise. 

"  No  one  shall  be  competent  to  hold  the  office  of  Professor,  who  is  not  an 
ordained  Minister,  in  good  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  who 
shall  not  have  been  statedly  engaged  as  such,  in  some  employment  immedi- 
ately connected  with  the  cure  of  souls,  for  at  least  five  years,  preceding  his 
election. 

''2.  The  number  of  Professors  in  this  Seminary  shall  be  increased  or 
diminished,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  General  Assembly.  But  the  Assembly 
will  at  all  times  feel  obliged  in  this,  as  in  all  other  respects,  to  treat  this 
Seminary  as  one  of  the  first  class. 

"The  Professors  shall  be  inaugurated  in  such  manner  as  the  Board  of 
Directors  shall  prescribe. 

"  As  a  part  of  that  service,  and  before  any  Professor  enters  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office,  he  shall  publicly  profess,  that  the  standards  of  doctrine, 
government,  discipline  and  worship,  of  this  Church,  are  the  standards  of 
his  own  faith;  and  he  shall  subscribe  a  writing,  to  be  kept  in  a  book  for  that 
purpose,  setting  forth  that  he  has  made  the  said  public  profession ;  and 
solemnly  binding  himself  diligently  to  teach  the  system  contained  in  said 
standards,  and  to  teach  nothing  contrary  to  that  system,  so  long  as  he  shall 
continue  a  Professor  in  this  Seminary. 

"  Every  Professor  who  shall  fail  or  refuse  to  be  inaugurated,  in  manner 
aforesaid,  in  a  reasonable  time  (to  be  judged  of  by  the  Board  of  Directors) 
after  his  election,  shall  thereby  forfeit  all  right  to  said  office,  which  shall 
thenceforth  be  treated  as  vacant. 

"No  Professor  after  being  inaugurated,  shall  be  at  liberty  to  resign  his 
office,  except  upon  six  months'  written  notice  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Semi- 
nary, unless  by  the  consent  of  the  Assembly, — or,  if  the  Assembly  is  not 
in  session,  by  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  in  some  lawful  meetr 
ing. 

"3.  The  Professors  shall  be  of  equal  rank  and  authority,  one  with 
another.  But  when  they  meet  as  a  Faculty — and  when  they  act  jointly 
upon  any  occasion — he  who  has  been  longest  Professor,  shall  preside;  and 
he  shall  perform,  in  the  name  of  the  whole,  all  joint  official  acts.  He  who 
has  been  Professor  the  shortest  time,  shall  be  the  Stated  Clerk*  of  the 
Faculty,  and  shall  perform  the  duties  proper  to  that  office. 

"  Each  Professor  shall  devote  himself  to  the  duties  of  the  particular 
department  of  instruction  committed  to  him.  And  the  Faculty,  as  a  body, 
shall  have  a  joint  oversight  of  the  conduct  of  each  separate  Professor,  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  his  duties  are  discharged. 


438  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOL^.  [Book  V. 

"4.  At  present,  and  until  the  further  order  of  the  Assembly,  there  shall 
be  four  Professors  in  this  Seminary;  and,  till  the  further  order  of  the 
Assembly,  the  subjects  of  instruction  distributed  amongst  them  shall  be  as 
heroinafter  provided :  namely,  there  shall  be 

"A  Professor  of  Exegetical,  Didactic,  and  Polemic  Theology; 

"A  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical  History; 

"  A  Professor  of  ('huvoh  Government  and  Pastoral  Theology; 

"  A  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Oriental  Literature. 

"It  shall  be  the  duty  of  these  Professors  to  give  instruction  in  the  vari- 
ous matters  that  fall  appropriately  to  their  respective  professorships.  And 
in  the  event  of  any  diiference  of  opinion  amongst  them  on  that  matter,  it 
shall  be  settled  by  the  Faculty;  subject  to  the  revision  of  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

"  Tn  every  department  of  instruction,  under  every  professorship,  it  is  the 
word  of  (lod  that  is  to  be  kept  as  much  as  possible  under  the  continual 
observation  of  the  students.  Nor  is  it  either  expected  or  desired,  that  the 
lines  between  subject  and  subject,  or  even  chair  and  chair,  should  be  drawn 
in  any  such  manner  as  to  exclude  any  Professor  from  teaching  according  to 
the  proportion  of  faith,  on  all  subjects  whatever. 

"  6.  The  matter  of  text  books  in  each  particular  department,  is  left  to  the 
Professor  thereof;  with  a  supervisory  power,  however,  in  the  Faculty,  in 
extraordinary  cases,  of  which  they  are  the  judges. 

"It  is  not  intended  to  intimate,  that  instruction  by  particular  text  books 
and  recitations  is  prefen-ed,  as  the  best  method  in  professional  training.  On 
the  contrary,  let  the  Professors,  each  in  his  own  department,  strive  to 
gather  from  all  quarters,  all  treasures  of  pertinent  knowledge,  and  commu- 
nicate them  to  the  students  by  way  of  lectures,  discourses,  prelections,  and 
the  like;  striving  by  proper  examinations  of  the  students  to  ground  these 
fruits  in  their  minds;  enabling  them  by  proper  exercises  on  their  part,  to 
gain  the  habit  of  their  use;  and  making  known  to  them  carefully,  where,  in 
books,  further  researches  may  be  made,  and  how. 

"  The  method  to  be  pursued  in  the  actual  imparting  of  instruction  may 
be  this:  in  the  Hebrew  language,  let  the  whole  number  of  students  be 
divided  into  two  sections;  one  composed  of  those  who  are  advanced  con- 
siderably in  the  knowledge  of  that  language;  the  other  of  those  who  are 
beginners  in  it.  In  every  other  study,  let  the  whole  of  the  students  attend 
every  Professor  at  every  public  exercise.  And  let  every  student  attend  two 
or  three  of  these  exercises  every  day  that  is  devoted  to  them. 

"In  the  proper  arrangement  of  the  instructions  given  by  the  Professors, 
every  one  of  them  in  every  part  of  his  course  ought  to  touch,  at  every  point, 
that  divine  truth,  with  which  it  should  be  the  supreme  object  of  all  their  endea- 
vours to  imbue  their  pupils — not  only  as  a  doctrine,  but  as  a  living  power — 
so  that  during  the  whole  course  of  the  student,  the  whole  of  his  sacred  pro- 
fession as  a  minister  of  Christ  will  be  always  in  view;  nothing  that  concerns 
his  proper  training  for  it  being,  at  any  time,  lost  sight  of;  and  nothing  else 
being,  at  any  time,  intruded  amongst  his  studies. 

"Every  Professor  shall  arrange  the  subjects  and  studies  of  his  particular 
department,  in  such  a  manner  as  most  effectually  to  present  and  develope  the 
whole,  Ance  and  thoroughly,  within  each  period  of  three  consecutive  years. 

"  The  payment  of  the  salaries  of  the  Professors  is,  in  the  order  of  import- 
ance, the  first  charge  upon  the  permanent  funds  of  the  Seminary;  after  that, 
the  erection  of  suitable  public  buildings;  then  the  enlargement  of  the 
library;  then  the  erection  or  purchase  of  residences  for  the  Professors;  then 
scholarships  for  students. 


Part  v.]  DANVILLE   SEMINARY.  439 

§  236.  Boards  of  Trustees — Funds. 

"  1.  There  are  three  Boards  of  Trustees,  more  or  less,  directly  conneeted 
with  the  Theological  Semiuary  at  Danville,  and  having  chaiters  of  great 
value. 

"  First.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Centi-e  College  of  Kentucky  has  an 
amended  charter,  granted  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky  in  the  year 
1824,  by  means  of  which  any  amount  of  funds  may  be  held  by  that  Board  of 
Trustees  for  the  purposes  of  theological  education  on  the  terms  stated  therein. 
That  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  which  elects  them, 
have  both  agreed  by  way  of  covenant  with  the  General  Assembly,  ihat  the 
benefits  of  this  amended  charter  shall  accrue  to  the  Danville  Theological 
Seminary;  and  by  similar  covenants,  the  annual  income  of  a  considerable 
fund  now  held  by  that  Board  under  that  charter,  together  with  all  future 
additions  thereto,  are  to  be  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  said  Seminary, 
upon  the  conditions  agreed  to  by  the  Assembly  in  its  acts  creating  the 
Seminary. 

"Secondly.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Fund  of  the  Synod 
of  Kentucky,  who  are  elected  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  have  a  charter 
granted  by  the  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky  in  the  year  1850,  by  means  of 
which  they  may  hold  property  to  the  value  of  $50,000,  with  an  income  of 
$5000  a  year;  and  they  have  in  their  hands  a  large  sum  of  money  contri- 
buted by  a  portion  of  the  people  of  Kentucky,  which  is  subject  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  is  dedicated  to  the  purposes  of  theologi- 
cal education.  The  use  of  this  charter,  and  of  the  fund  held  under  it,  and 
of  all  future  additions  to  it,  has  been  vested  in  the  General  Assembly  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Danville,  by  covenant  between 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  and  the  General  Assembly  upon  the  same  terms  and 
conditions  as  the  charter  and  funds  alluded  to  in  the  last  preceding  para- 
graph. 

"Thirdly.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary  under  the 
care  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  has  a  charter  granted  to  them  by  the  Commonwealth  of 
Kentucky  in  the  year  1854,  by  means  of  which  they  may  hold  property  to 
any  amount  whose  net  income  does  not  exceed  the  sum  of  $20,000  a  year; 
the  Trustees  of  which  corporation  are  to  be  elected  by  the  General  Assembly 
itself,  and  were  created  expressly  to  manage  the  funds  of  the  Danville  Semi- 
nary, and  such  other  funds  as  the  General  Assembly  may  commit  to  them, 
for  any  other  object  designated  by  itself;  and  these  Trustees  have  a  large 
fund  in  their  hands  already  accumulated;  the  whole  of  it  subscribed  upon 
the  conditions  stated  in  the  acts  of  Assembly,  creating  the  Danville  Theolo- 
gical Seminary. 

"2.  Each  of  these  Boards  of  Trustees  may  go  on  at  its  discretion,  to  collect 
additional  funds  for  the  benefit  of  the  Danville  Theological  Seminary,  accord- 
ing to  the  provisions  of  their  respective  charters,  and  upon  the  conditions 
stated  in  all  the  acts  of  Assembly,  and  all  the  covenants  with  the  Assembly 
relating  to  said  Seminary,  and  distinctly  reaffirmed  in  this  plan. 

"  For  the  purpose  of  avoiding  confusion  and  a  multiplicity  of  accounts, 
only  the  third  named  of  the  three  Boards  of  Trustees,  hereinbefore  men- 
tioned, need  report  from  year  to  year  to  the  General  Assembly;  but  that 
Board  is  expected  and  required  to  do  so,  according  to  the  provision  con- 
tained in  the  eleventh  section  of  its  charter. 

"Both  of  the  other  Boards  may,  however,  whenever  cither  of  them  may 
consider  it  necessary,  report  directly  to  the  General  Assembly.     But  it  is 


440  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  Y. 

also  expected,  and  is  hereby  provided,  that  both  of  them  will  communicate 
to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  once  in  every  year,  the  exact 
state  of  the  funds  and  property  under  their  control,  respectively,  in  time  to 
enable  that  Board  to  embody  the  information  thus  communicated,  in  its 
yearly  report  to  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  both  of  them  will  pay  over 
to  the  said  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Danville  Theological  Seminary  the  net 
income  of  all  property  and  funds  under  their  control,  as  fast  as  it  accrues, 
at  least  once  every  half  year. 

"  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  vSeminary  will  take  exclusive  charge  of 
the  duty  of  providing  for  all  expenditures  incurred  in  the  regular  and  ordi- 
nary support  of  the  Seminary,  and  in  the  current  expenses  thereof;  the 
other  two  Boards  of  Trustees,  mentioned  in  this  plan,  limiting  themselves 
in  that  respect,  to  the  regular  payment  of  their  income,  respectively,  as 
herein  before  provided. 

§  237.   Shidejits — li/e  in  the  Seminary. 

"  6.  It  is  earnestly  recommended  that  the  students  should  not  fail  to  put 
themselves  under  the  care  of  the  Presbyteries  as  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
at  an  early  period  of  their  professional  studies. 

"It  is  also  recommended,  that  they  should  not,  unless  under  special  cir- 
cumstances requiring  such  a  course,  leave  their  own  proper  Presbyteries  to 
place  themselves  under  those  more  convenient  to  the  Seminary;  but  that, 
as  far  as  possible,  they  should  apply  to  those  Presbyteries  to  which  they 
naturally  belong,  and  remain  under  their  care. 

"  To  facilitate  this  important  result,  the  Board  of  Directors  will  have 
respect,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  periods  of  the  ordinary  sessions  of  Presby- 
teries, in  all  their  arrangements  of  the  terms  of  the  Seminary  year. 

§  239.    General  provisions. 

"1.  The  G-eneral  Assembly  reserves  to  itself  the  most  ample  power  to 
make  amendments  and  alterations  in  this  Plan. 

"  Those  parts  of  it  that  involve  only  matters  of  detail  may  be  changed  at 
any  time  by  the  Assembly,  either  on  its  own  motion,  or  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  Board  of  Directors. 

"No  fundamental  principle  of  the  Plan  shall  be  changed,  unless  it  is 
proposed  at  one  annual  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  and  carried  at  the  next 
annual  meeting  thereof;  unless  such  change  be  proposed  to  the  Assembly 
by  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  carried  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly. 

"Those  principles  and  parts  of  the  Plan  which  are  founded  on  the  cove- 
nants between  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  or  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Centre  College  of  Kentucky,  and  the  Grcneral  Assembly,  shall  never  be  so 
changed  as  to  affect  the  force  or  integrity  of  either  of  those  covenants,  with- 
out the  previous  consent  of  the  opposite  parties  thereto. 

"  2.  Until  the  further  order  of  the  Assembly,  or  some  different  provision 
by  the  Board  of  Directors,  under  the  powers  vested  in  them  by  this  Plan, 
there  shall  be  one  annual  session  of  the  Seminary,  which  shall  begin  on  the 
20th  of  September,  unless  that  may  be  the  Sabbath,  and  then  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  and  terminate  in  the  first  week  of  May;  with  a  short  recess,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  Faculty,  about  Christmas." 


Part  v.]  STNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  441 

CHAPTER  V. 

synodical  and  other  seminaries. 

Title  1. — Powers  of  the  Synods  on  the  Subject. 
§240. 

(a)  "  An  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  requesting  the  advice  of 
the  General  Assembly  relative  to  the  establishment  of  an  Academical  and 
Theological  Seminary  which  the  Synod  propose  instituting  within  their 
bounds,  was  brought  in  and  read.  After  the  subject  had  been  discussed 
for  some  time,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  are  not  prepared  at  present  to  give  any 
opinion  or  advice  on  the  subject  of  the  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Geneva, 
which  contemplates  the  establishment  of  an  academical  and  theological 
Seminary,  believing  the  said  Synod  are  the  best  judges  of  what  may  be  their 
duty  in  this  important  business." — Minutes,  1818,  p.  686. 

(6)  **  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  a  memorial  from  the  West 
Lexington  Presbytery,  on  the  subject  of  Theological  Seminaries,  in  which 
is  submitted  a  plan  for  the  attainment — 

"First,  Of  entire  uniformity  in  the  government  and  course  of  study  iu 
the  theological  schools  of  our  Church;  and 

"Second,  The  most  unqualified  dependence  upon  the  General  Assembly 
as  a  bond  of  union  between  all  the  Churches  and  all  her  Seminaries,  in 
order  to  secure,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  memorialists,  the  future  peace 
and  purity  of  the  Church,  by  securing  unity  of  sentiment  and  consequently 
of  effort,  among  all  the  Ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  Uni- 
ted States — made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"The  subject  of  this  memorial  is  too  serious  in  its  character,  and  too 
important  in  its  bearing  and  its  consequences,  to  be  discussed  at  so  late  a 
period  of  the  Assembly's  sessions,  and  inasmuch  as  it  would  materially 
affect  the  rights  of  individuals,  of  Presbyteries,  and  indeed  of  the  whole 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  would  also  call  for  important  alterations  in  the 
Constitution,  the  committee  deem  it  inexpedient  for  this  Assembly  to  enter 
upon  the  consideration  of  the  proposals  submitted  in  the  document,  and 
recommend  that  the  memorial  be  refen-ed  to  the  consideration  of  the  next 
General  Assembly." — Mimites,  1828,  p.  240. 

[Next  year  the  memorial]  "  was  committed  to  the  Rev.  Archibald  Alex- 
ander, D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Charles  Hodge, 
to  consider  and  report  on  the  same  to  the  next  General  Assembly." — Miri' 
utes,  1829,  p.  389. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred,  by  the  last  General  Assembly, 
the  memorial  of  the  West  Lexington  Presbytery,  made  the  following  report, 
which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  That  the  said  memorial  sets  forth  the  evils  which  in  the  opinion  of  the 
memorialists  threaten  the  Church  from  the  operation  of  numerous  theologi- 
cal Seminaries  existing  independently  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  adopt- 
ing different  systems  of  government,  and  different  courses  of  study.  To 
counteract  these  evils  it  proposes,  that  the  General  Assembly  should  take 
all  the  theological  Seminaries  throughout  our  bounds,  under  its  immediate 
and  absolute  control,  and  prescribe  a  course  of  study  which  shall  be  uniform 
in  them  all. 

"  These  are  the  prominent  points  of  the  memorial  under  consideration. 
56 


442  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

Your  committee  are  ready  to  acknowledge  that  there  are  evils  of  a  very 
formidable  character,  which  are  likely  to  arise  from  the  indefinite  multipli- 
cation of  theological  Seminaries  under  the  care  of  a  single  Synod  or  Pres- 
bytery. They  fear  that  the  standard  of  theological  education  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  will  ultimately  fall  far  below  that  maintained  in  some 
other  Christian  denominations,  and  thus  the  respectability  and  usefulness  of 
our  clergy  be  greatly  impaired.  They  believe  also  that  much  good  that 
might  have  resulted  from  having  a  larger  portion  of  our  young  men  brought 
into  personal  acquaintance  with  each  other,  and  educated  upon  the  same 
plan,  must  now  be  lost;  and  that  we  must  content  ourselves  with  less  of 
harmony  of  feeling  and  unity  of  sentiment  than  might  under  other  circum- 
stances have  been  secured.  Believing,  however,  that  it  is  perfectly  compe- 
tent to  every  Presbytery  or  Synod  to  adopt  what  plan  they  may  think  best, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  for  the  education  of 
their  own  young  men;  and  finding  that  the  Assembly  has  long  sanctioned 
their  so  doing,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  this  subject  is  not  within  the 
rightful  jurisdiction  of  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  even  if  it  were,  it 
would,  under  existing  circumstances,  be  highly  inexpedient  to  adopt  the 
course  proposed  by  the  memorialists.  They  therefore  beg  to  be  discharged 
from  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject." — Miimtes,  1830,  p.  13. 

§  241.  Proposal  to  transfer  all  the  Seminaries  to  the  Synods. 

[Such  a  proposition  was  moved  in  the  Assembly  of  18.53,  and  by  a  large  majority  laid 
on  the  table.     In  1854,  the  following  report  was  adopted.] 

"  The  Committee  [on  Seminaries]  also  report,  that  two  overtures  have 
been  referred  to  them,  one  from  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  and  one  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Oxford,  proposing  that  the  several  Seminaries  under  the 
care  of  the  General  Assembly  should  be  transferred  to  the  Synods  in  whose 
bounds  they  are  respectively  located;  to  which  overtures  this  committee 
recommends  that  the  General  Assonbly  answer,  that  such  transfer  would 
be  inconsistent  with  the  legal  and  moral  obligations  which  the  Assembly 
has  assumed  in  relation  to  those  Institutions." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  42. 

Title  2. — Union  Theological  Seminary,  Virginia. 

§  242.    Taken  under  the  supervision  of  the  General  Assemhli/. 

"A  communication  was  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  relative 
to  the  Theological  Seminary  under  their  care,  which  was  committed  to  Dr. 
Alexander,  Dr.  Laurie,  Dr.  Janeway,  Mr.  Sabine,  and  Mr.  Gildersleeve." 
Minutes,  182G,  p.  14. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  proposal  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Hanover,  respecting  the  Theological  Seminary  imder  the  care  of  said  Pres- 
bytery, reported  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  viz. 

^'■Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  will  agree  to  take  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  under  their  care  and  control. 
The  Plan  of  the  Seminary  has  been  examined  by  the  committee,  who  are  of 
opinion  that  it  is  such  as  merits  the  approbation  of  the  General  Assembl}'. 

*' 2.  That  the  General  Assembly  will  receive  by  their  Trustees,  and 
manage  the  permanent  funds  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Hanover,  which  may  be  put  into  their  hands;  which  funds  shall  be  kept 
entirely  distinct  from  all  others  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly.  But 
the  General  Assembly  will  not  be  responsible  for  any  loss  or  diminution  of 
said  funds  which  may  occur  from  the  change  of  stocks,  or  any  other  una- 
voidable cause. 

"3.  That  the  General  Assembly  will  agree  to  permit  the  Presbytery  of 


Part  v.]  SYNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  443 

Hanover  to  draw  annually,  or  quarter-yearly,  the  avails  of  their  funds,  and 
will  give  direction  to  their  Trustees  to  pay  any  warrants  for  the  same, 
which  may  be  drawn  by  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  or  by  any  other  person 
named  by  the  Presbytery. 

''4.  That  the  Greneral  Assembly  do  also  agree,  that  they  will  permit  the 
Presbytery  of  Hanover  to  draw  out  in  part  or  in  whole,  the  funds  deposited 
in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly;  provided,  however, 
that  the  proposal  to  withdraw  shall  lie  before  the  Presbytery  at  least  one 
year  previously  to  its  being  acted  upon.  The  General  Assembly  shall  also 
be  at  liberty  to  resign  all  charge  and  superintendence  of  the  said  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  whenever  they  shall  judge  the  interests  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  require  it;  in  which  case  the  General  Assembly  will  direct  their 
Trustees  to  return  to  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  all  their  funds  which 
may  have  been  deposited  in  the  hands  of  said  Trustees;  or  convey  them  in 
trust  to  such  individuals  as  may  be  named  Tmstees  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Hanover. 

"5.  That  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  the  right  to  exercise  a  gene- 
ral control  over  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover; 
that  is,  they  shall  have  a  negative  on  all  appointments  to  the  offices  of  Pro- 
fessors and  Trustees  in  said  Seminary;  and  on  all  general  laws  or  rules 
adopted  by  the  Presbytery  for  its  government. 

''  6.  That  therefore  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  shall  annually  send  up  to 
the  General  Assembly,  a  detailed  report  of  all  their  transactions  relating  to 
said  Theological  Seminary;  on  which  report  a  vote  of  approbation  or  of 
disapprobation,  shall  be  taken  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  all  appoint- 
ments or  enactments  of  said  Presbytery  or  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  acting 
under  their  authority,  which  may  be  rejected  by  the  General  Assembly,  shall 
be  nidi  and  void.  But  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  over  the 
Seminary  shall  be  merely  negative;  they  shall  not  originate  any  measures  or 
give  any  special  directions  for  the  government  of  the  institution. 

"7.  That  if  it  shall  appear  to  the  General  Assembly  that  doctrines  con- 
trary to  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are  inculcated  in  the  said 
Seminary,  or  that  in  any  other  respect  it  is  so  managed  as  to  be  injurious  to 
the  interests  of  truth,  piety  and  good  order,  the  General  Assembly  may 
appoint  visitors  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  said  Seminary,  and  to  make 
a  full  report  to  them  thereon. 

''8.  That  if  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  convinced  that  any  Professor 
in  said  Seminary  inculcates  doctrines  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God,  and  to 
our  Confession  of  Faith,  they  shall  require  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  to 
dismiss  such  Professor,  and  to  appoint  another  in  his  place.  And  if  said 
Presbytery  neglect  or  refuse  to  comply  with  such  requisition,  the  General 
Assembly  will  withdraw  their  patronage  and  superintendence  from  the 
Seminary;  and  will  take  such  other  steps  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  in 
the  case. 

"9.  That  if  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  accede  to  these  terms,  then  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Hampden  Sidney  College  shall  be  denominated, 
Tlui  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  iincler  the  care  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  and  the  aforesaid  articles  and  conditions  shall 
go  into  effect." — Mimites,  1826,  p.  30. 

§  243.    The  Seminary  adopted  by  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  North 

Carolina. 

"  From  the  communication  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  it  appears  that 
the  arrangements  proposed  by  the  Gendral  Assembly  of  the  last  year,  respect- 


444  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

ing  the  Theological  Seminary  under  the  care  of  said  Presbj-iery,  have  been 
ratified  on  their  part. 

"It  likewise  appears,  that  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  foundation, 
and  extending  the  usefulness  of  the  Seminary,  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover 
have  made  proposals  to  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Cai'olina  to  take 
the  institution  under  their  immediate  care  and  joint  direction;  which  pro- 
posals have  been  adopted  by  the  said  Synods  respectively;  and  a  plan  of 
government  for  the  Seminary  arranged  on  principles  agreed  on  by  the  con- 
tracting parties. 

"In  view  of  the  whole  subject,  your  committee  would  respectfully  recom- 
mend [the  following  resolutions :] 

^'•Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  approve  and  ratify  the  arrange- 
ments which  have  been  made  for  placing  the  Theological  Seminary  hereto- 
fore confided  to  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  under  the  immediate 
care  and  joint  direction  of  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 

"2.  That  the  Assembly  will  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  Seminary, 
and  exercise  the  same  species  of  control  over  it,  under  the  recent  arrange- 
ments, as  they  proposed  to  do  by  their  act  of  the  last  year,  in  its  state  as 
then  existing. 

"3.  That  hereafter  the  Seminary  shall  be  denominated.  The  Union  Semi- 
nary of  the  General  Assembly ,  under  the  care  of  the  Synods  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina. 

"4.  That  the  General  Assembly  cordially  recommend  the  high  interests 
of  this  rising  Seminary  to  the  active  patronage  and  support  of  the  Churches 
at  large;  and  especially  of  the  Churches  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synods 
which  have  it  under  their  management  and  care. 

"  5.  That  the  General  Assembly  request  their  Board  of  Trustees  to  con- 
sider and  determine  on  the  expediency,  under  existing  circumstances  of 
continuing  the  permanent  funds  of  the  Seminary,  either  in  whole  or  in  part 
within  the  State  in  which  they  have  been  raised,  in  such  manner  as  may  be 
deemed  safe  and  proper."     [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1827,  p.  126. 

§  244.  Resumjition  of  funds  hy  the  Synods. 

"The  following  resolution  was  offered  by  Dr.  Graham,  viz. 

"Resolved,  That  if  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  should 
deem  such  a  measure  expedient  and  proper,  the  Assembly  will  consent  to 
the  withdrawal  of  the  moneys  now  held  by  the  Assembly's  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, belonging  to  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  at  such  time,  and  in 
such  manner  as  those  Synods  may  direct. 

"This  resolution  was  committed  to  Dr.  McElroy,  Mr.  Wallace  of  New 
York,  and  Mr.  Nesbit." 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  respecting  the 
Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  withdrawing  at  such  time  and  in 
such  manner  as  they  may  deem  proper,  the  moneys  belonging  to  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  this 
Assembly,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted;  viz.  That 
whereas,  the  moneys  in  question  were  collected  by  the  agency,  and  mainly 
within  the  bounds  of  those  Synods;  and  whereas,  it  is  believed  that  they 
may  be  safely  invested  in  the  South  at  a  nmch  higher  rate  of  interest  than 
they  now  bear;  therefore, 

"Resolred,  That  whenever  the   Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
shall  indicate  the  desire  above-mentioned,  to  the  Trustees  of  the  General  • 
Assembly,  the  said  Trustees  be,  and  they  hereby  are  authorized,  to  transfer 
the  funds  referred  to."— Minutes,  1836,  pp.  259,  204. 


Part  v.]  SYNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  445 

§  245.    Change  in  the  mode  of  electing  Professors. 

"  A  change  in  the  mode  of  electing  Professors  in  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  adopted  by  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  Assembly  for  ratification,  when  it  was  agreed  by  the  Assembly 
to  approve  the  plan  of  election  now  submitted  by  the  said  Synods.  The 
amendment  is  as  follows,  viz. 

''  The  fourth  of  the  articles  of  union  between  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  is  by  the  Synods  respectively  hereby  repealed,  and  as  a  sub- 
stitute therefor,  the  said  Synods  respectively  have  adopted  the  following 
article,  viz. 

"Each  Synod  shall,  once  in  every  four  years,  elect  six  Ministers,  and  six 
ruling  Elders,  who,  together  with  the  twenty-four  Directors  already  provi- 
ded for,  shall  constitute  a  Board  of  Electors  for  Professors  in  said  Seminary, 
consisting  of  forty-eight  members,  of  whom  not  less  than  twenty-five  shall 
be  a  quorum  competent  to  proceed  to  an  election;  the  Board  of  Electors 
shall  convene  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  Professor  or  Professors,  when- 
ever they  may  be  duly  notified  by  the  Board  of  Directors;  and  in  case  any 
person  voted  for,  shall  receive  the  votes  of  two  thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Electors,  present  at  such  meeting,  he  shall  be  declared  to  be  duly 
elected;  but  if  no  person  shall  have  two-thirds  of  the  votes  of  the  said 
Board,  then  the  names  of  the  two  persons  who  have  received  the  highest 
number  of  votes  shall  be  reported  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  that  out  of 
these  the  Assembly  may  proceed  to  the  appointment  of  a  Professor,  and  if 
any  vacancies  shall  occur  in  the  Board  of  Electors,  such  vacancies  may  be 
filled  up  by  the  Synods  at  their  next  stated  meetings  after  the  occurrence 
of  such  vacancies." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  30. 

§  246.    Organization  of  the  Seminary. 
(rt)    The  Professors. 
[I.     Rev.  John  H.  Rick,U.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Christian  Theology,  1826.     Died 
1831. 

II.  Rev.  HrRAM  P.  Goodrich,  D.  D.,  Teacher  of  Oriental  Literature,  1828;  elected 
Professor  of  Oriental  Literature,  1829.     Resigned. 

III.  Rev.  Elisha  Ballentinje,  Instructor  in  Biblical  Literature,  1831 — 1833,  and 
1836. 

IV.  Rev.  B.  F.  Staxtos,  Instructor  in  Christian  Theology,  1831. 

V.  Rev.  George  A.  Baxter,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Christian  Theology,  1831. 
Died  1841. 

VI.  Rev.  B.  M.  Smith,  Assistant  Teacher  of  Oriental  Literature,  1834 — 1836. 

VII.  Rev.  Stephen  Tailor,  elected  Professor  of  Eccleeiastical  History  and  Polity, 
1835. 

VIII.  Rev.  S.  L.  Graham,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature,  1838. 
Transferred  to  the  chair  of  Theology,  1848.  Transferred  to  the  chair  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  and  Polity,  1849.     Died  1851. 

IX.  Rev.  F.S.Sampson,  Assistant  Teacher  of  Oriental  Literature,  1838;  elected 
Professor,  1849.     Died  18.54.] 

"  Mr.  Samuel  J.  P.  Anderson,  from  the  committee  to  prepare  a  minute 
in  reference  to  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Francis  S.  Sampson,  D.  D.,  Profes- 
sor of  Oriental  Literature  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  submitted 
the  following,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"The  Assembly,  in  recording  a  memorial  of  this  severe  bereavement, 
would  express  its  deep  sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  loss  which  the  Church 
has  sustained  in  the  death  of  one  of  her  most  learned,  talented,  and  pious 
Ministers.  Fitted  by  nature  and  by  grace  for  great  and  extended  useful- 
ness, he  had  devoted  all  his  powers  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  undeterred  by 
sacrifices  which  that  consecration  demanded,  and  which  were  remarkable  in 
their  degree,  and  protracted  in  their  duration.     He  was  eminently  suited  to 


446  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

the  high  and  responsible  post  to  which  the  voice  of  the  Church  had  called 
him — a  post  which  he  again  and  again  refused  to  abandon,  even  when  tried 
by  offers  most  tempting  to  human  cupidity,  love  of  ease,  and  ambition.  To 
a  varied  and  accurate  scholarship  he  added  uncommon  powers  of  communi- 
cating knowledge  and  stimulating  the  intellects  of  his  pupils,  and  a  heart 
on  fire  with  love  to  God  and  zeal  for  his  service.  As  a  preacher,  a  theolo- 
gian, and  an  instructor,  he  occupied  a  place  in  the  front  rank. 

"The  withdrawal  of  such  a  labourer  from  the  field  at  such  a  juncture,  is 
a  loss  to  be  felt  by  the  whole  Church,  and  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  those 
mysterious  providences  that  are  to  be  met  in  humble  and  adoring  silence, 
rather  than  in  a  spirit  of  proud  inquiry. 

"The  Assembly,  in  view  of  this  loss,  would  tender  its  affectionate  Christian 
sympathies  to  the  Directors  and  remaining  Professors  of  the  bereaved  Insti- 
tution, and  would  unite  with  them  in  beseeching  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  to  raise  up  for  them  speedily,  another  of  like  mind  and  heart,  to 
take  his  place  and  fulfil  his  duties." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  44. 

X.  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Theology,  1847. 

XI.  Rev.  RjBEHT  L.  Dabnet,  elected  Professer  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Polity, 
18.5.3. 

XIL  Rev.  B.  M.  Smith,  D.  D.,  elected  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology,  1854. 

(6)    The  students,  funds,  S^c. 
[Number  of  Alumni,  y 

Number  now  in  the  Seminary,  (1854 — 5,)  29. 
Amount  of  funds  invested  for  Professorships, 

"  "  for  Scholarships, 

Value  of  the  buildings, 
Number  of  books  in  the  library,         ] 

Title  3. — Columbia  Seminary, 

§247. 
[In  1828  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  established  this  institution,  its  title 
being  "The  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia."  Upon 
the  division  of  the  Synod  into  the  two  Synods  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the  Con. 
slitutioii  of  the  Seminary  was  so  modified  as  to  continue  to  each  of  the  Synods  a  share  in 
its  control.  The  plan  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  Princeton.  We  give  from  the 
Constitution  so  much  as  defines  the  relation  sustained  to  it  by  the  Synods.] 

§  248.   Section  II. —  The  poioer  of  the  Synods. 

"^rt.  2.  These  Synods  shall  elect  a  Board  of  Directors,  consisting  of  twenty-four  Min- 
isters and  eighteen  laymen — each  Synod  electing  one  half  the  number — that  is  to  say, 
each  Synod  shall  annually  elect  four  Ministers  and  three  laymen,  who  shall  hold  their 
olfice  for  three  years.  And  to  complete  the  number  needed,  the  Synods  shall  each  sup. 
ply  their  quota  in  such  manner,  that  the  term  of  service  of  one  third  of  the  whole  number 
shall  expire  each  and  every  year.  In  cases  of  death,  resignation  or  otherwise,  the  Synod, 
within  whose  bounds  these  shall  occur,  shall  annually  supply  the  deficiency. 

"  Jlrt.  3.  These  Synods  shall  also  elect  all  future  Professors,  and  fix  their  salaries  in  the 
following  manner: — that  is  to  say,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  shall  elect  the  first  Pro. 
fessor  and  fix  his  salary,  and  the  Synod  of  Georgia  the  second,  and  so  alternately — 
the  action  of  each  Synod  in  the  premises  to  be  confirmed  by  the  other  Synod.  And  in 
order  that  no  protracted  vacancy  in  the  professorships  may  occur,  the  Synod  whose  right 
it  is  to  elect,  shall  uniformly  meet  earlier  than  the  other  Synod,  that  the  election  may  be 
had  and  confirmed  with  the  least  possible  delay.  But  in  cases  of  vacancy  during  the  re- 
cess of  the  Synods,  the  Board  shall  have  the  power  of  appointing  temporary  Assistant 
Instructors. 

Jlrt.  4.  In  the  trial  or  impeachment  of  a  Professor  for  immorality,  error,  unfaithful- 
ness, or  incompetency,  the  trial  or  impeachment  may  be  before  either  of  the  Synods;  and 
if  the  decision  of  the  one  body  shall  be  confirmed  by  the  other,  there  shall  be  no  further 
appeal. 


Part  v.]  SYNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  447 

Art,  5.  Alterations  or  amendments  in  this  Constitution  m^y  originate  in  either  of  the 
Synods.  But  they  can  only  be  adopted  by  the  concurrent  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers of  each  Synod." 

§  249.  Professors. 

Art.  1.  The  number  of  Professors  in  this  Seminary,  when  fully  organized,  shall  not 
be  less  than  five,  viz.  A  Professor  of  Biblical  Ijiterature,  of  Christian  Theology,  of 
Church  History  and  Polity,  of  Pastoral  Duties,  and  of  Sacred  Rhetoric.  There  may  be 
also  a  Tutor  of  the  Hebrew  language,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Board,  and  his  salary  fixed 
by  them. 

Art.  2.  Every  Prefessor  shall  be  an  ordained  Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

[The  following  is  the  list  of  Instructors.] 
Anessus.  _  Exitui. 

1828.     Thomas  Gottlding,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 

Polity  1834. 

1831.  George  Howe,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature. 
1833.  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Christian  Theology. 
1836.     Chahles  Colcock  Jones,  D.  U.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and 

Church  Polity  1838. 

1848.     Chahlfs  Colcock  Jones,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and 

Church  Polity  1850. 

18.52.     Alexander  T.  McGill,  D.  D.,  Professor  of   Ecclesiastical  History  and 

Church  Polity  1853. 

1851.     Bazile  E.  Lanneau,  a.  B.,  Tutor  in  Hebrew. 

1853.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  Professor  elect  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church 

Polity. 

1854.  A.  W.  Lelant,  D.  D.,  Professor  elect  of  Pastoral  Theology  and  Sacred 

Rhetoric. 
1854.     J.  H.  Thobnwell,  D.  D,,  Professor  elect  of  Doctrinal  Theology. 

§  250.    State  of  Endoioment,  kc,  {in  1854-5.) 
Value  of  buildings  (to  be  soon  increased,)  ...         $21,200 

Invested  for  Professorships  ......  88,091 

"       "    Scholarships 15,502 

$124,793 
Outstanding  subscriptions  and  notes  .  -  .  -  .  7,609 
New  subscriptions  secured  by  notes  of  subscribers  .         -  37,000 

["LiBHART. — The  Library  is  valuable  and  select,  and  contains  5,310  volumes,  prin- 
cipally in  the  several  departments  of  Theology. 

The  Society  of  Inquiry  on  Missions  is  in  the  possession  of  a  valuable  Cabinet,  and  its 
Reading- Room  is  furnished  with  the  most  important  periodicals,  foreign  and  domestic." 
— Catalogue. 

§  251.   Students. 

Whole  number  of  Alumni,  (1854-5)        .....  187 

Deceased  Alumni,    .--......  20 

Foreign  Missionaries,        ........  9 

Now  in  the  Seminary,  (1854-5) 32] 

Title  4. — New  Albany  Seminary. 

§  252.  An  overture  from  the  Board  of  Directors  to  the  General  AssemhJy. 
"  Memorial  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary   to  the 

General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia,  May  19,  1853, 

adopted  April  27,  1853,  and  ordered  to  be  forwarded  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  The  Memorial  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
respectfully  showeth  as  follows: 

"  The  Seminary  is  under  the  control  of  Directors,  appointpd  from  time  to  time  by  the 
Synods  of  Cincinnati,  Indiana,  Northern  Indiana,  I!lini)is,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  and  Nash- 
ville. The  plan  of  the  Seminary  provides  that  any  change  in  its  constitution,  not  incon- 
sistent with  certain  general  principles,  may  be  effected  by  the  concurrence  of  a  majority  of 


418  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Eook  Y. 

all  the  Synods.  In  virtue  of  this  provision,  all  the  Synods  aforesaid,  at  their  sessions  held 
in  September  and  October  last,  consented  to  the  transfer  of  the  Seminary  to  the  General 
Assembly.  Attested  copies  of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Synods  of  Kentucky,  Cin- 
cinnati, Missouri,  and  Northern  Indiana,  have  been  laid  before  this  Board,  and  are  now 
herewith  submitted  to  the  General  Assembly.  IVo  official  returns  have  been  received 
from  the  Synods  of  Indiana,  Nashville,  and  Illinois.  We  have,  however,  unofficial  infor- 
mation, on  which  we  rely,  showing  that  these  Synods  have  also  consented  to  transfer  the 
Seminary  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  Six  of  the  Synods,  viz.  Indiana,  Northern  Indiana,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Nashville,  and 
Cincinnati,  adopted  resolutions,  agreeing  to  the  proposed  transfer,  consenting  that  a  new 
act  of  incorporation  should  be  obtained  from  the  proper  authorities  of  the  State  of  Indiana, 
that  a  Board  of  Directors,  to  be  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly,  shall  nominate  the 
Trustees  to  be  named  in  the  act  of  incorporation,  and  shall  appoint  their  successors  in 
office;  and  authorizing  the  present  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary  to  convey  to  the 
new  Board  of  Trustees  so  constituted,  all  lands,  tenements,  funds,  money,  and  other  pro- 
perty, real  and  personal,  now  held,  or  which  may  hereafter  be  held  by  the  present  Board 
of  Trustees,  in  trust  for  the  sole  use  of  said  Seminary.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  also 
agreed  in  general  terms  to  the  transfer. 

"  And  now  the  Directors,  in  obedience  to  the  wishes  of  all  the  Synods  concerned,  do 
hereby  tender  to  the  General  Assembly  all  the  right  of  property  in,  and  control  over  the 
Seminary  and  its  funds,  which  are  now  vested  in  the  Synods  aforesaid  ;  and  the  Directors 
respectfully  request  the  Assembly,  at  its  present  sessions,  to  establish  a  plan  or  constitu- 
tion of  the  Seminary,  which  shall  be  adjusted  to  its  new  relations,  appoint  Directors  and 
Professors,  complete  its  endowment,  and  do  whatever  else  is  needful,  in  order  to  give  effect 
to  the  wishes  of  the  Synods. 

"  For  the  purpose  of  affording  to  the  Assembly  the  opportunity  of  appointing  whom  they 
may  prefer  to  the  professorships,  the  Directors  state  that  the  present  Professors  of  the 
Seminary,  acting  upon  their  own  sense  of  what  is  proper  in  the  case,  have  several  months 
since  resigned  their  professorships;  and  the  Directors  having  expressed  their  high  sense  of 
the  qualifications  and  fidelity  of  these  brethren,  have  accepted  their  resignations  in  the 
event  of  the  proposed  transfer  being  consummated  by  the  action  of  the  Assembly;  and 
when  the  Assembly  shall  appoint  its  Board  of  Directors,  the  present  Board  will  consider 
itself  dissolved.  And  still  further,  this  Board  have  by  resolution  requested  the  Board  of 
Trustees  to  transfer  the  funds  of  the  Seminary  to  the  new  Board  of  Trustees,  which  may 
be  created,  in  conformity  with  the  action  of  the  various  Synods  concerned. 

"  But  the  Board  desire  it  to  be  understood  by  the  Assembly,  that  the  proposed  transfer  is 
made  upon  condition  that  the  Seminary  be  retained  at  its  present  location  in  New  Albany, 
and  that  it  be  accepted  by  this  Assembly. 

"  To  the  end  that  the  General  Assembly  may  be  in  possession  of  all  the  information 
material  to  the  case,  the  Directors  submit  a  brief  statement  of  the  affairs  of  the  Seminary. 

"  In  the  year  1830,  the  Synod  of  Indiana  commenced  at  South  Hanover,  Indiana,  an 
institution  called  the  '  Indiana  Theological  Seminary.'  This  institution  received  such 
tokens  of  the  divine  favour,  as  encour;iged  the  Churches  in  this  region  to  attempt  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  Seminary  upon  a  broader  basis.  In  the  year  1838,  a  meeting  of  Ministers 
and  Ruling  Elders,  present  at  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  was  held,  and 
appointed  a  committee  of  five,  the  late  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Chairman,  to  institute 
inquiries  relating  to  the  general  subject,  and  lay  the  result  of  their  deliberations  before  the 
Presbyteries  in  the  Western  States.  This  conmiittee  in  due  time  issued  an  address  to  the 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  of  this  region,  inviting  these  judicatories  to  appoint  delegates  to 
meet  in  Convention  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  a  filan,  and 
choosing  a  place  for  the  proposed  Seminary.  The  Convention  met  in  November,  1838, 
and  was  composed  of  delegates  from  the  Synods  of  Indiana,  Cincinnati,  and  Kentucky, 
and  from  seven  Presbyteries.  The  Convei.tion  adopted  a  plan  for  the  proposed  Seminary. 
When  the  question  of  the  place  was  taken  up,  several  towns  were  proposed,  and  their 
respective  advantages  freely  canvassed.  The  minutes  of  the  Convention  state,  that  '  after 
considering  the  whole  subject  with  great  care,  and  at  considerable  length,  the  Convention 
determined  to  locate  the  seminary  at  New  Albany,  Indiana;  and  in  this  decision  those 
who  originally  preferred  some  other  place  cordially  acquiesced.' 

"  Accordingly  the  Hanover  school  was  removed  to  New  Albany,  and  was  opened  in 
November,  1840,  under  the  control  of  Directors  appointed  by  the  Synods  of  Indiana  and 
Cincinnati.  Five  other  Synods  subsequently  resolved  to  co-operate  in  the  undertaking, 
and  appointed  Directors  as  follows:  'J'he  Synod  of  Missouri  in  1841  ;  Illinois  in  1842; 
Northern  Indiana  at  its  organization,  in  1844  ;  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  in  1846. 


Part  v.]  STNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  449 

<'  During  the  whole  period  of  its  existence  it  has  laboured  under  serious  embarrass- 
ments from  the  want  of  a  full  corps  of  Professors,  and  of  adequate  pecuniary  means,  giving 
to  it  advantages  in  these  respects  equal  to  those  of  older  and  better  endowed  institutions. 
To  these  have  been  added  many  embarrassments  incident  to  every  enterprise  of  this  kind 
in  a  country  comparatively  new.  But  notwithstanding  these  embarrassments,  the  Semi- 
nary has  furnished,  for  the  most  part  exclusively,  the  means  of  their  professional  educa- 
tion to  about  150  candidates  for  the  sacred  office,  nearly  all  of  whom  are  now  fulfilling, 
with  usefulness  and  reputation  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The  Directors  desire  to  bear, 
before  the  Assembly  and  the  Churches,  the  highest  testimony  to  the  able,  faithful,  and 
self  denying  labours  of  the  various  Professors — both  those  now  among  the  dead  and  the 
living — who  have  served  the  Church  in  these  relations. 

The  Directors,  at  a  meeting  held  June,  1846,  appointed  a  committee  to  visit  the 
Synods  of  Kentucky  and  West  Tennessee,  and  invite  them  to  co-operate  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Seminary.  The  same  committee  was  authorized  to  request  these  Synods  to 
furnish  the  endowment  of  a  professorship;  with  the  stipulation  that  the  right  of  nomina- 
ting the  incumbent  from  time  to  time  should  be  in  the  Synods.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky 
at  its  next  meeting,  resolved  to  co-operate  in  the  management  of  the  Seminary,  and 
appointed  Directors.  The  proposed  plan  of  endowing  a  professorship  was  declined.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  same  Synod  in  1847,  the  plan  of  endowing  a  professorship  was  again 
considered,  and  finally  adopted.  The  Synod  proposed  within  five  years  to  raise  the 
sum  of  $20,000  for  the  endowment  of  a  professorship;  the  principal  sum  to  be  securely 
invested;  the  income  to  be  used  for  the  support  of  a  Professor  in  the  institution  so  long  as 
the  Synod  shall  judge  such  appropriation  to  be  safe,  wholesome,  or  for  the  good  of  the 
cause  of  Christ;  and  the  incumbent  to  be  always  nominated  by  the  Synod,  and  appointed 
by  the  Directors.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Directors  in  June,  1848,  the  plan  proposed  by  the 
Synod  was  approved,  and  the  Synod  proceeded  to  raise  the  endowment.  The  action  of 
the  Synod  in  the  premises  for  1846,  1847,  1848,  18.50,  and  1851,  is  herewith  submitted 
to  the  Assembly. 

The  Directors  have  information  that  the  full  sum  of  $20,000  has  been  raised;  that  it 
has  been  placed  in  the  care  of  a  Board  of  Trustees,  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of 
Kentucky,  and  appointed  from  time  to  time  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky ;  that  the  Synod 
has  determined  that  the  income  of  the  full  sum  of  $20,000  at  6  per  cent,  shall  be  annu- 
ally appropriated  to  the  support  of  a  Professor  in  the  Seminary;  that  the  Synod  will  con- 
tinue this  appropriation  so  long  as  it  shall  judge  such  appropriation  to  be  safe,  whole- 
some, and  for  the  good  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  that  by  a  special  resolution  adopted  in 
1852,  in  consideration  of  this  transfer  of  the  Seminary,  the  Synod  relinquished  to  the 
General  Assembly  its  right  of  nominating  its  Professor,  should  the  Assembly  agree  to  the 
proposed  transfer. 

"The  following  Keport  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  submitted  to  the  Board  of 
Directors  at  its  present  meeting,  April  27,  1853,  will  exhibit  the  financial  condition  of 
the  institution. 

§  2.53. 

"To  the  Reverend  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary  : 

"The  Board  of  Trustees  respectfully  present  the  following  report  of  the  fiscal  condition 
of  the  Seminary.  The  institution  is  entirely  free  of  debt,  except  the  one  item  of  a  deferred 
claim  of  $500,  payable  at  a  future  day,  and  the  commutation  of  which,  by  present  pay- 
ment, the  Board  has  not  been  able  to  procure  on  satisfactory  terms.  The  Seminary  pos- 
sesses, free  of  all  incumbrance,  the  following  property  and  securities,  viz. 

1.  Two  full  squares  of  ground  in  the  city  of  New  Albany,  with  the  present 

Seminary  buildings  thereon,  valued  at  -  -  -  -        $23,000 

2.  Two  farms  and  town  lots  in  the  interior  of  Indiana,  estimated  at         -  600 

3.  Stock  of  the  New  Albany  and  Michigan  Railroad,  $1,800  worth,  66|  per 

cent.               ........  1,200 

4.  Bonds  and  Notes  (except  $280)  with  real  security,  -             -             -  3,730 

5.  A  Legacy  payable  December,  1855,         -             ,-             -             -             -  4,700 

6.  Bond  payable  at  the  decease  of  the  maker,     .             -             -              -  15,000 

7.  A  list  of  old  outstanding  Notes,  subject  to  considerable  loss  and  expense 

in  collection,  estimated  to  be  worth  ....  3,770 

8.  Library,  valued  at  -  ...  .  .  -  2,000 

$54,000 
57 


450  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

"The  most  valuable  portion  of  the  above  property  is  the  grounds  in  New  Albany,  in 
which  form  it  has  been  deemed  best  at  present  to  iieep  it,  as  uniting  safety,  inexpensive- 
ness,  and  increase.  On  other  portions  of  the  property  there  is  at  present  an  annual  income 
of  $560.  If  desired,  after  reserving  the  Seminary  buildings,  with  the  lots  on  which  they 
stand,  tiie  remaining  grounds,  to  the  amount  of  $10,000,  can  readily  be  converted  into 
productive  form,  yielding,  with  the  above  sum  of  $.560,  an  annual  income  of  §1200. 

"  On  the  above  Bond  of  $15,000  there  is  at  present  an  annual  income  of  ^900,  payable 
only  to  a  particular  Professor. 

"To  this  is  to  be  added  the  income  of  a  Theological  Fund  of  $20,000,  held  by  a  sepa- 
rate Board  of  Trustees  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  pledged  to  the  support 
of  a  Professor  in  the  New  Albany  Seminary,  to  be  nominated  by  the  said  Synod — say 
$1200. 

"From  the  above  legacy  and  railroad  stock  there  will  probably  be,  after  December, 
1855,  an  annual  income  of  from  $500  to  $600. 

"  From  the  above  statements  it  appears  that  the  institution  may  have  from  its  present 
resources,  whenever  desired,  besides  Seminary  buildings,  grounds,  and  library  worth 
$10,000,  a  clear  annual  income  of  $1200,  which  will,  probably,  within  three  years,  be 
increased  to  $1800,  and  an  additional  income  of  $2100,  subject  to  the  above-mentioned 
conditions. 

Signed,  Wm.  A.  Scribneh,  Secretary. 

«  All  which  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the  General  Assembly. 

Attest,  James  Wood,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

"The  Board  appointed  Messrs.  Thomas  E.  Thomas,  D.  D.,  Philip  Lindsley,  D.  D.,  and 
S.  R.  Wilson,  a  committee  to  attend  the  next  General  Assembly,  and  present  to  that  body 
the  above  Memorial  in  behalf  of  the  Board. 
"  A  true  extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Board. 

Attest,  James  Wood,  Secretary.'" 

—Minutes,  1853,  p.  627 

§  254.  Action  of  the  Trustees  on  the  same  suhject. 

"The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary,  at  their  meeting 
on  Tuesday,  May  3,  1853,  directed  the  following  report  to  be  forwarded  to  the  General 
Assembly,  to  wit : 

"  The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  to  draft  a  resolution  for  a  specific  pur- 
pose, made  the  following  report. 

^^New  Albany,  Indiana,  May  3,  1853. 

«  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary  being  assembled, 
pursuant  to  adjournment,  in  the  lecture-room  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  New 
Albany,  Indiana,  William  Plumer  in  the  chair,  the  following  resolution  was  presented 
from  the  Board  of  Directors,  passed  at  their  meeting  upon  the  27th  of  April  last,  to  wit: 

"Whereas,  A  majority  of  the  Synods  having  the  control  of  the  Seminary,  have  con- 
sented that  a  new  Act  of  Incorporation  shall  be  obtained  from  the  proper  authorities  of 
the  State  of  Indiana ;  that  a  Board  of  Directors,  to  be  elected  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  shall  nominate  the  Trustees 
to  be  named  in  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  and  shall  appoint  their  successors  in  office,  and 
whenever  the  said  Synods  have  authorized  the  present  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Semi- 
nary to  convey  to  the  new  Board  of  Trustees  to  be  so  constituted,  all  lands,  tenements, 
funds,  moneys,  and  other  property  real  or  personal  now  held,  or  which  may  hereafter 
be  held  by  the  present  Board  of  Trustees  in  trust  for  the  sole  use  of  the  said  Seminary. 
Therefore, 

"Resolvedhy  the  Board  of  Directors,  That  the  present  Board  of  Trustees  be  directed  to 
comply  with  the  order  of  the  Synods  as  above  expressed,  and  that  the  Trustees  be  directed 
to  communicate  to  the  General  Assembly  its  purpose  to  comply  with  the  said  order  of  the 
Synods.      Whereupon  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  in  case  the  General  Assembly  accept  the  direction  of  the  New  Albany 
Theological  Seminary,  this  Board  will  stand  ready,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  pre- 
sent Board  of  Directors,  to  transfer,  when  legally  authorized,  the  custody  and  manage- 
ment of  the  property  to  any  other  Board  of  Trustees  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly, 
or  its  authority,  and  having  power  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Indiana,  to  take 
and  hold  the  same  for  the  sole  use  of  said  Seminary. 


Part,  v.]  SYNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  451 

"Ordered,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  action,  signed  by  the  President  and  Secretary,  be 
forwarded  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  By  order  of  the  Board.  William  Plcmeh,  Pres,  Board  of  Trustees. 

"  Wm.  a.  Sckibneh,  Sec.  Board  of  Trustees."  — Minutes,  1853,  p.  6y0. 

§  255.  Resolutions  of  the  Si/nod  of  Kentuclii/,  October,  1852. 

«'The  following  series  of  resolutions  was  adopted  (in  relation  to  the  New  Albany 
Theological  Seminary),  viz. 

<'lst.  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Fund  have  managed  that  fund  to 
the  satisfaction  of  Synod,  and  that  the  Board  be  directed  not  to  pay  more  than  six  per 
cent,  interest  per  annum,  on  the  amount  of  $20,000,  as  the  salary  of  the  Professor,  when 
appointed. 

"  2d.  That  this  Synod,  having  two  years  ago  suggested  to  its  sister  Synods  in  the  West, 
the  propriety  of  turning  over  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Albany  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  now  cordially  unites  with  them  in  requesting  the 
General  Assembly  to  take  charge  of  the  whole  subject  of  erecting  and  endowing  under 
its  care,  a  great  Seminary  in  the  West,  making  such  use  of  the  present  Institution  at  New 
Albany  as  may  seem  best  for  the  great  end  in  view. 

"  3d.  In  the  meantime,  this  Synod  does  not  deem  it  proper  to  proceed  to  the  nomina- 
tion of  a  Professor,  because  it  believes  it  will  be  best  for  the  Seminary  to  be  turned  over 
to  the  Assembly  with  vacant  chairs,  which  ought  to  be  filled  by  the  Assembly.  It  will, 
however,  be  highly  agreeable  to  this  Synod,  if  the  Board  of  Directors  should  engage  the 
services  of  Rev.  E.  P.  Humphrey,  until  the  meeting  of  the  next  Assembly,  in  the  chair  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Polity.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  then  Synod  refers  to 
the  Board  the  filling  of  the  chair  for  the  current  year;  and  to  this  end,  hereby  directs  the 
Trustees  of  the  Theological  Fund  to  pay  the  income  of  the  Fund  on  the  terms  prescribed 
in  the  first  resolution  above,  to  the  order  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  to 
such  additional  person  as  may  be  engaged  to  perform  service  in  the  New  Albany  Semi- 
nary, during  the  current  year  of  that  Seminary — in  all  of  which,  the  Synod  would  be 
understood  as  entertaining  a  high  sense  of  the  qualifications  of  the  present  Professors. 

"4th.  This  Synod  has  enjoyed  the  right  of  nomination  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Seminary,  of  the  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Polity,  and  now,  in  view 
of  the  transfer  of  the  Institution  to  the  General  Assembly,  agree  to  relinquish  the  right, 
should  the  General  Assembly  agree  to  the  transfer  proposed. 

"  5th.  That  the  Board  of  Directors  be  requested  to  make  a  tender  of  the  Seminary  to 
the  next  Assembly. 

"  6lh.  That  the  Synod,  concurring  with  the  Synods  of  Nashville,  Missouri,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Northern  Indiana,  and  Cincinnati,  or  a  majority  of  them,  does  hereby  consent 
that  a  new  act  of  incorporation  be  obtained  from  the  proper  authorities  of  the  State  of 
Indiana,  whereby  the  whole  property  of  the  Institution  may  be  transferred  to  the  control 
of  the  Assembly — a  Board  of  Directors,  to  be  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  aforesaid,  shall  nominate  the  Trustees,  to  be  named  in  the  act  of 
incorporation,  and  shall  appoint  their  successors  in  office,  and  does  hereby  authorize  the 
present  Board  of  Directors  of  said  Seminary,  to  instruct  the  present  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  Seminary  to  convey  to  the  new  Board  of  Trustees,  to  be  so  constituted,  all  lands,  tene- 
ments, funds,  moneys,  and  other  property,  real  and  personal,  now  held,  or  which  may 
hereafter  be  held  by  the  present  Board  of  Trustees,  in  trust,  for  the  sole  use  of  said  Semi- 
nary. 

"7th.  That  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  J.  Montgomery,  C.  A.  WicklifTe, 
and  S.  Ca.sseday,  be  a  committee,  or  as  many  of  them  as  may  attend,  to  urge  the  above 
resolutions  before  the  Assembly,  and  in  case  of  their  absence,  the  Commissioners  of  the 
several  Presbyteries  who  may  be  present  and  favourable  to  the  proposed  transfer,  are 
requested  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  Synod  on  the  subject. 

"  8th.  That  this  committee  be  further  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  legal  tenure  by 
which  the  property  in  New  Albany  and  other  places  in  Indiana  is  held,  and  how  it  may 
be  transferred  to  the  control  of  the  Assembly,  and  to  concur  in  whatever  may  be  neces- 
sary to  the  transfer." 

[By  an  inadvertence  of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synod,  resolutions  5,  6,  and  8,  were 
omitted  in  transcribing  the  resolutions  for  the  General  Assembly;  they  having  been 
adopted  by  the  Synod  at  different  sittings,  and  consequently  not  being  recorded  together 


452  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

on  the  minutes.  For  this  reason,  the  above  record,  as  published  in  the  Presbyterian 
Herald  of  October  28,  1853,  is  inserted  in  this  place,  instead  of  the  paper  published  in 
the  Appendix  of  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  following  year.] 

§  256.  Action  oftlie  Synod  of  Indiana. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  at  Vincennes,  in  October,  1852,  a  communica- 
tion was  received  from  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary, 
in  regard  to  the  transfer  of  said  Seminary  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  following 
resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  concurring  with  the  Synods  of  Kentucky, 
Nashville,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Northern  Indiana,  and  Cincinnati,  in  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  or  a 
majority  of  said  Synods,  does  hereby  transfer  to  the  said  Assembly  all  the  property  in,  and 
control  over,  the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary,  possessed  by  the  said  Synod. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  this  Synod,  concurring  with  the  other  Synods  aforesaid,  or  a 
majority  of  the  same,  does  hereby  consent  that  a  new  Act  of  Incorporation  be  obtained 
from  the  proper  authorities  of  the  State  of  Indiana ;  that  a  Board  of  Directors  be  elected 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  aforesaid,  shall  nominate  the  Trus- 
tees to  be  named  in  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  and  shall  appoint  their  successors  in  office; 
and  does  hereby  authorize  the  present  Board  of  Directors  of  said  Seminary  to  instruct  the 
present  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary  to  convey  to  the  new  Board  of  Trustees,  to  be 
so  constituted,  all  lands,  tenements,  funds,  moneys,  and  other  property  real  and  personal, 
now  held,  or  which  may  hereafter  be  held  by  the  present  Board  of  Trustees,  in  trust  for 
the  sole  use  of  said  Seminary. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  determine  the  time  and  manner  in 
which  this  offer  of  the  Seminary  shall  be  made  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  properly  authenticated  by  the  Moderator 
and  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synod,  be  sent  to  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  to 
the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  belaid  before  those  bodies. 

"  A  true  extract  from  the  minutes  of  Synod. 

T.  Alexander,  Moderator. 

J.  G.  MoNFORT,  Temporary  Clerk. 

D.  MoNFORT,  Stated  Clerk." 

—Minutes,  1853,  p.  633. 

§  257. 

[The  action  of  the  Synods  of  Cincinnati,  Northern  Indiana,  Illinois,  Nashville,  and 
Missouri,  are  slightly  modified  copies  of  that  of  Indiana,  (Mhiutes,  pp.  632,  634,  635,) 
with  the  following  exceptions.     By  the  Synod  of  Illinois  it  was] 

''Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  be  requested  to  take  into  consideration  the  whole 
subject  of  Theological  Education  in  the  West,  with  a  view  to  the  institution  of  one  Semi- 
nary at  St.  Louis,  or  some  other  eligible  point,  for  the  wants  of  this  portion  of  the  Church 
and  country;  believing,  as  we  do,  that  none  of  the  institutions  already  established  in  their 
present  locations  answer  the  desired  object." — Ibid.  p.  635. 

[The  Synod  of  Missouri  Resolved,]  "That  when  the  proposition  is  brought  before  the 
General  Assembly,  they  be  requested  to  review  the  whole  subject  of  the  location  of  a 
Western  Seminary,  and  establish  one  that  will  meet  the  wants  of  the  Church  in  the 
West,  and  of  a  character  that  will  ensure  the  patronage  of  all  the  western  Churches. 
And  this  Synod  would  suggest  St.  Louis  as  a  suitable  place  for  such  institution." — Ibid. 
p.  635. 

[For  the  disposition  made  of  these  papers  by  the  Assembly,  see  above,  §  227.] 

§  258.   The  Assembly  does  not  interfere  with  New  Albany  Seminary. 

''JResohed,  That  this  General  Assembly  has  no  intention  in  any  way  to 
interfere  with  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Albany,  nor  with  those 
Synods  which  shall  continue  to  be  united  in  the  support  and  control  of  that 
Institution,  nor  with  any  of  the  Churches  under  the  care  of  such  Synods." 
— Minutes,  1854,  p.  28. 


Part  v.]  SYNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  453 

§  259.  Professors  in  Neio  Albany  Seminary. 

"I.    Rev.  John  Matthews,  D.  D.,  inaugurated  June,   1831.     Died 

May  18,  1848. 

''  The  decease  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Matthews,  Professor  of  Theology  in 
the  New  Albany  Theological  Seminary,  in  the  77th  year  of  his  age,  which 
occurred  on  the  evening  of  the  18th  instant,  having  been  announced  to  the 
General  Assembly,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  bring  in  a  suitable  minute. 
In  accordance  with  this  action  the  following  minute  is  respectfully  sub- 
mitted. 

"  The  peculiar  circumstances  of  Dr.  Matthews's  early  history,  give  a  deep 
interest  to  the  distinction  to  which  he  afterwards  attained  as  a  preacher  of 
the  everlasting  gospel,  and  an  expounder  and  teacher  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church.  He  was  born  in  Guilford  county,  North  Carolina,  in  the  fall  of 
1771,  where  he  devoted  himself,  until  advanced  to  manhood,  to  a  secular 
occupation,  the  evidences  of  which  are  yet  to  be  seen.  The  pulpit  of  the 
old  church  in  Orange  county,  where  his  mind  was  first  turned  to  the  sub- 
ject of  religion,  is  still  pointed  out  as  the  handiwork  of  Dr.  Matthews. 

"  His  academical  and  theological  studies  were  prosecuted  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  well  known  Dr.  Caldwell,  of  Guilford,  North  Carolina,  and  bis 
license  given  him  by  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  in  the  month  of  March, 
1801,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years.  Until  1803  he  travelled  in  Tennes- 
see as  a  missionary,  enduring  many  privations,  when  he  was  called  to  become 
the  Pastor  of  Nutbush  and  Grassy  Creek  Churches,  Granville  county.  North 
Carolina.  In  this  relation  he  continued  until  1806,  when  he  removed  to 
Martinsburgh,  Virginia,  and  thence  to  Shepherdstown,  on  the  removal  of 
Dr.  Hoge  to  Hampden  Sidney  College. 

"  In  this  field  of  labour  Dr.  Matthews  earned  a  most  enviable  reputation 
from  the  abundance  and  quality  of  his  ministerial  services.  His  preaching 
at  the  commencement  of  his  career  as  a  Minister,  was  of  a  fervent,  awaken- 
ing description.  This  he  afterwards  exchanged  for  a  more  composed  and 
didactic  mode,  characterized  by  great  perspicuity  and  logical  arrangement. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  his  labours  about  this  time  were  much  blessed 
to  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  sinners. 

"From  this  field  of  labour  and  usefulness,  where  he  is  yet  had  in  grateful 
remembrance,  he  was  called  to  fill  the  chair  of  Didactic  Theology  in  the 
Theological  Seminary,  then  located  at  South  Hanover,  Indiana,  now  at 
New  Albany.  In  responding  favourably  to  this  call  there  is  evidence  to 
believe  that  he  was  actuated  by  a  disinterestedness  which  shrunk  not  from 
the  prospect  of  future  trials. — 'I  am  called  by  God,'  said  he  to  a  near  friend 
who  was  expostulating  with  him  against  the  acceptance  of  the  invitation, 
'to  an  unpleasant  mission,  like  Jonah,  and  if  I  do  not  go  I  shall  expect 
Jonah's  punishment.'  He  left  an  affectionate  people,  whose  affection  he 
fully  reciprocated,  for  a  position  in  which  he  was  called  to  endure  privations 
until  the  close  of  his  days.  In  the  spirit  of  a  true  disciple  he  went  forth, 
counting  nothing  dear  to  him  so  that  he  might  finish  the  work  that  was 
given  him  to  do.  Happy  for  the  Church  if  all  her  Ministers  were  of  like 
spirit. 

"The  same  perspicuity  which  marked  his  preaching,  the  intellectual 
vigour  which  characterized  his  work  on  the  'Divine  Purpose,'  which  has  so 
often  been  studied  with  profit  by  the  inquiring  soul,  were  manifested  in  his 
duties  as  Professor,  and  though  advanced  to  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  he 
continued  with  great  vigour  of  mind,  though  in  great  feebleness  of  body,  to 
attend  on  all  the  exercises  of  the  lecture-room.  He  continued  to  discharge 
all  his  duties  as  Professor  until  one  week  before  his  decease;  when  he  who 


454  THEOLOGICAL   SCHOOLS.  [Book  V. 

had  so  long  and  so  implicitly  listened  to  his  Master's  voice  as  to  his  earthly 
abode,  was  summoned  to  his  mansion  of  rest  on  high.  He  rests  from  his 
labours,  and  his  works  do  follow  him. 

"In  connection  with  this  minute,  the  committee  recommend  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

^'Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  the  bereaved  family  of  the 
deceased,  and  that  the  Stated  Clerk  be  directed  to  furnish  them  a  copy  of 
this  action." — Minufrs,  1848,  p.  41. 

"II.    Rev.  GrEORGE  BisHOP,  inaugurated  June,  1834.     Died  1837. 

"III.  Rev.  Lewis  W.  Green,  D.  D.,  elected  in  October,  1838,  and 
officiated  till  June,  1839,  and  resigned  without  being  inaugurated. 

"IV.  Rev.  James  Wood,  D.  D.,  inaugurated  Novemloer,  1839.  Re- 
signed April,  1851. 

"V.  Rev.  E.  D.  MacMaster,  D.  D.,  inaugurated  September,  1849. 
Resigned  1853. 

"VI.  Rev.  Daniel  Stewart,  D.  D.,  inaugurated  October,  1849.  Re- 
signed April,  1853. 

"VII.  Rev.  Philip  Lindsley,  D.  D.,  inaugurated  November,  1851. 
Resigned  April,  1853.     Died  May,  1855. 

"VIII.    Rev.  Thomas  E.  Thomas,  D.  D.,  inaugurated  June,  1854." 

§  260.  Re-organization  of  the  institution. 

[At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  in  June,  1854,  the  New  Albany  Seminary 
was  continued  under  the  direction  of  the  Synods  of  Cincinnati,  Indiana,  and  Northern 
Indiana.     The  following  is  the  Faculty  of  Instruction. 

Rev.  E.  D.  MacMasteh,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology. 

Rev.  T.  E.  Thomas,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Bibliology. 

Rev.  Philip  Lindslet,  D.  D.,  temporary  Professor  of  Ecclesiology. 

The  session  opens  on  the  first  Monday  in  September.] 

§  261.   Statistics  of  New  Albany  Seminar)/. 
[Whole  number  of  alumni,  173. 
Deceased,  19. 
Foreign  missionaries,  4. 
Now  in  the  Seminary,  (1854-5,)  19. 
For  the  pecuniary  statistics,  see  above,  §  25.3.] 

Title  5. — Other  Seminaries. 

§  262.    Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

"The  Synod  of  Kentucky  having  at  their  last  sessions  established  a  Theo- 
logical Seminary  under  the  charter  of  Centre  College  at  Danville,  do  request 
to  be  taken  into  union  with  the  General  Assembly,  and  under  its  care,  on 
the  terms  specified  in  the  general  principles  laid  down  by  the  said  Synod, 
for  which  the  Assembly  is  referred  to  their  records,  pages  50  and  58." 

"This  application  was  committed  to  Mr.  Magie,  Mr.  Allen,  and  Mr. 
(John)  Breckinridge." 

[Their  report  was  amended  and  adopted,  as  follows:] 

"That  they  have  examined,  and  do  fully  approve  the  plan  of  said  Semi- 
nary; and  hereby  express  their  sense  of  the  importance  of  this  institution; 
but  at  the  same  time  recommend  a  delay  of  any  application  on  this  subject 
until  the  next  year,  in  consequence  of  the  immaturity  of  their  present 
arrangements." — Minutes,  1829,  pp.  377,  386. 

§  263.    The  Southwestern  Seminary  at  Maryville,  Tennessee. 

"  A  petition  from  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  that  the  Southern  and  Western 
Theological  Seminary  may  be  taken  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assem- 


Part  v.]  SYNODICAL   SEMINARIES.  455 

bly,  was  presented  and  referred  to  Dr.  Wylie,  Dr.  Hoge,  Mr,  Foote,  Mr. 
Boyd,  and  Mr.  Hundley." 

[The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted.] 

"That  after  diligent  inquiry,  they  have  been  unable  to  obtain  a  view  of 
the  plan  of  said  Seminary;  and  are  therefore  of  opinion  that  the  Assembly 
are  not  prepared  to  act  on  the  case." — Minutes,  1829,  pp.  369,  390. 

§  264.    The  position  of  Lane  Seminary. 

"Mr.  McDonald  presented  documents  in  relation  to  Lane  Seminary,  and 
the  lands  deeded  by  Elnathan  Kemper,  and  others,  to  that  Seminary,  which 
he  had  been  requested  by  the  heirs  of  Kemper  to  oifer  to  this  house,  in 
order  that  the  Assembly  might  inquire  whether  the  intention  of  the  donors 
has  been  carried  out  in  the  appointment  of  Professors  for  that  institution; 
and  solely  with  the  view  of  securing  the  use  of  the  property  for  the  particu- 
lar purposes  for  which  it  was  given.  Which  were  referred,  together  with 
the  whole  subject  of  the  Seminary,  to  Messrs.  A.  Thompson,  Breckinridge, 
Galloway,  McDonald,  and  Fullerton." 

"The  Committee  on  the  subject  of  Lane  Seminary,  and  the  documents 
received  in  relation  thereto  from  the  heirs  of  Elnathan  Kemper,  made  a 
report  which  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  requested  to 
inquire  into  the  facts  relating  to  the  Lane  Seminary  near  the  city  of  Cin- 
cinnati, and  if  they  find  that  the  proviso  in  the  deed  of  the  9th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1829,  from  Elnathan  Kemper  and  others,  to  the  Trustees  of  the  said 
Seminary,  has  been  disregarded  by  the  appointment  of  '  Professors  and 
teachers  who  are  not  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  under  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America/ 
that  they  take  advice  of  counsel  learned  in  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
and  if  they  shall  be  advised  that  the  laws  of  that  State  furnish  an  adequate 
remedy  in  the  case,  that  they  institute  the  proper  proceeding  to  enforce  the 
observance  of  the  said  proviso. 

"On  motion, 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  aforesaid  resolution  be  transmitted  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  together  with  the  copy  of  the 
deed  referred  to,  and  the  other  documents  in  the  case." — Minutes,  1842, 
pp.  14,  20. 

§  265.    The  Assembly  declines  to  interfere  tvith  it. 

"It  was  moved,  to  reconsider  the  vote  adopting  the  resolution  to  instruct 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  Lane  Semi- 
nary. 

"After  debate,  the  motion  prevailed.  So  the  Assembly  resolved  to 
reconsider;  and,  on  motion,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  whole  subject  be  indefinitely  postponed.  Yeas  65 — 
Nays  52. 

"Resolved,  That  the  documents  in  the  case  of  Lane  Seminary  be  recalled 
from  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  returned  to  the  persons  by  whom  they  were 
sent  to  this  body." — Ibid.  p.  23. 

[The  subject  was  again  brought  up  in  1843,  when  it  was] 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  the  Assembly  to  take  any  measures 
for  the  purpose  of  commencing  a  legal  process  in  relation  to  Lane  Semi- 
nary."— Minutes,  1843,  p.  185. 


TART  VI. 

OTHER    INSTITUTIONS 


CHAPTER  I. 

corporation  of  the  widows'  fund. 

Title  1. — Incipient  measures. 

§  266.    The  claims  of  Ministers'  Widows  early  recognized. 

[The  Rev.  John  Willson,  one  of  the  founders  and  original  members  of  the  General  Pres- 
bytery died  in  1712.     In  1719  the  following  minute  occurs.] 

"  Ocertured  by  the  committee  for  the  fund  that  the  widow  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  John  Willson  is  considered  as  a  person  worthy  of  the  regard  of  this 
Synod,  as  to  her  present  circumstances,  and  it  is  proposed  that  four  pounds 
be  now  given  her  out  of  the  present  fund,  and  that  a  discretionary  power  be 
lodged  with  Mr.  Andrews,  if  he  sees  necessity  requires,  to  give  her  some 
further  supply  out  of  the  said  fund,  between  this  and  the  next  Synod,  not 
exceeding  three  pounds.  And  it  was  approved." — Minutes,  1719,  p.  58. 
See  also  pp.  80,  81. 

§  267.  A  widoios'  fund  created. 

["A  plan  for  the  support  of  Ministers' widows  was  offered  to  the  Synod"  in  1754, 
"  read,  approved,  and  signed  by  all  the  Ministers  then  present."  The  principal  features 
of  this  plan  were  the  following :] 

''  We,  subscribing  members  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  do  promise  and 
agree  to,  and  with  each  other  in  manner  following,  that  is  to  say : 

"I.  Each  of  us  shall  annually  pay  into  the  common  stock,  the  sum  of 
two  pounds,  or  of  three  pounds,  of  lawful  money,  as  every  one  chooses,  the 
first  payment  to  be  made  immediately  upon  concluding  this  agreement,  and 
one  on  the  fourth  Wednesday  of  May  every  year  thereafter  as  long  as  we 
live. 

<'  II.  Every  Minister  hereafter  becoming  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, shall  have  a  right  to  come  into  this  agreement,  to  choose  which  of 
these  diiferent  payments  he  will  subject  himself  unto,  and  so  have  the  pri- 
vileges of  a  member  of  this  fund  company.  And  so  may  every  candidate  for 
the  ministry  under  their  care. 

''  III.  Any  Minister  belonging  to  said  Synod,  who  has  now  an  opportunity 
to  join  in  this  agreement,  but  declines  the  same,  may  at  any  time  hereafter 
join  and  be  received,  provided  he  pay  as  much  into  the  stock  as  shall  make 
up  the  several  payments,  and  the  interest  of  them  that  he  would  have  made, 
had  he  joined  now.  Also,  any  member  first  choosing  the  lower  payment,  but 
hereafter  choosing  the  higher,  shall  be  allowed  to  change,  upon  his  paying 


Part  VI.]  CORPORATION  OF  THE  WIDOWS'  FUND.  457 

the  difference  of  the  two  rates,  with  the  interest  thereof  from  his  first  join- 
ing the  company. 

''  IV.  Out  of  this  fund  shall  be  annually  paid  on  the  fourth  Wednesday 
of  May,  the  sum  of  five  pounds,  or  of  seven  pounds  ten  shillings,  to  the 
widow  of  every  deceased  member,  who  had  been  subject  to  the  annual  pay- 
ment of  two  pounds,  or  of  three  pounds  respectively,  during  her  life.  But 
if  any  such  widow  marry  again,  she  shall  thenceforth  have  but  one-third  part 
of  the  annuity  she  was  otherwise  entitled  unto,  through  the  residue  of  her 
life,  and  the  other  two-thirds  shall  pass  to  the  child  or  children  of  the  de- 
ceased member,  if  there  be  any,  for  the  term  of  twelve  years  after  the 
father's  decease,  and  be  divided  annually  among  them  as  the  company  judge 
fit,"  &c.—3Imuies,  1755,  p.  215. 

§  268.    The  Si/nod's  contribution  to  the  fund. 

"In  consideration  that  the  widows  of  such  members  as  now  join  in  com- 
pany to  raise  a  fund  for  themselves,  will  never  come  upon  the  Synod's  care, 
the  Synod  agree  to  allow  one  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds  to  the  company, 
reserving  all  the  remaining,  which  is  the  chief  part  of  their  fund,  with  the 
yearly  collections  of  congregations,  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  Synod  as  usual, 
and  that  the  widows  that  now  belong  to  the  Synod  receive  a  yearly  relief 
from  the  Synod's  fund  as  usual;  and  at  the  death  of  any  of  them,  the  Synod 
shall,  at  their  discretion,  add  to  our  widows'  fund  as  they  think  proper." — 
Ibid.  p.  217. 

§  269.  An  amendment  in  the  plan. 

"  Messrs.  Cross  and  Alison  inform  us  that  the  Honourable  William  Allen, 
Esq'r.  and  the  other  gentlemen,  were  pleased  to  take  into  their  hands  the 
management  of  the  widows'  fund  in  the  beginning  of  last  January;  and  that 
by  a  correspondence  with  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wallace  and  Webster,  in  Edin- 
burgh, they  find  it  necessary  to  make  an  alteration  in  their  plan,  which  was 
unanimously  approved  as  follows: 

"  If  any  member  die  before  five  yearly  payments  are  made  by  him  to  the 
common  stock,  the  widow  shall  be  entitled  to  her  annuity,  only  the  half  of 
it  shall  be  deducted,  till  what  her  husband  hath  paid  into  the  common  stock, 
together  with  said  deductions,  be  equal  to  five  years'  payments  or  incomes 
of  her  full  annuity;  and  afterwards  she  shall  have  her  full  annuity,  as 
before  appointed." — Minutes,  1756,  p.  222. 

§  270.  Petition  for  a  charter. 

"  To  the  honourable  Thomas  Penn  and  Richard  Penn,  true  and  absolute 
proprietors  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  counties  of  New  Cas- 
tle, Kent,  and  Sussex,  upon  Delaware. 

"The  petition  of  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Philadelphia  humbly 
showeth : 

"  That  your  petitioners  have,  many  of  them,  lived  long  in  this  province 
with  great  satisfaction,  and  have  all  endeavoured  to  promote  religion,  virtue, 
and  industry,  amongst  the  people  under  our  care,  and  to  impress  deep  on 
their  minds  a  lasting  sense  of  their  blessings,  under  the  best  of  kings,  and 
in  a  province  distinguished  for  civil  and  i-eligious  liberty. 

"As  our  lot  is  cast  among  people  who  are  generally  in  low  circumstances,^ 
and  many  of  them  forming  new  settlements  in  the  frontier  counties,  and,  as 
we  have  no  other  support  but  a  small  and  very  uncertain  income  from  the 
good  will  of  our  people,  joined  with  our  own  labour,  we  have  always  found 
it  difficult  to  make  any  tolerable  provision  for  our  families;  and  have  often, 
with  sorrow  and  regret,  seen  the  widows  and  children  of  great  and  good 
58 


458  CORPORATION   OF  THE  [Book  V. 

men,  who  were  once  of  our  number,  very  much  pinched  and  distressed  by 
want  and  poverty,  without  being  able  to  afford  them  suitable  relief. 

''  To  I'emedy  these  evils,  as  far  as  we  can  in  our  circumstances,  your  hon- 
ours' petitioners,  in  imitation  of  the  laudable  example  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  have  agreed  to  raise  a  small  fund  for  the  benefit  of  Ministers' 
widows  and  helpless  children,  belonging  to  this  Synod,  by  obliging  ourselves 
to  contribute  a  small  sum  out  of  our  yearly  incomes  for  this  purpose.  But 
there  are  bad  economists  in  every  society,  and  having  begun  our  fund  about 
a  year  ago,  we  find  that  those  men  among  us  are  most  backward  to  pay  their 
quotas,  whose  families  will  stand  in  most  need  of  relief  when  they  are  dead; 
and,  as  our  agreement  is  voluntary,  without  the  aid  of  a  law  to  oblige  us  to 
perform  our  engagements,  and,  as  we  thought  it  our  duty  to  lay  our  pro- 
ceedings before  your  honours,  we  must  humbly  intreat  you  to  take  our  cir- 
cumstances under  your  consideration.  You  will  merit  the  blessings  of  the 
widow  and  fatherless,  and  lay  us  under  the  strongest  obligations  of  gratitude 
and  aifection,  if  you  be  pleased  to  make  us  a  corporation  by  your  charter, 
and  enable  us  to  sue  and  be  sued,  and  to  raise  and  hold  a  capital  stock  not 
exceeding  one  thousand  pounds  for  twenty  Ministers,  and  so  in  proportion 
for  a  greater  or  smaller  number,  the  interest  of  which  shall  be  employed 
yearly,  only  to  relieve  the  widows  and  children  of  the  Presbyterian  Minis- 
ters belonging  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  or  to  assist  Ministers  of  our 
Synod  in  frontier  settlements,  or  such  as  by  age  or  infirmities  are  not  able 
to  get  a  subsistence. 

"  As  the  parliament  of  England  granted  the  like  favour  to  the  Ministers 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  1743 ;  as  this  will,  in  all  probability,  confine  our 
synodical  meetings  to  this  city  and  province,  which  some  are  industriously 
endeavouring  to  remove  to  New  Jersey;  as  some  of  our  number,  as  well  as 
their  people,  who  are  in  great  distresses  by  the  barbarity  of  restless  and 
savage  Indians,  will  account  it  their  great  comfort  and  advantage  to  have 
such  a  provision  made  for  their  families;  and,  as  we  design  to  be  burden- 
some to  nobody,  but  to  raise  this  fund  out  of  our  own  narrow  incomes,  and 
as  we  can  with  great  truth  assure  your  honours,  that  none  are  more  loyal 
and  dutiful  subjects  to  his  majesty,  nor  more  firmly  attached  to  the  proprie- 
tary family  and  interests ;  from  all  these  considerations  we  greatly  hope  and 
depend  that  your  honours  will  favour  us  with  your  countenance  and  protec- 
tion, and  will  be  so  good  as  to  give  proper  instructions  to  our  governor  to 
grant  us  a  charter  for  the  purposes  already  mentioned,  and  youi;  petitioners 
as  in  duty  bound  shall  pray. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia." — Minutes,  1757,  p.  224. 

[This  petition  was  granted,  (^Minutes,  17.59,  p.  296,)  and  the  Corporation  of  the 
Widows'  Fund  still  exists,  holding  out  its  advantages  under  the  following  terms  and  con- 
ditions.] ' 

"  Conditions  of  the  annuity  for  Widows  and  Children,  offered  by  The  Corporation  for  Relief 
of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian  Ministers,  and  of  the  poor  and  distressed  widows  and 
children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers.' 

§  271.   "I.    Conditions  which  regard  the  suhscrihers. 

"  Article  1. — Any  Minister  of  the  gospel,  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  may  become 
a  subscriber  to  this  annuity  for  the  benefit  of  his  family. 

"Art.  2. — Every  applicant  for  this  annuity  shall  sign  a  declaration,  in  the  form  of  that 
attached  to  these  conditions. 

"  jlrl.  3. — If,  at  any  of  the  ages  mentioned  in  the  following  table,  a  subscriber  advance 
the  corresponding  premium  in  a  single  payment,  or  if  he  pay  regularly  the  corresponding 
annual  premium,  it  shall  secure  to  his  family,  after  his  decease,  an  annuity  of  one  hundred 
dollars,  under  the  conditions  hereafter  expressed. 

"  Jrt.  4. — An  annuity  may  also  be  secured,  in  part  by  a  single  premium,  and  in  part 


Part  VL]  widows'  fund.  459 

by  an  annual  premium,  each  being  calculated  according  to  the  terms  of  the  following 
table. 

^^Art.  5. — Should  the  annuity  applied  for  be  any  other  sum  than  one  hundred  dollars, 
the  premium,  whether  single  or  annual,  shall  be  changed  proportionally. 

"  Art.  6. — An  advance  shall  be  made  in  the  premiums,  proportional  to  the  excess  of  the 
age  of  the  applicant,  above  any  of  the  exact  periods  mentioned  in  the  table. 

•■^Arl.  7. — The  annual  premiums  shall  be  payable  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  May, 
and  the  amount  of  the  first  payment  shall  be  regulated  accordingly. 

"Art.  8. — The  annuity  subscribed  for,  shall  not  exceed  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars. 

"  Art.  9. — The  subscriber,  if  in  good  health,  may  at  any  time  increase  the  amount  of 
the  annuity  subscribed  for,  within  the  limit  mentioned  in  the  last  article,  or  may  com- 
mute for  his  annual  premiums,  or  any  part  thereof,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  follow- 
ing table. 

"  Art.  10. — The  subscriber  may  at  any  time,  instead  of  continuing  his  annual  premi- 
ums, deposite  with  the  Corporation  a  sum,  the  interest  of  which,  at  five  per  cent,  per  an- 
num, shall  be  equal  to  these  premiums;  and  in  this  case,  the  deposit  shall  be  returned  to 
his  family  after  his  death.  "* 

"  Art.  II. — If  the  payment  of  any  annual  premium  be  neglected  for  a  year  after  it  has 
become  due,  notice  shall  be  given  to  the  subscriber,  that  if  his  delinquency  be  continued 
for  one  year  longer,  the  subject  will  be  brought  before  the  Corporation ;  when,  if  payment 
be  still  neglected,  all  claims  upon  the  Corporation,  founded  upon  the  regular  payment  of 
this  annual  premium,  shall  be  declared  forfeited:  provided  that  no  forfeiture  shall  be  de- 
clared after  the  death  of  the  subscriber. 

"  Art.  12. — For  a  second,  or  any  subsequent  marriage  of  a  subscriber,  he  shall  pay  to 
the  Corporation  a  sum  equal  to  the  annual  premium,  as  estimated  by  the  following  table, 
corresponding  to  his  age  at  the  time,  and  the  annuity  for  which  he  has  subscribed. 

"Art.  13. — Any  congregation,  college,  society,  or  individual,  may  make  a  permanent 
deposite  with  the  Corporation,  the  interest  of  which  at  five  per  cent,  per  annum,  shall  be 
considered  as  the  annual  premium  of  any  Presbyterian  Minister,  nominated  by  the 
depositor,  or  in  such  manner  as  the  depositor  may  direct,  and  received  as  a  subscriber  under 
these  conditions. 

"Art.  14. — Should  a  Minister  who  is  already  a  subscriber,  become  attached  to  a  con- 
gregation or  other  institution  which  has  made  a  permanent  deposite  in  the  fund,  he  may 
also  become  a  subscriber  under  such  deposite,  even  if  the  annuities  thus  secured  to  his 
family  should  together  exceed  the  limit  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars. 

"Art.  15. — Should  a  Minister  who  has  become  a  subscriber  upon  a  deposite  made  by  a 
congregation  or  other  institution,  remove  from  that  congregation  or  institution,  the  depo- 
sitor may  transfer  the  advantages  of  the  desposite  to  his  successor,  but  the  subscriber  may 
still  retain  his  rights  by  continuing  to  pay  the  original  annual  premiums. 

§  272.  "  II.  Conditions  which  regard  the  annuitants. 

"  Art.  16. — In  one  year  after  the  death  of  any  subscriber,  and  annually  thenceforward, 
the  Corporation  shall  cause  to  be  paid  to  his  widow  or  children  the  stipulated  annuity,  in 
such  manner  as  the  Corporation  shall  judge  most  for  the  benefit  of  the  family;  provided 
that  the  share  of  a  child  shall  never  exceed  that  of  the  widow,  and  that  no  part  of  the 
annuity  shall  be  continued  to  the  children  for  more  than  thirteen  years.  ^ 

"  Art.  17. — In  sixty  days  after  due  notice  of  the  death  of  any  subscriber  who  has  made  a 
life  deposite,  the  amount  of  this  deposite,  without  interest,  shall  be  returned  to  his  family ; 
and  such  disposition  made  of  it  as  the  Corporation  shall  judge  most  for  the  benefit  of  the 
family  ;  unless,  at  the  time  of  making  such  deposite,  the  subscriber  shall  have  reserved  to 
himself  the  right  of  absolutely  disposing  thereof  by  will. 

"Art.  18. — A  subscriber  may  advise  the  Corporation,  by  will  or  otherwise,  as  to  the 
disposal  of  an  annuity,  or  of  a  life-deposite ;  but  this  advice  shall  not  be  absolutely 
binding. 

"Art.  19. — If  a  widow  only  be  left,  she  shall  be  entitled  to  the  whole  annuity  during 
her  widowhood. 

«  An.  20. — If  the  widow  of  a  subscriber  marry  again,  she  shall  receive  but  half  the 
annuity  during  the  remainder  of  her  life. 

"  Art.  2 1 . — If  there  be  a  child  or  children,  and  no  widow,  the  annuity  shall  be  continued 
for  thirteen  years  after  the  father's  decease,  and  no  longer. 


460 


CORPORATION   OF  THE 


[Book  V. 


"  Art,  22. — If  there  be  a  child  or  children  left,  the  whole  annuity  shall  be  paid  for  thir- 
teen years,  even  if  the  widow  shall  marry  or  die  before  the  expiration  of  this  period. 

"  Jlrt.  23. — The  annuities  shall  be  payable  up  to  the  time  of  death  of  the  annuitant ; 
her  le^al  representatives  being  entitled  to  such  proportional  part  of  the  annuity  as  shall 
correspond  to  the  part  of  a  year  during  which  she  shall  have  survived  the  last  day  of  an- 
nual payment, 

"  Jlrt.  24. — The  Corporation  may  commute  for  an  annuity,  by  the  payment  of  a  single 
sum  of  equal  value,  provided  that  they  shall  judge  it  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  annuitants, 
and  that  it  be  done  at  their  desire. 

"  Art.  25. — The  application  for  the  first  annuity,  after  the  death  of  a  subscriber,  must 
give  a  statement  of  the  time  of  his  death,  certified  by  a  magistrate,  clergyman,  or  physician  ; 
the  name  and  age  of  the  widow,  if  one  has  been  left;  the  names  and  ages  of  the  children, 
if  there  be  any ;  and  such  an  account  of  the  condition  of  the  family  as  may  enable  the 
Corporation  to  dispose  of  the  annuity  in  the  manner  best  suited  for  their  relief. 

"  An.  26. — The  annuity  shall  not,  in  any  case,  be  assigned  or  transferred,  without  the 
consent  of  the  Corporation  expressed  in  writing. 

§  273.  "  Table,  showing  the  premium,  in  dollars  and  cents,  which  at  the 
different  ages  of  a  Minister,  will  secure  to  his  family  an  annxiity  o/'SlOO, 
according  to  the  foregoing  conditions. 


Age. 

Single  Payments. 

Annual  Payments. 

Age. 

Single  Payments. 

Annual  Payments. 

21 

313,93 

21.03 

46 

467.32 

39.13 

22 

318.28 

21.46 

47 

475.75 

40.33 

23 

332.80 

21.90 

48 

484.43 

41.73 

24 

327.37 

22.33 

49 

493.33 

43.14 

25 

332.02 

22.76 

50 

502.21 

44.55 

26 

336.90 

23.19 

51 

511.10 

46.07 

27 

341.89 

23.73 

52 

520.10 

4  7.. 58 

28 

346.99 

24.28 

53 

529.21 

49.21 

29 

352.19 

24.82 

54 

538.52 

50.83 

30 

357.61 

25.36 

55 

548.07 

52.79 

31 

363.14 

25.90 

56 

557.83 

54.74 

32 

368.88 

26.56 

57 

567.90 

56.80 

33 

374.74 

27.21 

58 

578.09 

58.97 

34 

380.80 

27.86 

59 

588  50 

61.24 

35 

386.99 

28.61 

60 

599.23 

63.61 

36 

393.41 

29.38 

61 

610.07 

66.44 

37 

400.11 

30.13 

62 

621.13 

69.26 

38 

406.93 

31.00 

63 

632.73 

72.40 

39 

413.97 

31.87 

64 

644.55 

75.66 

40 

421.35 

32.84 

65 

656.79 

79.35 

41 

428.72 

33.82 

66 

669.26 

83.24 

42 

436.09 

34.69 

67 

682.06 

87.58 

43 

443.58 

35.66 

68 

694.95 

92.25 

l4 

451.26 

36.74 

69 

708.17 

97.24 

45 

459.18 

37.94 

70 

721.51 

10276 

«'I. 


of- 


§  274.  ^^Declaration  of  Aj^j^licanf. 
Minister  of  the  gospel,  of  the  Presbyerian  denomination,  wish- 


ing to  secure  to  my  family,  after  my  decease,  a  reversionary  annuity,  according  to  the 
conditions  olfered  by  the  Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian  Min- 
isters, and  of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widows  and  Children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers,  do 
hereby  make  application  for  the  same,  and  do  declare,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and 

belief,  that  I  was  born  on  the day  of A.  D.  ,  and  that  I  am  not 

afflicted  with  any  disease  which  would  render  a  contract  depending  on  my  life  more  than 
usually  hazardous.     Dated  at the day  of A.  D. 


Part  VI.] 


WIDOWS     FUND. 


461 


"Covenant  op  the  Corporation, 
§  275.   "-Sy  ^The   Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presby- 
terian Ministers,  and  of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widows  and  Children  of 
Preshyterian  Ministers' 

"These  Presents  Witness,  That  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of paid  by 

of to  the  Corporation  for  the  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian  Ministers, 

and   of  the  poor  and   distressed  Widows  and  Children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers:,  the 

receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  and  of  the  further  sum  of to  be  paid  by 

him  to  the  said  Corporation,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  May  in  each  year,  during  his 

life,  commencing  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  May ,  the  said  Corporation  do  hereby 

covenant  and  bind  themselves,  to  him,  his  executors,  and  administrators,  to  pay  to  his 

widow  and  children,  after  his  decease,  an  annuity  of ,  according  to  the  foregoing 

conditions,  and  subject  to  all  the  provisions  therein  set  forth. 

«  In  testimony  whereof,  the  Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian 
Ministers,  and  of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widows  and  Children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers, 
have  hereunto  affixed  their  corporate  seal,  and  have  further  attested  the  same  by  the  sig- 
nature of  their  Treasurer,  this day  of A.  D. . 

[  SEAL.  ]  ,  Treasurer. 

ministers'  fund. 
§  276.    "  Conditions  of  the  annuity  for  aged  Ministers,  offered  by  '  The 
Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian  Ministers,  and 

of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widows  and  Children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers.' 

"  Jlrl.  1. — Any  Minister  of  the  gospel,  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  may  become  a 
subscriber  to  this  annuity;  or  any  Presbyterian  congregation  may  subscribe  in  behalf  of 
their  Pastor  ;  or  any  individual,  or  number  of  individuals,  may  subscribe  in  favour  of  any 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  whom  they  may  choose  to  designate. 

"  Art.  2. — Every  application  for  an  annuity  shall  contain  a  declaration  of  the  time  of 
birth  of  the  person  for  whom  the  annuity  is  required,  as  particular  in  regard  to  the  date  as 
possible,  and  accompanied  by  the  best  evidence  which  the  nature  of  thf  case  will  admit. 

"  Art.  .3. — If  at  any  of  the  ages  mentioned  in  the  following  table,  the  corresponding  pre- 
mium be  advanced,  it  will  entitle  the  subscriber  to  an  annuity  of  one  hundred  dollars;  the 
first  payment  thereof  to  be  made  on  his  attaining  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  and  the  pay- 
ments to  be  continued  annually  thenceforward  during  his  life,  and  the  portion  of  the  annuity 
which  may  have  accrued  at  the  time  of  his  death,  to  be  paid  to  his  legal  representatives. 

"Art,  4. — An  advance  will  be  made  in  the  premium,  proportional  to  the  excess  of  the 
age  of  the  applicant,  above  any  of  the  exact  periods  mentioned  in  the  table. 

^^  Art.  .5. — Should  the  annuity  applied  for  be  any  other  sum  than  one  hundred  dollars 
the  premium  shall  be  changed  proportionally. 

"Art.  fi. — The  annuity  granted  to  a  single  individual  shall  not  exceed  400  dollars. 

«  Art.  7. — The  annuity  shall  not  in  any  case  be  assigned  or  transferred,  without  the 
consent  of  the  Corporation,  expressed  in  writing. 
§  277.    Table,  shoioing  the  premium,  in  dollai's  and  cents,  to  be  advanced, 

at  any  age  from  20  to  64,  in  order  to  secure  an  annuity  of  $100,  to 

commence  at  the  age  of  6b,  and  to  be  continued  thenceforward  during  life. 


Age. 

Premium. 

Age. 

Premium. 

Age. 

Premium. 

20 

80.75 

35 

167.21 

50 

367.22 

21 

8.').62 

36 

175.70 

51 

388.09 

22 

89.67 

37 

184.70 

52 

408.42 

23 

93.91 

38 

194.17 

53 

431.30 

24 

98.36 

39 

204.22 

54 

455.92 

25 

103.02 

40 

214.93 

55 

482.31 

26 

107.94 

41 

226.48 

56 

510.75 

27 

113.09 

42 

238.84 

57 

541.47 

28 

118.54 

43 

251.99 

58 

575.14 

29 

124.35 

44 

265.96 

59 

613.00 

30 

130.61 

45 

280.75 

60 

656.06 

31 

137.23 

46 

296.36 

61 

705.95 

32 

144.18 

47 

312.86 

62 

761.43 

33 

150.48 

48 

330.20 

63 

822.66 

34 

159.14 

49 

348.27 

64 

889.59 

462  CORPORATION   OF   THE  WIDOWS'   FUND.  [Book  V. 

"Covenant  of  the  Corporation, 

§  278.  "-By  the  Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presby- 
terian Ministers,  and  of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widoivs  and  Children  of 
Presbyterian  Ministers. 

"These  Presents  Witness,  That  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of paid  by 

of to  The  Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian  Ministers  and 

of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widows  and  Children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers,  the  receipt 
whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  the  said  Corporation  do  hereby  covenant  and  bind  them- 
selves to of to  pay  him  the  sum  of on  the day  of A.  D. 

if  he  shall  then  be  living;  and  the  like  sum  on  the  same  day  of  each  succeeding  year 
during  his  life;  and  if  he  shall  survive  the  first  day  of  payment  herein  specified,  then  at 
his  death  to  pay  his  legal  representative  such  proportional  part  of  the  like  sum  as  may 
correspond  to  the  portion  of  a  year  during  which  he  shall  have  lived,  since  the  last  annual 
payment  became  due ;  provided  that  the  annuity  hereby  granted,  or  any  part  thereof, 
shall  not  be  transferred  or  assigned,  without  the  consent  of  the  Corporation,  expressedin 
writing. 

"7n  testimony  whereof,  The  Corporation  for  Relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian 
Ministers  and  of  the  poor  and  distressed  Widows  and  Children  of  Presbyterian  Ministers, 
have  hereunto  affixed  their  corporate  seal,  and  have  further  attested  the  same  by  the  sig- 
nature of  their  Treasurer,  this day  of A.  D. 


[    SEAL.   ] 


Treasurer." 


— Minutes,  1841,  pp.  480 — 484. 

Title  4. — Acts  op  the  Assembly  on  the  subject. 

§  279.  A  jilan  early  recommended. 

"An  overture  was  laid  before  the  Assembly  through  the  Committee  of 
Overtures,  ia  thtf  words  following,  viz.  It  is  proposed  to  the  General  As- 
sembly that  a  plan  be  recommended,  in  their  resolutions,  to  Presbyteries  to 
make  provision  for  the  support  of  invalid  Presbyterian  Ministers,  and  the 
distressed  families  of  any  Ministers  in  our  communion,  who  may  die  in  des- 
titute circumstances,  on  the  following  principles : 

"1.  That  each  Minister  in  the  respective  Presbyteries,  who  may  enjoy  a 
salary  of  eighty  pounds  or  upwards,  contribute  the  annual  sum  of  thirty 
shillings  at  least,  and  pay  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterial  Treasurer,  to 
be  transmitted  to  the  General  Treasury,  as  a  common  stock. 

"2.  That  the  moneys  thus  collected  shall  be  considered  as  a  fund  for 
charitable  purposes,  to  be  applied  to  the  relief  of  distressed  Presbyterian 
Ministers  and  their  families. 

"3.  That  each  Presbytery  send  annually  to  the  General  Assembly  a  list 
of  such  invalid  Ministers  within  their  bounds;  or  such  Ministers'  families 
as  may  be  in  necessity,  together  with  the  statement  of  the  circumstances  of 
their  case,  and  a  recommendation  of  them  as  proper  objects  of  the  proposed 
relief. 

"4.  That  the  Assembly  take  order  for  apportioning  the  yearly  collections 
amongst  the  various  objects  in  the  most  equitable  and  prudent  manner. 

"  5.  That  the  fiimilies  of  all  the  Ministers  within  the  connection  of  the 
General  Assembly,  whether  they  be  contributors  or  not,  who  may  be  in  dis- 
tress and  recommended  as  above,  be  entitled  to  receive  a  part  of  this  chari- 
table provision  for  their  wants. 

"On  motion,  Ordered,  That  the  above  proposal  be  transmitted  to  the 
different  Presbyteries,  who  are  requested  to  signify  their  opinion  thereupon 
to  the  next  General  Asseiubly." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  90. 

[The  next  year  the  Presbyteries]  "  gave  it  as  their  opinion,  that  though 
they  approve  of  the  object,  they  consider  the  plan  inexpedient,  and  improper 
to  be  adopted." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  97. 


Part  VI.]      TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OF   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  468 

§  280.    Tlie  present  2ilan  of  the  Assembly. 

"Whereas,  There  are  many  disabled  and  superannuated  Ministers  in  con- 
nection with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  widows  and  families  of  Presby- 
terian Ministers  who  are  in  indigent  circumstances,  and  as  the  Church 
increases,  their  number  is  likely  to  increase;  and  whereas,  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Church  to  provide  for  those  who  have  devoted  their  time  and  spent 
their  energies  in  her  service,  and  also  for  their  families;  and  whereas,  no 
local  provision  can  effectually  meet  this  object,  and  no  ejQScient  general  pro- 
vision has  ever  yet  been  made,  therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  1.  That  in  order  to  constitute  a  fund  for  the  support  of  the 
widows  and  families  of  deceased  Ministers  and  for  the  relief  of  superannu- 
ated and  disabled  living  Ministers,  it  is  hereby  enjoined  upon  all  our 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  to  take  such  action  as  may  secure  a  contribution 
annually. 

^^ Resolved,  2.  That  a  column  be  added  to  the  table  of  Statistical  Reports, 
for  these  contributions. 

^'Resolved,  3.  That  the  funds  thus  contributed  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  disbursed  by  the 
Board  of  Publication  upon  the  recommendation  of  Presbyteries,  as  the  funds 
for  Domestic  Missions,  Education,  and  Church  Extension,  are  now  appro- 
priated. 

"Resolved,  4.  That  in  order  to  the  founding  of  a  permanent  fund  for  this 
same  object,  special  contributions  and  legacies  be  invited  from  all  parts  of 
the  Church,  the  principal  of  which  shall  be  safely  invested  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  interest  be  added  to  the  general 
fund  provided  for  in  a  foregoing  resolution." — Mhmtes,  1849,  p.  266. 

§281. 

"The  duty  of  disbursing  the  fund  in  aid  of  superannuated  and  disabled 
Ministers  and  their  families,  is  hereby  transferred  from  the  Board  of  Publi- 
cation to  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1852,  p.  224. 


CHAPTER  11. 

the  trustees  of  the  general  assembly. 

Title  1. — The  Charter. 

§  282.  ''An  Act  for  incorporating  the  Trustees  of  the  Ministers  and  Elders 
constituting  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  CMirch  in  the 
United  States  of  America. 

"  Whereas,  the  Ministers  and  Eiders  forming  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  consisting  of  citizens  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  of  others  of  the  United  States  of  America  aforesaid,  have  by  their  petition 
represented,  that  by  donations,  bequests  or  otherwise,  of  charitably  disposed  persons,  they 
are  possessed  of  moneys  for  benevolent  and  pious  purposes,  and  the  said  Ministers  and 
Elders  have  reason  to  expect  further  contributions  for  similar  uses;  but  from  the  scat- 
tered situation  of  the  said  Ministers  and  Elders,  and  other  causes,  the  said  Ministers  and 
Elders  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  manage  the  said  funds,  in  the  way  best  calculated  to 
answer  the  intention  of  the  donors:  Therefore, 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Bepresentativcs  of  the  Common- 
tcealth  ef  Pennsylvania,  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority 


4G4  TRUSTEES  AND  FUNDS  OF  [BoOk  V, 

of  the  same,  That  John  Rodgers,  Alexander  McWhorter,  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  Ashbel 
Green,  William  M.  Tenncnt,  Patrick  Allison,  Nathan  Irvin,  Joseph  Clark,  Andrew  Hun- 
ter, Jarcd  Ingersoll,  Robert  Ralston,  Jonathan  R.  Smith,  Andrew  Bayard,  Elias  Boudinot, 
John  Nelson,  Ebcnezer  Hazard,  David  Jackson,  and  Robert  Smith,  merchant,  and 
their  successors  duly  elected  and  appointed  in  manner  as  in  hereafter  directed,  be,  and 
they  are  hereby  made,  declared,  and  constituted  a  corporation  and  body  politic  and  corpo- 
rate, in  law  and  in  fact,  to  have  continuance  for  ever,  by  the  name,  style,  and  title  of 
'Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America;'  and  by  the  name,  style,  and  title  aforesaid,  shall,  for  ever  hereafter,  be  persons 
able  and  capable  in  law  as  well  to  take,  receive  and  hold,  all  and  all  manner  of  iands, 
tenements,  rents,  annuities,  franchises  and  other  hereditaments,  which  at  any  time  or 
times  heretofore  have  been  granted,  bargained,  sold,  enfeoffed,  released,  devised  or  other- 
wise conveyed,  to  the  said  Ministers  and  Elders  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  the  United  States,  or  any  other  person  or  persons,  to  their  use,  or  in  trust 
for  them ;  and  the  same  lands,  tenements,  rents,  annuities,  liberties,  franchises  and  other 
hereditaments,  are  hereby  vested  and  established  in  the  said  corporation,  and  their  succes- 
sors for  ever,  according  to  the  original  use  and  intent  for  which  such  devises,  gifts,  and 
grants  were  respectively  made;  and  the  said  corporation  and  their  successors,  are  hereby 
declared  to  be  seized  and  possessed  of  such  estate  and  estates  therein,  as  in  and  by  the 
respective  grants,  bargains,  sales,  enfeoffments,  releases,  devises  and  other  conveyances 
thereof,  is  or  are  declared  limited  and  expressed ;  also,  that  the  said  corporation  and  their 
successors,  at  all  times  hereafter,  shall  be  capable  and  able  to  purchase,  have,  receive,  take, 
hold,  and  enjoy,  in  fee  simple,  or  of  lesser  estate  or  estates,  any  lands,  tenements,  rents, 
annuities,  franchises,  and  other  hereditaments,  by  the  gift,  grant,  bargain,  sale,  alienation, 
enfeoffment,  release,  confirmation  or  devise,  of  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic  and 
corporate,  capable  and  able  to  make  the  same:  And  further,  that  the  said  Ministers  and 
Elders,  under  the  corporate  name  aforesaid,  and  their  successors,  may  take  and  receive 
any  sum  or  sums  of  money,  and  any  portion  of  goods  and  chattels,  that  have  been  given 
to  the  said  Ministers  and  Elders,  or  that  hereafter  shall  be  given,  sold,  leased,  or  bequeath- 
ed to  the  said  corporation,  by  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  that  is 
able  or  capable  to  make  a  gift,  sale,  bequest  or  other  disposal  of  the  same;  such  money, 
goods,  or  chattels,  to  be  laid  out  and  disposed  of,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  aforesaid 
corporation,  agreeably  to  the  intention  of  the  donors,  and  according  to  the  objects,  articles, 
and  conditions  of  this  Act. 

"  Sect.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  no  misnomer  of 
the  said  corporation  and  their  successors,  shall  defeat  or  annul,  any  gift,  grant,  devise  or 
bequest,  to  or  from  the  said  corporation,  provided  the  intent  of  the  party  or  parties  shall 
sufficiently  appear  upon  the  face  of  the  gift,  will,  grant  or  other  writing,  whereby  any 
estate  or  interest,  was  intended  to  pass  to  or  from  the  said  corporation. 

"  Sect.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corporation 
and  their  successors,  shall  have  full  power  and  authority,  to  make,  have  and  use,  one  com- 
mon seal,  with  such  devise  and  inscription  as  they  shall  think  fit  and  proper;  and  the  same 
to  break,  alter,  and  renew,  at  their  pleasure. 

"  Sect.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corporation 
and  their  successors,  by  the  name,  style,  and  title  aforesaid,  shall  be  able  and  capable  in 
law,  to  sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be  impleaded,  in  any  court,  or  before  any  judge  or  jus- 
tice, in  all  and  all  manner  of  suits,  complaints,  pleas,  matters  and  demands,  of  whatsoever 
nature,  kind  and  form  they  may  be;  and  all  and  every  matter  and  thing  to  do,  in  as  full 
and  efli'ctual  a  manner,  as  any  other  person,  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  within  this  Com- 
monwealth, may  or  can  do. 

"  Sect.  5.  And  be  it  J'urther  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corporation 
and  their  successors,  shall  be,  and  hereby  are  authorized  and  empowered,  to  make,  ordain 
and  establish,  by-laws  and  ordinances,  and  do  everything  incident  and  needful  for  the  sup- 
port and  due  government  of  the  said  corporation,  and  managing  the  funds  and  revenues 
thereof;  Provided,  the  said  by-laws  be  not  repugnant  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States,  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  or  to  this  Act. 

"Sect.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  aulhnrily  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corporation 
shall  not,  at  any  time,  consist  of  more  than  eighteen  persons;  whereof  the  said  General 
Assembly  may,  at  theii  direction,  as  often  as  they  shall  hold  their  sessions  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  change  one-third  in  such  manner  as  to  the  said  General  Assembly  shall 
seem  proper:  And  the  corporation  aforesaid,  shall  have  power  and  authority,  to  manage 
and  dispose  of  all  moneys,  goods,  chattels,  iands,  tenements  and  hereditaments,  and  other 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  465 

estate  whatsoever,  committed  to  their  care  and  trust,  by  the  said  General  Assembly:  but 
in  cases  where  special  instructions,  for  the  management  and  disposal  thereof,  shall  be 
given  by  the  said  General  Assembly  in  writing,  under  the  hand  of  their  clerk,  it  shall  be 
the  duly  of  the  said  corporation,  to  act  according  to  such  instructions;  Pritvttkd,  the  said 
instructions  shall  not  be  repugnant  to  the  Constitutinn  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  to 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  or  to  the  provisions  and  restrictions  in 
this  Act  contained, 

"  Sect.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  six  members  of  this 
corporation,  whereof  the  president,  or  in  his  alisence  the  vice-president,  to  be  one,  shall  be 
a  sufficient  number  to  transact  the  business  thereof,  and  to  make  by-laws,  rules  and  regu- 
lations; Provided,  that  previous  to  any  meeting  of  the  Board  or  corporation,  for  such  pur- 
poses, not  appointed  by  adjournment,  ten  days'  notice  shall  be  previously  given  thereof,  in 
at  least  one  of  the  newspapers  printed  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia:  And  the  said  corpora- 
tion shall  and  may,  as  often  as  they  shall  see  proper,  and  according  to  the  rules  by  them 
to  be  prescribed,  choose  out  of  their  number,  a  president  and  vice-president,  and  shall  have 
authority  to  appoint  a  treasurer,  and  such  other  officers  and  servants  as  shall  by  them,  the 
said  corporation,  be  deemed  necessary ;  to  which  officers  the  said  corporation  may  assign 
such  a  compensation  for  their  services,  and  such  duties  to  be  performed  by  them,  to  con- 
tinue in  office  for  such  time,  and  to  be  succeeded  by  others,  in  such  way  and  manner  as 
the  said  corporation  shall  direct. 

"  Sect.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  all  questions  before 
the  said  corporation,  shall  be  decided  by  a  plurality  of  votes,  whereof  each  member  pre- 
sent shall  have  one,  except  the  president,  or  vice-president,  when  acting  as  president,  who 
shall  have  only  the  casting  voice  and  vote,  in  case  of  an  equality  in  the  votes  of  the  other 
members. 

"  Sect.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  said  corporation 
shall  keep  regular  and  fair  entries  of  their  proceedings,  and  a  just  account  of  their  receipts 
and  disbursements,  in  a  book  or  books  to  be  provided  for  that  purpose;  and  their  treasurer 
shall,  once  in  a  year,  exhibit  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  an  exact  state  of  the  accounts  of  the  corporation. 

^' Sect,  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  I  he  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  said  corpora- 
tion may  take,  receive,  purchase,  possess  and  enjoy,  messuages,  houses,  lands,  tenements, 
rents,  annuities,  and  other  hereditaments,  real  and  personal  estate  of  any  amount,  not 
exceeding  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  value,  but  the  said  limitations  not  to  be  considered 
as  including  the  annual  collections,  and  voluntary  contributions,  made  in  the  Churches 
under  the  care  of  the  said  General  Assembly. 

CAT>WAi,ATtER  Evans,  Jr. 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Robert  Hare, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 
Appboveh        I 
March  28,  1799.) 

Thomas  Miffliit, 
Governor  of  the  Commoniveallh  of  Pennsylvania." 
—Minutes,  1799,  p.  173. 

§  283.    The  Charter  accepted. 

"  The  committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  endeavour  to  obtain  from  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania an  act  of  incorporation,  authorizing  certain  Trustees  to  hold  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Assembly,  &c.,  report,  that  on  application  to  the  Legislature, 
they  obtained  the  act  of  incorporation  for  which  they  were  directed  to  apply, 
a  copy  of  which  accompanies  this  report,  corresponding  exactly  with  the 
draught  which  was  last  year  submitted  to  the  Assembly,  excepting  only  the 
sum  which  the  Trustees  are  authorized  to  hold,  is  somewhat  smaller  than 
was  inserted  in  that  draught. 

"  The  above  report,  and  act  of  incorporation  accompanying  it,  were  read 
and  approved. 
59 


466  TRUSTEES  AND  FUNDS  OP  [Book  V. 

"Whereupon,  on  motion, 

^'Resolved,  1.  That  the  Trustees  mentioned  in  said  act  be,  (and,  if  their 
first  meeting  be  not  otherwise  provided  for,)  they  are  hereby  requested  to 
meet  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on 
Wednesday  the  2Gth  day  of  June,  at  11  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  and  then 
and  there  proceed  to  the  election  of  President,  Vice-President,  Treasurer, 
and  such  other  oificers  as  the  act  of  incorporation  empowers  them  to  choose, 
and  to  such  other  matters  and  things  as  their  duty  as  Trustees  shall 
require.  And  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Grreen,  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General 
Assembly,  is  hereby  directed  to  advertise  the  above  time  and  place  of  meet- 
ing in  one  of  the  daily  papers  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  one  of  the  daily  papers 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  at  least  two  weeks  before  the  time  of  meeting." — 
Minutes,  1799,  pp.  173,  175. 

Title  2. — The  Trustees. 
§  284.  Manner  of  election. 

''  1.  When  this  subject  is  called  up  annually,  a  vote  shall  first  be  taken 
whether  for  the  current  year  the  Assembly  will  or  will  not  make  any  elec- 
tion of  members  in  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

"2.  If  an  election  be  determined  on,  the  day  on  which  it  shall  take  place 
shall  be  specified,  and  shall  not  be  within  less  than  two  days  of  the  time  at 
which  such  election  shall  be  decided  on. 

"3.  When  the  day  of  election  arrives,  the  Assembly  shall  ascertain  what 
vacancies  in  the  number  of  the  eighteen  Trustees  incorporated,  have  taken 
place,  by  death  or  otherwise,  and  shall  first  proceed  to  choose  other  mem- 
bers in  their  places.  When  this  is  accomplished,  they  shall  proceed  to  the 
trial  whether  they  will  elect  any,  and  if  any,  how  many  of  that  third  of  the 
number  of  the  Trustees  which  by  law  they  are  permitted  to  change,  in  the 
following  manner,  viz.  The  list  of  the  Trustees  shall  be  taken,  and  a  vote 
be  had  for  a  person  to  fill  the  place  of  him  who  is  first  on  the  list.  In  voting 
for  a  person  to  fill  said  place,  the  vote  may  be  given  either  for  the  person 
who  has  before  filled  it,  or  for  any  other  person.  .  If  the  majority  of  votes 
shall  be  given  for  the  person  who  has  before  filled  it,  he  shall  continue  in 
ofiice.  If  the  majority  of  votes  shall  be  given  for  another  person,  this  per- 
son is  a  Trustee,  duly  chosen  in  place  of  the  former.  In  the  same  form  the 
Assembly  shall  proceed  with  the  list,  till  they  have  either  changed  one- 
third  of  the  Trustees,  (always  including  in  the  third  those  who  have  been 
elected  by  the  sitting  Assembly  to  supply  the  places  become  vacant  by 
death  or  otherwise)  or  by  going  through  the  list,  shall  determine  that  no 
further  alteration  shall  be  made." — Minutes,  1801,  p.  217. 

§  285.  Intercourse  with  the  Assembly. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  meet  a  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Assembly,  to  digest  and  prepare  a  regular  and  stated  mode  of  inter- 
course between  the  Assembly  and  the  Trustees,  made  a  report  which  was  read 
and  approved,  as  follows,  viz. 

"  That  the  management  and  disposal  of  all  moneys,  goods,  chattels,  lands, 
tenements,  hereditaments,  and  all  other  estate  whatever,  committed  to  their 
care  and  trust  by  the  General  Assembly,  is  invested  in  the  said  Trustees ; 
unless  where  special  instructions  for  the  management  and  disposal  thereof 
shall  be  given  by  the  General  Assembly  in  writing  under  the  hand  of  their 
Clerk;  in  which  case,  the  corporation  is  to  act  according  to  said  instructions. 
That  an  exact  state  of  the  accounts  of  the  Trustees  is  to  be  exhibited  by 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  467 

their  Treasurer  to  the  General  Asserably,  once  in  eveiy  year;  whereupon  it 
is  recommended, 

"  1.  That  this  state  of  the  accounts  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly 
as  early  in  their  sessions  as  possible,  in  order  that  the  General  Assembly 
may  know  what  appropriations  it  may  be  in  their  power  to  make,  or  what 
instructions  to  give  to  their  Trustees,  respecting  the  moneys  in  hand. 

''  2.  That  when  any  appropriations  are  made  by  the  General  Assembly,  a 
copy  of  their  minute  for  that  purpose,  signed  by  the  Clerk,  shall  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  Trustees,  and  shall  be  their  warrant  for  the  payment  of  all 
moneys  thus  appropriated. 

''  3.  That  when  any  measures  are  taken,  or  any  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
General  Assembly,  or  the  Board  of  Trustees,  which  it  concerns  the  other  to  be 
acquainted  with,  due  information  of  the  same  shall  be  given,  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  the  other." — Minutes,  1801,  p.  232. 

§  286.    The  Trustees  held  harmless  in  obeying  tlie  orders  of  the  Assemhly. 

"  Mr.  Breckinridge  offered  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  viz. 

''  Whereas,  it  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  General  Assembly,  that 
the  persons  who  were  appointed  commissioners  to  this  body  from  the  Pres- 
byteries attached  to  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  have  served  a  notice 
upon  the  Treasurer  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  '  not  to  regard 
any  orders  drawn,  nor  any  resolutions  passed  by  this  Assembly,  since  the 
passage  of  the  act  which  declared  said  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve  to  be 
no  longer  in  the  connection  of  the  body  represented  in  this  General  Assem- 
bly;' and  whereas,  said  notice  is  no  doubt  to  be  considered  as  the  commence- 
ment of  a  series  of  judicial  investigations,  growing  out  of  the  proceedings  of 
this  Assembly,  in  reforming  the  Church,  during  its  present  sessions;  now, 
therefore,  be  it  resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 

'^  1.  That  this  Assembly  expects  of  its  Trustees  full  compliance  with  all 
its  acts  as  in  past  times,  and  relies  confidently  on  their  continued  fidelity  to 
the  Church,  in  the  discharge  of  all  the  important  duties  devolving  on 
them. 

<'  2.  That  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  morally  responsible,  and  will  fully 
and  cheerfully  meet  that  responsibility,  to  sustain  their  Trastees  in  all  their 
acts,  in  consequence  of  any  resolution  passed  or  order  given  in  virtue  of 
such  resolution  of  the  present  or  any  other  General  Assembly — and  to  hold 
said  Trustees  harmless,  by  reason  of  any  loss  or  damage  they  may  personally 
sustain  thereby. 

"  3.  That  this  Assembly,  in  virtue  of  the  powers  vested  in  it  by  the  act 
incorporating  its  Trustees,  do  hereby,  in  writing,  direct  their  Trustees  to 
continue  to  pay  as  heretofore,  and  to  have  no  manner  of  respect  to  the  notice 
mentioned  above,  nor  to  any  similar  notice  that  may  come  to  their  know- 
ledge. And  these  resolutions,  duly  signed  and  certified,  shall  be  delivered 
to  them  on  the  part  of  this  Assembly. 

"Mr.  Breckinridge  read  the  notice  referred  to  in  the  resolutions;  and 
after  debate,  the  resolutions  were  adopted." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  467. 

Title  3. — The  Funds  of  the  Assembly. 

§  287.  Manner  of  keeping  the  accounts. 

(a)   [In  1830,  the  Financial  Committee  called  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  to  the 

confused  state  of  the  funds. — (^Minutes,  p.  15.)     The  Assembly  ordered  a  detailed  report. 

This  was  reiterated  the  next  year. — (Minutes,  p.  196.)    A  partial  report  was  made  in  1832, 

(Minutes,  p.  335,)  and  the  order  repeated.     It  was  also] 

^'■Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Matthew  L.  Bevan,  James Schott,  and  Solomon 


468  TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OF  [Book  V. 

Allen,  be  a  committee  to  examine  the  state  of  the  funds,  belonging  to  or 
under  the  control  of  this  Assembly,  or  of  its  Trustees;  who  are  hereby 
authorized  and  requested  to  examine  the  whole  subject  of  the  funds,  with, 
full  powers  to  examine  all  the  books  and  papers  relative  thereto,  to  employ 
the  necessary  accountants,  and  to  make  report  in  detail,  and  lay  it  before 
the  next  Assembly  on  the  second  day  of  their  sessions." — Minutes,  1832, 
p.  335. 

(6)  A  full  report  was  made  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  but  the  same  manner  of 
keeping  accounts  was  continued.  In  1841,  the  Financial  Committee  made  the  following 
statement.] 

*'  The  committee  has  been  furnished  with  the  cash  book  and  ledger  kept 
by  the  Treasurer,  but  not  with  any  of  the  vouchers  for  the  charges,  and 
from  the  best  examination  given  the  subject,  it  does  appear  that  the  accounts 
have  been  kept  in  a  confused  state,  so  as  to  render  it  impossible  to  investi- 
gate them  with  that  minuteness  the  subject  demands.  Accounts  have  been 
opened  in  the  ledger,  and  balances  struck,  sometimes  on  the  debit,  and 
sometimes  on  the  credit  side,  which  accounts  have  been  permitted  to  remain 
iu  this  situation  for  several  years,  without  entries,  showing  what  disposition 
has  been  made  of  those  balances.  Again,  the  accounts  have  been  mixed, 
rendering  it  now  almost  impossible  to  trace  the  original  entries  or  funds,  or 
at  best  in  a  manner  not  satisfactory.  The  books  also  show  a  mixing  up  of 
the  different  funds. 

"  The  committee  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  this  system  of 
keeping  the  accounts  did  not  commence  with  the  present  Treasurer,  but  has 
been  continued  by  him.  It  commenced  at  the  earliest  period  of  the  accounts, 
and  when  the  books  were  handed  to  the  present  Treasurer,  he  found  it  more 
convenient  to  continue  this  course,  than  to  open  new  accounts.  It  would 
have  been  perhaps  almost  impossible  without  great  labour  for  him  to 
have  done  so.  He  has  stated,  and  his  clerk  has  also  stated  to  the  committee, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  undei'stand  the  accounts,  as  they  had  been  kept  by 
his  predecessors,  and  they  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  open  new  accounts,  or 
accounts  upon  a  different  principle. 

"  The  committee  wish  it  also  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  it  is  not 
intended  to  censure  the  Treasurer  in  this  particular.  Every  member  of  the 
committee  fully  believes  that  the  Treasurer  has  honestly  accounted  for  every 
cent  that  has  come  to  his  hands,  and  they  are  well  aware  of  the  arduous  duty 
he  had,  and  still  has  to  perform.  It  being  the  intention  of  the  committee 
in  this  particular,  merely  to  point  out  the  mode  in  which  the  accounts  have 
been  kept."        ******* 

"In  conclusion,  your  committee  are  compelled  to  express  their  regret  at 
the  manner  of  investment;  at  the  commingling  of  funds,  which  in  their 
character  and  design  are  distinct  and  different,  and  at  the  employment  of 
funds,  to  purposes,  which  although  connected  with  the  interests  and  opera- 
tions of  this  Assembly,  yet  are  purposes  for  which  they  were  not  specifically 
designed. 

"The  Treasurer  has  found  himself  involved  in  the  keeping  of  his  books, 
in  ditficultios  not  of  his  own  creation,  but  transmitted  to  or  imposed  on  him, 
and  has,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  faithfully  employed  the  funds 
under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Trustees." 

[Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  the  Assembly  adopted  the  following  among 
other  resolutions.] 

^^  Resolved,  1.  That  the  Treasurer  be  directed  to  close  the  old  books,  and 
to  open  new  ones,  based  upon  the  present  state  of  the  funds. 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  469 

"  2.  That  in  these  new  books,  the  funds  contributed  for  distinct  and  dif- 
fei'ent  objects,  be  so  entered  and  kept. 

"  3.  That  at  no  time  the  funds  be  diverted  from  their  original  destination, 
nor  any  part  of  the  principal  used  under  any  pretence  whatsoever." — Min- 
utes, 1841,  pp.  440,  441,  442. 

§  288.  Present  state  of  the  funds. 

^'Resolved,  That  a  special  committee  on  the  financial  concerns  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  be  appointed,  with  instructions  to  investigate  the 
whole  subject  in  all  its  aspects  and  departments,  and  to  report  to  the  nest 
General  Assembly  full  information  in  relation  thereto,  stating  distinctly, 
under  appropriate  heads,  all  the  funds  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly, 
whether  for  the  general  purposes  of  the  Church,  or  for  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  how  they  are  invested,  and  what  deficiencies  are 
found  in  each." — Minutes,  1851,  p.  31. 

§  289. 

"The  Special  Committee  on  the  financial  concerns  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  appoint- 
ed by  the  last  General  Assembly,  with  instructions  'to  report  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly full  information  in  relation  thereto,  stating  distinctly  under  appropriate  heads  all  the 
funds  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly,  whether  for  the  purposes  of  the  Church  or  for 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  how  they  are  invested,  and  what  deficiencies  are 
found  in  each,'  respectfully  report: 

"That  they  have  examined  the  books  of  the  Treasurer,  the  Reports  of  the  Trustees  of 
the  Assembly  and  the  printed  Minutes  for  the  last  twenty  years.  They  find  that  prior 
to  the  year  1830  the  items  of  receipts  and  disbursements  were  entered  promiscuously  in 
a  common  day-book,  and  in  that  year  the  Assembly  required  a  report  of  the  state  of  the 
several  funds  to  be  reported.  This  order  was  not  complied  with  until  1832,  when  a  report 
was  made  and  ordered  to  be  printed  in  the  appendix  to  the  minutes — by  which  it  appeared 
that  the  whole  amount  of  funds  was  ?i  145,482  invested  in  stocks  and  mortgages. 

"In  May,  1833,  the  Trustees  made  a  detailed  report  to  the  General  Assembly,  exhibit- 
ing the  state  of  the  funds,  the  difficulties  under  which  they  laboured,  and  the  deficiencies 
which  had  arisen,  owing  to  the  General  Assembly  having  anticipated  the  means  furnished 
by  the  Churches,  and  their  having  appropriated  annually  for  contingent  expenses,  and 
for  the  support  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  larger  sums  than  were  received 
for  those  objects;  in  consequence  of  which  the  Trustees  had  been  compelled  to  borrow 
from  the  permanent  funds  sums  sufficient  to  meet  those  appropriations — and  that  the 
annual  income  of  all  the  funds  invested  was  insufficient  to  meet  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  Assembly  and  the  Princeton  Seminary — the  whole  amount  of  the  funds  then  being 
$161,626.80,  of  which  $33,500  was  invested  in  mortgages,  $124,129.80  in  stocks,  and 
$4000  in  promissory  notes,  and  thereupon  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  resolution  that 
'  the  Trustees  be  requested  to  consider  whether  safe  investments  of  the  funds,  or  a  part  of 
them,  may  not  be  made  so  as  to  produce  a  higher  rate  of  interest  than  they  now  yield, 
and  if  so,  they  are  advised  to  endeavour  to  effect  a  change  of  stocks.' 

"  In  compliance  with  this  resolution,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  discretion  vested  in  them, 
the  Trustees,  between  this  period  and  the  2d  of  April,  1835,  sold  Pennsylvania  fives, 
Philadelphia  Bank,  and  United  States  Bank  stocks  to  the  amount  of  $94,606.21 — and 
purchased  stocks  of  the  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  Bank  of  Pittsburgh,  the  Merchants 
and  Mechanics  Bank  of  Wheeling,  the  Bank  of  Louisville,  the  Union  Bank  of  Tennessee, 
the  Bank  of  Mobile,  the  Planters  Bank  and  the  Agricultural  Bank  of  Natchez,  to  the 
amount  of  $95,669.53 — a  change  which  at  the  then  rate  of  dividends  paid  by  the  last 
mentioned  banks,  increased  the  annual  income  $2660  beyond  that  produced  by  the  stocks 
sold.  And  in  the  course  of  the  year  1835  they  sold  other  stocks  and  property  to  the 
amount  of  $29,989,  and  invested  $27,106.25  in  stock  of  the  Planters'  Bank  of  Tennes- 
see; $8000  in  paying  up  instalments  on  stock  already  purchased,  and  $4000  in  mortgage, 
securing  a  further  present  increase  of  income  of  $886.14. 

"  The  Trustees  having  reported  the  above  financial  transactions  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  1836,  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Assembly  reported  among  other  things  as 


470  TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OP  [Book  V. 

follows:  'The  subject  of  investments  in  stocks  is  much  better  understood  by  the  Board 
of  Trustees  than  by  your  committee,  and  the  Committee  believe  the  Assembly  may  place 
the  most  implicit  confidence  as  well  in  the  judgment  and  skill  as  in  the  prudence  of  the 
Trustees  in  relation  to  this  whole  subject.  They  therefore  only  suggest  to  them,  that 
while  it  is  of  importance  to  secure  the  increase  of  revenue,  which  the  new  investments  in 
bank  stock  have  yielded,  and  promise  to  yield  in  future,  yet  a  due  regard  is  to  be  had 
to  the  safety  and  permanency  of  those  investments ;  and  taking  into  consideration  the 
highly  important  interests  dependent  upon  such  security,  that  greater  risk  ought  not 
to  be  run  than  would  be  incurred  by  a  prudent  man,  whose  family  with  himself  might  be 
dependent  upon  the  investments.  The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  following 
resolution : 

'^Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  approve  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  as  detailed  in  their  report  of  the  10th  of  May  last,  and  direct  the  Stated  Clerk 
to  transmit  a  copy  of  this  report  and  these  resolutions  to  that  Board  as  containing  the 
opinion  of  the  Assembly  upon  the  subjects  herein  mentioned. 

"  In  1837,  the  Trustees  reported  that  they  had  made  further  investments  in  bank  stocks 
to  the  amount  of  $\  1,008.78,  to  wit,  the  United  States  Bank,  Grand  Gulf  Bank  of  Mis- 
sissippi, and  the  Bank  of  Vicksburg — and  that  the  whole  amount  invested  was,  in  mort- 
gages 3133,500,  in  stocks  $137,770.69,  in  notes  $4000. 

"In  1838,  they  reported  the  investment  of  $3,931.44  more,  in  Vicksburg  Bank  stock. 

"In  1837  that  re-action  commenced  in  the  financial  affairs  of  the  country  which,  in  its 
progress  through  the  few  succeeding  years,  greatly  depreciated  the  value  of  all  kinds  of 
stock,  and  swept  away  many  of  the  banks,  involving  eventually  in  its  consequences  a 
very  large  loss  to  the  funds  of  the  General  Assembly.  That  it  was  unanticipated  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  when  they  made  their  large  investments,  and  unforeseen  in  time  to 
escape  its  disasters,  is  only  to  say  that,  like  other  men,  they  could  not  look  into  futurity. 

"  In  1842,  the  total  loss  sustained  by  depreciation  of  stocks  was  estimated  at  $83,089.01, 
taking  the  stocks  then  held  at  their  estimated  value. 

"  And  it  appears  that,  up  to  1843,  the  amount  borrowed  from  the  Permanent  funds  to 
meet  expenses  ordered  by  the  General  Assembly  to  be  paid,  for  salaries  of  the  Professors 
of  the  Princeton  Seminary  chiefly,  over  and  above  the  funds  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees 
available  for  that  purpose,  had  amounted  to  the  sum  of  $21,017.57,  which  sum  was  sub- 
sequently reduced  by  payments,  to  $19,320.51. 

"In  1848,  the  Trustees  reported  that  they  had  sold  stock  of  the  Merchants  and  Manu- 
facturers Bank  of  Pittsburgh  to  the  amount  of  $12,023.87,  and  the  General  Assembly 
expressed  an  opinion  '  that  the  Board  should  change  the  investments  from  stocks  to  that 
of  real  securities,  at  as  early  a  period  as  at  all  consistent  with  the  interests  they  represent' 
— which  opinion  was  again  expressed  by  the  Assembly  in  1849. 

"  In  1850,  the  Trustees  reported  that  they  had  sold  a  large  amount  of  stocks,  realizing 
from  them  the  sum  of  $42,265.74;  and  in  1851  they  further  reported  the  sale  of  stocks 
to  the  amount  of  $12,571.46;  leaving  only  on  hand  the  stocks  of  the  Planters  and 
Agricultural  Banks  of  Natchez,  and  a  few  shares  of  the  United  States  and  the  Grand 
Gulf  Banks,  of  very  little  value. 

"  The  mode  in  which  the  books  of  the  Treasurer  have  been  kept,  rendered  it  impossible 
for  your  committee  to  trace  in  detail  the  history  of  each  particular  fund,  from  its  com- 
mencement. For,  although  the  amounts  received  from  time  to  time  are  regularly  entered, 
yet  they  were  invested  indiscriminately  with  the  other  funds,  and  carried  to  the  general 
account  of  funds  invested.  The  result  of  this  was,  that  whatever  losses  occurred  by  drafts 
for  the  purposes  of  Professors'  salaries,  <fec.,  and  in  the  purchase  and  sale  of  securities, 
were  liable  to  fall  generally  on  all  the  funds  without  any  designation. 

"  In  1835,  however,  and  subsequently,  this  was  so  far  changed  that  the  stocks  and  other 
securities  held  were  apportioned  among  the  several  funds — and,  although  no  distinct  and 
separate  account  is  even  yet  kept  in  a  ledger  regularly  posted  up  of  the  amounts  due, 
received,  and  paid,  on  account  of  each  fund — yet  your  committee  has  been  enabled  from 
the  books,  and  wiih  the  assistance  of  the  Treasurer,  to  ascertain,  they  believe  accurately, 
how  each  fund  has  been  affected  by  past  transactions,  and  what  amount  of  the  present 
investments  belongs  specifically  to  each  of  the  several  accounts.  The  result  of  their 
labours  will  be  found  in  Schedules  1  to  49  inclusive,  appended  to  this  their  report. 

«  Schedule  No.  50,  contains  the  general  account  of  assets  reported  by  the  Treasurer  to 
the  last  General  Assembly,  amounting  to  the  sum,  nominally,  of  $194,357.29 — the  present 
real  value  of  each  item  of  these  assets,  being  $108,406.65,  and  how  the  same  is  invested; 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  471 

and  exhibits  the  loss  or  gain  on  each  of  said  items.  This  account  shows  a  total  loss  on 
the  whole  account  of  $85,950.64. 

"  Schedule  No.  51,  shows  1.  The  nominal  amount  of  each  specific  fund  as  reported  by 
the  Treasurer  to  the  last  Assembly;  2.  The  real  amount  remaining  to  each  fund  after 
deducting  the  losses  sustained;  and  3.  The  losses  each  fund  has  sustained. 

"  Schedule  No.  52,  shows  the  actual  amount  of  funds  now  held  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
Assembly,  the  income  of  which  is  applicable  to  other  purposes  than  those  of  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  at  Princeton — being  $22,805.55. 

'^Schedule  No.  53,  shows  the  actual  amoOnt  of  funds  now  held  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
General  Assembly,  the  income  of  which  is  applicable  to  the  payment  of  salaries,  and  the 
purposes  of  education  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton — being  $85,601.10. 

Schedule  No.  54,  shows  the  amount  of  funds  held  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  the  income  of  which  is  applicable  to  salaries  of  Professors  and 
purposes  of  education — being  $78,871.65. 

Schedule  No.  55,  shows  the  whole  amount  of  funds  held  by  the  two  Boards  of  Trustees, 
the  income  of  which  is  applicable  to  the  payment  of  the  salaries  of  Professors  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Princeton. 

From  these  accounts  the  following  results  appear : 
The  funds  and  good  investments  in  the  Treasury  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly amount  to      -  -  -  -  -  -  .       $108,406.65 

The  funds  and  good  investments  in  the  Treasury  of  the  Seminary      .  78,871.65 


Making  in  all       ....-.-       $187,278.30 


Of  the  above  sum  there  is  applicable  to  Professors'  salaries    -             -  $109,038.65 
And  to    purposes   of  education   at   the    Theological  Seminary    as   per 

Schedule  No.  56                 ......  55,434.10 

To  missions  and  other  purposes      ....            -  22,805.55 


$187,278.30 

The  General  Assembly  will  perceive,  that  for  the  purpose  of  refunding  to  other 
Scholarships  sums  which  had  been  borrowed  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  Seminary,  they 

have  absorbed  the  funds  belonging  to  the Scholarship,  and  have  drawn   $1223.23 

from  the  Students'  Fund :  these  two  funds  being  held  generally  for  purposes  of  education 
at  the  Seminary,  and  not  in  trust  for  specific  Scholarships,  may  be  thus  applied  without 
any  impropriety. 

For  such  particular  remarks  in  relation  to  the  several  funds  held  by  the  General 
Assembly,  as  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  submit,  reference  is  made  to  the  Schedules 
Nos.  1  to  49  inclusive. 

The  Assembly  will  perceive  some  discrepancies  between  the  original  amounts  of  several 
of  the  funds,  and  the  amounts  of  the  same  as  reported  to  the  last  Assembly  by  the 
Treasurer,  which  is  accounted  for  by  the  circumstance,  that  the  Treasurer's  statement  is 
founded  upon  the  balances  remaining  on  the  books  after  some  of  the  early  losses  and 
overdrafts  had  been  charged  up  and  deducted. 

The  committee  believe  the  funds  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  are  securely 
invested. 

The  committee  have  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  the  Trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly  and  the  Treasurer  for  all  the  assistance  and  facilities  it  was  in  their  power  to 
afford  in  aid  of  the  investigation. 

The  committee  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  hereafter  keeping  the 
accounts  of  the  several  funds  separate  and  distinct  from  each  other.  Many  of  the  funds 
are  held  in  strict  trust,  and  ought  to  be  managed  accordingly  as  such.  And  to  this  end 
they  recommend  that  the  Trustees  be  advised  to  cause  separate  accounts  for  each  of  them 
to  be  opened — adopting  this  report  as  the  basis — and  crediting  to  each  fund  specifically  its 
portion  of  the  present  securities  on  hand ;  so  that  if  any  losses  should  hereafter  he 
sustained,  they  may  be  charged  to  the  fund  holding  the  security  upon  which  it  accrued. 

Stacy  G.  Potts, 
Robert  Carter, 
(J.  Van  Rknsselaeh." 

May  4,  1352.  —Minutes,  1852,  p.  375. 


472 


TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OF 


[Book  V. 


[The  following  schedules  exhibit  the  whole  state  of  the  funds  at  the  date  of  this  report.] 
—Minutes,  1852,  pp.  397—400. 

§  290.  Schedxth  No.  51. — Shovnng  (Tie  nominal  amount  of  each  Specific 
Fund,  as  stated  in  the  Treasurer' s  Report,  May,  1851,  tlie  loss  each 
Fund  has  sustained,  and  the  amount  secured  to  each  at  present,  iipon  the 
proposed  marshalliny  of  the  assets. 


Sche- 
dule. 

No. 


Amounts  as  sta-l 
ted  in  Treasurer's 
account. 


1.  Professorship  Synods  of  N.  York  and  N.  J.,     $19,395  70 

2.  Do.  do.  of  N.  &  S.  Carolina  &,  Ga.,    17,282  52 


3.  Do.  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 

4.  Do.  Oriental  &.  Bib.  Literature, 

5.  Scholarship,  Colt, 


6. 

Do. 

Whitehead, 

7.' 

Do. 

Charleston  Female, 

8. 

Do. 

Woodhull,   . 

9. 

Do. 

Scott, 

10. 

Do. 

Livingston, 

11. 

Do. 

Augusta  Female, 

13. 

Do. 

Jane  Keith, 

13. 

Do. 

Gorman, 

14. 

Do. 

Wicks, 

15. 

Do. 

Othniel  Smith, 

16. 

Do. 

H.  Smith,     . 

17. 

Do. 

Anderson,   . 

18. 

Do. 

Kennedy,    . 

19. 

Do. 

Boudinot,     . 

20. 

Do. 

ED. 

21. 

Do. 

Kirkpatrick, 

22. 

Do. 

King, 

23. 

Do. 

Nephew, 

24. 

Do. 

Holland,      . 

25. 

Do. 

Ralston, 

26. 

Do. 

Fayetteviile, 

27. 

Do. 

Harmony,    . 

28. 

Do. 

29. 

Do. 

Senior  Class,  1819, 

30. 

Do. 

do.           1820 

31. 

Do. 

do.           1823, 

32.  Permanent  Fund  Theological  Seminary, 

33.  Students'  Fund, 

34.  Permanent  iVlissionary  Fund, 

35.  Boudinot  IVlissionary  Fund, 

36.  Do.     Contingent  Fund, 

37.  Permanent  Fund,  Conversion  of  the  Jews, 

38.  Contingent    do. 

39.  Permanent  Fund,  N.  A.  Indians, 

40.  Contingent    do.  .  . 

41.  Tate  Bequest, 

42.  Eastburn  Bequest, 

43.  Fund  for  Superannuated  Ministers,  &.c. 

44.  Permanent  Fund  for  do. 

45.  Pastors'  Libraries, 

46.  Theological  Seminary, 

47.  Commissioners'  Fund, 

48.  Conlingent  Fund  General  Assembly, 

49.  Do.         Trustees  of  General  Assembly, 


17,639  28 

3.185  06 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,643  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
3,000  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,510  00 
2,500  00 
2,668  81 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
2,437  50 

901  71 
1,810  46 

2.186  79 
2,282  63 
1,603  27 
1,117  23 

23,874  20 

6,580  15 

26,876  74 

5,000  00 

1,770  90 

294  34 

66  56 

266  67 

59  16 

33  33 

7,269  3 

999  80 

13  00 

156  50 

52  67 

109  17 

116  81 

153  96 


194,357  29 


Real  amounts, 
deducting  the 
losses  sustain- 
ed. 

$12,174  37 

13.342  11 

11,654  97 

1,962  38 

2,500  00 

2,489  50 

1,924  58 
1,703  82 
1,319  50 
2,073  06 

1,168  24 

1,040  86 

346  74 

2,302  66 

2,180  27 
2,500  00 
2  386  67 
1,342  81 
1,294  74 
2,500  00 
2,500  00 
1,602  78 
901  71 
1,183  07 

2,029  00 

745  43 

640  86 

7,384  99 

405  98 

7,592  03 

5,000  00 

1,770  90 

223  49 

66  56 

266  67 

59  16 

33  33 

6,191  50 

999  80 

13  00 

156  50 

52  6 

109  17 

116  81 

153  96J 


Amount  ot 
losses  sus- 
tained. 


7.221  33 
3,940  41 
5,984  31 

1.222  68 

10  50 
2,500  00 

575  42 

796  18 
1,323  50 

426  94 
2,500  00 
1,331  76 
1,459  14 
2,153  26 

697  34 
2,500  00 

319  73 
10  00 

113  33 
1,326  00 
1,205  26 


834  72 

627  39 

2,186  79 

253  63 

857  84 

476  37 

16,489  21 

6,174  17 

19,284  71 


70  85 


1,077  87 


$108,406  65;  $85,950  64 


Part  VI.] 


THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 


473 


§  291.  Schedule  No.  52. — Showing  the  amount  of  funds  held 
tees  of  the  General  Assembly  not  appKcahle  to  the  purposes 
logical  Seminary  at  Princeton. 

Schedule. 

34.  Permanent  Missionary  Fund,  , 

35.  Boudinot  Missionary  Fund,         .  . 

36.  do.         Contingent     do., 

37.  Permanent  Fund  for  conversion  of  Jews, 

38.  Contingent    do.         do.  do., 

39.  Permanent  Fund  North  America  Indians, 

40.  Contingent  for  do.  do., 

41.  Tate  Bequest,       .... 

42.  Eastburn  Bequest,     . 

43.  Fund  for  Superannuated  Ministers,  , 

44.  Permanent  Fund  for  do. 

45.  Pastors'  Libraries, 

46.  Theological  Seminary,  (since  paid  over) 

47.  Commissioners'  Fund,     .  .  . 

48.  Contingent  Fund  General  Assembly, 

49.  do  of  Trustees, 


"Schedule  No.  53. — Showing  the  achial  amount  of  funds  noiv  held  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
General  Assembly,  the  income  of  which  is  applicable  to  the  account  of  Salaries,  Education, 
^■c,  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 

Schedule. 

No. 

I. 
2. 
3. 

4. 


hy 

the  Tr 

us- 

of 

the  Theo- 

$7,592  03 

5,000 

00 

1,770 

90 

223 

49 

66 

56 

266 

67 

59 

16 

33 

33 

6,191 

50 

999 

80 

13 

00 

156  50 

52 

67 

109 

17 

116  81 

.   153  96 

$22,805  55 

32. 
33. 

5. 

6. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
II. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
29. 
30. 
31. 


Professorships  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
Do.  Carolinas  and  Georgia, 

Do.  Philadelphia, 

Do.  Oriental  and  Biblical  Literature, 

Permanent  Fund  for  Theological  Seminary, 
Students'  Fund, 
Scholarship — Colt, 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


Whitehead,  . 

WoodhuU,     . 
Scott, 

Livingston,  . 
Augusta  Female, 
Gosman, 
Wicks,    .  . 

O  Smith,     . 
H.  Smith, 
Kennedy,       . 
Boudinot,  • 

ED., 

Kirkpatrick, 
King, 

Nephew,  . 

Holland,        . 
Ralston,  . 

Fayetteville, 
Harmony,  . 

S.  C.  1819, 
S.C.  1820-21,    . 
S.  C.  1823,   . 


Total  amount  of  Seminary  Funds, 
60 


$12,174  37 

13,342  11 

11,654  97 

1,962  38 


2,500  00 

2,489 

50 

1,924  58 

1,703  82 

1,319 

50 

2,073  06 

1,168  24 

1,040 

86 

346 

74 

2,302 

66 

2,180 

27 

2,500 

00 

2,386 

67 

1,342 

81 

1,294 

74 

2,500 

00 

2,500 

00 

1,602 

73 

901 

71 

1,183 

07 

2,029 

00 

745 

43 

640 

86 

39,133  83 

7,384  99 

405  98 


$38,676  30 
$35,601  10 


474 


TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OF 


[Book  V. 


§  292.  SrJicduJe  No.  54. — Shoivimj  the  amount  of  funds  held  hi/  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Theoloyical  Seminar t/  at  2*riuceton,  from  tJie  Treasurer's 
statement. 


Pl.oenix  Bank  Slock,  New  York  city, 
IMercliants'  Exchange  bank,     do. 
Bank  of  Commerce,  do. 

Leather  IVlanufacturers  Bank,    do. 
United  States  6  per  cent.  Stock, 
Robert  Merkle,  bond  and  mortgage, 


(P.  Massie  Scholarship,) 


George  Kuhle,  do. 

John  A.  King,  do. 

B.  R.  Winthrop,  do. 

Samuel  Watkins,  do. 

Lucretia  Redmond,       do. 

Henry  Coggils,  do. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  Janeway,  bond,  ... 

Same,  do.         (Rankin  Scholarship,) 

Same,  subscription  to  Permanent  Fund, 

Society  for  Establishing  Useful  Manufactures — note,     . 

Capt.  be  Graw,  bond  and  Mortgage, 

Mercer  County  Scrip,      ..... 

Rev.  Dr.  Maclean — note,       ...... 

*Legacy  of  Miss  Nagle  $372.13,  and  contribution  Duane  St.  ch.  $100, 

Orange  Presbytery  Sciiolarship  bond  and  mortgage,  . 

Elizabeth  Huxam,  do.  do.  .  . 

Benjamin  Smith,  do.  do. 

John  Keith  Scholarship  $2,500,  and    ^    ■     ~n    u  n*  „i    „:„    n  „i,   t3u;i 

,        rr>  •    1 1     r  Sinrt   •         .  J  >  m  79  shares  Mechanics  Bank,  Phil 

Jane  Irimbie  Legacy  flOU,  invested  ^ 

Bond  and  Mortgage  of  S.  K.  Smith,  Washington  city,  (Students'  Fund,) 

*Jolin  Galbraith  Legacy,  (Students'  Fund,)        .... 

Bond  and  Mortgage,  ...... 

Mary  Dean  Scholarship  held  by  herself— yields  $150  per  annum, 

Banyer  and  Le  Roy  do.   held  by  Ex'rs — yields  $300         do.  . 

4  shares  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Stock,  value  not  known. 


$200  00 
2,250  00 
2,y00  00 
1,350  00 
9,000  00 
3,500  00 
4,000  00 
8,000  00 
10,000  00 
4,500  00 
2,500  DO 
2,000  00 
4,000  00 
2,500  00 
1,500  00 
3,000  00 
2,500  00 
100  00 
100  00 
472  13 
2,327  40 
2,410  54 
2,500  00 

a.   3,318  00 

1,080  00 

433  83 

2,429  70 


$78,871  65 

The  Seminary  has  an   interest  in  lands  in  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  under 
Wheelock  title,  estimated  at  $3000. 

§  293.   Schedule  JVb.  55. — Showing  the  ajnonnt  of  funds  applicaUe  to  pay- 
ment of  Professors'  salaries,  Theolexjked  Seminary,  Princeton. 

Whole  amount  in  hands  of  Trustees  of  Seminary  as  per 

Schedule  54,  ......  $78,871   65 

Dedi;ct  amount  belonging  to  Scholarships,  viz: 

1.  letcr  Massie, $2,500  00 

2.  Paakin, 2,500  00 

3.  Grange  Presbytery,           .....  2,327  40 

4.  Elizabeth  Huxam,       .             .             .            .             .  2,410  54 

5.  Benjamin  Smith,                .....  2,500  00 

6.  John  Keith 2,500  00 

7.  Students'  Fund,  $1080  and  $433  88,        .            .             .  1,513  88 
Jane  Trimble's  donation.         ....  100  00 


Balance  applicable  to  salaries. 

The  lour  Professorships — see  Sch.  53, 

Permanent  Fund  Theol.  Sem. — see  Sch.  53, 

Fund,  interest  of  which  applicable  to  salaries. 


16,351  82 

$(32,519  83 

39,133  83 

7,384  99 

$109,038  65 


♦  Invested  ia  Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  Bonds. 


$38,676 

30 

2,500 

00 

2,500 

00 

2,3-27 

40 

2,410 

54 

2,500 

00 

2,500  00 

100 

00 

405 

98 

1,513  88 

$55,434 

10 

Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  475 

§  294.   Schedule  No.  56. — Showing  the  amount 'of funds  applicable  to  pur- 
poses of  Education  at  Theological  Seminari/,  Princeton. 

23  Scliolarships  as  per  Sched.  No.  53, 

Peter  Massie  Scholarship,  .  .  .  .  • 

Rankin  do.         .  .  .  .  ■ 

Orange  Presbytery  do.  .  .  .  .  • 

Elizabeth  fJuxum     do.         ..... 

Benjamin  Smith        do.  ..... 

John  Keith,  do.         ..... 

Jane  Trimble — to  aid  in  endowing  a  Scholarship,        .  . 

Students'  Fund  from  Schedule  33,       .         . 

do.        do.     from  Schedule  55,         .... 


§  295.  Action  of  the  Assembly  of  1854. 

"The  whole  financial  affairs  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  have  been  thorough- 
ly investigated  twice  within  three  years;  first,  by  an  able  special  committee 
appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  in  1851,  who  reported  in  1852;  and 
again  by  an  able  special  committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  whose  report 
is  presented  to  the  present  General  Assembly.  Both  committees  have 
thoroughly  explored  the  sources  of  financial  information,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  funds  and  accounts;  have  expended  months  of  faithful 
labour  with  untiring  perseverance,  to  furnish  all  the  intelligence  it  was 
possible  to  glean  from  books  and  papers,  and  have  performed  a  work  of 
exceeding  value  and  importance  to  the  interests  of  the  General  Assembly. 
It  is  but  just  that  these  labours,  both  of  the  special  committee  of  1852,  and 
the  committee  of  the  Board,  prompted  by  love  to  Zion  and  her  interests, 
should  be  gratefully  acknowledged  by  the  General  Assembly. 

"Your  committee  recommend  that  the  losses  sustained  heretofore  by  the 
trust  funds,  be  repaired;  and  that  a  special  committee  be  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly  for  that  purpose. 

"The  principle  of  averaging  the  losses  that  have  heretofore  occurred, 
between  the  several  trusts  represented  in  the  common  fund  invested  at  the 
time  the  losses  occurred,  seems  to  your  committee,  under  the  circumstances 
set  forth  in  the  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  equitable;  but  in  future, 
this  committee  recommend  that  there  be  endorsed  on  each  security  held,  a 
distinct  designation  of  the  particular  trust  or  trusts  to  which  it  belongs,  so 
that  any  future  losses  shall  fall  upon  the  trust  or  trusts  interested  iu  the 
investment. 

"The  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  is  reported  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, with  the  recommendation  that  the  following  resolutions  be  adopted : 

"1.  Resolved,  That,  the  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  is  approved, 
and  it  is  recommended  by  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
to  open  a  new  set  of  books  in  accordance  with  the  Report  of  the  Board, 
and  to  cause  hereafter  a  distinct  account  of  each  trust  fund,  to  be  kept 
therein. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  (unless  the  authors  of  the  fund  otherwise  specially 
direct)  any  investment  may  cover  more  than  one  trust,  at  the  discretion  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  provided  the  amount  of  the  interest  of  each  trust 
in  the  investment  shall  be  indorsed  on  the  mortgage  or  ground-rent;  so 
that  hereafter,  in  case  of  loss,  the  same  may  be  charged  to  the  account  of 
the  trust  or  trusts  interested  in  the  security. 

"'S.  Resolved,  That  so  much  of  the  direction  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  1852  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  as  implied  that  each  trust  must  be 
separately  invested,  be  rescinded." — Minutes,  1854,  p.  25. 


476  TRUSTEES  AND  FUNDS  OF  [Book  V. 

§  296.   The  accounts  to  he  simplified. 

"The  Financial  Committee  further  report,  that  there  are  so  many  different 
funds  entered  separately  on  the  books  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, that  the  making  investments,  and  keeping  of  the  accounts  of  the  said 
investments  separately,  are  very  difficult;  and  yet  the  principles  of  law  and 
equity  in  relation  to  many  of  these  funds,  render  it  necessary  in  many  cases 
that  they  should  be  kept  thus  distinct,  to  a  certain  extent.  But  your  com- 
mittee believe  that  several  of  those  funds  are  so  nearly  of  the  same  character 
that  they  may  be  classified  and  invested  together,  and  the  income  and  losses 
of  such  common  investment  may  be  apportioned  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  each  fund,  which  is  permanent  in  its  character.  But  such  classification 
and  arrangement  cannot  be  made  during  the  ordinary  time  of  the  continu- 
ance of  any  annual  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly.  Your  committee, 
therefore,  recommend  that  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  directed 
to  examine  the  books  and  covenants  in  relation  to  the  said  several  funds, 
and  see  which  of  such  funds  can  be  properly  blended  in  making  investments 
thereof,  and  to  what  extent;  and  recommend  in  what  manner  they  shall 
hereafter  be  invested,  and  the  accounts  in  relation  to  the  same  shall  be  kept 
so  as  to  simplify,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  accounts  of  the  Treasurer;  and  if 
they  shall  deem  it  expedient,  to  review  the  statements  of  the  special  Finance 
Committee,  made  to  the  last  General  Assembly,  in  relation  to  the  present 
amount  and  value  of  each  of  the  funds  which  is  pei'manent  in  its  character. 
That  said  Trustees  also  endeavour  to  recommend  some  plan  for  restoring  the 
original  capital  of  such  of  the  scholarships  under  the  control  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  General  Assembly  as  have  sustained  losses  upon  their  capitals,  or 
such  of  them  as  cannot  properly  be  united  and  consolidated  with  the  assent 
of  the  donors  or  their  representatives,  and  to  recommend  such  other  mea- 
sures as  to  the  management  of  the  finances  under  the  control  of  said  Trus- 
tees, as  they  shall  deem  expedient,  and  the  Trustees  shall  present  their 
report  to  the  next  General  Assembly  in  printed  form,  on  the  first  day  of  its 
meeting." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  450. 

§  297.    The  Treasurer' s  report  to  he  in  detail. 

"Resolved,  That  it  be  required  of  the  Treasurer,  each  year  to  make  a  full 
report  of  the  income  received  during  the  past  fiscal  year  from  each  of  the 
stocks  owned  by  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  84. 

§  298.    Trust  funds  may  not  he  diverted  or  alienated. 

"  The  committee  [of  the  Board  of  Trustees]  to  whom  was  referred  the 
memorial  to  the  General  Assembly,  of  John  Colt,  of  Paterson,  in  the  State 
of  New  Jersey,  reported, 

That  after  due  consideration  of  the  matters  contained  in  said  memorial, 
and  of  the  nature  of  the  trust  created  by  the  will  of  Dr.  Boudinot,  the  com- 
mittee are  of  opinion  that  the  Trustees  cannot,  with  a  becoming  and  indeed 
necessary  regard  to  their  duty  in  the  trust,  grant  the  relief  requested  by 
the  memorialist.  The  testator  has  given  to  the  Trustees  no  discretionary 
power  over  the  fund;  and  the  objects  to  which  he  has  directed  his  bounty 
to  be  appli(!d,  being  designated,'  the  Trustees  are  clearly  not  at  liberty,  either 
to  reliufjuish  that  which  passes  by  the  will,  or  to  surrender  any  security  con- 
nected with  it.  They,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  folloAving 
resolution;  and  that  if  adopted,  it  be  communicated  to  the  General 
Assembly. 

"Besolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  prayer  of  the  memorial  of  John 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  477 

Colt,  of  Paterson,  ia  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  to  the  General  Assembly,  can- 
not  consistently  with  the  trust  created  by  the  will  of  the  late  Dr.  Boudinot, 
be  granted. 

"June  1,  1850. — Adopted  by  the  Trustees  and  ordered  to  be  communi- 
cated to  the  Assembly." 

[Adopted  by  the  Assembly.— MnMi!«s,  1830,  p.  27.  See  1836,  p.  261 ;  1840,  p.  300, 
for  similar  decisions.] 

Title  4. — The  Commissioners'  Fund. 
§  299.    Original  si/stem. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  devise  and  recommend  a  plan  for  affording 
pecuniary  aid  to  the  Commissioners  from  distant  Presbyteries  attending  the 
General  Assenlbly,  reported.  The  report  being  read  and  considered,  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows: 

*'  Your  committee  having  taken  the  subject  into  consideration,  were  of 
opinion  that  the  contemplated  aid  must,  for  the  present,  be  derived  from  the 
voluntary  contributions  to  be  made  by  the  more  wealthy  citizens,  residents  in 
other  districts,  and  therefore  submit  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
earnestly  to  advise^he  Churches  under  their  care,  to  make  an  annual  col- 
lection, to  be  specially  appropriated  to  aid  in  the  payment  of  the  expenses  of 
the  Commissioners  from  the  more  distant  parts  of  the  country,  to  enable 
them  to  attend  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  the  money,  when  collected, 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  Corporation,  and  paid  to  the 
persons  who  may  attend  as  Commissioners,  under  the  direction  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly."— i/«i«<es,  1804,  p.  311.  See  1806,  p.  370,  and  1807, 
p.  385. 

§  300.    The  present  arrangcme^it. 

(a)  ^^  Resolved,  Tliat  it  be,  and  hereby  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the  seve- 
ral Presbyteries  and  all  the  Ministers  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, to  urge  upon  the  people  under  their  care  the  equity,  the  importance, 
and  the  absolute  necessity  of  contributing  to  the  Commissioners'  Fund,  in 
order  to  secure  the  attendance  of  Commissioners  at  the  sessions  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  from  those  sections  of  the  Church  which  are  at  the  greatest 
distance  from  the  place  of  the  Assembly's  meetings,  and  which  in  the  divine 
providence  are  least  able  to  sustain  the  burden  of  the  expense,  both  of  time 
and  money,  in  giving  such  attendance. 

^^  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  those  Presbyteries 
that  are  wealthy,  and  that  have  judged  it  proper  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
their  own  Commissioners,  are  bound  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  contribute 
liberally  to  the  general  fund,  in  order  that  they  may  bear  their  due  propor- 
tion of  the  expenses  of  Commissioners  who  attend  from  distant  Presby- 
teries, which  Presbyteries  and  their  Commissioners,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  are  not  able  to  pay  their  own  expenses;  and  this  General  Assembly 
would  fain  hope  that  the  wealthy  Presbyteries  will  esteem  it  both  their 
privilege  and  their  duty  to  make  such  contributions." — Minutes,  1833, 
p.  496.     See  1822,  p.  28. 

(b)  "The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  consideration  of  increasing 
the  Commissioners'  Fund,  would  respectfully  report,  that  whereas  there  ia 
great  inequality  in  bearing  the  expenses  of  delegates  in  going  to  and  return- 


478  TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OP  [Book  V. 

ing  from  the  Assembly,  and  whereas  this  burden  rests  chiefly  oa  those  who 
are  the  least  able  to  bear  it,  therefore 

^^  Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  would  not  interfere  with  any 
arrangements  that  any  Presbytery  may  choose  to  make  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  its  own  delegates,  we  would  enjoin  on  the  weak  Presbyteries  to 
see  to  it  that  their  Churches  contribute  as  largely  as  possible;  and  that  the 
more  able  ones,  and  especially  such  as  are  not  very  remote  from  the  place 
where  the  Assembly  meets,  be  required  to  have  collections  taken  up  in  their 
Churches  for  a  common  commissioners'  ftmd,  to  aid  the  weaker  Presbyteries' 
in  defraying  the  expenses  of  their  delegates."  [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1847, 
p.  395. 

Title  5. — The  Contingent  Fund. 
§  301.    Original  system. 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  it  be  enjoined  on  the  several  Presbyteries  subordinate 
to  this  Assembly,  that  they  take  effectual  measures  to  collect  money  annually 
from  all  the  Churches  under  their  jurisdiction,  and  to  forward  the  same 
yearly  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  General  Assembly,  with  the  name  and  state 
of  the  Churches  settled  and  vacant,  and  the  sum  received  from  each. 

"2.  That  the  several  Synods  use  their  endeavours  to  promote  this  collec- 
tion; and  that,  for  this  purpose,  they  annually  call  the  Presbyteries  of  which 
they  are  composed  to  account,  and  inquire  into  their  diligence  herein.  The 
Presbyteries  shall  do  the  like  with  respect  to  their  members,  as  often  as 
occasion  may  require. 

''3.  That  the  moneys  so  collected  shall  be  placed  in  one  fund,  and  appro- 
priated to  defraying  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  Greneral  Assembly,  and 
the  expenses  of  the  Commissioners,  at  a  reasonable  allowance  to  each, 
according  to  the  distance  from  which  he  comes;  provided  that  the  sum 
allowed  to  each  Commissioner  shall  not  exceed  one  dollar  for  every  forty 
miles,  in  coming  to  and  returning  from  the  Assembly,  and  half  a  dollar  per 
day  for  his  expenses  during  the  time  he  shall  attend  his  duty  in  the  Assem- 
bly."—J/t/^w^es,  1791,  p.  40. 

§302.    Other  plans. 

(a)  ^' Until  within  the  last  five  or  six  years  it  was  the  practice  to  use  so 
much  of  the  permanent  missionary  fund  as  was  needful  to  defray  the  con- 
tingent expenses  of  the  Assembly.  At  that  time  it  was  decided  to  be 
incompatible  with  the  original  design  of  that  fund,  since  which  time  no 
such  appropriation  of  it  has  been  made,  and  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assem- 
bly, no  such  appropriation  should  be  made." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  247. 

(t)  ^^ Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Congregations  under  the 
care  of  this  Assembly,  to  make  annually,  a  collection,  for  a  contingent  fund 
to  defray  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  Assembly,  such  as  recording  and 
printing  the  Minutes,  Clerks'  salaries.  Janitor's  bill,  stationery,  and  the 
expenses  of  delegates  to  corresponding  bodies. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  collection  be  reported  annually  by  the  Congregations, 
to  their  respective  Presbyteries;  and  by  the  Presbyteries  be  paid  over  to 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  be  reported  in 
the  annual  report  to  the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  31. 

(c)  "  Whereas  only  a  few  of  the  Presbyteries  have  reported  collections 
for  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  Assembly;  and  whereas  the  Assembly 
were  obliged  last  year  to  direct  their  Trustees  to  borrow  a  sum  to  pay  up 
arrears  and  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  year,  both  amounting  to 
S2,400;    and  whereas  the  Assembly  have  not  the  means  of  printing  the 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  479 

Minutes  of  the  present  year,  and  meeting  all  the  other  incidental  expenses, 
without  further  borrowing,  and  thus  increasing  the  debt,  therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  enjoined  upon  the  Presbyteries  to  attend 
to  the  resolutions  of  the  last  Assembly,  and  be  careful  to  see  that  their 
Congregations  make  the  collection  thei'e  recommended." — Minutes,  1831, 
p.  194. 

§303.    The  present  rule. 

"Each  Presbytery  shall  forward  to  the  Treasurer,  for  the  Contingent 
Fund  of  the  Assembly,  at  or  before  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  each 
year,  a  sum  equal  io  fifty  cents  for  each  member  of  the  Presbytery,  and  for 
any  licentiate  or  other  person  who  shall  desire  the  Minutes,  and  whose  post- 
olhce  address  shall  be  given.  And  the  Stated  Clerk  shall  not  forward  the 
Minutes  to  the  members  of  any  Presbytery  from  which  no  such  remittance 
shall  be  made,  but  only  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  such  Presbytery,  and  to  such 
members  as  shall  forward  the  sum  above  stated." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  277. 

Title  6. — Permanent  Missionary  Fund. 
§  304.  Its  origin. 

(a)  "The  draught  of  a  subscription  to  be  proposed  to  the  people  of  the 
different  congregations  within  our  bounds,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the 
funds  of  the  General  Assembly,  was  brought  in  and  read,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

"Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  have  it 
in  contemplation  to  attempt  more  extensively  than  has  heretofore  been  done, 
the  christianizing  of  the  Indians,  the  instruction  of  the  black  people,  and  the 
propagation  of  Christian  knowledge  generally,  among  those  who  are  unin- 
structed  in  its  principles,  by  the  distribution  among  them  of  Bibles,  religious 
books,  and  by  other  means;  and  whereas,  the  said  General  Assembly  have 
been  for  some  years  past,  and  now  are,  making  exertions  to  send  missiona- 
ries to  preach  the  gospel  on  the  frontiers  of  the  country,  which  exertions  have 
been  crowned  with  much  success — we,  whose  names  are  underwritten,  do 
hereby  engage  and  promise  to  pay  to  the  incorporated  Trustees  of  said  Assem- 
bly, or  to  their  order,  the  sums  annexed  to  our  names  respectively,  to  enable 
said  Assembly  and  Trustees  to  promote  the  objects  above  recited;  and  our 
meaning  and  intention  is,  that  where  we  do  not  specify  the  particular  object 
to  which  our  subscriptions  shall  severally  be  applied,  these  subscriptions  are 
to  be  disposed  of  at  the  discretion  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  their  Trus- 
tees.    Approved." — Mimites,  1800,  p.  206. 

(b)  [The  result  of  this  effort  was  a  collection  of  some  $10,000,  clear  of  the  expenses 
of  collection.  For  the  investment  and  use  of  this  fund  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted.] 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  the  moneys  obtained  in  consequence  of  the  system 
adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  the  last  year  for  soliciting  contributions  for  the 
support  of  missionaries,  and  for  other  objects  specified  in  their  act,  and  all 
such  moneys  as  may  be  hereafter  received  for  the  same  objects  (except  the 
customary  annual  collections,  which  it  is  hoped  will  still  continue  to  be  made 
as  usual)  be  regarded  a  capital  stock,  which  shall  at  no  time  be  broken  in 
upon  or  diminished;  and  that  it  be  invested,  agreeably  to  a  recommendation 
hereinafter  made,  in  secvire  and  permanent  funds. 

"  2.  That  the  interest  only  arising  from  this  capital,  together  with  the 
annual  collections,  and  other  donations  made  with  the  express  design  of 
their  being  expended  within  the  year,  be  employed  in  supporting  missiona- 
ries, in  propagating  the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  in  instructing  the  black 


480  TRUSTEES  AND  FUNDS  OF  [Book  V. 

people,  and  purchasing  pious  books  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor,  or  ia 
uiaintaining,  when  the  Assembly  shall  think  themselves  competent  to  the 
object,  theological  schools,  and  for  such  other  pious  and  benevolent  pur- 
poses as  may  hereafter  be  deemed  expedient. 

''  3.  That  for  the  farther  augmenting  the  funds  of  the  corporation,  a  founda- 
tion for  which  is  already  so  happily  laid,  it  is  hereby  earnestly  recommended 
to  the  several  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly,  except  where 
agents  are  appointed  by  the  Assembly,  to  take  eflFectual  order,  by  appointing 
agents,  or  otherwise,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  expedient,  for  obtaining 
from  all  the  congregations  within  their  bounds,  whether  vacant  or  supplied 
with  pastors,  and  as  far  as  possible  from  each  person  belonging  to  our  com- 
munion, as  well  as  from  persons  belonging  to  other  denominations  who  may 
be  disposed  to  favour  the  objects  (except  those  who  have  already  contri- 
buted) such  voluntary  contributions  as  God  may  put  into  their  hearts  to 
make;  and  of  their  fidelity  and  success  herein,  to  render  an  account  to 
the  next  Assembly.  And  in  addition  to  the  arrangement  here  specified  this 
Assembly  determine  to  appoint  an  agent  or  agents,  to  solicit  donations  in 
places  where  the  order  of  our  Church  is  not  fully  established,  or  where  there 
is  a  prospect  of  obtaining  aid  to  funds  appropriated  to  objects  so  important 
to  the  general  interests  of  religion  and  good  morals,  as  those  to  which  the 
funds  contemplated  are  destined;  and  that  it  be  referred  to  the  Synod  of 
Virginia  and  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  to  consider  whether  it  be  most 
advisable  that  the  missionary  business,  as  it  has  respect  to  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas  and  the  Eastern  Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  be  con- 
dtlcted  in  future  in  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  for  some  time  past;  or 
whether  it  would  not  be  more  advisable  that  their  funds  should  be  put  into 
those  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  missionary  business  in  those  parts  wholly 
managed  by  them;  and  that  the  said  Synods  report  on  this  subject  to  the 
next  Assembly, 

"  4.  That  in  order  to  encourage  farther  contributions  for  the  pious  ends 
heretofore  mentioned,  and  to  satisfy  the  public  mind  with  regard  to  the  wise 
and  faithful  application  of  the  moneys  already  obtained,  the  Assembly  will 
publish  yearly,  along  with  their  printed  extracts,  a  full  and  particular 
account  of  all  contributions  received,  and  of  all  appropriations  made."— 
Minutes,  1801,  p.  228. 

§  305.    Only  the  interest  of  these  fimds  to  he  used. 

"  It  appears  from  examination,  that  a  part  of  what  is  called  the  Perma- 
nent Fund  of  the  Assembly,  has  arisen  from  legacies,  and  the  remainder 
from  donations  received  by  agents  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  to 
solicit  contributions;  which  donations,  as  appears  from  the  early  minutes  of 
the  Assembly,  and  from  information  given  by  some  of  the  fathers,  who 
acted  as  agents  in  collecting  this  fund,  were  given  for  the  purpose  of  esta- 
blishing a  permanent  fund,  the  interest  of  which  only  was  to  be  used." — 
Minutes,  1827,  p.  131. 

§  306.    The  income  to  he  paid  over  quarterly. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be,  and  they 
hereby  are  requested  to  direct  their  Treasurer  to  pay  quarterly  to  the  order 
of  the  Board  of  Missions  in  favour  of  the  Treasurer  for  the  time  being  of 
said  Board,  all  income  of  moneys  which  may  from  time  to  time  accrue  on  the 
missionary  funds  or  collections  now  or  hereafter  to  be  in  his  hands,  that  the 
same  may  be  appropriated  by  the  Board  of  Missions  by  drafts  on  their  own 
Treasurer." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  389. 


Part  yi.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  481 

Title  7. — Other  Funds. 

§  307.   Funds  in  New  Jersey  College. 

"A  paper  was  presented  to  the  Synod  containing  an  account  of  sundry 
generous  and  valuable  donations  from  divers  friends  in  England,  for  the  edu- 
cation of  pious  indigent  youth,  for  the  gospel  ministry,  which  the  Synod, 
in  order  to  express  their  gratitude  for,  as  well  as  for  the  security  of  the 
same  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  order  to  be  recorded  in  their  minutes,  and 
are  as  follows: 

"  To  the  Reverend  Synod  of  New  York. 

"  The  annual  interest  of  the  following  donations  was  appropriated  by  the 
donors,  for  the  education  of  such  youth  for  the  ministiy  of  the  gospel,  in  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  as  are  unable  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their  educa- 
tion, who  appear,  upon  proper  examination,  to  be  of  promising  genius,  Cal- 
vinistic  principles,  and  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  experimentally  acquainted 
with  a  work  of  saving  grace,  and  to  have  a  distinguished  zeal  for  the  glory 
of  God,  and  salvation  of  men. 

[Here  follows  the  list  of  donations.] 

''  The  above  sum  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  pounds,  seventeen  shil- 
lings sterling,  being  given  in  trust  to  us,  the  subscribers,  with  design  that 
the  annual  interest  thereof  for  ever  be  applied  for  the  use  aforesaid :  We  do, 
by  virtue  of  said  trust,  put  the  said  sum  into  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  trust,  to  be  applied  to  the  education  of  such 
youth,  of  the  character  above-mentioned,  as  shall  be  examined  and  approved 
of  by  the  Synod  of  New  York,  (or  by  what  name  soever  that  body  of  men 
may  be  hereafter  called,)  and  by  them  recommended  to  the  Trustees  of  said 
college,  and  to  be  divided  among  such  youth  in  such  proportion  as  said 
Synod  shall  think  fit. 

Witness  our  hands,  Gilbert  Tennent, 

Samuel  Davies." 
— Minutes,  1755,  p.  265. 
§308. 

[In  the  same  place  are  noticed  the  additional  sums  of  ten  pounds  seven  shillings  and 
six  pence,  and  of  fifty  pounds  sterling,  received  by  the  same  persons  for  the  same  use;  making 
the  total  of  this  fund  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven  pounds,  four  shillings  and  six  pence. 
Two  hundred  pounds  given  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians  were  at  the 
same  time  reported,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  report  a  plan  for  its  investment 
and  use.] 

§  309.  Plan  adopted  for  its  application. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  application  of  the 
money  generously  given  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the  Indians, 
report  that  the  donor  of  the  before-mentioned  money,  directs  it  to  be  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  their  suc- 
cessors in  trust,  for  the  uses  and  purposes  hereafter  mentioned,  viz.  '  Either 
towards  the  support  of  a  pious  and  well  qualified  missionary  in  preaching 
the  gospel  among  the  Indians  in  North  America,  or  the  supporting  of  a  pious 
and  well  qualified  schoolmaster  in  teaching  the  Indians  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  the  principles  of  natural  and  revealed  religion;  or  for  maintain- 
ing a  pious  and  well  qualified  Indian  youth  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
while  prosecuting  his  studies  there,  in  order  to  his  instructing  his  country- 
men in  the  English  language  and  the  Christian  religion,  or  preaching  the 
gospel  to  them;  or  for  maintaining  a  pious  and  well  qualified  youth  of 
English  or  Scotch  extract,  at  that  college,  during  his  preparatory  studies  for 
61 


482  TRUSTEES   AND   FUNDS   OF  [Book  V. 

teaching  or  preaching  the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  in  case  an  Indian 
youth  of  suitable  qualifications  cannot  at  some  particular  time  be  obtained. 
With  this  express  limitation,  namely,  that  the  Synod  of  New  York,  (or  by 
whatever  name  that  body  shall,  in  time  coming,  be  called,)  shall  direct  and 
determine  to  which  of  the  uses  before-mentioned,  the  yearly  interest  of  the 
aforesaid  principal  sum  shall  be  from  time  to  time  applied;  and  which  of 
the  candidates  for  that  particular  use  shall  be  preferred;  and  how  the 
overplus  above  what  may  reasonably  answer  the  particular  use  at  any  time 
pitched  on,  (if  any  such  overplus  be,)  shall  be  employed  in  providing 
Bibles  or  other  good  books,  conducive  to  promote  the  general  design.' 

"  The  Synod  agree  to  follow  the  directions  of  the  generous  donor,  and  to 
apply  the  donation  for  the  purpose  intended  as  soon  as  possible." — Ihid. 
p.  269. 

§  310.  Amount  of  tMs  fund. 
[Upon  a  settlement  of  accounts  with  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  Oct.  I,  1758,  these 
two  funds  were  set  down  as  equivalent  severally  to  five  hundred    pounds,  and   three 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  pounds,  provincial  currency.] — Minutes,  1759,  p.  293. 

§  311.    The  appropriation  of  this  fund  referred  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College. 

''The  committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  to  act  with  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  College  to  dispose  of  certain  moneys 
in  the  hands  of  said  Trustees,  and  to  inquire  into  the  tenure  by  which  the 
General  Assembly  hold  said  funds,  made  the  following  report  which  was 
adopted,  viz. 

"That  they  met  a  committee  appointed  by  said  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
that  on  investigation  it  appeared,  that  in  the  year  1755,  there  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Trust  of  said  College  five  hundred  pounds,  which 
had  been  collected  in  Great  Britain,  by  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  for  the 
education  of  pious  youth,  which  sum,  probably  owing  to  the  depreciation  of 
money  during  the  revolutionary  war,  is  now  equal  to  §406.19.  And  that  in 
1756,  [1755,]  the  same  Board  received  through  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Burr, 
from  an  unknown  person  in  Scotland,  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
pounds,  fifteen  shillings,  for  the  education  of  an  Indian  Missionary,  &c., 
&c. ;  and  that  owing  to  a  like  depreciation  the  sum  is  now  equal  to  $272. — 
That  the  present  amount  of  the  above-mentioned  sums  is  $678.19,  for 
which  the  Board  of  Trustees  have  paid  since  the  year  1775,  five  per  cent 
interest.  The  appropriation  or  right  of  nominating  the  person  or  persons 
to  whose  use  the  interest  of  the  above  sum  was  to  be  applied,  was  vested 
originally  in  the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  But  at  pi-esent,  as  your  committee  suppose,  this  right  belongs 
to  the  General  Assembly  as  successor  of  those  bodies. 

"They  further  report,  that  on  inquiry,  they  find  that  the  above-men- 
tioned sum  of  $678.19,  is  not,  and  cannot  be  distinguished  in  the 
Treasurer's  accounts  of  said  Trustees  from  other  charitable  funds  under  the 
control  of  said  Board;  but  forms  with  them  one  common  principal,  the 
interest  of  which  is  applied  to  the  support  of  indigent  young  men,  while 
receiving  their  education  in  said  College. 

*'  From  the  above  considerations,  it  does  not  appear  that  a  joint  committee 
should  be  annually  appointed  to  appropriate  the  intei'est,  amounting  to 
$82,91,  to  any  particular  person,  inasmuch  as  the  same  amount  is  deducted 
from  the  sum  which  would  otherv,'ise  be  allowed  such  a  person  by  the  Board 
of  Trustees. 

"  Your  committee  would  therefore  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing; viz. 

^^Resolvedj  That  the  appropriation  of  the  annual  interest  arising  from 


Part  VI.]  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  483 

moneys  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  College,  subject  to  the 
direction  of  the  General  Assembly,  be,  and  it  hereby  is,  for  the  present 
entrusted  to  said  Board." — Minntes,  1827,  p.  133. 

§  312.    The  Azariah  Horton  Fund. 

''A  clause  of  the  will  of  Mr.  Azariah  Horton  was  laid  before  the  Assem- 
bly by  Foster  Horton,  one  of  his  executors,  requesting  to  be  directed  where 
he  should  lodge  the  stock  bequeathed  in  the  said  clause,  agreeably  to  the 
intention  of  the  testator.  The  clause  is  in  the  words  following,  viz.  ^  Item: 
I  will  and  direct  my  said  executors  out  of  the  moneys  of  my  estate  to  pur- 
chase the  amount  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents,  in  six  per  cent,  stock  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  annual 
interest  thereof  be  appropriated  for  ever  towards  the  education  of  pious 
youth,  according  to  the  discretion  of  a  joint  committee  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Presbyterian  Ministers  and  Trustees  of  Princeton  College  in 
New  Jersey,  the  said  committee  to  authorize  and  empower,  from  time  to 
time,  a  person  to  draw  and  receive  said  interest  for  the  use  and  purpose 
aforesaid.'     Whereupon, 

''Resolved,  That  the  above  stock  be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees 
of  New  Jersey  College,  in  order  to  be  applied  in  the  manner  and  for  the 
purpose  contained  in  the  forecited  clause." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  90. 

§  313.  The  James  Lesly  Fund. 
''Item,  I  give  and  bequeath  all  the  residue  of  my  estate  real  and  personal 
to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  called  Nassau  Hall,  and  to 
their  successors;  to  be  by  the  said  Trustees  and  their  successors,  constantly 
kept  at  interest  on  good  security.  And  it  is  my  will  that  the  interest 
arising  from  the  said  residue  of  my  estate  shall  be  appropriated  to  the 
education  of  poor  and  pious  youth  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  for  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  to  no  other  purpose  whatever.  Provided, 
nevertheless,  that  if  it  should  so  happen  that  the  said  interest  should  in  any 
year  be  more  than  sutficient  to  pay  for  the  education  of  such  youth  in  that 
year  actually  educated  on  this  fund,  then  and  in  that  case  the  said  Trustees 
may  and  shall  appropriate  the  surplus  of  such  interest,  for  such  year, 
towards  the  support  of  a  missionary  or  missionaries  to  preach  the  gospel  and 
administer  its  ordinances  to  the  frontier  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  if 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  States  shall 
judge  it  necessary  to  send  missionaries  to  the  frontiers  in  the  year  in  which 
such  surplus  shall  arise;  and  provided  that  such  surplus  shall  not  exceed 
thirty  pounds;  but  if  the  said  surplus  shall  exceed  thirty  pounds  New  York 
currency,  in  that  case  my  will  is,  that  thirty  pounds  of  it  only  be  appro- 
priated to  the  support  of  missionaries  as  aforesaid,  and  that  the  residue  of  such 
surplus  be  added  to  the  principal  sum  and  put  out  at  interest  with  it.  And 
if  it  shall  happen  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
aforesaid  shall  not  judge  it  necessary  to  send  missionaries  to  the  frontiers, 
as  aforesaid,  in  the  year  in  which  such  surplus  shall  arise,  then  it  is  my 
will  that  the  whole  of  such  surplus  shall  be  added  to  the  capital  or  principal 
sum,  and  put  out  at  interest  with  it." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  51. 

§  314.  Funds  with  the  Corporation  of  the  Widows'  Fund. 

(a)  [Upon  a  settlement  with  Dr.  Alison  in  1760,  the  amount  of  funds  in  his  hands 
belonging  to  the  Synod,  for  the  relief  of  widows  of  Ministers,  was  five  hundred  and  sixty, 
one  pounds,  besides  insolvent  bonds  for  fift>-five  pounds.] — Minutes,  1760,  p.  296. 

(h)  "Br.  Alison  represented,  that  there  was  some  money  in  his  hands 
belonging  to  the  fund  of  the  late  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which  he  thought 
himself  unqualified  to  lay  out  for  the  use  of  this  body  in  a  legal  manner,  and 


484  >  TRUSTEES  AND  FUNDS  OP  [Book  V. 

that  other  sums  due  to  the  Synod  were  in  danger  of  being  lost,  as  they 
were  not  a  body  corporate,  invested  with  a  power  to  sue  and  be  sued;  and 
he  requested  that  this  Synod  would  be  pleased  to  put  this  fund  on  a  surer 
footing  if  possible. 

The  Synod  agree,  that  all  money  belonging  to  that  fund  be  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  corporation  for  the  relief  of  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian 
Ministers,  their  widows  and  children,  to  be  managed  by  them  in  trust,  for 
the  Synod,  after  the  same  manner  that  certain  sums  belonging  to  this  body, 
appropriated  to  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youths,  are  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  to  be  managed  in  trust 
for  us ;  and  that  said  sums  be  disposed  of  according  to  an  agreement  made 
between  the  members  of  the  late  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  until  the  widows, 
who  were  under  that  Synod's  care  at  the  union  of  the  two  Synods  die,  or  be 
otherwise  provided  for." — 3Iinut€s,  1761,  p.  309. 

§  315.    Certain /u7ids  from  Scotland. 

''The  committee  appointed  to  meet  the  corporation  laid  their  minutes 
before  the  Synod,  who  highly  approve  of  their  proceedings  in  the  business 
committed  to  their  care,  and  commend  the  settlement  made  respecting  the 
money  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the  corporation  by  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
to  be  disposed  of  by  said  corporation  in  conjunction  with  the  Synod's  com- 
mittee, in  the  disposal  of  which  they  are  concerned;  and  vote  them  their 
thanks  for  their  fidelity  and  diligence. 

"The  settlement  of  the  committee  of  Synod  with  the  corporation  of  the 
Widows'  Fund,  is  as  follows : 

"The  corporation  having  laid  their  accounts  respecting  the  money 
granted  them  by  the  G-eneral  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  before 
the  committee  of  the  Synod,  the  committee  finding  it  difficult  to  understand 
the  propriety  of  allowing  some  articles  in  said  accounts,  and  having  con- 
ferred with  the  committee  of  the  corporation,  who,  on  the  strictest  examina- 
tion, exhibited  this  account,  they  still  declared  that  they  were  in  some 
things  not  fully  satisfied;  therefore  to  end  all  debates,  and  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  the  corporation  agreed  to  make  them  the  following  proposals,  though 
they  are  persuaded  that  the  accounts  exhibited  to  them  are  just  and  reason- 
able, and  such  as  they  can  on  a  just  and  sure  foundation  exhibit  to  the 
world. 

"  1st.  That  thirty  pounds  free  of  all  deductions  shall  be  yearly  paid  by 
the  Treasurer  of  the  corporation  to  a  committee  of  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  on  the  24th  day  of  May ;  the  first  payment  to  com- 
mence on  the  24th  of  May,  1772,  to  be  applied  by  them,  for  the  uses  and 
purposes  hereafter  mentioned,  and  for  none  else;  these  uses,  as  we  appre- 
hend, being  agreeable  to  the  pious  intentions  of  the  donors. 

"2d.  That  in  consideration  of  the  application  of  said  sum  of  thirty 
pounds,  the  committee  of  the  Synod,  in  the  name  of  that  reverend  body,  do 
acquiesce  in  and  approve  of  such  application  of  the  money,  entrusted  by  the 
Scotch  Church  for  the  use  of  the  widows'  fund,  and  all  such  other  pious 
uses  as  have  been  hitherto  made  of  it  by  the  corporation. 

"  3d.  That  this  sum  of  thirty  pounds  shall  be  expended  by  the  committee 
of  the  Synod  in  assisting  poor  and  distressed  Presbyterian  Ministers,  or  their 
families;  or  to  pay  Ministers  or  probationers  to  preach  the  gospel  to  weak 
or  frontier  Congregations  in  the  bounds  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  lower 
counties.  New  Jersey,  and  Maryland,  and  to  assist  them  when  weak  and 
distressed,  to  erect  places  of  worship,  and  to  preach  to  and  assist  the  Indians 
who  live  among  said  inhabitants  or  contiguous  to  the  frontiers  of  said 
provinces. 


Part  VL]  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  485 

"4th.  The  committee  hereby  covenant,  agree,  and  engage  to  and  with  the 
corporation,  that  they  shall  never  claim  a  right  or  power  to  break  on  the 
capital  whence  the  said  thirty  pounds  are  to  arise  by  way  of  interest,  nor 
shall  the  committee  of  the  Synod  employ  it  for  any  other  uses  than  those 
above  specified,  upon  the  pain  of  having  it  withheld  or  employed  by  the 
corporation  in  conjunction  with  the  committee;  but  if  it  be  found  necessary 
in  the  judgment  of  this  corporation  to  employ  the  whole  capital,  which  is 
considered  by  this  Board  as  equal  to  six  hundred  pounds,  or  any  part 
thereof  in  the  support  of  the  widows'  fund,  it  is  hereby  agreed  to  use  it  for 
that  purpose;  and  if  a  part  of  it  be  so  employed,  the  committee  of  the 
Synod  shall  have  the  disposal  of  the  interest  of  the  sum  remaining  at  five 
per  cent,  clear  of  all  deductions.  The  committee  and  corporation  are  by 
this  agreement  bound,  never  to  touch  said  capital  of  six  hundred  pounds, 
but  only  and  in  such  case,  as  the  annuities  due  from  the  corporation  cannot 
be  paid  without  breaking  on  the  capital  as  is  stipulated  in  the  thirteenth 
article  of  the  agreement  made  between  the  contributors  and  this  corporation. 
And  it  is  hereby  stipulated  that  this  agreement  shall  prevent  and  put  an 
end  to  all  debates  between  this  corporation  and  the  committee  of  the  Synod 
respecting  the  money  entrusted  to  our  care  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland. 

"  Signed  in  behalf  of  the  corporation,  by  their  President,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  viz: 

John  Ewing, 
Francis  Alison, 
William  Humphreys." 
— Minutes,  1771,  p.  421. 

§  316.   T^e  Easthurn  Seamen's  Chapel  Fund. 

"  The  General  Assembly  remember  with  lively  interest  the  zealous  and 
benevolent  labours  of  the  late  Eev.  Joseph  Eastburn,  among  the  seamen  of 
this  city;  and  have  with  great  pleasure  read  a  clause  in  his  will,  in  which 
he  intrusts  the  General  Assembly  with  the  residue  of  his  estate  estimated  at 
between  $8000  and  $9000 ;  the  income  of  which  is  to  be  applied  to  the 
support  of  preaching  among  that  class  of  our  fellow  men ;  therefore, 

"  Hesolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  approve  of  the  acceptance  of  the 
trust,  by  their  Trustees,  and  do  direct  them  to  receive  and  execute  said 
trust,  in  conformity  with  the  will  of  the  testator." — Minutes,  1828,  p.  226. 

§  317.    The  Colt  Scholarship. 

"  The  conditions  on  which  this  endowment  is  made  are  the  following,  viz. 

[The  1st  and  2d  conditions  designate  the  parties  who  are  entitled  to  nominate  the 
beneficiary.] 

"  3.  That  the  future  Professors  and  Directors  of  the  Seminary  shall  con- 
tinue to  subscribe,  on  entering  on  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  the 
same  form  of  subscription  which  is  now  prescribed  by  the  plan  of  the  Semi- 
nary; but  on  their  failing  to  do  so,  or  in  case  of  any  alteration  of  the  present 
form  of  subscription,  then  the  capital  sum  of  $2500  shall  be  forfeited  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Paterson,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  free  school  in  said  town,  under  the  control  and  direction  of 
the  Trustees  of  said  Church,  and  their  successors.  And  the  acceptance  of 
this  gift  by  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  taken  and  deemed 
as  a  pledge  that  they  and  their  successors  will  appropriate  the  said  funds  as 
occasion  may  require  in  manner  set  forth." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  419. 


486  THE   PRESBYTERIAN  "[Book  V. 

§  318.  The  Ed  Scholarship. 

[Extract  from  the  will  of  Robert  Hall  and  his  sister,  Marion  Hall,  of  Newburgh,  New 

York.] 

"  And  whereas,  after  a  life  of  nearly  fourscore  years,  much  of  which  has 
been  spent  in  examining  the  word  of  God,  we  are  fully  satisfied  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  doctrines  of  religion,  as  laid  down  in  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  drawn  up  by  the  Westminster  Assem- 
bly of  divines,  and  as  held  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  we  desire  that  the  scholarship  which  is 
endowed  by  this  our  bequest  of  $2500,  shall  be  called  the  Ed*  scholarship, 
as  a  witness  between  us  and  the  Theological  Seminary,  that  the  Lord,  he  is 
God,  agreeably  to  said  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms. 

"  Further,  it  is  our  will,  that  the  Professors  in  said  Seminary  be  careful 
that  no  person  holding  sentiments  inconsistent  with  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  be  ever  admitted  to  the  benefit  of  said 
scholarship." — 3Iinutes,  1830,  p.  44. 

§  319.  Boudinot  Pastors'  Lihrary  Fund. 

"  The  late  Dr.  Elias  Boudinot  bequeathed  three  brick  houses  in  Phila- 
delphia to  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  'the  rents,  issues,  and 
profits  of  which,  with  that  of  such  stock  or  other  securities  into  which  the 
said  Trustees  may  choose,  in  case  of  sale,  to  vest  them,'  to  be  laid  out  in 
useful  books  and  distributed  as  directed.  One  of  said  houses  he  sold,  but 
forgot  to  make  provision  for  it;  it  is  therefore,  a  lapsed  legacy  as  to  that 
house.  The  Treasurer  of  the  Trustees  was  put  in  possession  of  the  other 
two.  They  have  been  put  in  good  order  and  let  to  reputable  tenants." — 
Minutes,  1822,  p.  64. 

§  320.  Another  Boudinot  Fund. 

"  The  devise  made  by  the  testator  was  to  the  General  Assembly,  for  the 
following  purposes,  as  expressed  in  his  will,  viz.  'to  be  expended  and  paid 
out  for  the  support  of  such  of  their  members,  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey, 
and  their  successors,  and  whose  salaries  shall  be  in  their  strict  and  con- 
scientious opinion  too  insufiicient  for  their  comfortable  support;  or  it  may 
be  appropriated  by  them,  at  their  option,  towards  contributing  in  whole,  or 
in  part,  towards  the  instruction  of  those  who  are  without  a  preached  gospel 
among  them;  or  their  Corporation  or  General  Assembly  may  appropriate  all 
or  any  part  thereof  to  promoting  the  purposes  of  the  two  societies  for  the 
education  of  youth,  as  established  under  the  said  General  Assembly,  of  one 
of  which  I  am  President,  and  of  the  other  Vice-President." — Minutes, 
1849,  p.  253. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRESBYTERIAN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

§  321.    Collection  of  materials  for  the  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

(«)  "  Resolved,  That  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  Graham, 
Mr.  Green,  Mr.  Hall,  and  Mr.  Tenipleton,  be  a  committee  to  devise  measures 
for  the  collecting  of  materials  necessary  for  a  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  North  America,  and  that  they  report  the  same  to  this  house,  as 
soon  as  possible. 

[*  See  Joshua  xxii.  34.] 


Part  VI.]  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY.  487 

"The  committee  appointed  to  devise  measures  for  the  collecting  materials 
necessary  for  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  made  their 
report,  as  follows,  viz. 

"  They  approve  of  the  design  of  collecting  materials  for  a  history  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church;  that  they  have  little  more  to  lay  before  the  house, 
except  what  is  contained  in  the  following  qverture,  viz. 

"The  object  is  to  procure  materials  for  a  complete  history  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  from  the  beginning.  For  this  purpose 
the  following  information  will  be  necessary,  viz.  Who  were  the  first  Minis- 
ters in  America,  from  whence  they  came,  the  internal  and  relative  state  of 
the  Churches,  where  they  fixed  themselves,  and  when;  the  situation  of 
things,  so  far  as  it  affected  the  formation  and  establishment  of  a  Presbyte- 
rian Church;  extracts  from  royal  instructions  to  Governors  in  the  colonies, 
relating  to  ecclesiastical  matters;  laws  of  the  colonies  affecting  religious 
liberty;  accounts  of  prosecutions  in  consequence  of  those  laws;  when  each 
Presbyterian  congregation  in  the  United  States  was  first  formed,  and  its 
particular  history  from  that  period  to  the  present  time;  what  congregations 
have  existed  which  are  now  extinct,  the  causes  of  their  extinction ;  whea 
Presbyteries  were  first  formed  in  the  United  States,  when  Synods,  when  the 
General  Assembly.  If  the  General  Assembly  should  enjoin  upon  each  of 
their  members  to  furnish,  as  particularly  as  may  be,  the  history  of  his  own 
Church,  it  is  probable  that  materials  may  be  collected  without  much  diffi- 
culty. The  sooner  it  is  done  the  better ;  as  time,  accident,  and  the  death 
of  ancient  people,  will  daily  destroy  some  sources  of  information.  The  mate- 
rials might  be  brought  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
deposited  with  their  Clerk. 

"Your  committee  would  further  subjoin,  that  the  old  records  of  Presby- 
teries and  Synods  should,  as  tar  as  possible,  be  examined,  and  that  Mr. 
Hazard  should  be  applied  to  for  leave  to  inspect  his  collection  of  State 
papers."     [Adopted.] — Minutes,  1791,  pp.  38,  39. 

(6)  "  The  several  Presbyteries  were  called  upon  for  their  reports,  in  regard 
to  the  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  upon  the  subject  of  a  collection  of 
materials  for  a  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America;  when  it 
appeared  that  they  were  diligently  engaged  in  the  business  referred  to  them, 
and  that  satisfactory  communications  respecting  it  might  be  ready  for  the 
next  General  Assembly.     Whereupon, 

"  Ordered,  That  the  several  Presbyteries  be  careful  to  continue  their 
attention  to  this  subject,  and  be  prepared  to  report  upon  it  to  the  next  Gene- 
ral Assembly." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  50. 

[Similar  action  occurred  during  a  series  of  years.     See  Minutes  passim.] 

§  322.  A  committee  appointed  to  write  the  liistory. 

"  Whereas,  the  Assembly,  for  several  years  past,  have  been  taking  mea- 
sures to  obtain  materials  for  a  complete  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  which  materials,  as  far  as  they  have  been 
obtained,  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Stated  Clerk,  and  it  seems  expedient  that 
the  history  contemplated  should  be  entered  upon  as  soon  as  possible;  there- 
fore, 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  and  Mr.  Ebenezer  Hazard 
be,  and  they  are  hereby  appointed  to  write  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  under  the  care  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  lay  a  copy  thereof,  when  completed  before  the  General 
Assembly;  that  they  have  the  free  use  of  the  materials  collected,  and  that 
the  copyright  of  the  history,  when  finished,  shall  belong  to  the  said  Dr. 
Green  and  Mr.  Hazard. 


488  THE   PRESBYTERIAN  [Book  V. 

And  whereas,  there  are  certain  Presbyteries  and  congregations  under  the 
care  of  the  Assembly  that  have  not  yet  furnished  materials  for  their  history, 
though  long  solicited,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  all  such  Presbyteries  and  congregations  be,  and  they  are 
hereby  strictly  enjoined,  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  complete  their  histories 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  to  forward  them  without  delay  to  the  said  Dr. 
Green  and  Mr.  Hazard,  resident  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia;  who  are  hereby 
authorized,  if  they  find  it  necessary,  to  write  to  any  Presbyteries  and  con- 
gregations that  may  not  forward  to  them  the  historical  documents  desii-ed, 
and  urge  them  to  the  performance  of  their  duty,  and  to  state  to  the  Assem- 
bly the  names  of  those  Presbyteries  and  congregations,  if  such  there  shall 
be,  who  shall  not  ultimately  furnish  the  information  necessary. 

"  And  this  Assembly  do  also  hereby  recommend  to  all  the  people  under 
their  care,  especially  to  gentlemen  of  literature  and  leisure  within  their 
bounds,  to  furnish  to  the  gentlemen  appointed  to  this  service,  all  the  informa- 
tion in  their  power  to  give,  relative  to  the  history  in  contemplation,  that  this 
important  work  may  be  completed  in  a  manner  as  accurate  and  satisfactory 
as  possible." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  287. 

§  323.   The  committee  changed. 

"It  was  stated  to  the  Assembly  by  Dr.  Green,  in  behalf  of  himself  and 
Ebenezer  Hazard,  Esq.,  that  from  a  variety  of  circumstances  they  find  it 
impracticable  to  go  on  with  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
they  were  appointed  to  write,  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  passed  in 
the  year  1804,  and  in  the  writing  of  which  they  have  made  considerable 
progress,  and  for  its  continuance  have  in  their  hands  many  materials.  It 
was,  at  the  same  time,  requested  by  these  gentlemen,  that  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Miller,  D.  D.,  might,  if  it  should  seem  good  to  the  Assembly,  be  appointed 
to  receive  from  them  all  the  papers  which  they  possess  relative  to  the  history 
in  question,  and  that  he  be  authorized  and  requested  to  complete  the  same. 
Whereupon, 

^^Resolved,  That  all  the  papers  relative  to  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Green  and  Mr.  Hazard, 
be  by  them  deposited  with  Dr.  Miller,  and  that  he  be  appointed  and  directed 
to  continue  and  complete  said  history;  and  that  the  arrangement  in  regard 
to  the  copyright  of  this  history,  which  right  has  heretofore  been  assured  to 
Dr.  Green  and  Mr.  Hazard,  be  settled  between  them  and  Dr.  Miller,  as 
shall  be  mutually  satisfactory  to  the  parties  severally." — Minutes,  1813, 
p.  535. 

^'Resolved,  That  Dr.  Green  be  associated  with  Dr.  Miller,  in  writing  the 
history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  718. 

§324. 

[In  1 825,  the  above  committee  requested  to  be  discharged;  whereupon  the  following 
report  of  a  committee  on  the  subject  was  adopted.] 

(a)  ''The  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United  States, 
appears  to  your  committee  to  be  a  subject  too  important  to  be  abandoned, 
and  well  worthy  all  the  attention  which  can  be  bestowed  upon  it  by  this 
Assembly.  Its  importance  will  at  once  appear  when  it  is  considered  how 
nearly  it  is  connected  with  the  propagation  of  the  pure  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  the  progress  of  vital  godliness,  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  the  rapid 
advancement  of  the  interests  of  science. 

"Your  committee,  therefore,  are  of  opinion,  that  such  measures  ought  to 
be  adopted  as  will  be  calculated  to  ensure  the  continuation  and  completion 
of  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  the  least  possible  delay.    The 


Part  VI.]  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.  489 

difficulties  which  must  be  encountered  in  the  execution  of  this  undertaking, 
will  not  be  diminished,  but  increased  with  time;  and  your  committee  are 
moreover  happy  to  have  it  in  their  power  to  inform  this  Assembly  that  they 
have  received  information  of  the  existence  in  different  and  distant  parts  of 
our  country,  of  several  important  documents  and  Presbyterial  records,  which 
it  is  hoped  may  in  a  good  degree  supply  that  lack  of  information  that  has 
heretofore  existed.  Your  committee,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

(b)  "1.  Resolved,  That  the  request  made  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Green  and 
Miller,  to  be  released  from  their  appointment  to  write  the  history  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  is  received  with  unfeigned  regret. 
But  the  Assembly  viewing  the  request,  under  existing  circumstances,  to  be 
both  reasonable  and  proper,  do  further  resolve  that  the  same  be  granted. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Assembly  be,  and  they  hereby  are, 
given  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green,  for  his  gratuitous  offer  of  the  whole  result  and 
fruits  of  his  arduous  labour  bestowed  in  writing  in  part,  the  desired  history, 
as  well  as  in  collecting  documents,  and  various  information,  and  in  forming 
annals  in  relation  to  that  part  of  the  same  which  yet  remains  to  be  executed. 

*'3.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  receive  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green,  the  documents  and  annals  and 
information,  prepared  by  him  to  be  furnished,  and  to  collect  such  other 
documents  as  may  be  in  their  power,  and  may  be  necessary  to  the  comple- 
tion of  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible;  and  whose  further  duty  it  shall  be  to  report  from 
time  to  time  their  progress  in  the  proposed  undertaking  to  this  Assembly. 

''The  Rev.  Ashbef  Green,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Jacob  J.  Janeway,  D.  D.,  and 
Rev.  Ezra  S.  Ely,  D.  D.,  were  appointed  a  committee  for  the  purposes  men- 
tioned in  the  last  resolution. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  this  Assembly, 
which  have  been  formed  since  the  year  1797,  be  earnestly  requested,  with 
all  convenient  expedition,  to  compile  the  histories  respectively  of  their  seve- 
ral Presbyteries,  and  transmit  the  same  to  the  committee  above  mentioned, 
resident  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia;  and  that  any  Presbyteries  which  were 
formed  anterior  to  the  year  1797,  and  whjch  have  not  as  yet  forwarded  their 
histories  severally,  be  careful  to  prepare  and  forward  them  with  as  little  delay 
as  possible. 

"5.  Resolved,  That  an  agent  be  appointed  by  this  Assembly,  in  each 
Synod  within  our  bounds,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  collect  and  transmit  to 
the  said  committee  all  su'ch  documents,  printed  and  manuscript,  as  may 
tend,  in  their  opinion,  to  throw  any  light  on  the  history  of  any  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

"The  following  persons  were  appointed  agents  in  their  respective  Synods, 
agreeably  to  the  above  resolution,  viz.  In  the  Synod  of  Genessee,  Rev. 
Samuel  T.  Mills.  Geneva,  Rev.  Henry  Axtell,  D.  D.  Albany,  Rev.  Gar- 
diner B.  Perry.  Neio  York,  Rev.  Stephen  N.  Rowan,  D.  D.  New  Jersey, 
Rev.  John  McDowell,  D,  D.  Philadelphia,  Rev.  George  Duffield.  Pitts- 
hiuyh,  Rev.  Francis  Herron,  D.  D.  Virginia,  Rev.  John  H.  Rice,  D.  D. 
Keutueky,  Rev.  James  Blythe,  D.  D.  Ohio,  Rev.  Robert  G.  Wilson.  Te)i- 
nessee,  Rev.  Charles  Coffin,  D.  D.  North  Carolina,  Rev.  John  M.  Wilson. 
iSouth  Carolina  and  Georaia,  Rev.  Francis  Cummins,  D.  D." — Minutes, 
1825,  p.  258. 

^^Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Luther  Halsey,  D.  D.,  be  appointed  on  the 
committee  to  prepare  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  place 
of  the  Rev.  Ezra  S.  Ely,  D.  D.,  resigned." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  293. 
62 


490  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY.         [Book  V. 

§  325.    The  collections  deposited  with  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society. 

"A  memorial  from  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society  was  read,  request- 
ing sundry  favours  from  the  Assembly;  whereupon  the  following  resolutions 
•were  adopted,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  hereby  testify  their  interest  in 
the  organization  of  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society,  and  deem  the  objects 
of  sufficient  importance  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Synods  and  Presbyteries 
to  such  forms  of  co-operation  in  securing  the  materials  of  our  Church  history 
as  may  seem  to  them  expedient. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  commit  all  the  manuscript 
materials,  pertaining  to  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  have 
been  collected  in  past  years  under  their  authority,  to  the  custody  of  the 
Presbyterian  Historical  Society. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  give  to  the  Historical  Society 
permission  to  select  from  the  publications  of  their  Board  of  Publication  such 
volumes  as  belong  to  their  department,  for  the  purpose  of  an  historical 
library;  and  the  further  permission  to  select,  from  time  to  time,  whatever 
works  may  be  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  exchange  with  other  historical 
societies,  or  agencies." — Minutes^  1853,  p.  456. 


BOOK    VI. 
RELATIONS    TO    OTHER    CHURCHES 


PAET    I. 

INTERCOURSE  OF  CHURCHES. 


§  1.    The  regulation  of  intercourse  belongs  to  the  Assemhly. 

[The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  approved,]  ''with  the  exception 
of  a  proposal  to  establish  a  plan  of  intercourse  between  said  Synod  and  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterians ;  of  which  proposal  the  Assembly  disapprove,  on 
the  ground  that  it  belongs  to  the  Assembly  *to  correspond  with  foreign 
Churches  on  such  terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  the  Assembly  and  the 
corresponding  body.'"* — 3Iinutes,  1827,  p.  134. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCHES. 

Title  1. — Early  Correspondence. 
§  2.  First  occasion  of  inter  course. 

^^  Ordered,  That  Mr.  Andrews  and  Mr.  Hampton  write  to  the  Ministers 
of  Connecticut,  concerning  the  affair  of  Woodbridge." 
"To  Mr.  Davenport,  Mr.  Shove,  and  Mr.  Buckingham. 

"Reverend  Brethren — Through  the  good  providence  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  assisting  us,  we,  the  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  of  the  Presbyterian 
persuasion,  in  this  province  and  those  adjacent,  taking  into  our  serious  con- 
sideration the  case  and  circumstances  of  our  holy  religion  in  these  parts, 
have,  to  our  great  toil  and  labour,  and  great  difficulty  to  divers  of  us,  by 
reason  of  our  great  distance  from  one  another,  formed  ourselves  into  a  Pres- 
bytery, annually  to  be  convened,  for  the  furthering  and  promoting  the  true 
interests  of  religion  and  godliness.     In  which  our  undertaking,  as  we  would 

*  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  sii.  Sect.  5. 


492  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

not  have  anything  should  be  advanced  that  may  be  justly  disgustful  to  any 
pious  soul,  but  the  contrary,  so  it  is  our  universal  desire  to  walk  in  the  near- 
est union  and  fellowship  with  the  Churches  in  those  parts  where  you  inhabit, 
not  knowing  any  difference  in  opinion  so  weighty  as  to  inhibit  such  a  pro- 
posal, not  doubting  of  your  cordial  assent  thereunto.  And  for  a  testimony 
of  our  sincerity  and  real  intentions  to  act  as  has  been  mentioned,  we  con- 
clude it  convenient  to  lay  before  you  one  difficult  matter  that  has  been  (to 
our  great  trouble  and  exercise)  laid  before  us,  and  also  what  has  been  our 
advice  about  it;  holding  it  proper  so  to  do,  because  yourselves  have  been 
concerned  in  a  transaction  that  has  in  some  measure  led  into  it.  We  lind 
by  divers  letters  that  have  passed  between  you  and  sundry  persons  in  Wood- 
bridge,  that  you  are  not  unacquainted  with  the  confusions  and  distractions 
arising  from  the  accession  of  Mr.  Wade  to  be  the  Minister  of  that  town, 
and  the  aversion  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  people  to  the  accepting  of 
him  as  such,  and  therefore  need  only  mention  what  we,  after  mature 
deliberation  and  consultation  have  advised  for  the  healing  the  differences 
among  them,  upon  the  application  of  those  that  disagree  with  Mr.  Wade 
made  unto  us,  concluding  that  if  their  contentions  and  animosities  continue, 
it  may  be  of  unhappy  consequence.  **********  ^g  jq^  have 
been  employed  in  Mr.  Wade's  fixing  there,  and  we  hope  with  sincere  aims 
at  the  good  of  the  place,  so  long  groaning  under  the  unhappiness  of  the 
want  of  a  settled  ministry,  so  we  humbly  conceive  you  are  in  duty  bound  in 
a  special  manner  to  put  to  your  helping  hand  to  rescue  them  from  the 
miserable  inconveniences  that  now  they  labour  under,  by  all  the  ways  that 
you  can,  to  which  we  hope  your  advice  for  mutual  forbearance  may  have 
much  force,  &c." — Minutes,  1708,  p.  13. 

[Mr.  Nathaniel  Wade  was  a  Congregational  Minister,  but  in  1710  was  admitted  a 
member  of  the  Presbytery.  The  difficulties  however  still  continued,  until  the  Presbytery 
adopted  the  following  overture.] 

§  3.  Final  action  in  this  case. 

(a)  ''It  is  overtured,  That  whereas,  for  these  several  years,  we  have 
endeavoured  to  accommodate  the  differences  between  Mr.  Wade  and  the 
people  of  Woodbridge,  after  some  time,  at  his  own  proposal,  we  admitted 
him  as  a  member  of  our  Presbytery,  and  he  submitted  himself  willingly  to 
our  Constitution,  which  we  hoped  would  have  been  effectual  for  the  taking 
away  these  unhappy  divisions,  but  to  our  sad  disappointment,  we  have 
found  them  continue  and  rather  increase. 

''The  first  year  of  his  admission,  we  hoped  that  our  Christian  and  ministe- 
rial advice,  both  to  Mr.  Wade  and  the  disagreeing  parties  at  Woodbridge, 
would  have  been  sufficient  for  reconciliation,  but  herein  also  we  were 
lamentably  frustrated,  for  the  next  Presbytery  their  mutual  complaints  were 
again  renewed. 

"  And  after  inquiry  and  serious  deliberation  upon  those  complaints,  some 
whereof  brought  by  the  people  against  Mr.  Wade  were  of  a  scandalous 
nature,  and  of  long  standing,  we  came  to  an  unanimous  resolution,  that 
really  Mr.  Wade  has  been  all  along,  and  continued  to  be,  the  woful  bone 
of  contention  among  that  unhappy  people,  and  that  therefore  the  only 
effectual  way  of  putting  an  end  to  these  unchristian  jars,  was  that  Mr. 
W^ade  should  demit  all  pastoral  relation  to  the  whole  people  of  Woodbridge, 
and  that  they  should  be  at  full  liberty  to  choose  some  other  Minister;  but  in 
the  meantime  we  were  willing  that  Mr.  Wade  should  supply  their  vacancy 
until  another  offered,  not  doubting  but  that  Mr.  Wade  and  the  good  people 
of  Woodbridge  would  u,se  their  unanimous  endeavours  with  all  convenient 
speed,  to  provide  themselves  with  a  qualified  Minister  in  whom  they  should 


Part  I.]  NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCHES.  493 

agree.  To  all  whicli  Mr.  Wade  did,  at  our  last  Presbytery  aforesaid, 
give  his  solemn  and  hearty  consent,  as  fully  appears  from  his  own  words, 
then  spoken  and  upon  record.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Wade  immediately  on  his 
return  to  Woodbridge,  did  begin,  and  has  continued  ever  since,  to  miscon- 
strue our  proceedings,  and  render  ineffectual  all  our  designs  of  peace  and 
unity. 

"1.  By  pretending  still  to  a  pastoral  relation  to  some  of  the  people  of 
Woodbridge,  notwithstanding  his  own  actual  renunciation  of  all  such 
chai'ge  as  appears,  and  furthermore  constituting  new  Church  officers. —  Vide 
letter,  November  23,  1711. 

"2.  By  finding  fault  with  some  of  our  Presbytery  for  providing  a  supply 
according  to  the  mind  of  the  whole  Presbytery,  who  always  designed  Mr. 
Wade  to  supply  no  longer  than  till  another  could  be  had. —  Vide  letter, 
September  16,  1712. 

"3.  By  opposing  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Grillespie,  a  preacher  from  North 
Britain,  though  recommended  heartily  by  Dr.  Mather,  as  well  as  sufiiciently 
from  Glasgow,  and  at  first  generally  liked  by  the  people  of  Woodbridge. — 
Vide  Dr.  Mather's  last  letter  to  Woodbridge. 

"4.  But  most  of  all,  and  which  indeed,  includes  all,  by  a  shameful  recan- 
tation which  he,  the  said  Mr.  Wade,  made,  in  a  letter  to  three  of  our  num- 
ber, dated  November  23,  1711,  of  what  he  solemnly  and  frankly  acknow- 
ledged, upon  conviction  of  his  conscience,  as  he  said,  viz.  that  he  had  been 
a  bone  of  contention  at  Woodbridge,  and  therefore,  that  he  might  be  so  no 
longer,  he  demitted  all  pastoral  relation  to  them,  heartily  wishing  they  might 
unite  in  calling  another  which  the  Presbytery  might  approve  of,  as  our 
records  make  appear;  this  he  now  declares  he  recants,  so  that  it  seems  he 
resolves  still  upon  being  the  wretched  bone  of  contention,  and  therefore 
labours  what  he  can,  contrary  both  to  the  greatest  part  of  the  people,  and 
the  mind  of  the  Presbytery,  to  plant  himself  there  again,  or  if  not,  to  keep 
up  the  contention.  And  though  Mr.  Wade  has  not  attended  this  Presby- 
tery, yet  his  own  letters  above  cited,  besides  the  personal  knowledge  of  seve- 
ral members  of  this  Presbytery  concerning  this  affair,  and  the  letters  from 
the  people,  dated  one  of  them,  November  6,  1711,  another  September  13, 
1712,  besides  one  from  Mr.  Thomas  Pike,  of  November  10,  1711,  do  suffi- 
ciently evidence  the  contentions  about  liim  to  be  as  great  as  ever. —  Vide 
letter  November  23,  1711. 

(6)  "  We  there/ore,  in  the  fear  and  name  of  our  great  Master,  do  appoint 
and  ordain,  That  the  said  Mr.  Wade  do  no  longer  exercise  his  ministerial 
office  at  the  town  of  Woodbridge,  or  among  the  people  thereof,  unless  allow- 
ed by  the  Presbytery  hereafter;  but  that  he  forthwith,  and  without  resist- 
ance, directly  or  indirectly,  give  place  to  some  other  whom  God  in  his  pro- 
vidence may  send,  and  the  good  people  of  Woodbridge,  or  the  major  part  of 
them,  call  and  agree  about." — Minutes,  1712,  p.  27. 

[At  the  same  time  a  letter  of  expostulation  was  written  to  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  in  regard 
to  the  unhappy  efll'ects  of  his  interpositions  in  the  matter,  (^Ibid.  p.  29,)  and  thus  this  first 
occasion  of  correspondence  disappears  from  the  record.] 

§  4.    Correspondence  in  relation  to  difficulties  in  New  York. 

"  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island  being  made  to  this 
Synod,  as  to  a  further  cognoscing  on  the  affair  of  the  Trustees  of  New  Haven 
College  their  sending  missionaries  to  erect  a  new  separate  Congregation  in 
New  York;  and  we  having  inspected  into  the  conduct  of  the  said  Presby- 
tery in  that  affair,  though  we  cannot  see  how  their  conduct  can  be  disap- 
proved; yet  considering  that  the  gentlemen  Trustees  have,  by  a  letter, 
desired  a  conference  with  some  of  our  Synod  upon  that  and  other  affairs,  we 


494  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

now  defer  giving  our  Synodical  judgment  thereon,  that  so  we  may  not  hinder 
their  desired  amicable  conference  with  us,  in  case  any  such  conference  be 
appointed.  A  letter  from  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Haven  being 
read,  wherein  they  have  desired  that  this  Synod  would  send  some  of  their 
number  to  meet  and  amicably  treat  with  them  about  the  great  aifairs  of  reli- 
gion in  general,  and  about  the  unhappy  differences  at  New  York  in  particu- 
lar; the  Synod  in  answer  to  those  great  and  good  ends  do  appoint  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Long  Island,  or  as  many  of  their  number  as  the  said  Presbytery 
shall  nominate  and  appoint,  to  meet  and  christianly  confer  with  the  said 
Trustees  upon  the  foresaid  articles,  at  Stanford,  on  the  25th  day  of  October 
next,  and  that  a  letter  be  written  in  answer  to  theirs." — Minutes,  1721, 
p.  67. 

§5. 

"  The  Presbytery  of  Long  Island  gave  in  their  report  to  the  Synod,  that 
a  committee  of  their  Presbytery  met  a  number  of  the  Trustees  of  New  Haven 
College,  according  to  the  appointment  of  the  Synod,  and  have  given  a  large 
account  in  writing,  of  their  proceedings  with  said  Trustees,  whereby  the  Synod 
is  convinced  that  they,  though  without  the  desired  success,  have  done  what 
they  could  relating  to  the  union  with  Connecticut  Ministers,  and  removing 
those  differences  between  them  and  our  Presbytery  of  Long  Island,  by  the 
irregular  division  of  the  Congregation  at  New  York,  and  the  Trustees  send- 
ing missionaries  to  preach  there.  Upon  the  whole,  the  Synod  approves  of 
the  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island  in  the  whole  affair  as  it  was 
managed  by  them,  both  since  last  Synod  and  formerly." — 3Iinutes,  1722, 
p.  73. 

§6. 

"  A  letter  from  the  Ministers  of  Connecticut  to  this  Synod,  desiring  a  c^on- 
ference  with  some  of  the  Ministers  of  this  Synod,  in  order  to  the  healing  of 
those  divisions  in  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  in  New  York,  being  read 
and  maturely  considered,  it  was  ordered  that  a  letter  be  writ  to  the  Minis- 
ters of  Connecticut  in  answer  to  theirs,  to  thank  them  for  their  concern  about 
the  interest  of  religion  in  New  Y'ork,  and  their  proposing  a  conference 
with  some  of  us  in  order  to  heal  the  division  in  the  Presbyterian  congrega- 
tion there,  and  to  signify  our  hearty  concurrence  with  their  proposal.  And 
withal  to  signify  our  apprehensions  that  the  place  proposed  for  a  conference 
is  not  so  likely  to  answer  the  good  intentions  expressed  in  their  letter  as 
New  York  would  be,  and  therefore  to  desire  them  to  send  some  of  their 
number  to  meet  with  some  of  ours  there,  on  the  twenty-third  of  October  next. 
Messrs.  Andrews,  Dickinson,  Morgan,  Philips,  Cross,  and  McGill,  appointed 
to  meet  the  said  Ministers  at  New  York,  at  the  time  before  mentioned,  and 
are  empowered  to  act  in  the  name  and  with  the  full  power  of  the  Synod,  in 
the  affair  proposed.  But  if  the  said  Connecticut  Ministers  decline  coming 
to  New  York  at  the  time  mentioned,  the  aforementioned  members  of  the 
Synod  are  empowered  to  meet  them  at  any  other  time  and  place  for  the  said 
purpose  as  they  shall  think  reasonable.  And  if  the  good  ends  proposed, 
relating  to  New  York,  be  at  the  conference  happily  accomplished,  the  Synod 
recommends  it  to  those  of  their  members  afore  appointed  for  said  conference, 
to  treat  with  said  Ministers  of  Connecticut  about  an  union  with  us,  and 
empower  them  to  concert  and  conclude  upon  any  methods  that  may  conduce 
to  that  end.  Mr.  McGill  and  Mr.  Conn  appointed  to  write  the  abovesaid 
letter." — Minutrs,  1723,  p.  76. 

"The  Synod  approves  of  the  conduct  of  the  committee  appointed  to  meet 
with  the  Ministers  from  Connecticut,  to  confer  about  the  affairs  of  the  Pres- 


Part  I.]  NEW   ENGLAND   CHURCHES.  495 

byterian  Congregation  in  New  York,  though  their  endeavours  proved  unsuc- 
cessful.''— Minutes,  1724,  p.  79. 

§7. 

"  A  letter  was  presented  to  the  Synod  from  the  Ministers  in  Boston,  in 
New  England,  as  also  another  from  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  at  New 
York,  referring  to  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Pemberton,  and  his  settlement  at 
New  York,  and  proposing  his  admission  as  a  member  of  the  Synod;  both 
which  being  read,  the  consideration  of  that  whole  affair  was  referred  to  the 
committee  to  bring  in  an  overture  upon  it." 

"  Overtured,  Upon  the  affair  of  the  Congregation  at  New  York,  *  *  * 
As  to  the  call  and  settlement  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton  at  New  York, 
the  Synod  does  declare  that  the  rules  of  our  Presbyterian  Constitution  were 
not  observed  in  several  respects  by  that  Congregation  in  that  matter.  This 
passed  by  the  Synod  nemine  contradicente. 

"And  it  was  put  to  the  vote;  Receive,  or  delay  the  receiving  of  Mr.  Pem- 
berton as  a  member  of  this  Synod;  and  it  was  carried  for  delaying;  which 
delay  did  not  flow  from  any  disrespect  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  or  any  fault  objected 
against  him,  but  from  other  reasons. 

"Masters  Andrews,  Morgan,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Pierson,  and  Webb, 
appointed  to  be  a  committee  to  meet  at  New  York  to  accommodate  matters 
of  difference  between  that  Congregation  and  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island, 
and  also  any  other  differences  that  may  be  among  themselves  about  their 
church  settlement,  and  particularly  to  receive  Mr.  Pemberton  as  a  member 
of  the  Synod,  or  not,  as  they  shall  see  cause.  As  to  the  time  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  said  committee,  it  is  determined  that  it  shall  be  at  such  time  as 
the  Congregation  of  New  York  shall  agree  upon,  they  giving  reasonable 
notice  to  the  members  of  the  committee,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island, 
that  they  may  meet  there  together." — Minutes,  1727,  pp.  86,  87. 

§  8.  Standing  Committee  of  Correspondence  appointed. 
"Agreed,  That  Messrs.  Cross,  Gilbert  Tennent,  Dr.  Alison,  and  Treat,  be 
a  committee  to  correspond  in  the  name  of  the  Synod,  with  the  Churches  of 
our  persuasion  in  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  in  these  colonies  and  elsewhere, 
by  means  of  proper  persons  in  these  Churches  for  the  ensuing  year." — 
Minutes,  1758,  p.  290. 

§  9.  Embarrassments  of  this  intercourse. 
[See  below.] 
[Among  others  the  following  queries  were  brought  into  Synod.] 

"Fourth  query.  Whether  any  Minister,  or  Probationer,  ordained  or 
licensed  in  Scotland,  England,  Ireland,  Connecticut,  or  in  any  of  the 
Reformed  Churches,  ought  not  to  be  admitted  as  a  gospel  Minister,  or  Pro- 
bationer, if  he  produce  sufficient  certificates  that  he  was  orderly  ordained  or 
licensed,  and  has  behaved  according  to  his  character,  provided  he  adopts 
our  Confession,  and  promises  subjection  in  the  Lord? 

"Fifth  query.  Whether  it  is  regular  for  our  students  of  divinity,  who 
intend  to  return  and  officiate  in  the  bounds  of  the  Synod,  to  go  into  New 
England,  or  elsewhere,  in  order  to  be  licensed?" — Minutes,  1760,  p.  305. 

(a)  "  In  answer  to  the  fourth  query  we  judge,  that  though  every  Christian 
society  should  maintain  communion  with  others  as  far  as  they  can  with  a 
good  conscience,  yet  no  society  in  order  to  maintain  communion,  is  obliged 
to  adopt  or  imitate  the  irregularities  and  deficiencies  of  another,  contrary  to 
its  own  established  and  approved  rules  of  procedure.  And  if  any  society 
or  body  of  men  are  known  to  be  of  erroneous  principles,  or  to  be  lax  or 
negligent  as  to  the  orthodoxy  or  piety  of  those  they  admit  into  the  ministry, 


496  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE        [Book  VI. 

as  we  apprehend  to  be  the  ca,se  of  the  New  Lif^ht,  in  Ireland,  and  of  some 
other  particular  judicatures  and  individual  Ministers  who  may,  and  in  some 
places  on  this  continent,  do  convene  together  as  a  temporary  judicature  for 
the  single  purpose  of  licensing,  or  ordaining  a  candidate:  In  such  cases, 
none  of  our  Presbyteries  are  obliged  to  receive  and  employ  in  their  bounds, 
as  gospel  Ministers  or  probationers,  such  persons,  though  producing  fair 
certificates,  and  professing  to  adopt  our  Confession.  But  if  any  ordained 
Minister,  or  candidate,  comes  well  recommended  by  those  on  whose  testi- 
mony we  can  depend,  such  are  to  be  gladly  received  upon  their  adopting  our 
Confession,  and  promising  subjection  in  the  Lord. 

"As  to  the  fifth  query,  though  the  Synod  entertains  a  high  regard  for  the 
Associated  Churches  of  New  England,  yet  we  cannot  but  judge,  that  students 
who  go  to  them,  or  to  any  other  than  our  own  Presbyteries  to  obtain  license, 
in  order  to  return  and  officiate  among  us,  act  very  irregularly,  and  are  not  to 
be  approved  or  employed  by  our  Presbyteries,  as  hereby  we  are  deprived  of 
the  right  of  trying  and  approving  the  qualifications  of  our  own  candidates ; 
yet,  if  any  case  may  happen  wherein  such  a  conduct  may,  in  some  circum- 
stances be  thought  necessary,  for  the  greater  good  of  any  Congregation,  it 
shall  be  laid  before  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  Congregation  belongs,  and 
approved  of  by  them." — Mimites,  1764,  p.  338. 

(i)  "  The  Synod  finding  some  obscurity  in  the  answer  given  last  year  to 
the  fourth  query,  they  have  agreed  to  explain  it  further  in  the  following 
words,  viz. 

"It  is  undoubtedly  the  right  of  Presbyteries  to  converse  with  any  proba- 
tioner, or  Minister  from  foreign  parts,  as  far  as  they  may  find  it  necessary 
to  give  them  satisfaction,  and  not  receive  him  implicitly  on  a  certificate, 
however  fair  and  regular,  together  with  his  general  profession  of  adopting 
the  Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms.  But  if  such  probationei",  or 
Minister,  shall  come  from  a  Church  or  judicature  generally  suspected,  or 
known  to  be  erroneous,  or  lax  and  negligent  with  respect  to  the  moral  conduct 
or  piety  of  their  candidates,  or  members;  or  if  they  shall  come  from  any 
number  of  Ministers  who  may  convene  without  any  regular  constitution, 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  licensing  or  ordaining  particular  persons;  in  that 
ease  a  certificate  from  such  a  judicature,  and  such  a  general  profession  of 
the  party's  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith,  is  still  less  satisfactory,  and 
renders  it  highly  necessary  for  the  Presbytery  to  which  application  shall 
be  made,  to  be  more  particular  and  exact  in  examining  the  principles  of 
such  a  probationer,  or  Minister,  before  they  admit  him,  or  employ  him  in 
their  bounds." — Minutes,  1765,  p.  344. 

§  10.  Annual  convention  with  the  Connecticut  Churches. 

(a)  "  An  overture  was  brought  in  to  endeavour  to  obtain  some  correspon- 
dence between  this  Synod  and  the  Consociated  Churches  in  Connecticut. 
A  copy  of  a  letter  from  this  Synod  to  them  was  also  read  and  approved,  and 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Ewiug,  Patrick  Alison,  and  the  Moderator,  are 
desired  to  present  this  letter  and  confer  with  our  brethren  on  this  afi"air. 
And  in  case  it  shall  seem  meet  to  our  reverend  brethren  to  attend  to  this 
our  proposal,  so  far  as  to  appoint  Commissioners  from  their  body  to  meet 
with  Commissioners  from  ours;  we  appoint  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alison,  and  the 
R.ev.  Messrs.  Timothy  Jones,  William  Tennent,  John  Rodgers,  Elisha  Kent, 
John  Smith,  John  Blair,  and  Samuel  Buel,  to  meet  with  them  at  such  time 
and  place  as  the  reverend  brethren  of  Connecticut  shall  agree." — Minutes, 
1766,  p.  364. 

(Jj)  "The  minutes  of  a  convention  held  at  Elizabethtown,  the  5th  of 
November  last,  by  delegates  from  the  Consociated  Churches  in  Connecticut 


Part  I.]  NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCHES.  497 

and  from  this  Synod,  were  read,  and  a  plan  of  union  proposed  between  the 
Congregational  Consociated,  and  Presbyterian  Churches  formed  at  that  con- 
vention, was  seriously  considered  and  amended;  and  the'  following  gentle- 
men, with  any  other  Ministers  of  this  reverend  body  that  please  to  attend, 
are  appointed  to  meet  with  the  delegates  or  commissioners  from  the  Con- 
gregational and  Consociated  or  any  Presbyterial  bodies,  at  New  Plaven,  the 
10th  day  of  next  September,  and  there  finally,  on  the  part  of  this  body,  to 
complete  the  plan  of  union,  and  transact  all  other  business  that  shall  be 
found  necessary  in  consequence  thereof." — Minutes,  1767,  p.  374. 

(c)  [The  main  object  of  this  convention  was  to  watch  and  counteract  the  strenuous 
exertions  which  at  this  time  were  making  to  secure  a  parliamentary  establishment  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  this  country.  It  had  an  annual  session  alternately  in  Connecticut, 
and  Elizabeth  town,  until  the  independence  of  the  country  removed  the  grounds  of  appre- 
hension. The  last  meeting  was  held  in  1776.  For  an  account  of  the  doings  of  the  con- 
vention, and  of  the  whole  controversy  of  the  American  Episcopate,  in  which  it  was  involved, 
see  Hodge's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Part  2,  p.  449.] 

§  11.  Aid  given  to  a  Presbyterian  Chwch  in  Massachusetts. 

"  By  the  Committee  of  Overtures  was  brought  in  an  application  from  the 
Presbyterian  Congregation  in  Salem,  in  the  province  of  Slassachusetts  Bay, 
under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Whitaker,  representing  that  in  October  last, 
together  with  many  other  valuable  buildings,  their  meeting-house  had  been 
consumed  by  fire;  and  earnestly  soliciting  this  Synod  to  commiserate  their 
case,  and  take  such  methods  for  their  relief  as  to  them  may  appear  expedi- 
ent; as  also,  an  earnest  address  from  the  Presbytery  of  Boston  to  the 
Synod,  in  favour  of  said  society. 

**The  Synod  considering  the  distressed  condition  of  said  people,  agree  in 
heartily  recommending  them  as  an  object  of  charity,  hoping  all  persons  of 
ability  will  contribute  to  their  relief." — 3Iimites,  1775,  p.  464. 

Title  2. — Intercourse  after  the  Revolution. 

§  12. 

"  Whereas  there  existed,  before  the  late  Revolution,  an  annual  conven- 
tion of  the  clergy  of  the  Congregational  Churches  in  New  England,  and  of 
Ministers  belonging  to  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  which 
was  interrupted  by  the  disorders  occasioned  by  the  war;  this  Assembly, 
being  peculiarly  desirous  to  renew  and  strengthen  every  bond  of  union 
between  brethren  so  nearly  agreed  in  doctrine  and  forms  of  worship  as  the 
members  of  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches  evidently  are, 
and  remembering  with  much  satisfaction  the  mutual  pleasure  and  advantage 
produced  and  received  by  their  former  intercourse,  did 

"Eesolve,  That  the  Ministers  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  New 
England  be  invited  to  renew  their  annual  convention  with  the  clergy  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  And  the  Assembly  did,  for  this  purpose,  appoint 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  of  New  York,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  McWhorter,  of 
Newark,  in  New  Jersey,  to  be  a  committee  to  take  such  measures  for  the 
obtaining  of  the  proposed  object  as  they  may  judge  to  be  most  eff"ectual; 
and  to  report  their  proceedings  to  the  General  Assembly  at  their  next 
meeting." — Minutes,  1790,  p.  29. 

§13. 

"Agreeably  to  the   appointment   of  the   General   Assembly  last  year, 
directing  Dr.  Rodgers  and  Dr.  McWhorter  to  correspond  with  the  Congre- 
gational Churches  in  Connecticut,  in  order  to  renew  and  strengthen  the 
63 


498  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  YI. 

bonds  of  union  between  those  Churches  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
America,  Dr.  McWhorter  reports: 

'■'•  That  some  progress  has  been  made  in  openinp;  a  plan  of  correspondence 
with  said  Churches.  That  three  modes  of  correspondence  are  proposed  lor 
consideration,  viz.  (1.)  By  letter,  from  a  committee  of  this  body  with  a 
committee  of  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut.  (2.)  By  reviving  a 
convention  siniilar  to  that  which  subsisted  between  those  bodies  before  the 
late  war.  (IJ.)  By  sending  delegates,  reciprocnlly  from  each  body,  who 
shall  sit  in  their  respective  meetings,  to  answer  the  important  purpose 
designed  by  this  correspondence.'' 

"On  motion.  Resolved,  That  to  carry  into  effect  the  proposed  plan  for  a 
correspondence  with  the  Congregational  Churches  in  New  England,  a  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  McWhorter,  Mr. 
Chapman,  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Smith,  Mr.  Tennent,  and  Mr.  Austin,  or  any  three 
of  them,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  appointed,  to  meet  at  New  Haven  on  the 
second  Wednesday  in  September  next,  to  consult  with  such  Ministers  from 
the  New  England  Churches  as  may  be  there  present,  on  the  subject  in  con- 
templation, and  to  determine  on  such  plan  of  correspondence  and  intercourse 
as  shall  appear  eligible.  And  that  the  prospect  of  accomplishing  the  desire 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  this  appointment  may  be  the  more  favourable, 
Dr.  McWhorter  is  hereby  directed  to  write  immediately  to  Dr.  Timothy 
Dwight,  of  Connecticut,  and  inform  him  of  this  measure;  requesting  him, 
at  the  same  time,  to  lay  it  before  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut, 
that  they  may  be  prepared  to  meet  at  the  time  above  mentioned,  and  do 
what  they  may  think  expedient  in  this  concern." — Minutes,  1791,  p.  33. 

§14. 

"The  minutes  of  the  Convention  of  the  Committees  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Gen- 
eral Association  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  were  taken  into  consideration, 
an  extract  of  which  is  as  follows,  viz.  ^ 

"Considering  the  importance  of  union  and  harmony  in  the  Christian 
Church,  and  the  duty  incumbent  on  all  its  pastors  and  members  to  assist 
each  other  in  promoting,  as  far  as  possible,  the  general  interests  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom;  and  considering,  further,  that  divine  Providence 
appears  to  be  now  opening  the  door  for  pursuing  these  valuable  objects  with 
a  happy  prospect  of  success;  this  Convention  are  of  opinion  that  it  will  be 
conducive  to  these  important  purposes  that  a  Standing  Coumiittee  of  Corres- 
pondence be  appointed  in  each  body,  whose  duty  it  shall  be,  by  frecjuent 
letters,  to  communicate  to  each  other  whatever  may  be  mutually  useful  to 
the  Churches  under  their  care,  and  to  the  general  interest  of  the  Kedeemer's 
kingdom.  That  each  body  should  from  time  to  time  appoint  a  committee 
consisting  of  three  members,  who  shall  have  a  right  to  sit  in  the  other's 
general  meeting,  and  make  such  communications  as  shall  be  directed  by 
their  respective  constituents,  and  deliberate  on  such  matters  as  shall  come 
before  the  body,  but  shall  have  no  right  to  vote.  That  effectual  measures 
be  mutually  taken  to  prevent  injuries  to  the  respective  Churches  from  irre- 
gular and  unauthorized  preachers.  To  promote  this  end,  the  Convention 
judge  it  expedient  that  every  preacher  travelling  from  the  limits  of  one  of 
these  Churches  into  those  of  the  other,  shall  be  furnished  with  recent  testi- 
monials of  his  regular  standing  and  good  character  as  a  preacher,  signed  by 
the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  or  Association  in  which  he  received  his 
license;  or,  if  a  Minister,  of  his  good  standing  and  character,  as  such,  from 
the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  or  Association  where  he  last  resided,  and 
that  he  shall,  previously  to  his  travelling  as  a  preacher  into  distant  parts, 


Part  L]  NEW    ENGLAND    CHURCHES.  499 

further,  receive  a  recommendation  from  one  member  at  least  of  a  standing 
committee  to  be  hereafter  appointed  by  each  body,  cei'tifying  his  good  quali- 
fications as  a  preacher.  Also,  that  the  names  of  this  standing  committee 
shall  be  mutually  communicated.  And  also,  that  every  preacher  travelling 
and  recommended  as  above,  and  submitting  to  the  stated  rules  of  the  respective 
Churches,  shall  be  received  as  an  authorized  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and 
cheerfully  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Presbytery  or  Association 
within  whose  bounds  he  shall  find  employment  as  a  preacher.  And  that 
the  proceedings  of  the  respective  bodies  on  this  report  be  communicated  to 
our  brethren  of  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches  throughout 
the  States." 

"Upon  mature  deliberation,  the  Assembly  unanimously  and  cordially 
approved  of  the  said  plan;  and  to  carry  the  same  into  effect,  appointed  the 
Rev.  Drs.  John  Rodgers,  John  Witherspoon,  and  Ashbel  Green,  to  be  a 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  agreeably  to  the  said  plan.  And  it  is,  more- 
over, agreed  that  this  Assembly  will  send  delegates  to  sit  and  consult  with 
the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  and  receive  their  delegates  to  sit  in 
this  Assembly,  agreeably  to  another  article  of  the  plan,  as  soon  as  due  infor- 
mation shall  be  received  that  it  is  adopted  on  the  part  of  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut. 

"The  Rev.  Dr.  McKnight,  Dr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  John  Woodhull,  Dr. 
Samuel  S.  Smith,  Dr.  Alison,  Dr.  Nesbit,  Mr.  John  B.  Smith,  Mr.  Graham, 
Mr.  Lacy,  Mr.  McCall,  Mr.  McDonald,  and  Dr.  McCorkle,  were  appointed 
a  Standing  Committee,  to  certify  the  good  qualifications  of  the  preachers 
travelling  to  officiate  in  the  bounds  of  the  Association  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticvit. 

"And  it  was,  moreover,  agreed,  that  any  preacher  travelling  as  aforesaid, 
shall  have  at  least  the  name  of  one  of  the  committee  who  shall  belong  to  the 
Synod  from  whose  bounds  he  came." — Minutes,  1792,  p.  52. 

§15. 

[In  the  next  Assembly]  "  The  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Matthias  Burnet  from  the  General  Association  of  the  State  of  Connec- 
ticut, appeared  in  the  Assembly,  produced  an  extract  from  the  records  of 
that  Association,  whereby  it  appeared  that  the  convention  between  that 
Association  and  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America  had  been  ratified  on  their  part,  and  that  these 
gentlemen,  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  were  appointed,  agreeably 
to  an  article  of  said  convention,  to  sit  in  this  Assembly.  Whereupon,  Dr. 
Edwards  and  Mr.  Burnet  were  admitted  as  members  and  took  their  seats 
accordingly." — Minutes,  1798,  p.  64. 

§  16.    The  delegates  allowed  to  vote. 

"Ordered,  That  the  delegates  appointed  from  the  General  Assembly  to 
the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  propose  to  the  Association,  as  an 
amendment  to  the  articles  of  intercourse  agreed  upon  between  the  aforesaid 
bodies,  that  the  delegates  from  these  bodies  respectively,  shall  have  a  right, 
not  only  to  sit  and  deliberate,  but  also  to  vote  in  all  questions  which  may  be 
determined  by  either  of  them ;  and  to  communicate  the  result  of  their  pro- 
posal to  the  next  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  1794,  p.  80. 

[In  the  Association]  "The  motion  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  that  the  delegates  from  that  Assembly  to  this  Association, 
and  the  delegates  from  this  Association  to  that  Assembly  be  empowered  to 
vote  in  all  questions  decided  in  those  bodies  respectively,  was  taken  into 


500  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

consideration;  and  after  discussion,  the  General  Association  voted  a  com- 
pliance with  the  said  proposal." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  96. 

§  17.    Correspondence  with  the  General  Convention  of  Vermont. 

"A  communication  to  this  General  Assembly  from  the  General  Conven- 
tion of  the  regular  Ministers  of  the  gospel  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  pro- 
posing the  formation  of  a  plan  of  ministerial  intercourse  between  them  and 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  was  brought  in  and  read." — Minutes,  1802,  p.  238. 

[In  reply  to  this  communication  the  Assembly  requested  information  as  to  the  doctrines 
and  discipline  of  the  Convention.] — Minutes,  1802,  p.  249. 

§18. 

"The  committee  appointed  on  the  communication  from  the  Convention  of 
the  regular  Ministers  of  the  gospel  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  reported.  The 
report  being  considered  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

'^  Your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  although  this  Assembly  have  not 
received  any  answer  to  the  request  of  last  Assembly  proposed  to  the  Con- 
vention of  Vermont,  yet  the  Assembly  have  received  satisfactory  information 
on  the  subjects  alluded  to,  both  from  their  own  delegates  to  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut  of  last  year,  and  also  from  the  representatives  of 
that  body  in  the  present  Assembly.  The  committee  therefore  submit  the 
following  plan  of  union  and  intercourse  between  the  said  Convention  and 
the  General  Assembly,  viz. 

"1.  Each  body  shall  send  one  or  two  delegates  to  meet  and  sit  with  the 
other,  at  the  stated  sessions  of  each  body,  respectively. 

^'2.  The  delegate  or  delegates  from  each  respectively,  shall  have  the 
privilege  of  joining  in  the  discussions  and  deliberations  of  the  body  as  freely 
and  fully  as  their  own  members. 

"3.  That  the  union  and  intercourse  may  be  full  and  complete  between 
the  said  bodies,  the  delegate  or  delegates  from  each  respectively,  shall  not 
only  sit  and  deliberate,  but  also  act  and  vote ;  which  articles  comprise  the 
great  principles  of  the  union  between  the  General  Assembly  and  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut." — Minutes,  1803,  p.  279. 

[Ratified  by  the  Convention,  except  that]  "the  Convention,  considering 
the  smallness  of  their  number,  and  distance  from  the  Assembly's  usual  place 
of  meeting,  cannot  promise  to  send  an  annual  delegation  to  the  Assembly." 
—Minutes,  1804,  p.  297. 

§19. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  delegate  appointed  to  represent  this  Assembly  at  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Convention  of  Vermont  be,  and  he  hereby  is  authorized 
to  propose  and  agree  upon  the  same  regulations  which  have  been  agreed  to 
be  observed  by  this  Assembly  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut, 
in  relation  to  the  credentials  requisite  for  such  Ministers  as  may  come 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Assembly  or  the  Convention  of  Vermont  for  the 
purpose  of  preaching  the  gospel." — Minutes,  1809,  p.  422. 

[The  proposal  "was  agreed  to  with  great  unanimity"  by  the  Convention.] — Minutes, 
1810,  p.  436. 

§  20.    Correspondence  with  the  General  Association  of  New  Hampshire. 

"  A  proposal  from  the  General  Association  of  New  Hampshire  was  made 
by  the  llev.  William  F.  Rowland  and  the  Rev.  John  H.  Church,  commis- 
sioners appointed  for  that  purpose,  for  a  uuion  between  them  and  this 
Assembly,  similar  to  that  subsisting  between  the  General  Association  of 


Part  I.]  NEW   ENGLAND   CHURCHES.  '  501 

Connecticut  and  this  Assembly.     The  certificate  of  their  appointment  and 
the  papers  accompanying  it  were  read. 

^^ Resolved,  That  said'union  be  formed." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  485. 

§  21.    Correspondence  witJi  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts. 

"A  letter  from  a  committee  of  a  Convention  of  the  Congregational  Min- 
isters in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  directed  to  the  Moderator,  was  received 
and  read.     It  is  as  follows,  viz. 

«« To  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly   of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 

States  of  America. 
"Rev.  Sir — We  are  appointed  a  committee  by  the  Convention  of  the  Congregational 
Ministers  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  to  inform  you  that  at  their  last  meet- 
ing they  passed  the  following  vote,  viz.  ♦  That  it  be  proposed  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  and  the  General  Association  in  Connecticut,  not  to 
receive  or  countenance  any  candidate  from  us  who  does  not  bring  credentials  from  a  regu- 
lar body  among  us  known  to  them;  assuring  them  that  we  will  observe  the  same  rule 
with  respect  to  candidates  from  them,  and  informing  them  that  we  shall  be  glad  to  hear 
from  them  upon  all  subjects  which  relate  to  the  interests  of  our  common  Christianity,  and 
will  communicate  every  information  upon  such  subjects  as  may  tend  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  religion. 

"  We  are  also  directed  to  inform  you,  that  measures  are  taking  to  collect  information 
with  respect  to  the  present  state  of  our  Churches,  which  we  shall  take  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity to  transmit  to  the  General  Assembly. 

"  You  will  please  to  communicate  the  above  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  we  shall  be 
happy  to  receive  an  answer  by  the  earliest  opportunity  upon  this  interesting  subject. 

"  We  are.  Rev.  Sir,  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  the  Congregational  Ministers  of  Massa- 
chusetts, your  brethren  in  the  faith  and  fellowship  of  the  gospel, 

Joseph  Wiilakd,  David  Tappan, 

Peter  Thatcher,  Joseph  Eckley, 

Jedediah  Morse." 
—Minutes,  1794,  p.  79. 

§22.    TJie  reply  of  the  Assembli/. 

"Rev.  Gentlemen — Your  communication  of  the  8th  instant,  in  the  name 
and  behalf  of  the  Congregational  Ministers  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts, has  been  received,  and  we  embrace  the  earliest  opportunity  to 
express  our  hearty  approbation  of  your  proposal  to  preserve  the  Churches 
committed  to  our  care,  respectively,  from  being  visited,  and  consequently 
injured,  by  deceivers,  under  the  appearance  of  regular  Ministers.  To  pre- 
vent the  evil  as  much  as  possible,  we  would  further  propose,  that  no  minis- 
ter or  preacher  from  either,  be  received  or  encouraged  by  the  other,  unless 
he  produce,  beside  recent  testimonials  from  regularly  constituted  authorities, 
private  letters,  or  some  corroborating  testimony  in  his  favour,  not  so  capable 
of  being  forged.  The  form  of  the  first  being  known,  an  artful  man  may, 
without  much  difficulty,  fabricate  a  certificate  in  his  own  behalf,  and  have  it 
apparently  authenticated  in  due  order,  with  the  assistance  of  an  accomplice 
or  two,  while  he  will  hardly  venture  to  pass  his  own  contrivance  for  the 
last;  at  least  he  will  very  seldom  venture  it  with  success.  This  method  has 
been  practised  by  us  for  a  considerable  time,  in  receiving  clerical  characters 
from  Europe;  it  has  been  found  the  most  effectual  to  prevent  imposition, 
and  now  appears  equally  necessary  to  be  observed  in  the  admission  of  those 
who  may  come  from  distant  parts  of  our  own  nation.  And  though  no  cor- 
respondence may  have  existed  between  any  persons  residing  in  the  district 
from  which,  and  to  which,  a  regular  minister  or  preacher  proposes  travelling, 
sufficient  intercourse  prevails  between  intermediate  places,  to  admit  of  his 
being  regularly  handed,  and  sufficiently  recommended,  till  he  reach  the 
object  of  his  destination."     *****    — Minutes,  1794,  p.  87. 


502  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE         [Book  VI. 

§  23.   Proposal  for  interchange  of  delegates. 

"  A  proposal  from  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts  proper,  was 
made  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Lyman,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Worcester, 
delegates  appointed  for  that  purpose,  for  the  establishment  of  a  union  between 
them  and  this  Assembly,  similar  to  that  subsisting  between  the  Association  of 
Massachusetts  proper,  and  the  Associations  of  Connecticut  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. The  certificate  of  their  appointment,  and  the  articles  of  union  with 
said  Association  were  read. 

"  The  articles  of  said  union  are  as  follows: 

"1.  The  General  Association  of  Connecticut  and  the  General  Association 
of  Massachusetts  proper,  shall  annually  appoint  each  two  delegates  to  the 
other. 

"2.  The  delegates  shall  be  admitted  in  each  body  to  the  same  rights  of 
sitting,  debating,  and  voting  with  their  own  members  respectively. 

"3.  It  shall  be  understood  that  the  articles  of  agreement  and  connection 
between  the  two  bodies,  may  be  at  any  time  varied  by  their  own  consent. 

"  The  same  articles  were  adopted  in  their  connection  with  the  Association 
of  New  Hampshire. 

"  The  delegates  stated  that  the  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  was  adopted  as  the  basis  of  their  union,  and  by  answering  several 
questions  proposed  to  them,  fully  satisfied  the  Assembly  relative  to  the 
standard  of  their  faith,  and  the  object  of  their  Association;  whereupon, 

''  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  said  union  be  formed." — Jlinutes,  1811, 
p.  462. 

§  24.    Correspondence  with  the  General  Conference  of  Maine. 

"The  Rev.  Benjamin  Tappan,  and  William  Ladd,  Esquire,  appeared  in 
the  Assembly,  and  produced  commissions  as  delegates  from  the  General 
Conference  of  Maine." 

''The  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the  delegates  from  the  General 
Conference  of  the  State  of  Maine,  made  the  following  report,  which  was 
adopted,  viz. 

"  That  after  obtaining  all  the  information  which  they  deemed  requisite, 
respecting  the  body  proposing  this  connection,  they  have  agreed  to  recom- 
mend to  the  General  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  articles  of  cor- 
respondence, which  the  above  named  delegates  doubt  not  will  be  readily 
acceded  to  on  the  part  of  the  General  Conference. 

"1.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  General 
Conference  of  Maine,  shall  each  appoint  one  or  two  delegates  to  attend  these 
bodies  respectively;  and  in  case  two  are  appointed,  one  may  be  a  layman; 
for  the  purpose  of  communicating  to  each  other  whatever  may  be  mutually 
useful  to  the  Churches  under  their  care,  and  conducive  to  Christian  har- 
mony and  co-operation,  and  to  the  general  interest  of  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom. 

"2.  These  delegates  shall  have  the  privilege  of  proposing  such  measures 
as  they  may  deem  important  or  desirable,  and  of  delivering  their  opinions 
on  any  questions  under  discussion,  but  shall  have  no  vote  in  the  decisions 
of  the  bodies  respectively  to  which  they  shall  be  delegated. 

"  3.  It  shall  be  deemed  irregular  for  any  Presbytery,  Conference  or  Asso- 
ciation, within  the  bounds  of  the  corresponding  Churches,  to  receive  any 
Candidate  for  licensure,  Licentiate,  or  ordained  Minister,  into  connection 
with  either,  without  regular  testimonials,  and  a  regular  dismission  from  the 
Presbytery,  Conference,  or  Association,  from  which  the  said  Candidate, 
Licentiate,  or  Minister  may  come. 

"4.  Each  of  the  bodies  forming  these  articles  of  correspondence  shall 


Part  I.]  NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCHES.  503 

appoint  a  committee  for  certifying  the  good  standing  of  Ministers  travelling 
from  the  one  to  the  other.  The  names  of  the  persons  composing  these  com- 
mittees respectively,  shall  be  mutually  communicated  by  the  two  bodies; 
and  it  shall  not  be  considered  as  a  matter  of  oifence  if  a  Licentiate  or 
ordained  Minister,  from  either  body,  travelling  without  a  certificate  of  regu- 
lar standing,  from  one  or  more  members  of  said  committee,  shall  not  be 
received  or  treated  as  such. 

"5.  It  shall  be  understood  that  these  articles  of  agreement  and  corres- 
pondence between  the  two  bodies  may  be,  at  any  time,  modified  by  mutual 
consent,  or  terminated,  when  either  body  shall  decide  and  announce  that 
they  are  no  longer  considered  as  answering  the  great  purposes  intended  to 
be  promoted  by  them,  and  that  their  termination  is  desired." — Minutes, 
1828,  p.  222. 

§25. 

"The  delegate  from  the  General  Conference  of  Maine,  reported  that  said 
Conference  has  adopted  the  articles  of  union  and  correspondence  prbposed 
by  the  last  Gleneral  Assembly,  with  the  exception  of  the  third  article,  in 
place  of  which,  they  propose  the  following,  viz.  While  the  General  Con- 
ference of  Maine  has  not,  nor  does  it  claim  an  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
over  the  particular  Conferences,  Associations,  Councils  or  Churches,  in  its 
connection,  it  cheerfully  unites  with  the  General  Assembly  in  the  expression 
of  the  opinion,  that  it  is  irregular  for  any  ordained  Minister,  Licentiate, 
Candidate  for  licensure,  or  Church  member,  to  be  received  into  ecclesiastical 
connection  within  the  limits  of  one  of  the  corresponding  bodies,  from  the 
other,  without  due  testimonials."     [Accepted.] — Minutes,  1829,  p.  367. 

§  26.    Correspondence  with  the  Evangelical  Consociation  of  Rhode  Island. 

''The  Rev.  Isaac  Lewis  appeared  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  made 
application  on  behalf  of  the  Evangelical  Consociation  of  Rhode  Island,  for 
a  correspondence  with  the  General  Assembly  on  the  same  terms  with  the 
other  Congregational  bodies  of  New  England,  in  correspondence  with  this 
body.  This  subject  was  referred  to  Dr.  Miller,  Mr.  Squier,  and  Mr.  Arm- 
strong." 

"The  committee  reported,  that  after  making  careful  inquiry  of  the  dele- 
gate concerning  the  faith,  order,  and  present  state  of  the  Churches  forming 
the  body  which  he  represents,  they  would  respectfully  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz, 

"1.  That  the  proposal  of  the  Evangelical  Consociation  of  Rhode  Island 
be  complied  with;  and  that  a  plan  of  correspondence  between  that  body  and 
the  General  Assembly  be,  and  the  same  hereby  is  adopted,  on  the  same 
terms  which  regulate  the  correspondence  between  the  General  Assembly  and 
the  other  Congregational  bodies  of  New  England. 

"2.  That  there  be  an  annual  interchange  of  one  delegate  from  each  to 
the  other  respectively. 

"B.  That  the  Rev.  Isaac  Lewis,  the  bearer  of  this  proposal  from  the  Con- 
sociation of  Rhode  Island,  be  invited  to  take  his  seat  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly as  the  representative  of  that  body." 

"The  report  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1831,  pp.  160,  171. 

§  27.    Violations  of  the  conditions  of  corresj)ondence. 

"Overture  No.  10  was  taken  up,  viz.  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  the  ordination  of  Mr.  John  Chambers  by  the 
Association  of  the  Western  District  uf  New  Haven  county,  Connecticut." 


504  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

"After  discussion  of  the  subject  at  considerable  length,  the  following 
resoluti(ju  was  adopted,  viz. 

'^Jicst/fraJ,  That  a  committee  of  this  Assembly,  consisting  of  three,  be 
appointed  to  attend  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Association  of  Connec- 
ticut to  be  convened  at  Stamford,  in  June  next,  to  meet  a  similar  committee 
of  that  Association,  if  said  Association  shall  be  pleased  to  appoint  one,  for 
the  purpose  of  conferring  on  the  grievance  of  which  the  Presbytery  of  Phi- 
ladelphia complains,  and  of  inquiring  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what  further 
articles  or  alteration  of  the  present  terms  of  intercourse  between  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  and  the  members  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  in  Connecticut,  may  be  expedient  for  the  better  promotion  of  the 
purity,  peace,  and  Christian  discipline  of  the  Churches  connected  with  the 
two  bodies;  which  further  articles  or  alterations  of  the  present  terms  of 
intercourse,  if  any  shall  be  proposed  by  the  joint  committee,  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  and  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  1827,  for  adoption  or  rejection." — Miimtes,  1826,  pp.  16,  19. 

§  28. 

[The  committees  met  in  New  York,  Aug.  1,  1826.] 

"  From  the  commission  and  instructions  of  the  committee  from  the  Gene- 
ral Association  of  Connecticut,  it  appeared  that  they  had  no  power  to  do 
any  thing  in  relation  to  the  case  of  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Chambers,  but 
that  they  were  appointed  only  on  that  part  of  the  communication  which 
respects  the  terms  of  intercourse  between  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut. 

"After  mature  deliberation,  it  was  unanimously 

"Reso/oed,  That  the  two  following  rules  be  proposed  to  the  General 
Assembly  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  for  the  future  regula- 
tion of  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  viz. 

"  1.  That  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  and  unfriendly  for  any  Presbytery 
or  Association  within  the  bounds  of  the  corresponding  Churches,  to  receive 
any  candidate  for  licensure,  licentiate,  or  ordained  minister,  into  connection 
with  either,  without  regular  testimonials,  and  a  regular  dismission  from  the 
Presbytery  or  Association  from  which  the  said  candidate,  licentiate,  or  min- 
ister may  come. 

"  2.  That  the  delegates  commissioned  respectively  by  the  corresponding 
Churches  to  attend  the  highest  body  of  each,  be  hereafter  empowered  agree- 
ably to  the  original  plan  of  correspondence  between  the  two  Churches,  to  sit 
and  deliberate  only,  but  not  to  vote. 

"The  above  report  was  accepted,  and  the  two  resolutions  recommended 
by  the  joint  committee  were  adopted  by  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1827, 
p.  112. 

[They  were  adopted  by  the  Association.] — Minutes,  1828,  p.  225. 

§  29.  Delegates  sJiould  not  he  alloioed  to  vote. 
[See  above,  §  28.] 

"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  General  Asso- 
ciations of  Massachasetts  and  New  Hampshire,  and  the  General  Conven- 
tion of  Vermont. 

"  Chri^fian  Brethren,  heloved  in  the  Lord: — It  appears  that  in  the  plan 
of  intercourse  between  the  Congregational  Churches  of  New  England,  and 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  an  article  was  adopted 
which  is  now  believed  to  be  inconsistent  with  a  sound  construction  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  latter  Church.  This  article  it  is  due  to  truth  and 
candour  to  remark,  was  proposed  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  without  any 


Part  I.]  NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCHES.  505 

overture  from  the  Congregational  Churches,  and  in  regard  to  which,  they 
did  nothing  more  than  ac,cede  to  the  proposition  submitted  to  them.  The 
article  to  which  we  allude,  relates  to  the  powers  granted  to  the  delegates  of 
the  corresponding  Churches,  to  vote  as  well  as  to  deliberate  on  the  vari- 
ous subjects  that  may  come  before  the  representatives  of  these  Churches 
respectively.  The  right  of  voting  in  the  General  Assembly  cannot,  it  is 
believed,  be  constitutionally  granted  to  any,  but  to  Commissioners  appointed 
by  the  Presbyteries,  whose  representatives  compose  the  Assembly. 

"  We  have,  therefore,  respectfully  to  request,  that  the  plan  of  intercourse 
between  you  and  us  may  be  so  modified,  as  that  the  delegates  to  each  body 
may  hereafter  be  empowered  to  sit  and  deliberate  only,  but  not  to  vote.  It 
is  believed,  that  the  modification  here  contemplated,  if  it  shall  be  consented 
to  on  your  part,  will  not  only  place  the  Assembly  on  constitutional  ground,* 
but  by  placing  your  Association  on  the  same  footing  with  other  religious 
communities,  with  which  we  hold  a  friendly  correspondence,  will  destroy 
the  appearance  of  an  invidious  distinction  which  now  exists,  and  thus  be 
calculated  to  promote  extensively  that  mutual  friendship  and  harmony  which 
it  is  desirable  to  maintain  and  perpetuate,  among  all  who  love  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus." — Minutes,  1827,  p.  127, 

§  30.  Rejjlies  of  the  Associations. 

"  From  the  report  of  the  delegate  to  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  it 
appeared  that  the  memorial  of  the  last  Assembly  to  these  bodies  was  laid 
before  each  of  them ;  and  that  the  General  Association  of  New  Hampshire 
have  adopted  the  proposition  in  the  memorial,  viz.  that  the  delegates  from 
each  body  to  the  other,  should  hereafter  sit  and  deliberate  only,  but  not 
vote ;  and  that  the  General  Convention  of  Vermont  had  committed  the  sub- 
ject to  a  committee  which  are  to  report  to  the  next  Convention, 

''  From  the  minutes  of  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  pre- 
sented to  the  Assembly,  it  appears  that  that  body  have  respectfully  declined 
adopting  the  alteration  proposed  in  the  memorial  of  the  Assembly." — 31in- 
utes,  1828,  p.  224.     [See  below,  §  33.] 

§  31.    Other  amendments  proposed  hi/  the  Assembly. 

(a)  "  The  committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report  on  the  propriety 
of  proposing  to  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  the  General  Convention  of  Vermont,  the  adoption  of  the  first  of 
the  two  rules  proposed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  the  General  Association  of 
Connecticut,  [see  above,  §  28,]  reported,  that  they  view  the  adoption  of  said 
rule  as  necessary  to  the  peaceful  and  harmonious  correspondence  of  the 
bodies  concerned  j  and  would  therefore  recommend,  that  the  delegates 
appointed  this  year  to  the  Associations  and  Convention  above-named,  be 
instructed  to  present  the  rule  referred  to,  to  their  consideration.  The  report 
was  adopted." — Minutes,  1828,  p.  229. 

(h)  "A  communication  was  received  from  the  General  Association  of 
Massachusetts,  on  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  the 
articles  of  correspondence,  which  were  read  and  referred." 

''The  committee  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  That  the  original  articles  are  silent  on  the  subject  presented  in  the  pro- 
posal of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  the  reply  of  the  General  Association 
of  Massachusetts;  and  that  the  principles  of  intercourse  were  in  all  respects 
governed  by  sentiments  of  mutual  courtesy  and  confidence.  While  your 
committee  would  have  been  gratified  by  a  prompt  acquiescence  of  the  Gene- 
ral Association  of  Massachusetts  in  the  additional  article  proposed  by  the 
Assembly,  yet  they  do  not  perceive  in  the  reply  of  the  Association  anything 
64 


506  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

that  should  interrupt  the  intercourse  which  has  existed  between  them  from 
the  beginning." — Minutes,  1829,  p.  369. 

§  32. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  10,  viz.  the  request 
of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  in  relation  to  the  right  of  voting  on  the  part  of 
corresponding  bodies,  reported  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted, 
viz. 

'<  1.  That  the  Commissioners  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  General  Asso- 
ciation of  Massachusetts,  be  appointed  a  committee  of  conference  with  a 
committee  who  may  be  appointed  by  the  General  Association  for  the  same 
purpose,  with  the  view  of  adopting  a  course  on  this  subject  that  may  meet 
-the  wishes  both  of  this  Assembly  and  that  Association. 

''  2.  That  the  Commissioners  from  this  Assembly  to  the  General  Associa- 
tion of  Massachusetts,  for  the  present  year,  and  for  subsequent  years,  be 
instructed  not  to  vote  in  any  of  the  business  that  may  come  before  that 
body. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  delegates  to  the  General  Association  of  Massachu- 
setts be  instructed  to  inform  that  Association,  that  while  this  General 
Assembly  do  most  cordially  accept  and  approve  the  expression  of  their  sen- 
timents with  regard  to  candidates,  licentiates,  and  Ministers,  under  censure 
for  heresy  or  immorality,  they  do  also  most  respectfully  and  affectionately 
represent  to  the  Association,  that  they  deem  it  highly  important  that  it 
should  be  considered  irregular  that  any  candidate,  licentiate,  or  Minister, 
whose  credentials  are  withheld  on  account  of  the  violation  of  ecclesiastical 
order,  should  be  received  by  either  of  the  corresponding  bodies." — Minutes, 
1829,  pp.  385,  389. 

§  33. 

"  The  two  following  resolutions,  adopted  by  the  General  Association  of 
Massachusetts,  and  contained  in  the  report  of  the  delegates  to  that  body, 
were  approved  by  this  Assembly,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  minutes, 
viz. 

^^Resolved,  1.  That  this  Association,  having  learned  that  the  existing 
rule  of  intercourse  with  the  General  Assembly,  so  far  as  it  respects  the 
right  of  voting  in  the  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings  of  that  body, 
transcends  the  power  vested  in  it,  do  waive  their  accustomed  privilege  of 
voting  by  their  delegates  in  said  body  in  such  proceedings;  desiring  that 
as  much  of  the  same  reciprocal  intercourse,  which  has  for  a  series  of  years 
so  pleasantly  existed  between  said  bodies,  may  continue,  as  shall  not  con- 
flict with  the  fundamental  principles  of  their  organization. 

*'  2.  That  this  Association  regret  that  their  proceedings  on  the  subject  of 
receiving  licentiates  and  candidates,  &c.,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  General 
Association,  were  not  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  General  Assembly.  On 
the  broad  ground  of  heresy  and  immorality,  they  have  no  hesitancy  in 
expressing  their  opinion,  that  it  would  be  irregular  for  either  body  to  receive 
licentiates,  candidates,  and  Ministers,  without  the  usual  certificates  and 
recommendations;  but  as  views  of  Christian  Ministers  on  the  subject  of 
ecclesiastical  order  may  honestly  diifer;  and  as  this  Association  has  no 
control,  either  legislative  or  judicial,  over  the  respective  Associations  of 
which  it  is  composed,  they  cau  only  refer  the  resolutions  of  the  Assembly 
on  this  subject  to  the  particular  consideration  of  their  district  Associations, 
with  the  fullest  confidence  that  on  questions  of  ecclesiastical  order,  as  well 
as  on  every  other  subject,  they  will  be  disposed  to  meet  the  views  and  pro- 


Part  I.]  NEW   ENGLAND   CHURCHES.  507 

mote  the  interests  of  our  highly  respected  and  beloved  brethren  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church." — 3£inutes,  1830,  p.  8. 

§  34.  Neiv  violations  of  the  terms  of  intercourse. 

"  Of  the  particular  cases  submitted  by  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  2d,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion  among  those  who  desire  to 
maintain  a  pure  and  kind  relation  between  us  and  our  Congregational 
brethren.  In  both  cases,  (viz.,  the  receiving  and  licensing  of  a  candidate 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  by  the  Western  Association  of  New  Haven 
county,  and  the  continuance  of  a  member  of  the  Berkshire  Association  irr 
one  of  the  Congregations  of  the  2d  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  after  the 
Presbytery  had  decided  that  they  could  not  receive  him,)  there  was  a  plain 
departure  from  the  design  of  the  original  agreement,  and  the  express  pro- 
visions of  the  stipulations  of  A.  D.  1827. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  communicate  a  copy  of  the  minute  in 
the  above  cases  to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  and  to  the  Gen- 
eral Association  of  Massachusetts." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  38. 

§  35.  Proposal  to  corresjwnd  tJirough  the  Pastoral  Union. 

^'  The  committee  appointed  by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  revise  the 
articles  of  correspondence  between  this  General  Assembly  and  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut,  with  a  particular  view  of  ascertaining  whether 
the  certificates  given  to  Ministers  and  candidates  from  the  State  of  Connec- 
ticut shall  not  hereafter  be  required  from  the  Pastoral  Union,  and  not,  as 
heretofore,  from  the  General  Association,  respectfully  report, 

"  That  they  have  deemed  it  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of  their  appoint- 
ment to  submit  the  two  following  facts,  viz. 

"  I.  The  certificates  of  dismission  granted  by  the  particular  Associations, 
to  Ministers,  &c.,  coming  from  Connecticut,  are,  by  the  terms  of  our  cor- 
respondence with  the  General  Association,  of  equal  validity,  as  to  their 
prima  facie  claim  to  be  honoured  by  this  Church,  whether  emanating  from 
Associations  composed  of  a  majority  of  adherents  to  the  New  Haven  School, 
or  of  a  majority  of  the  friends  of  the  doctrines  taught  at  East  Windsor, 
(which  is  under  the  control  of  the  Pastoral  Union.)  And  by  the  very  con- 
stitution of  these  Associations,  they  must  necessarily  give  the  usual  certifi- 
cate of  good  standing  to  all  persons  alike,  without  reference  to  the  place  of 
their  theological  education,  or  to  the  phases  of  their  theological  sentiments. 
There  is  no  discrimination  between  such  '  shades  of  diiference'  as  are  knowu 
to  prevail  in  Connecticut;  and  the  documents  thus  granted  contain  no  hint 
to  enable  us  to  conjecture  whether  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  given  are 
of  the  orthodox  faith,  or  of  the  doctrine  taught  at  New  Haven. 

"The  provision  now  existing  among  us,  by  which  Presbyteries  are 
enjoined  to  examine  all  persons  applying  for  admission  from  other  bodies, 
may  be  regarded  as  affording  at  least  a  partial  protection  against  the  intro- 
duction of  New  Havenism  through  this  channel.  And  this  provision  would 
be  neither  more  nor  less  necessary  nor  serviceable,  were  the  terms  of  corres- 
pondence abrogated  or  continued. 

"  Although  the  '  particular  view'  of  the  committee  has  been  directed  by 
the  Assembly  to  this  point,  there  is  yet  another  involved  in  the  terms  of 
correspondence.  That  is  the  interchange  of  delegates  between  the  General 
Association  and  the  General  Assembly.  The  Committee  do  not  see  it 
necessary  to  recommend  the  abrogation  of  this  provision.  They  are  assured 
that  the  interchange  is  desired  by  the  friends  of  sound  theology  in  Connec- 
ticut, and  that  they  would  regret  the  interruption  of  it.  They  have  uni- 
formly, in   the  General  Association,  recognized  and  even  advocated  the 


508  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

ecclesi.astical  rights  and  legitimacy  of  this  Assembl}';  have  urged  the  con- 
tinuance of  this  interchange;  and  have  succeeded,  from  year  to  year,  in 
securing  the  app(nntment  of  delegates  from  the  Association  to  this  Assem- 
bly, notwithstanding  the  Assembly,  for  some  yeai's  past,  has  omitted  to 
make  the  reciprocal  appointments.  Moreover,  the  Greneral  Association 
did  last  year  formally  rec^uest  the  General  Assembly  to  continue  the  corres- 
pondence, and  have  this  year  sent  delegates  to  the  Assembly,  notwithstand- 
ing the  Assembly,  thus  far,  has  not  taken  any  notice  of  that  request. 

''II.  The  Pastoral  Union  is  not  a  body  ecclesiastically  organized  for  the 
purposes  contemplated  by  the  Assembly's  resolution  appointing  this  Com- 
mittee. It  is  a  voluntary  Association  of  Ministers,  who  are  members  of  the 
various  particular  Associations  represented  by  the  General  Association;  and 
its  organization  is  for  a  specific  purpose  which  is  not  only  not  inconsistent 
with  their  original  relationship  to  the  General  Association,  but  does  not 
require  a  separation  from  the  General  Association — which  is  the  only  recog- 
nized and  distinct  ecclesiastical  representative  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  Connecticut.  The  Pastoral  Union,  therefore,  neither  exercises 
the  functions,  nor  deems  it  proper  or  necessary  to  do  so,  of  licensing,  ordain- 
ing, or  judging  Ministers,  &c.,  and  of  course  neither  receives  nor  dismisses 
Ministers,  &c.,  in  the  sense  contemplated  by  the  Assembly.  Those  func- 
tions are  performed  solely  by  the  regularly  established  ecclesiastical  bodies, 
viz.,  the  particular  Associations  to  which  the  individual  members  of  the 
Pastoral  Union  respectively  belong.  And  therefore  the  Pastoral  Union  is 
incapable  of  being  a  party  to  such  a  correspondence  as  that  which  exists 
between  the  General  Assembly  and  various  other  regularly  organized  and 
distinct  ecclesiastical  denominations,  without  being  ipso  facto  placed  in  such 
a  posture  as  would  involve  the  Union  in  the  necessity  of  licensing  candi- 
dates and  ordaining  Ministers,  which  would  be  in  efl'ect  to  secede  from  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment  in  Connecticut,  and  to  assume  the  position  of 
a  distinct  and  independent  denomination." 

[The  report  was  adopted.] — Minutes,  1841,  p.  417. 

Title  3. — Correspondence  since  the  events  of  1837  and  1838. 

§36. 

[The  correspondence  with  the  Churches  of  New  England  having  experienced  a  partial 
interruption  in  consequence  of  the  transactions  of  1837  and  1838,  the  Uommittee  on  Cor- 
respondence in  1841,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted.] 

§37. 

"  The  Committee  on  Correspondence  with  the  several  ecclesiastical  bodies 
to  which  the  Assembly,  previous  to  the  secession  of  a  part  of  their  body  ia 
1838,  sent  delegates,  report, 

<'That  in  the  year  1840,  and  again  this  year,  the  General  Association  of 
Connecticut  sent  delegates  to  the  General  Assembly.  The  Committee  recom- 
mend that  agreeably  to  the  original  terms  of  correspondence,  this  Assembly 
elect  three  delegates  to  attend  the  next  meeting  of  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut;  and  that  the  delegates  so  elected,  propose  to  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut,  to  reduce  the  number  of  delegates  from  each 
body  to  the  other,  to  two  or  one. 

"  The  committee  further  report,  that  on  a  request  from  the  General  Con- 
ference of  Maine,  the  correspondence  with  that  body  was  formally  renewed 
by  the  General  Assembly" of  1840,  which  Assembly  appointed  a  delegate  to 
Maine,  and  that  there  is  a  delegate  from  that  body  in  this  Assembly.  The 
Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  to  elect  a  delegate  to  the  next  Gene- 
ral Conference  of  the  State  of  Maine. 


Part  I.]  NEW   ENGLAND   CHURCHES.  509 

"The  committee  also  report,  that  they  have  learned,  that  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church,  at  their  meeting  in  June 
last,  appointed  delegates  to  attend  this  Assembly;  and  they  therefore 
recommend,  that  two  delegates,  a  Minister  and  a  Ruling  Elder,  be  elected 
to  attend  the  next  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church. 

"  With  respect  to  the  other  bodies  formerly  in  correspondence  with  the 
General  Assembly,  inasmuch  as  they  have  not,  since  the  year  1838,  when  a 
part  of  the  Assembly  seceded,  and  constituted  a  new  body,  sent  any  delegates 
to  the  General  Assembly,  or  any  communication  on  the  subject  of  correspond- 
ence, the  committee  recommend  that  no  delegates  be  sent  to  these  bodies, 
and  that  the  Assembly  consider  the  correspondence  with  them  as  having  de 
facto  terminated. 

"The  delegates  from  Maine  and  Connecticut  were  introduced  to  the 
Assembly  by  the  Moderator;  and  they  were  invited  to  take  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  house." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  421. 

§38. 

"The  Moderator  informed  the  Assembly  that  the  Rev.  Samuel  "Williams, 
a  delegate  from  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  is  present. 

"  On  motion,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  resolution  adopted  on  Monday  last  declaring  the  cor- 
respondence with  certain  other  bodies  in  this  country  to  be  at  an  end,  be 
reconsidered,  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  General  Association  of  Massachu- 
setts. 

"The  Assembly  then.  Resolved  to  lay  that  part  of  the  aforesaid  resolution 
on  the  table,  and  to  invite  Mr.  Williams  to  sit,  and  to  partake  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  house. 

"The  resolution  declaring  the  correspondence  with  certain  other  bodies 
in  this  country  to  be  at  an  end,  was  reconsidered,  and  repealed  in  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts." — Minutes,  1841, 
pp.  428,  429. 

"The  Committee  on  Domestic  Correspondence,  to  whom  was  committed  a 
copy  of  the  printed  minutes  of  the  General  Convention  of  Vermont,  con- 
vened August,  1839,  reported  that  they  found  in  the  minutes  the  following 
resolution,  viz.  '  Voted  that  the  Convention  invite  a  correspondence  with 
the  Assembly  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wilson  was  the  last  Moderator,  and 
that  the  Register  be  directed  to  communicate  this  vote.'  The  committee 
recommended  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

^y  Resolved,  That  agreeably  to  the  above  invitation  of  the  General  Con- 
vention of  Vermont,  the  Assembly  will  correspond  with  that  body  by  dele- 
gation as  formerly. 

"The  resolution  was  adopted." — Ihid.  p.  435. 

§  39.    Overture  from  the  General  Association  of  New  York. 

"The  Committee  [of  Commissions]  reported  that  the  Rev.  E.  W.  An- 
drews has  presented  a  certificate  from  the  General  Association  of  New 
York,  as  a  delegate;  and  an  overture  from  that  body  for  a  correspondence 
with  the  General  Assembly."     [Committed.] 

"The  committee  made  a  report  which  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  the  body  in  question  is  a  respectable  body  of  Congregationalists, 
agreeing  in  doctrine  with  the  stricter  Congregationalists  of  New  England, 
and  having  a  similar  Form  of  Government.  Rut  as  certain  issues  are  now 
pending  which  are  likely  to  eventuate  in  giving  to  said  body  a  more  fixed 
and  uniform  character,  and  as  Mr.  Andrews,  the  very  respectable  delegate 


610  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

from  said  body  is  not  now  in  the  city,  any  further  action  on  the  question  at 
this  meeting  of  the  Assembly  seems  unnecessary." — Minutes,  1843,  pp.  170, 
183. 

§  40.  Interference  with  the  slavery  question. 
[In  1846  the  General  Assembly  received  a  letter  from  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
necticut, on  the  subject  of  Slavery.     The  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence  reported 
on  it,  recommending  that  it  'be  placed  on  file,  and  that  nothing  more  be  done  in  regard  to 
\\.:]— Minutes,  1846,  pp.  191,  207. 

§41- 

(a)  "The  Rev.  Mr.  MeClure,  delegate  from  the  General  Association  of 
Massachusetts,  took  leave  of  the  Assembly,  and  in  doing  so,  laid  before  the 
Assembly  the  following  paper,  which  he  had  been  instructed  to  present,  viz. 

"The  Committee  on  the  memorial  of  the  Worcester  North  Association, 
reported  the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

'^Resolved,  That  in  maintaining  correspondence  and  connection  with 
the  two  General  Assemblies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  look  with  deep 
and  fraternal  solicitude  upon  the  position  of  those  bodies  with  respect  to  the 
sin  of  slavery; — that  our  strong  sympathies  are  with  such  brethren,  in  those 
Assemblies,  as  are  labouring  in  an  earnest  and  Christian  spirit,  to  put  an 
end  to  this  evil;  and  that  we  desire  our  delegates  to  those  Assemblies,  in  a 
decided  but  courteous  manner,  to  express  our  deep  conviction  that  the  rights 
of  the  enslaved,  the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  the  honour  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church,  require  those  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  use  all  their  legiti- 
mate power  and  influence  for  the  speedy  removal  of  slavery  from  the 
Churches  under  their  supervision." — Minutes,  1850,  p.  473. 

(h)  ^^  Resolved,  That  our  delegate  to  the  next  General  Association  of 
Massachusetts  be  directed  to  inform  that  venerable  body,  that  this  General 
Assembly  must  consider  itself  the  best  judge  of  the  action  which  it  is  neces- 
sary for  it  to  take  as  to  all  subjects  within  its  jurisdiction;  and  that  any 
interference  on  the  part  of  that  General  Association  with  its  action  upon 
any  subject  upon  which  this  General  Assembly  has  taken  order,  is  oifensive, 
and  must  lead  to  an  interruption  of  the  correspondence  which  subsists 
between  that  Association  and  this  General  Assembly." — Ibid.,  p.  475. 

(f)  "A  communication  from  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts 
was  read,  and  on  motion,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Corres- 
pondence. 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence  submitted  the  following  report 
which  was  unanimously  adopted,  viz.         *         *         *         * 

(d)  "That  as  to  the  communication  from  the  General  Association  of 
Massachusetts,  this  Assembly,  before  receiving  it,  had  appointed  a  delegate 
to  that  body  for  the  present  year,  but  can  by  no  means  recede  from  the  reso- 
lution adopted  last  year. — Minutes,  1851,  pp.  16,  18. 


CHAPTER  II. 

correspondence  with  the  dutch  reformed  and  the  associate 
reformed  churches. 

Title  1. — Early  Intercourse. 

§  42.  Early  relations  to  the  Dutch  Church, 
(a)  "The  Rev.  Mr.  Dorsius,  Pastor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in 
Bucks  couuty,  laid  a  letter  before  us  from  the  deputies  of  North  and  South 


Part  I.]  DUTCH   AND   ASSOCIA-TE   REFORMED.  511 

Holland,  wherein  they  desire  of  the  Synod  an  account  of  the  state  of  the 
High  and  Low  Dutch  Churches  in  this  province,  and  also  of  the  Churches 
belonging  to  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  whether  the  Dutch 
Churches  may  be  joined  in  communion  with  said  Synod,  or  if  this  may  not 
be,  that  they  would  form  themselves  into  a  regular  body  and  government 
among  themselves.  In  pursuance  of  which  letter  the  Synod  agree,  that  let- 
ters be  wrote  in  the  name  of  the  Synod,  to  the  deputies  of  these  Synods  in 
Holland,  in  Latin,  and  to  the  Scotch  ministers  in  Rotterdam,  giving  them  an 
account  of  the  Churches  here,  and  declaring  our  willingness  to  join  with  the 
Calvinist  Dutch  Churches  here,  to  assist  each  other  as  far  as  possible  in  pro- 
moting the  common  interests  of  religion  among  us,  and  signifying  the  pre- 
sent great  want  of  ministers  among  the  High  and  Low  Dutch,  with  desire 
that  they  may  help  in  educating  men  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  And  the 
Synod  ordered,  that  Messrs.  Andrews,  Cross,  Evans,  junior,  and  the  Mode- 
rator, do  write  said  letters." — Minutes,  1744,  p.  176. 

(h)  "The  High  Dutch  Congregation  of  Rockway,  in  the  township  of  Leba- 
non, applied  to  the  Synod  that  they  may  be  taken  under  the  care  of  this 
[New  York]  Synod,  and  that  a  certain  person  now  preaching  among  them 
may  be  taken  under  examination,  and  if  approved,  ordained  a  Minister  to 
them.  The  Synod  in  order  to  clear  their  way  to  transact  anything  with 
said  people,  do  appoint  Mr.  Pemberton  to  make  inquiry  of  the  Dutch  min- 
isters in  New  York,  whether  said  people  do  belong  to  their  jurisdiction;  and 
he  is  to  acquaint  a  committee  of  the  Synod  how  that  matter  is." — Minutes, 
1750,  p.  242. 

(c)  "■  Mr.  Light,  an  approved  Minister  of  the  Dutch  Church,  being  pre- 
sent, is  desired  to  sit  with  this  [New  Y'ork]  Synod  as  a  correspondent." — 
Minutes,  1756,  p.  270, 

§  43.    Treaty  for  systematic  correspondence. 

"  The  Rev.  Dutch  Classis  of  New  Brunswick  having  expressed  an  uneasi- 
ness with  regard  to  some  members  of  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York  and  New 
Brunswick,  it  was  moved  that  a  committee  of  this  [New  York]  Synod  be 
appointed,  conditionally,  to  meet  with  a  committee  expected  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Dutch  Synod,  now  meeting  at  New  York,  at  a  time  and  place  to  be 
fixed  by  them,  in  order  to  compromise,  if  possible,  all  subjects  of  difference 
existing  between  them,  and  to  determine  a  line  for  their  future  conduct  with 
regard  to  each  other,  and  to  enter  into  an  amicable  correspondence  with  the 
Dutch  committee,  upon  subjects  of  general  utility,  and  friendship  between 
the  Churches. 

"  The  Synod  upon  the  motion  resolved,  that  Drs.  Rodgers,  McWhorter, 
Spencer,  and  Smith,  and  Messrs.  Alexander  Miller,  J.  Woodhull,  and  Israel 
Read,  be  a  committee  accordingly,  to  meet  a  committee  of  the  Dutch  Synod, 
for  the  above-mentioned  objects,  at  the  time  and  place  the  said  Synod  may 
please  to  appoint;  and  that  Dr.  Rodgers  be  appointed  to  give  timely  notice  to 
the  above  members,  of  the  time  and  place  of  the  meeting  of  the  committees, 
as  appointed  by  the  Dutch  Synod." — Minutes,  1784,  p.  505. 

§44. 

"  The  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  last  year,  to  meet  with  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Low  Dutch  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
report,  that  they  were  disappointed  of  meeting  by  a  mistake,  and  one  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  informing  the  Synod  that  some  of  the  brethren  of 
the  Dutch  Synod,  and  one  of  the  members  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod, 
had  expressed  a  desire  of  some  measures  being  taken  for  promoting  a  friendly 
intercourse  between  the  three  Synods,  or  laying  a  plan  of  some  kind  of  union 


512  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

amonp;  them,  whereby  they  might  be  enabled  to  unite  their  interests  and  com- 
bine their  efforts,  for  promoting  the  great  cause  of  truth  and  vital  religion; 
and  at  the  same  time  giving  it  as  their  judgment,  that  such  plan  was  prac- 
ticable. The  Synod  were  happy  in  finding  such  a  disposition  in  the  brethren 
of  the  above  Sjmods,  and  cheerfully  concur  with  them  in  thinking  that  such 
a  measure  is  both  desirable  and  practicable,  and  therefore  appoint  Drs, 
Witherspoon,  Jones,  liodgers,  McWhorter,  Smith,  Messrs.  Martin,  Duffield, 
Alexander  Miller,  Israel  Read,  John  Woodhull,  and  Nathan  Kerr,  a  com- 
mittee to  meet  with  such  committees  as  may  be  appointed  by  the  Low  Dutch 
Synod  now  sitting  iu  New  York,  and  by  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  to 
meet  in  that  city  next  week,  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  agreed  upon, 
to  confer  with  the  brethren  of  said  Synods  on  this  important  subject,  and  to 
concert  such  measures  with  them  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  great  ends 
as  they  shall  judge  expedient,  and  report  the  same  to  the  next  meeting  of 
this  Synod. 

The  above  committee  are  also  to  do  what  may  be  necessary  on  the  busi- 
ness for  which  the  committee  first  mentioned  in  this  minute  were  appointed." 
— Minutes,  1785,  p.  508. 

§  45.    Convention  of  the  three  Synods. 

"  The  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  last  year,  to  meet  with  the  com- 
mittees of  the  Low  Dutch  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
and  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  made  report  of  their  proceedings, 
which  is  as  follows,  A'iz. 

(a)  "Proceedings  of  the  committees  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  the  Low  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  of  New  Yorli  and  New  Jersey,  of  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  New  Yoric 
and  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  met  at  New  York  the  5th  day  of 
October,  1785. 

The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  David  Telfair. 

The  members  present:  Of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Dutch  Reformed  Synod  :  Dr. 

John  H.  Livingston,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  J.  K.  Hardenbergh,  Romeyn,  Solomon  Fre- 

ligh,  and  Dr.  Westerlo.  Elders:  Messrs.  Philip  Nagle,  Henry  Kennedy,  and  William 
Schermerhorn. 

Of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia:  Drs.  John 
Rodgers,  Alexander  McWhorter,  Samuel  Smith,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Nathan  Kerr  and  John 
Woodhull.  ? 

Of  the  committee  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod :  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Smith, 
David  Telfair,  John  Mason,  and  Robert  Annan. 

The  Rev.  David  Telfair  was  chosen  Moderator,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Smith,  and  Mr.  Solo- 
mon Freligh,  were  chosen  Clerks. 

A  motion  was  made  by  Dr.  Rodgers,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Hardenbergh,  that  the  respec- 
tive committees  produce  their  commissions,  which  being  produced  and  approved,  were 
ordered  to  lie  on  the  table. 

(6)  The  respective  committees  communicated  to  each  other  in  writing,  or  verbally,  an 
explicit  detail  of  the  standards,  both  in  regard  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  observed  in 
the  respective  Churches  they  represent. 

On  motion,  a  committee  of  two  from  each  committee  was  appointed  to  meet  this  even- 
ing, to  converse  on,  and  digest  the  several  subjects  to  be  laid  before  the  Convention.  The 
gentlemen  appointed  were  Messrs.  John  K.  Hardenbergh,  Dr.  Westerlo,  Dr.  McWhorter, 
Dr.  Samuel  Smith,  Robert  Annan,  and  John  Smith. 

The  Convention  adjourned  till  to-morrow  at  five  o'clock,  P.  M. 

Thursday,  five  o'clock,  P.  M. 
The  Convention  met  according  to  adjournment,  and  was  opened  with  prayer. 
The  Kev.  Dr.  Witherspoon  appeared  and  took  his  seat. 

(c)  The  committee  of  six  made  report  of  what  had  been  digested  and  determined  by  them, 
in  conformity  with  the  spirit  and  intention  of  their  commission,  being  as  follows,  viz. 
The  inquiries  proposed  by  the  committee  of  the  Dutch  Church  were  read. 
The  first  contained  a  request  to  know  what  the  formulas  of  doctrine  and  worship  are, 


Part  L]  DUTCH  and  associate  reformed.  513 

to  which  each  of  the  Synods  respectively  adhere,  and  the  mode  in  which  they  testify  that 
adherence,  and  prevent  or  punish  any  departure  from  them.  The  answer,  on  the  part  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Synod,  was  contained  in  the  representation  given  in  by  their  com- 
mittee in  writing  to  the  convention. 

(d)  On  the  part  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  it  is  contained  in  the 
representation  given  in  by  their  committee,  articles  first  and  fifth,  viz. 

Article  1st:  The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  adopt,  according  to  the  known 
and  established  meaning  of  the  terms,  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  as  the  con- 
fession of  their  faith,  save  that  every  candidate  for  the  gospel  ministry  is  permitted  to 
except  against  so  much  of  the  twenty-third  chapter  as  gives  authority  to  the  civil  magis- 
trate in  matters  of  religion.  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  America  considers  the  Church 
of  Christ  as  a  spiritual  society,  entirely  distinct  from  the  civil  government,  having  a  right 
to  regulate  their  own  ecclesiastical  policy,  independently  of  the  interposition  of  the  magis- 
trate. 

(e)  The  Synod  also  receives  the  Directory  for  Public  Worship  and  the  Form  of  Church 
Government  recommended  by  the  Westminster  Assembly,  as  in  substance  agreeable  to 
the  institutions  of  the  New  Testament.  This  mode  of  adoption  we  use,  because  we 
believe  the  general  platform  of  our  government  to  be  agreeable  to  the  sacred  Scriptures; 
but  we  do  not  believe  that  God  has  been  pleased  so  to  reveal  and  enjoin  every  minute 
circumstance  of  ecclesiastic  government  and  discipline  as  not  to  leave  room  for  orthodox 
Churches  of  Christ,  in  these  minutiae,  to  difter  with  charity  from  one  another. 

(/)  Article  5th:  The  rules  of  our  discipline,  and  the  form  of  process  in  our  Church 
judicatories,  are  contained  in  Pardovan's  (^alias  Stewart's)  Collections,  in  conjunction 
with  the  acts  of  our  own  Synod,  the  power  of  which,  in  matters  purely  ecclesiastical,  we 
consider  as  equal  to  the  power  of  any  Synod  or  General  Assembly  in  the  world.  Our 
Church  judicatures,  like  those  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  from  which  we  derive  our 
ofigin,  are  Church  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  and  Synods,  to  which  it  is  now  in  contempla- 
tion to  add  a  National  and  General  Assembly. 

(g)  On  the  part  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  the  answer  was  given  in  a  verbal 
representation  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mason,  and  is,  in  substance,  very  analogous  to  that 
made  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 

Resolved,  That  the  formulas  and  standards  adopted  by  the  respective  representations, 
are  mutually  satisfactory,  and  lay  a  suflicient  basis  for  the  fraternal  correspondence  and 
concord  of  the  several  Synods. 

To  the  second  inquiry,  whether  the  corresponding  Synods,  in  order  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  entire  confidence  in  each  other,  were  willing  to  give  solemn  and  mutual  assurances 
of  their  vigilance  and  fidelity  in  requiring  of  their  ecclesiastical  officers  an  explicit  and 
unequivocal  assent  to  their  present  formulas  or  standards  of  discipline  and  faith;  and  will 
take  such  measures  as  to  them  respectively  shall  seem  most  reasonable  and  effectual  to 
secure  the  same  fidelity  and  orthodoxy  in  all  time  to  come;  the  answer  was  unanimously 
given  in  the  affirmative. 

Resolved,  That  the  nature  of  these  assurances  be  left  to  be  determined  by  the  conven- 
tion. 

(A)  The  third  inquiry  was,  whether  the  Synods  will  agree  mutually  to  watch  over 
each  other's  purity  in  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  whether  they  will  agree  mutually  to 
receive  complaints  that  may  be  made  by  either  of  the  others  against  particular  members 
of  their  respective  bodies,  who  may  be  supposed  to  be  departing  from  the  faith,  or  from 
the  exactness  of  their  church  discipline.  Agreed  in  the  affirmative,  but  that  the  mode 
shall  be  referred  to  the  general  convention. 

(i)  The  fourth  inquiry  was,  whether  the  Synods  would  mutually  promise  to  introduce 
and  maintain  in  their  Church  the  most  exact  discipline,  according  to  their  several  stand- 
ards, that  the  circumstances  of  the  country  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  will  bear. 

Resolved,  That  this  is  an  article  of  the  utmost  importance;  and  resolved,  moreover, 
that  it  be  recommended  to  the  convention  to  consider  of,  and  adopt,  proper  means  for  aiding 
the  exercise  of  discipline  by  discouraging  fugitives  from  it  out  of  any  of  the  churches;  and 
especially,  by  not  receiving  any  persons  to  church  membership  without  sufficient  creden- 
tials of  their  good  moral  character  and  orderly  behaviour,  from  the  church  to  which  they 
now  immediately  belong,  or  have  lately  belonged. 

(k)  The  fifth  inquiry  relates  to  grievances  or  causes  of  complaint  that  may  have  arisen 
between  the  ministers  or  congregations  of  the  respective  Synods. 

Resolved,  That  they  ought  to  be  candidly  heard,  and  the  most  speedy  and  effectual 
measures  taken,  as  far  as  possible,  to  redress  them. 

G5 


514  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

(/)  The  sixth  and  last  inquiry,  or  proposition, respects  some  mode  of  establishing  a  visi- 
ble intercourse  and  permanent  correspondence  between  the  several  Synods. 

liesolrcd,  That  this  subject  be  referred  to  the  consideration  of  the  convention;  but  that 
it  be  recommended  to  the  convention  to  endeavour  to  establish  an  annual  convention  of 
the  three  Synods,  by  their  delegates,  which  may  consist  of  at  least  three  ministers  and 
three  elders  from  each,  and  that  the  general  objects  of  this  annual  convention  be  to 
strengthen  each  other's  hands  in  the  great  work  of  the  gospel  ministry;  to  give,  and  to 
receive  mutual  information  of  the  state  of  religion  within  their  respective  churches;  to  con- 
sider of,  and  adopt,  the  most  prudent  means  to  prevent  or  remedy  any  causes  of  dissension 
that  may  happen  to  arise  between  our  respective  congregations,  agreeably  to  the  instruc- 
tions that  may  be  given  by  the  respective  Synods;  and  to  concert  measures  for  uniting 
our  eflbrts  to  defend  and  promote  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  oppose  the  progress  of 
infidelity  and  error;  and  to  adopt  plans  for  effectually  assisting  the  exercise  of  discipline  in 
our  churches,  and  encouraging  each  other  in  its  execution,  and  for  such  other  purposes 
as  the  convention  may  think  proper. 

Besolvei/f  To  recommend  that  the  first  meeting  of  the  above  convention  shall  be  held 
on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October  1786,  at  New  York,  and  afterwards  at  such  time  and 
place  as  shall  be  appointed  at  the  preceding  convention. 

§  46. 

Which  report  being  read  and  ordered  to  a  second  reading,  was  thereupon  ordered  to  be 
read  by  paragraphs.     Whereupon 

Resolved,  That  the  report  of  the  committee  be  approved  and  adopted. 

With  relation,  however,  to  those  matters  referred  by  said  committee  to  this  convention, 
as  being  by  them  left  undetermined. 

Resolved,  1st.  On  the  second  inquiry,  that  the  manner  in  which  the  Synods  shall  give 
the  solemn  pledge  to  each  other  of  the  formula  of  their  faith  which  they  have  here  openly 
professed,  and  of  their  strict  attachment  to  the  same,  shall  be  by  an  act  of  each  Synod, 
wherein  an  accurate  recital  of  such  formula  shall  be  made,  with  a  positive  declaration  that 
it  is  their  sincere  determination  before  God,  always  to  abide  by  the  same,  for  which  pur- 
pose they  honestly  pledge  themselves  to  the  two  other  Synods ;  which  declaration  and 
promise  shall  be  signed  by  the  President  or  Moderator  of  the  Synod,  and  at  the  first  con- 
vention to  be  formed  by  delegates  from  the  respective  Synods,  be  read  and  entered  upon 
the  records  of  the  convention,  and  copies  of  all  the  declarations  be  transmitted  to  each 
Synod,  and  entered  upon  their  respective  records;  which  records  shall  remain  a  perpetual 
witness  against  either  party  who  shall  deviate  therefrom.  And  also,  that  each  Synod 
shall  communicate  by  their  respective  delegates,  the  form  of  testimonials  or  credentials 
given  to  their  candidates,  and  of  those  to  ordained  ministers,  which  copies  shall  also  be 
entered  on  the  records  of  the  respective  Synods. 

2d.  On  the  third  inquiry,  that  we  will  mutually  watch  over  each  other's  purity  in  doc- 
trine and  discipline,  and  be  ready  to  receive  complaints  against  any  of  our  ministers  upon 
these  subjects,  and  that  the  mode  in  which  such  complaint  shall  be  preferred  and  prose- 
cuted, shall  be  either  by  individuals,  who  may  prosecute  in  their  own  name,nw!  pcruulo; 
or  by  a  Classis,  Presbytery,  or  Synod  of  a  sister  Church,  in  which  case  it  shall  be  taken 
up  as  afama  clamosu,  and  prosecuted  by  the  Classis,  Presbytery,  or  Synod,  to  which  the 
offender  or  offenders  may  belong;  and  the  whole  proceedings  on  the  subject  shall  be 
transmitted,  properly  authenticated  by  the  Moderator,  the  Praises,  the  Scribe  or  the  Clerk, 
to  the  informing  body,  for  their  satisfaction. 

3d.  On  the  fourth  inquiry.  Resolved,  That  in  order  to  aid  the  exercise  of  discipline,  and 
discourage  fugitives  from  ii,  every  Classis,  Presbytery,  or  Synod,  shall  officially  communi- 
cate to  its  neighbouring  Presbytery,  Classis,  or  Synod,  the  name  or  names  of  every  minis- 
ter or  candidate  subject  to  censure,  either  of  a  lesser  or  higher  nature,  after  which  such 
Presbytery,  Classis,  or  Synod,  shall  be  held  to  view,  and  treat  such  ministers  or  candidates 
as  lying  under  ecclesiastical  censure,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  if  they  belonged  to 
their  own  hodyi  until  such  person  or  persons  shall  be  regularly  acquitted  or  restored  by 
the  judicatory  who  had  inflicted  such  censure. 

4th.  With  reference  to  the  fifth,  relating  to  such  grievances  as  may  hereafter  arise  in 
consrrcgations  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  different  corresponding  Synods,  it  is  deter- 
mined that  such  differences  shall  be  referred  to  the  consideration  of  a  future  convention. 
But  as  it  is  possible  that  some  contingencies  may  arise,  which  will  render  a  call  of  the  con- 
vention before  the  stated  time  of  meeting  necessary,  so  it  is  Resolved,  that  a  power  be  lodged 
in  the  Moderator  of  the  convention,  with  the  consent  of  one  member  of  the  convention  at 


Part  I.]  DUTCH   AND   ASSOCIATE   REFORMED.  515 

least  from  each  Synod,  by  circular  letters  to  call  an  extraordinary  convention,  provided 
such  a  call  be  not  more  than  once  in  one  year. 

5th.  The  convention  thought  proper  to  amend  the  resolution  of  their  committee,  by 
agreeing  to  a  biennial  instead  of  an  annual  convention. 

On  motion  to  ascertain  and  limit  the  powers  of  the  convention  in  all  times  to  come, 
Resolved,  That  those  powers  shall  be  merely  of  counsel  and  advice,  and  that  it  shall  on 
no  account  possess  judiciary  or  executive  authority,  and  every  subji'ct  that  shall  come 
regularly  before  the  convention,  shall,  after  being  properly  digested,  be  referred  to  the 
respective  Synods,  together  with  the  opinion  of  the  convention,  and  the  reasons  on  which 
it  is  founded,  for  their  judiciary  and  ultimate  decision. 

Agreed,  That  the  convention  shall,  when  met,  set  apart  a  certain  portion  of  their  time 
for  social  and  fervent  prayer  to  Almighty  God,  for  his  blessing  on  their  counsels  and  the 
churches  they  represent;  and  that  said  convention,  whenever  circumstances  appear  to 
them  to  require  public  and  general  humiliation  or  thanksgiving,  shall  recommend  to  the 
corresponding  Synods  to  set  apart  the  same  day  to  be  observed  throughout  all  their 
churches. 

Besolved,  That  Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  Livingston,  and  Mr.  Mason,  be  a  committee  to  draw 
out  three  fair  copies  of  the  above  minutes,  in  order  that  each  of  the  corresponding  Synods 
may  be  furnished  with  one. 

Concluded  with  prayer." — Minutes,  1786,  p.  518. 

§  47.  Action  of  the  Synod  on  this  report. 

[In  Synod]  "  The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  to  meet 
with  the  Committees  of  the  Low  Dutch  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York,  and 
New  Jersey,  and  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  resumed.  It  appears 
by  the  report  of  said  committee  that  they  have  conversed  fully  and  freely 
with  the  brethren  of  the  above  Synods  on  the  subject  of  an  union  with 
them,  and  the  Synod  approves  their  diligence  and  fidelity  in  this  matter, 
and  agree  to  appoint  a  committee  to  meet  such  delegates  as  may  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  above  Synods  on  this  business,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on 
the  second  Tuesday  of  October  next." — Ihid.  p.  521. 

§48. 

''The  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  instructions  to  regulate  the  con- 
duct of  the  delegates,  to  meet  with  the  delegates  of  the  Low  Dutch  Reformed 
Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod  in  convention  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  October  next,  laid  them 
before  Synod,  which  with  some  amendments  were  approved,  and  are  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

''The  delegates  on  the  part  of  this  Synod  are  to  inform  the  convention 
that  this  body  is  about  to  divide  itself  into  four  Synods,  subordinate  to  a 
General  Assembly.  That  they  have  now  under  consideration  a  plan  of 
church  government  and  discipline,  which  it  is  hoped  will,  when  completed, 
be  sufficient  to  answer  every  query  of  the  convention  upon  that  head ;  and 
that  the  mutual  assurances  mentioned  in  the  minutes  of  the  last  convention, 
may,  as  far  as  they  respect  this  Synod,  be  made  with  much  i^ore  propriety 
after  the  intended  system  is  finished  than  at  present. 

"They  are  to  assure  the  convention  of  the  readiness  and  desire  of  this 
body  in  the  meantime  to  unite,  in  a  consistent  manner,  their  influence  with 
that  of  the  other  Synods,  in  order  to  promote  the  spiritual  interest  and  best 
good  of  the  whole.  And  the  delegates  from  this  Synod  are  to  enter  into  a 
friendly  conference  with  those  of  the  other  Synods,  and  in  conjunction  with 
them  to  concert  such  measures  as  shall  appear  best  calculated  to  diff'use 
harmony  and  brotherly  love  through  the  several  churches  and  promote  the 
interest  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  to  make  report  of  the  whole  to 
this  Synod  at  their  meeting  in  May  next. 

<'0n  motion,  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  John  Witherspoon,  John  Rod- 


516  COR,RESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

gers,  Alexander  McWhorter,  Messrs.  Israel  Reed,  John  Woodhull,  Nathan 
Kerr,  with  the  Moderator,  be  appointed,  and  they  are  hereby  appointed 
delegates  on  behalf  of  this  Synod  for  the  purposes  above  mentioned." — 
Minutes,  178G,  p.  524. 

[ISuch  a  committee  was  annually  appointed,  and  made  annual  reports,  until  1792, 
(^Minutes,  p.  50,)  when  the  last  report  was  received,  and  the  subject  passes  from  the 
minutes.] 

§  49.  Renewal  of  the  Correspondence  attempted. 

"  A  letter  was  received  from  the  Secretary  of  the  General  Synod  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church,  inclosing  an  extract  from  the  records  of  the  said 
Synod,  which  was  read,  and  is  as  follows : 

'■'Brethren,  I  am  directed,  as  Secretary  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Re- 
formed Dutch  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  to  transmit  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  inclosed  extract  from  the 
minutes  of  their  late  session.  I  have  the  honour  of  being,  most  affection- 
ately, Yours,  John  Basset. 

Albany,  May  Sth.,  1798. 

"Extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"The  General  Synod  appointed  a  committee  to  report  what  is  necessary 
to  be  done  in  respect  to  reviving  the  friendly  correspondence  with  the 
Presbyterian  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  who  reported  as  follows, 
viz. 

"That  in  their  opinion,  the  most  speedy  and  effectual  measures  ought 
to  be  pursued  to  revive  the  friendly  correspondence  which  subsisted  for 
several  years  between  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  and  the  Presbyterian 
and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  and  to  make  provision  for  its  improve- 
ment and  permanency. 

"To  accomplish  this  purpose,  your  committee  recommend  that  a  commit- 
tee be  appointed  by  the  General  Synod,  to  meet  with  committees  from  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  from  the  Associate 
Reformed  Synod,  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  June,  1798,  in  New  York,  in 
order  to  form  some  plan  of  mutual  correspondence  and  intercourse,  which 
plan  shall  be  reported  to  the  respective  judicatories  for  final  ratification. 

"Your  committee  recommend  that  the  committee  of  the  General  S3^nod 
be  instructed  to  propose  or  consent  to  no  connection  which  would  destroy 
the  distinction  and  independence  of  this  Church,  or  in  the  least  interfere 
with  its  discipline  and  form  of  worship;  and  that  the  three  Churches  give 
mutual  engagements  for  their  adherence  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  their 
respective  confessions. 

"Your  committee  are  also  of  opinion  that,  until  the  plan  of  correspond- 
ence be  estabjished,  the  ministers  of  this  Church  continue  to  invite  into 
their  pulpits  the  ministers  of  the  other  Churches  mentioned,  of  whose  piety 
and  orthodoxy  they  are  well  assured;  and  that  they  continue  to  preach  in 
their  pulpits  when  invited. 

"Your  committee  further  recommend  that,  in  case  this  report  be  appro- 
ved, an  authenticated  copy,  with  their  approbation,  be  transmitted  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod. 

'  "Resolved,  That  this  Synod  agree  to  the  above  report,  and  that  a  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Linn,  Rev.  Mr.  Bunshooler,  Rev.  Mr. 
Studdiford,  Rev.  IMr.  S.  Treligh,  Rev.  Mr.  Shoomaker,  Mr.  Gilbert,  Mr. 
Turk,  and    Mr.  Brinkeroff,   be   appointed   to    meet  with   any  committees 


Part  I.]  DUTCH   AND   ASSOCIATE    REFORMJEb.  517 

which   may  be   appointed  by  the   Presbyterian   and   Associate  Reformed 
Synods. 

"I  testify  the  above  to  be  a  true  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  General 
Synod.  John  Basset,  Secretary. 

— Minutes,  1798,  p.  144. 

§  50.  Delegates  to  the  proposed  Convention. 

''Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Smith,  Dr.  Ashbel 
Green,  Mr.  Andrew  Hunter,  Mr.  John  Woodhull,  Ministers;  Mr.  John 
Nelson,  Mr.  Benjamin  Smith,  Mr.  Joseph  Broome,  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Coe, 
Elders;  be  a  committee  to  meet  with  a  committee  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  and  a  committee  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  conformably, 
to  the  request  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Synod,  at  New  York,  on  the  third 
Thursday  of  June  next,  and  to  report  the  result  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly."—i6i(^.,  p.  146. 

§  51.  Action  of  the  Convention. 

[In  the  convention]  "  the  committee  appointed  to  draught  a  Plan  of  Correspondence 
and  Intercourse  between  the  Churches  represented  in  the  Convention,  brought  in  their 
report,  which,  after  discussion  by  paragraphs,  and  some  amendments,  was  unanimously 
adopted  and  is  as  follows: 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  draught  of  a  Plan  for  Correspondence  and 
Intercourse  between  the  Churches  under  the  superintendence  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  the  General  Synod  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  the  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  beg  leave 
to  report, 

That  from  considerations  of  propriety  and  expediency  it  is  to  be  received  as  the  basis 
of  the  Plan,  that  the  several  ecclesiastical  bodies  or  judicatories  concerned,  are  to  remain 
and  be  preserved  entirely  separate  and  independent.  That,  consistently  with  this  funda- 
mental principle,  the  three  following  kinds  or  degrees  of  intercourse  appear  to  be  practi- 
cable, and  ought  to  be  recommended,  viz. 

1st.  The  communion  of  particular  Churches. 

2d.  The  friendly  interchange  of  ministerial  services. 

3d.  A  correspondence  of  the  several  judicatories  of  the  conferring  Churches. 

1st.  The  communion  of  particular  Churches. 

Any  member  in  communion  with  any  Church  connected  with  this  conference  may  be 
received  to  occasional  communion  in  any  other  Church  thus  concerned,  on  producing,  to 
the  proper  church  officers  to  whom  application  may  be  made,  sufficient  testimonials  of  a 
good  and  regular  standing  in  the  Church  with  which  he  is  statedly  connected ;  provided, 
but  not  otherwise,  that  the  church  officers  to  whom  this  application  shall  be  made,  shall 
judge  that  the  circumstances  of  the  church  of  which  they  have  the  oversight,  render  it 
expedient,  and  for  mutual  edification,  to  admit  the  applicant  to  occasional  communion 
with  them. 

Persons  under  censure  or  process  of  censure  in  any  particular  Church  concerned  in 
this  agreement,  shall  not  be  received  to  occasional  or  stated  communion  in  any  other 
Church  so  concerned,  while  such  censure  remains  or  such  process  is  unfinished. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  when  any  member  in  one  of  said  Churches  desires  to  connect 
himself  with  another,  he  shall  not  be  refused  a  certificate  of  his  good  standing,  when  such 
standing  is  really  good ;  nor  shall  it  be  esteemed  disorderly  or  unkind  for  the  Church  to 
which  he  may  present  said  certificate  to  receive  him. 

2d.  The  friendly  interchange  of  ministerial  services. 

It  shall  be  permitted  to  the  competent  church  officers  in  any  congregation  settled  or 
vacant,  under  the  care  of  the  conferring  judicatories,  to  invite  any  minister  who  is  in 
good  standing  with  the  aforesaid  judicatories,  to  preach  in  the  pulpits  of  such  congrega- 
tions, if  they  shall  judge  it  to  be  expedient.  But  here,  as  in  the  former  case,  it  shall  be 
entirely  optional  to  give  or  to  withhold  such  invitation,  nor  shall  it  be  esteemed  oflensive 
or  unkind  if  the  invitation  be  forborne. 

In  cases  where  the  people  residing  within  the  limits  suitable  to  a  congregation,  shall 
be  composed  of  members  from  two  or  from  all  of  the  conferring  Churches,  it  shall  be 
recommended  to  the  people  thus  circumstanced,  to  call  and  cause  to  be  settled  among 


518  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

them  a  regular  licentiate  or  minister  in  any  of  said  Churches,  as  the  majority  shall  by 
vote  determine,  and  that  such  licentiate  or  minister,  when  thus  settled,  shall  attach 
himself  to  the  judicatories  of  that  Church  to  which  the  majority  so  calling  him  did 
belong,  unless  said  majority  shall  freely  consent  that  the  minister  called  do  choose  the 
judicatory  with  which  he  will  be  connected;  in  which  case  the  minister  may,  without 
any  ofTence,  make  his  choice  among  the  judicatories  of  any  of  the  Churches  conferring; 
and  where  there  are  any  congregations  or  bodies  of  people  in  such  situation  that  they 
cannot  obtain  adequate  supplies  of  ministerial  service  from  that  particular  Church  to 
which  they  or  a  majority  of  them  belong,  it  may  and  shall  be  lawful  for  them  to  make 
regular  applications  for  supplies  to  any  of  the  other  judicatories  concerned  in  this  con- 
ference. 

3d.  A  correspondence  of  the  several  judicatories  of  the  conferring  Churches. 

Any  judicatory  of  the  conferring  Churches  may  invite  the  regular  members  of  any 
other  judicatory  concerned  in  this  agreement  to  sit  as  corresponding  members  whenever 
it  may  be  judged  expedient  so  to  do:  But  here,  as  in  the  former  cases,  a  neglect  to  invite 
shall  not  be  considered  as  offensive,  inasmuch  as  each  judicatory  must  always  be  best 
able  to  judge  whether  such  a  measure  be  expedient. 

It  is  moreover  recommended  that  delegates  be  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly,- by 
the  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  by  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  to  sit 
in  these  judicatories  respectively,  with  the  privilege  of  deliberating  on  all  subjects  that 
may  come  before  them,  and  also  of  voting  on  all  questions  which  the  members  of  the 
judicatory  in  which  they  sit  shall  not  deem  constitutional,  but  without  power  to  vote  on 
any  question  of  this  description.  Provided,  nevertheless,  that  the  number  of  such  dele- 
gates shall  never  exceed  three,  unless  by  a  future  agreement  this  number  be  Increased. 

It  is  further  recommended,  that  the  Churches  conferring  mutually  watch  over  each 
other's  purity  in  doctrine,  discipline  and  manners,  and  be  ready  to  receive  complaints 
against  any  of  their  ministers  or  members  upon  these  subjects,  which  complaints  may  be 
preferred  and  prosecuted  either  by  individuals  in  their  own  name  cum  pcrindo,  or  by  a 
judicatory  which  shall  communicate  the  necessary  information  to  the  judicatory  to  which 
the  ofliender  is  subject;  in  which  latter  case  it  shall  be  taken  up  as  a  fmna  clamosa,  and 
prosecuted  by  said  judicatory,  and  the  whole  proceedings  thereon  shall  be  transmitted  to 
the  informing  body  for  their  satisfaction. 

It  is  understood  that  certificates  or  recommendations  shall  be  esteemed  authentic  and 
sufficient  where  they  are  made  agreeably  to  the  rules  of  that  Church  by  which  they  are 
granted. 

It  is  also  understood  that  all  congregations  in  making  applications  for  supplies  shall 
obtain  leave  for  so  doing  from  the  judicatory  to  which  they  statedly'  and  regularly  belong. 
And  that  in  making  appHcation,  whether  for  supplies  or  for  the  settlement  of  a  minister, 
they  shall  conform  to  the  rules  of  that  judicatory  to  which  the  application  shall  be  made. 

Ordered,  That  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention,  authenticated  by  the  Mode- 
rator and  Clerk,  be  transmitted  to  each  of  the  superior  judicatories  of  the  Churches  con- 
cerned.    Concluded  with  prayer. 

John  Rodrehs,  Moderator. 
John  M.  Mason,  Clerk." 

[Approved  by  the  Assembly.] — Minutes,  1799,  pp.  161,  164. 

'  §  52.    The  Plan  declined  hy  the  two  Synods. 

(a)  Report  from  the  .Associate  Reformed  Synod. 

"  The  Committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  of  Synod  to  confer  with  Committees 
from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  from  the  General  Synod  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  on  the  subject  of  reviewing  and  extending  the  friendly  cor- 
respondence between  the  three  Churches,  being  required  to  give  in  their  report,  Mr.  Mason 
informed  the  Synod,  that  he  and  his  Elder  had  attended  the  Convention  of  the  aforesaid 
Committees,  the  other  members  being  providentially  hindered,  and  laid  on  the  table  an 
authenticated  copy  of  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention. 

Ordered,  That  they  be  read,  which  being  done,  the  Synod  entered  on  the  consideration 
of  the  plan  of  correspondence  and  intercourse  preferred  by  the  Convention. 

After  discussion  thereof  by  paragraphs,  the  vote  was  taken  upon  each  separately,  when 
some  parts  were  adopted  and  others  rejected.     Whereupon,  on  motion. 

Resolved,  That  this  Synod,  ever  inclined  to  listen  with  respect  to  propositions  from 
their  brethren  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  took  under  their  serious  deliberation  the  Plan  of  Correspondence  and 


Part  L]  DUTCH  and  associate  reformed.  519 

Intercourse  preferred  by  the  Convention  of  Delegates  from  the  three  Churches,  held  at 
New  York,  on  the  19th  and  20lh  days  of  June  last,  and  having  maturely  and  candidly 
examined  the  same,  are  of  unanimous  judgment,  that  under  existing  circumstances  the 
ratification  thereof  would  be  highly  inexpedient,  and  destructive  of  edification;  that  they 
nevertheless  adopt,  and  will  co-operate  with  the  conferring  Churches  to  carry  into  effect 
the  following  particulars  of  that  plan,  viz. 

'Persons  under  censure  or  process  of  censure  in  any  particular  Church  concerned  in 
this  agreement,  shall  not  be  received  to  occasional  or  stated  communion  in  any  other 
Church  so  concerned  while  such  censure  remains,  or  such  process  is  unfinished.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  when  any  member  in  one  of  said  Churches  desires  to  connect  himself 
with  another,  he  shall  not  be  refused  a  certificate  of  his  good  standing,  when  such  stand- 
ing is  really  good;  nor  shall  it  be  esteemed  disorderly  or  unkind  for  the  Church  to  which 
he  may  present  said  certificate  to  receive  him. 

'  It  is  further  recommended,  that  the  Churches  conferring,  mutually  watch  over  each 
other's  purity  in  doctrine,  discipHne,  and  manners,  and  be  ready  to  receive  complaints 
against  any  of  their  ministers  or  members  upon  these  subjects;  which  complaints  may  be 
preferred  and  prosecuted  either  by  individuals  in  their  own  name,  cum  periaito,  or  by  a 
judicatory  which  shall  communicate  the  necessary  information  to  the  judicatory  to  which 
the  offender  is  subject,  in  which  latter  case  it  shall  be  taken  up  as  a  fama  damosa,  and 
prosecuted  by  said  judicatory,  and  the  whole  proceedings  thereon  shall  be  transmitted  to 
the  informing  body  for  their  satisfaction.' 

The  Synod,  however,  explicitly  assure  the  other  conferring  Churches,  that  their  refusal 
to  accede  to  the  remaining  parts  of  the  aforesaid  plan  would  be  injuriously  construed,  if 
considered  as  an  indication  of  indifference  or  disrespect  for  these  Churches,  for  which  they 
entertain  and  desire  to  express  an  affectionate  regard:  and  that  they  will  at  all  times 
rejoice  to  concur  with  them  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  common  salvation,  and  the 
honour  of  the  common  Redeemer. 

Extracted  from  the  minutes  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  met  at  Greencastle, 
May  30th,  1799.  Ebenezeh  Dickey,  Clerk  pro  tern." 

—Minutes,  1800,  p.  203. 

(6)  Resolutions  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  held  in  the  city  of 

.Albany  on  the  third  and  following  days  of  June,  1800. 

"1.  Resolved,  TYvaX  the   General  Synod  entertain   an  affectionate  regard  and  sincere 

esteem  for  the  conferring  Churches,  and  have  manifested  these  sentiments  in  the  most 

unequivocal  manner,  in  proposing  a  friendly  correspondence,  and  maintaining  the  same, 

until  the  withholding  of  corresponding  delegates  rendered  it  no  longer  practicable. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  correspondence  organized  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1785,  contem- 
plated nothing  more  than  a  meeting  of  representatives  from  the  respective  Churches,  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  fraternal  consultation,  communicating  and  receiving  mutual  advice  in 
matters  of  discipline,  and  strengthening  and  encouraging  each  other  to  abide  faithful  in 
the  doctrines  of  grace.  The  General  Synod  judged  a  correspondence  instituted  upon 
these  principles  would  combine  the  efforts  of  sister  Churches  in  resisting  the  prevalence 
of  infidelity  and  error,  and  maintain  the  bond  of  charity  and  communion  without  disturb- 
ing the  internal  peace  of  the  respective  Churches,  or  introducing  innovations. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Synod  have  persevered  in  the  same  sentiment,  and  not- 
withstanding the  disagreeable  interruption  of  the  correspondence,  have  continued  willing 
to  revive  and  confirm  the  same  upon  the  principles  first  adopted,  as  appears  by  their 
repeated  resolutions  upon  this  subject  in  the  years  1794  and  1797. 

4.  Resolved,  That  as  nothing  more  than  a  revival  of  the  former  correspondence  with 
both  the  conferring  Churches  was  intended,  and  as  any  further  intercourse  than  was  first 
agreed  upon  with  either  of  them,  would  be  highly  inexpedient,  and  in  the  circumstances 
of  this  Church  wholly  inadmissible,  therefore  the  General  Synod  finds  it  necessary  to 
decline  ratifying  the  plan,  which  embraces  objects  not  anticipated  by  the  Dutch  Church, 
which  is  not  a  revival  of  the  former  correspondence,  but  a  new  and  different  system  of 
intercourse,  and  which,  if  carried  into  effect,  would  not  be  for  edification. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Dutch  Reformed  churches  will  cheerfully  co-operate  with  the 
other  conferring  Churches  in  mutually  watching  over  purity  in  doctrine,  discipline,  and 
manners,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  promote  and  enforce  the  same;  will  give  no  countenance 
to  fugitives  from  censure;  and  will  always  honour  the  certificates  of  church  membership 
from  both  the  conferring  Churches;  agreeably  to  a  similar  determination  expressed  by  the 
Associate  Reformed  Synod,  with  whose  decision  upon  the  subject  this  Synod  cordially 
concur. 


620  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE         [Book  VI. 

6.  Renohed,  That  the  General  Synod  expect  a  charitable  construction  will  be  put 
upon  this  present  decision,  and  that  it  will  be  clearly  understood,  that  they  refuse  a  rati- 
fication from  a  conviction  that  it  would  disturb  the  peace  of  their  churches,  many  of 
which  have  already  expressed  great  uneasiness,  and  given  positive  instructions  against 
adopting  the  proposed  plan.  And  that  it  would  not  tend  so  effectually  to  maintain  order, 
preserve  the  doctrines  of  grace  in  their  purity,  or  promote  fraternal  tranquillity  and 
good  neighbourhood,  as  is  under  the  present  state  of  things  now  attainable.  'I'he  Gen- 
eral Synod  freely  leave  without  offence,  the  respective  conferring  Churches  to  judge 
what  is  proper  and  expedient,  each  for  themselves ;  they  feel  grateful  to  those  who  have 
testified  a  willingness  to  hold  a  more  intimate  intercourse,  and  will  always  rejoice  in  the 
prosperity  of  brethren,  and  the  enlargement  of  Churches,  upon  whom  they  pray  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Lord  may  rest. 

7.  Resolved,  Lastly,  That  an  authenticated  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to 
the  respective  judicatories  of  the  conferring  Churches. 

I  do  hereby  certify  that  the  above  is  a  true  copy  of  the  resolutions  of  Synod,  relative  to 
the  proposed  plan  of  brotherly  correspondence.  Iha  Condict,  P.  S." 

—Minutes,  1800,  p.  203. 

§  53.    Correspondence  opened  with  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod. 

"  Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  attempted,  some  years  back,  to  estab- 
lish a  brotherly  correspondence  between  the  Presbyterian,  Reformed  Dutch, 
and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  but  failed  in  the  attempt;  and  whereas, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  of  the  circumstances  which  then 
existed  in  the  state  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  as  objections  against 
the  correspondence,  are  changed;  and  whereas,  the  General  Assembly 
represent  the  largest  of  the  above  mentioned  three  Churches,  and  therefore 
are  more  directly  bound,  when  an  opportunity  offers,  to  renew  the  overture 
for  such  a  correspondence. 

^^  Resolved,  That  Doctors  Romeyn,  Blatchford,  and  Green,  and  Mr. 
Lewis,  and  Doctor  Rodgers,  be  a  committee  to  confer  with  a  similar  com- 
mittee of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  and  report 
to  the  next  General  Assembly  the  result  of  their  conference  on  the  subject 
of  a  brotherly  correspondence  between  the  two  Churches. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Permanent  Clerk  furnish  them  with  a  copy  of  the 
above  minute." — Minutes,  1819,  p.  704. 

§54. 

[By  the  Synod]  ^^ Resolved,  That  this  Synod  reciprocate  to  the  General 
Assembly  their  assurances  of  a  disposition  to  maintain  a  friendly  corres- 
pondence; and  that  the  Rev.  Drs.  Mason  and  Proudfit,  and  Mr.  McLeod, 
Ministers,  and  Messrs.  William  Wilson,  and  Henry  Rankin,  Elders,  be,  and 
they  hereby  are  appointed  commissioners  to  confer  on  this  subject  with  the 
commissioners  already  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  the 
result  of  their  deliberations  be  reported  to  this  Synod  at  its  next  meeting." 
—Ihid.  p.  707. 

§  55.    Tlie  Plan. 

"The  consideration  of  the  plan  of  a  brotherly  correspondence  between 
this  Assembly  and  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church, 
was  resumed,  and  after  a  full  discussion,  the  plan  was  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows,  viz. 

"I.  The  Churches  are  to  remain  entirely  separate  and  independent. 

"11.  Any  member  of  either  Church  may  be  received  to  communion  in 
the  other,  on  producing  to  the  proper  church  officers  sufficient  evidence  of 
a  good  and  regular  standing  in  the  Church  with  which  he  is  connected. 

"III.  It  shall  be  permitted  to  the  competent  church  officers  in  any  con- 
gregation, settled  or  vacant,  of  either  Church,  to  invite  to  preach  in  their 


Part  I.]  DUTCH  AND   ASSOCIATE   REFORMED.  521 

pulpit,  any  minister  or  probationer,  who  is  in  good  standing  in  either  of  the 
said  Churches,  and  who  preaches  in  their  purity  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  as  they  are  stated  in  their  common  Confession  of  Faith,  and  have 
generally  been  received  and  taught  in  the  Reformed  Churches.  But  it  shall 
be  entirely  optional  to  give  or  withhold  such  invitation,  nor  shall  it  be  es- 
teemed offensive  or  unkind,  if  the  invitation  be  withheld. 

*'IV.  A  vacant  congregation  shall  be  at  liberty  to  call  a  minister  from 
either  of  the  Churches,  according  to  the  order  established  in  that  Church 
from  which  he  may  be  called,  he  conforming  himself  to  the  order  of  the 
Church  to  which  he  shall  be  called.  And  in  case  of  a  congregation  being 
formed  of  people  from  both,  it  shall  be  at  liberty  to  put  itself  under  the  care 
of  either  at  its  option. 

"V.  Persons  under  censure  or  process  of  censure,  in  either  Church,  shall 
not  be  received  in  the  other  Church  while  such  censure  remains^  or  such 
process  is  unfinished. 

"VI.  Any  Presbytery  or  Synod  not  formed  by  delegation  of  either 
Church,  may  invite  the  regular  members  of  any  similar  judicatory  of  the 
other  Church  to  sit  as  corresponding  members;  but  should  the  in^^tation 
not  be  deemed  expedient,  the  withholding  of  it  shall  not  be  considered  as 
unkind  or  offensive. 

"VII.  The  Greneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Glen- 
eral  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  shall  each  appoint  one  min- 
ister and  one  elder,  with  an  alternate  of  each,  to  sit  in  these  judicatories 
respectively,  with  the  privilege  of  deliberating  on  all  subjects  that  may  come 
before  them,  but  not  of  voting  on  any. 

^^  Resolved,  That  to  carry  into  effect  the  last  article  of  this  report,  this 
Committee  of  Conference  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
General  Synod,  to  appoint  their  delegates  the  year  preceding." — Minutes, 
1820,  p.  731. 

[The  Synod  united  with  the  General  Assembly  in  1823.     See  below,  §  101,  et  zeq."] 


Title  2. — Correspondence  with  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 

SINCE  1822. 

§  56.  Intercourse  proposed. 

^^ Resolved,  That  Drs.  Romeyn,  and  Neill,  and  Mr.  Bethune,  be  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  a  committee  from  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  (if  such  a  one  shall  be  appointed,)  on  the  subject  of  a  con- 
nection by  correspondence  between  the  two  Churches." — Minutes,  1822, 
p.  21. 

§  57.   The  Plan  adopted. 

[Upon  the  report  submitted  by  this  committee  to  the  next  Assembly,] 
'■^Resolved,  That  the  plan  of  correspondence  as  amended  by  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  together  with  the  additional  article 
proposed  by  that  body,  be  adopted,  with  an  expression  of  a  hope,  however, 
that  the  additional  article  in  question  will  be  reconsidered  by  the  Synod  at 
their  next  meeting,  so  that  unless  it  should  be  regarded  as  of  vital  import- 
ance to  the  mutual  and  friendly  correspondence  of  both  bodies,  it  may  be 
expunged,  depending  in  this  case  upon  the  honourable  principles  of  inter- 
course founded  on  our  common  Christianity. 

"The  several  articles  of  the  Plan  were  then  r^ad  and  the  vote  taken  upon 
66 


522  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  [Book  VI. 

them  separately,  and  finally,  the  vote  being  taken  upon  the  whole,  they 
were  adopted,  and  are  as  follows,  viz. 

''1.  The  Churches  are  to  remain  entirely  separate  and  independent. 

"2.  Any  member  of  either  Church  maybe  received  to  communion  in 
the  other,  on  producing  to  the  proper  church  officers  sufficient  evidence  of 
a  good  and  regular  standing  in  the  Church  with  which  he  is  connected. 

"3.  It  shall  be  permitted  to  the  competent  church  officers  in  any  congre- 
gation, settled  or  vacant,  of  either  Church,  to  invite  to  preach  in  their 
pulpit,  any  Minister  or  probationer,  who  is  in  good  standing  in  either  of 
said  Churches,  and  who  preaches  in  their  purity  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  as  they  are  stated  in  their  respective  Confessions  of  Faith,  and  have 
generally  been  received  and  taught  in  the  Reformed  Churches;  but  it  shall 
be  entirely  optional  to  give  or  withhold  such  invitations;  nor  shall  it  be 
esteemed  offensive  or  unkind  if  the  invitation  is  withheld. 

"  4.  A  vacant  congregation  shall  be  at  liberty  to  call  a  Minister  from 
either  of  the  Churches,  according  to  the  order  established  in  that  Church 
from  which  he  may  be  called;  he  conforming  himself  to  the  order  of  the 
Church  to  which  he  shall  be  called;  and  in  case  of  a  Congregation  being 
formed  of  people  from  both,  it  shall  be  at  liberty  to  put  itself  under  the  care 
of  either  at  option. 

'^  5.  Persons  under  censure,  or  process  of  censure  in  either  Church,  shall 
not  be  received  in  the  other  Church  while  such  censure  remains,  or  such 
process  is  i;nfinished. 

"  6.  The  Ministers  of  either  Church  may  be  invited  to  sit  as  correspond- 
ing members  in  their  respective  judicatories,  except  the  highest  and  the 
lowest,  viz.,  the  Church  Session  and  Consistory,  the  General  Assembly  and 
the  Greneral  Synod. 

"7.  The  Greneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  shall  each  appoint  one  Minister 
and  one  Elder,  with  an  alternate  to  each,  to  sit  in  these  judicatories  respect- 
ively, with  the  privilege  of  deliberating  on  all  subjects  that  may  come 
before  them. 

*'  8.  {Additional  article.')  The  Ministers  of  one  of  the  corresponding 
Churches,  shall  not  in  any  case  intrude  upon  the  office  of  the  Ministers  of 
the  other  Church."— 3Iinuies,  1823,  p.  122. 

[The  General  Synod  "did  not  think  proper  to  rescind  the  8th  article  in  the  plan  of  cor- 
respondence."]— Minutes,  1824,  p.  198, 

§  58.    Case  of  Leonard  B.  Van  Dyke. 

"The  Committee  to  whom  was  recommitted  the  communication  from  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Synod  in  relation  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Columbia  in  the  case  of  Leonard  B.  Van  Dyke,  made  a  report,  which  being 
read,  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  they  have  given  considerable  attention  to  the  subject  committed 
to  them,  and  find  the  facts  to  be  as  follows,  viz. — That  Leonard  B.  Van  Dyke 
was  a  student  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church, 
and  attached  to  a  Church  under  the  care  of  the  Classis  of  Albany,  belong- 
ing to  the  said  Church ;  That  because  of  doubts  entertained  by  him  relative 
to  certain  standing  articles  of  faith  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  he  was 
refused  a  professorial  certificate  until  his  doubts  on  the  points  in  question 
should  be  removed;  and  for  that  purpose  he  was  advised  to  continue  in  the 
institution,  and  pay  particular  attention  to  the  points  on  which  he  doubted. 
That  Avith  this  advice  he  did  not  comply,  but  offered  himself  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Columbia  as  a  candidate  for  licensure,  and  by  the  said  Presbytery 
was  received  and  licensed.     Such  are  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  in  these 


Part  I.]  ASSOCIATE   PRESBYTERY.  523 

facts  your  committee  are  unable  to  discover  anything  by  which  the  articles 
of  correspondence  between  this  body  and  a  highly  respectable  sister  Church 
have  been  violated.  They  are  however  of  the  opinion  that,  as  the  change 
of  Church  connections  is  a  serious  matter,  calculated  to  effect  the  peace  of 
the  body  left,  and  therefore  not  to  be  needlessly  encouraged,  the  Presby- 
tery of  Columbia  did  not  exercise  due  deliberation  in  the  reception  and 
licensure  of  Mr.  Van  Dyke ;  and  that  they  would  have  acted  with  more 
propriety,  if  instead  of  receiving  informatiou  from  a  member  of  the  Classis 
of  Albany,  and  acting  upon  it,  as  to  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  relation  to  the  judica- 
tories of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  they  had  applied  to  that  Classis 
itself."— lEnutes,  1828,  p.  234. 

§  59.    The  Plan  amended. 

(a)  "A  communication  was  received  from  the  General  Synod  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  relative  to  the  case  of  Mr.  Leonard  B.  Van  Dyke ; 
and  also  proposing  an  additional  article  to  the  articles  of  correspondence 
between  that  body  and  the  (leneral  Assembly." 

(h)  [The  additional  article  was  adopted,  as  follows :]  "  That  none  of  the 
inferior  judicatories  under  the  care  of  the  corresponding  Churches  shall  be 
at  liberty  to  admit  into  their  i-espective  bodies  or  under  their  care,  any  stu- 
dent or  licentiate  from  their  sister  Church,  without  a  regular  dismission 
from  the  ecclesiastical  body,  or  theological  seminary  to  which  he  is  con- 
sidered as  attached." — Minutes,  1830,  pp.  8,  13. 

§  60.  Plan  of  Correspondence  again  modified. 

(a)  [In  1842,  the  terms  of  correspondence  were  so  altered:]  "that  here- 
after the  delegation  shall  consist  of  one  minister  only." — Minutes,  1842, 
p.  28. 

(h)  "Dr.  Scott,  delegate  from  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  presented 
to  the  Assembly  the  following  minute  from  the  General  Synod  of  that  body 
respecting  the  transference  of  churches : 

^^  Resolved,  That,  if  the  General  Assembly  shall  concur,  no  church  shall  be 
transferred  from  the  one  body  to  the  other  without  the  formal  dismissal  of 
the  Presbytery  or  Classis  with  which  it  shall  have  been  connected." — 
Minutes,  1851,  p.  17. 

^^ Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  great  prudence  and 
courtesy  should  be  manifested  by  the  Presbyteries  in  the  reception  of 
churches  from  the  Classes  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church;  and  that  where 
it  is  practicable,  the  consent  of  all  parties  concerned  should  be  at  least 
sought,  and,  if  possible,  secured ;  but  that  the  adoption  of  an  absolute  rule, 
such  as  is  proposed  by  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church, 
would  probably  be  productive  of  hardships  to  churches  and  inconvenience 
to  both  denominations ;  and  therefore,  for  the  present  at  least,  the  Assem- 
bly very  respectfully  and  fraternally  beg  leave  to  decline  its  concurrence  in 
the  adoption  of  said  rule." — Ibid.  p.  21. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE  ASSOCIATE  PRESBYTERY. 

§  61.  Proposed  Union. 

"At  the  request  of  Seceding  Ministers,  Dr.  Witherspoon  moved  to 
have  a  committee  appointed  to  converse  with  them,  with  a  view  to  bring 
about  an  union  betwixt  them  and  this  Synod. 


524  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE  [Book  VI. 

"Also  a  petition  from  several  inhabitants  about  Marsh  Creek  was  brought 
in,  praying  this  Synod  would  use  their  endeavours  to  form  an  union  with 
the  Seceders,  upon  which,  Ordered,  That  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers, 
Mr.  Blair,  Mr.  William  Tennent,  Mr.  McDowell,  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  Mr. 
McWhorter,  and  Mr.  Caldwell,  three  of  whom  to  be  a  quorum,  be  a  com- 
mittee for  said  purpose,  and  that  Dr.  Witherspoon  be  empowered  to  call  the 
committee  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  convenient,  and  that  they 
have  power  to  adjourn  themselves  from  time  to  time." — Minutes,  1769, 
p.  398. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Associate  Presbytery, 
brought  in  the  minutes  of  their  proceedings,  which  were  read,  and  the 
conduct  of  the  committee  was  highly  approved." — Minutes,  1771,  p.  418. 

"Answers  to  several  questions  proposed  by  a  committee  of  the  Synod  to 
the  Associate  Presbytery  were  brought  in;  but  as  the  Synod  had  not  time 
to  read  them,  they  refer  the  consideration  of  them  to  the  following  commit- 
tee: Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Messrs.  McWhorter,  Joseph  Treat, 
William  Mills,  Caldwell,  and  Halsey,  who  are  to  meet  the  sixteenth  of  June 
at  Elizabethtown." — 3Iinutes,  1772,  p.  436. 

The  Committee  appointed  last  Synod  to  consider  the  answers  given  by 
the  Associate  Presbytery  to  sundry  questions  which  had  been  proposed  by 
the  Synod's  committee,  report,  they  met,  and  did  read  and  consider  said 
answers,  and  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  make  any  remarks  upon  them, 
nor  to  give  any  other  answer  to  the  Presbytery  than  as  follows :  that  as  the 
Associate  brethren  had  not  given  any  answer  to  the  proposal  of  the  com- 
mittee from  the  Synod  the  year  before,  that  if  anything  was  to  be  done 
further  toward  a  coalition  between  the  Associate  brethren  and  the  Synod, 
the  proposal  must  come  from  the  former,  which  they,  the  committee,  should 
be  ready  to  receive  any  time  before  next  Synod.  But  that  no  such  propo- 
sal has  been  made  to  them." — Minutes,  1773,  p.  442. 

"A  letter  from  the  Associate  Presbytery,  in  Pennsylvania,  signed  by  the 
Rev.  William  Marshal,  Presbytery  Clerk,  was  brought  in  and  read,  repre- 
senting, that  for  reasons  which  to  them  appear  valid,  they  are  not  at  present 
disposed  to  unite  with  this  Synod,  which  letter  is  ordered  to  be  entered  in 
the  Appendix." — Minutes,  1774,  p.  460. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE  GERMAN  REFORMED  CHURCH. 

§  62.  Early  intercourse. 

"  A  letter  was  brought  in  from  Mr.  Henricus  Goetschius  to  Mr.  Andrews, 
signifying  his  desire,  and  the  desire  of  ^many  people  of  the  German  nation, 
that  he  might  be  ordained  by  order  of  Synod,  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
upon  which  the  said  Mr.  Goetschius  was  desired  to  appear  before  the 
Synod,  that  they  might  see  his  credentials,  and  have  some  discourse  with 
him;  which,  being  done,  he  produced  testimonials  from  Germany,  which 
were  ample  and  satisfactory  to  the  Synod,  respecting  his  learning  and  good 
Christian  conversation ;  whereupon,  he  was  recommended  to  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  to  act  upon  further  trials  of  him,  with  respect 
to  his  ordination,  as  to  them  should  seem  fit." — Minutes,  1737,  p.  133. 


Part  I.]  GERMAN   REFORMED.  625 

§  63.  Correspondence  proposed. 
"Resolved,  That  Dr.  Ely,  the  Eev.  Timothy  Alden,  and  the  Rev.  John 
M.  Duncan,  be  a  committee  to  confer  with  a  committee  from  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  German  Church  of  North  America,  if  such  a  com- 
mittee should  be  appointed  by  that  body,  on  the  subject  of  a  connection 
by  correspondence  between  the  two  Churches." — 3Iinutes,  1823,  p.  144. 

§  64.  Plan  adopted. 

"The  consideration  of  the  report  on  correspondence  with  the  German 
Reformed  Synod  was  resumed.     After  mature  deliberation,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  will  agree  to  an  eclesiastical  cor- 
respondence with  the  German  Reformed  Synod  of  North  America,  on  the 
following  principles,  viz. 

''1.  The  Churches  are  to  remain  separate  and  independent. 

"2.  The  German  Reformed  Synod  and  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  shall  each  appoint  one  Minister  and  one  Elder,  with 
an  alternate  of  each,  or  two  Ministers  with  their  alternates,  as  either  may 
wish,  to  sit  in  these  judicatories  respectively,  with  the  privilege  of  deliber- 
ating on  all  subjects  that  may  come  before  them. 

"The  Rev.  Robert  Cathcart,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Boyd,  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  lay  the  above  articles  of  correspondence  befure  the 
German  Reformed  Synod  at  their  next  meeting,  and  when  adopted  by  that 
body,  the  correspondence  shall  be  considered  as  established." — Minutes^ 
1824,  p.  199. 

[Adopted  by  the  Synod.] — Minutes,  1835,  p.  252. 

§  65.    Suspension  of  intercourse. 

"The  Committee  further  reported  to  the  House,  for  serious  consideration, 
the  resolution  referred  to  them  respecting  our  correspondence  with  the 
German  Reformed  Church,  and  which  is  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  without  intending  to  deny,  as  a  general  principle, 
governing  their  correspondence  with  sister  Churches,  that  the  formally 
acknowledged  creeds  and  symbols  of  faith  are  to  be  taken  as  a  true  repre- 
sentation of  the  doctrinal  views  of  the  IMinisters  and  people  of  any  branch 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  the  official  action  of  this  Assembly  in  relation 
to  them :  yet,  in  view  of  the  peculiar  position  of  the  General  Synod  of  the 
German  Reformed  Church  toward  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Mercers- 
burgh,  whose  Professors,  we  are  pained  to  witness,  have  so  notoriously 
become  antagonistic  to  Protestantism;  and  lest  a  continuance  of  our  corres- 
pondence might  be  understood  as  countenancing  the  fundamental  errors 
which  they  are  labouring  to  disseminate;  and  lest  we  be  regarded  as  disap- 
proving the  course  of  those  in  that  communion,  who  have  so  nobly  con- 
tended against  them — a  respectable  number  of  whom,  we  learn,  have 
wholly  withdrawn  from  the  General  Synod,  on  account  of  the  alarming  pre- 
valence of  these  errors  in  that  body :  therefote,  this  General  Assembly  will 
suspend  its  correspondence  with  the  General  Synod  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  and  decline  sending  a  delegate  to  that  body." 

"The  resolution  of  Mr.  Robinson,  respecting  correspondence  with  the 
German  Reformed  Church,  was  indefinitely  postponed ;  and  it  was  moved 
and  carried,  that  the  General  Assembly  decline  sending  a  delegate  to  the 
German  Reformed  Church  this  year." — Minutes^  1854,  pp.  24,  46. 


526  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE         [Book  VI. 

I 

CHAPTER  V. 

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE  REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

[This  body  has  a  Mission  at  Saharunpur,  in  Northern  India,  under  the  care  of  the 
General  Assembly's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.] 

§  66.  Proposals  for  correspondence. 

'^Resolved,  Ttat  a  committee  be  appointed  by  this  Assembly  to  confer 
with  a  similar  committee  to  be  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  should  they  deem  it  expedient  to  appoint  such  a  com- 
mittee, and  to  prepare  a  plan  of  correspondence  between  the  two  bodies. 

"The  Rev.  Stephen  N.  Rowan,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Elihu  Baldwin,  and  the 
Rev.  Robert  McCartee,  were  appointed." — Alinutes,  1825,  p.  276. 

§  67.  A  Plan  proposed. 

"The  committee  *  *  *  *  reported  that  they  met  a  committee  of  the 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
December  30,  1825;  which  committee,  on  the  part  of  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Church,  consisted  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  McLeod,  D.  D.,  the  Rev. 
James  Christie,  and  the  Rev.  John  Gibson.  After  conference,  the  joint 
committees  resolved  to  submit  to  their  respective  bodies  the  following  arti- 
cles of  agreement,  \\z. 

"1.  The  General  Assembly  and  the  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  lamenting  the  existing  separations  between  the  members  of  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  believing  that  all  the  members  of  that  body,  being  many, 
are  one  hody;  and  trusting  to  the  word  of  God,  that  these  separations  will 
not  be  perpetual,  do  agree  to  use  all  scriptural  means,  in  the  exercise  of 
patience  and  prudence,  to  bring  their  several  ecclesiastical  connections  to 
uniformity  in  doctrine,  worship,  and  order,  according  to  the  word  of  God. 

"2.  In  order  to  bring  about  this  desirable  object,  on  the  basis  of  the 
proper  unity  of  the  visible  Church,  it  is  mutually  covenanted,  that  the  Min- 
isters, members,  and  judicatories  of  these  Churches,  treating  each  other 
with  Christian  respect,  shall  always  recognize  the  validity  of  each  other's 
acts  and  ordinances,  consonant  with  the  Scriptures;  and  yet,  that  any 
Church  judicatory,  belonging  to  either  body,  may  examine  persons,  or  review 
cases  of  discipline,  on  points  at  present  peculiar  or  distinctive  to  them- 
selves. 

"3.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Synod  of 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  shall  severally  appoint  two  Commission- 
ers, with  an  alternate  to  each,  to  attend  these  judicatories,  respectively,  who 
shall  hold  their  office  till  they  are  superseded  by  another  choice ;  and  these 
commissioners  shall  have  the  privilege  of  proposing  measures  import- 
ant to  the  Church  of  Christ;  and  of  delivering  their  opinions  on  any 
question  under  discussion ;  but  they  shall  have  no  vote  in  its  decisions. 

"4.  In  order  to  carry  this  last  article  into  effect,  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  will,  at  their  sessions  in  May  1826,  appoint 
commissioners  who  shall  attend  the  succeeding  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  provided  the  said  Synod  shall  have  concur- 
red in  the  above  plan  of  correspondence." 

[The  plan  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Assembly.] — Minutes,  1826, 
p.  8. 


Part  I.]  WELSH   CALVINISTIC   METHODISTS.  527 

§  68,  The  subject  waived  hy  the  Synod. 
"While  the  Synod  cordially  recognize  the  principle  embraced  in  the 
proposed  plan  of  correspondence,  between  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  this  Synod,  yet,  aware  of  the  scattered  state  of 
the  Churches  under  their  care,  the  duty  of  preserving  their  mutual  confi- 
dence unimpaired  and  their  strength  undiminished,  and  the  importance 
of  the  subject  itself  both  to  the  present  edification  and  the  future  operations 
of  the  people  of  God  in  their  communion,  they  resolve  to  postpone  indefi- 
nitely the  further  consideration  of  this  question." — Minutes,  1827;  p.  119. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RELATIONS  WITH  THE  INDEPENDENT  PRESBYTERIANS. 

§69. 

[This  body  was  organized  by  the  adherents  of  W.  C.  Davis.  See  Book  VII.  Part  9; 
and  Boois  HL  §  38.] 

"The  Committee  having  had  the  Commissioner  from  the  Bethel  Presby- 
tery before  them,  and  being  informed  that  the  body  of  Independent  Pres- 
byterians referred  to,  consist  only  of  about  twenty  churches  and  a  small 
number  of  Ministers,  mostly  within  the  bounds  of  the  Bethel  Presbytery, 
who  are  the  best  judges  of  their  soundness  in  the  faith,  and  it  being  further 
represented  that  the  errors  for  which  in  the  year  18o3  the  General  Assem- 
bly prohibited  intercommunication,  have  been  abandoned  by  the  aforesaid 
Independent  Presbyterian^,  the  committee  do  therefore  recommend  that  the 
Bethel  Presbytery  have  leave  to  establish  such  friendly  relations  as  they 
may  deem  proper  under  the  present  circumstances,  notwithstanding  the 
resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1833,  which  were  passed  at  the 
request  and  upon  the  representation  of  the  Bethel  Presbytery,  as  appears 
from  the  printed  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  Vol.  7,  p.  493." — Min- 
utes, 1843,  p.  177. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  THE  WELSH  CALVINISTIC  METHODISTS. 

§  70. 

"A  letter  from  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists  in  the  United  States, 
proposing  a  correspondence  with  this  Assembly,  and  accompanied  with  their 
Constitution,  and  Confession  of  Faith,  was  read,  whereupon  it  was,  on 
motion, 

^^ Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  assent  to  the  proposal;  and  that  the 
Stated  Clerk  be  directed  to  inform  the  body  of  the  vote  of  this  Assembly,  and 
request  them  to  commence  the  correspondence  with  us,  either  by  letter  or 
the  appointment  of  delegates  to  this  body,  as  they  may  prefer." — Minutes, 
1845,  p.  38. 


528  CONFERENCE   OF   THE  [Book  VI. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

CONFERENCE  OF  REFORMED  CHURCHES. 

§  71.  Plan  of  the  Conference. 
[The  Synods  of  Pittsburgh,  Wheeling,  and  Virginia,  having  memorialized  the  Assem. 
bly  on  the  suliject  of  Christian  union,  the  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee,  whose 
report  was  adopted,  as  follows :] 

"It  is  well  known  that  the  manifestation  of  unity  among  evangelical 
Christians,  occupies  a  distinguished  place  in  the  public  mind  at  the  present 
time.  Nor  can  it  be  alleged  that  it  deserves  not  the  consideration  which  it 
has  received. 

"The  convention  held  last  year  in  London*  has  greatly  increased  the 
attention  given  to  this  subject  among  Protestants,  and  it  is  hoped  the 
results  of  that  meeting  may  be  extensively  and  permanently  beneficial.  If 
real  Christians,  who  hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words,  and  feel  the  purify- 
ing and  elevating  power  of  truth,  shall  perceive  more  clearly  their  substan- 
tial agreement,  love  one  another  more  fervently,  and  co-operate  in  the  work 
of  faith  and  labour  of  love,  more  extensively  and  zealously,  the  advantage  to 
the  common  cause  of  Christianity  will  be  real  and  great. 

"  We  would  by  no  means  call  in  question  the  organization  or  operation  of 
that  branch  of  the  "Christian  Alliance"  which  has  been  constituted  in  our 
country;  but  would  rather  bid  those  brethren  God  speed  in  their  legitimate 
efforts,  and  pray  that  the  blessing  of  the  Grod  of  peace  may  abide  with  them 
always.  Still  it  may  be  inquired  whether  some  plan  of  intercourse  and 
combined  effort  may  not  be  adopted,  which  may  specifically  include  those 
denominations  who  hold  the  same  faith,  and  the  same  form  of  ecclesiastical 
government  and  discipline,  substantially  and  truly,  which  we  hold,  that  may 
greatly  contribute  to  more  intimate  and  complete  unity  in  sentiment,  affec- 
tion and  practice.  If  this  can  be  accomplished  in  a  considerable  degree,  in 
a  way  which  will  be  safe,  and  will  not  interfere  at  all  with  denomina- 
tional peculiarities  and  interests,  it  will  be  much  gain  to  the  cause  of  truth 
and  charity;  and  thus  not  only  entire  apostasy  from  true  Christianity  in  its 
various  forms,  but  errors  of  a  dangerous  tendency  will  be  more  effectually 
resisted,  and  the  system  of  salvation  by  free  and  sovereign  grace  may  be 
more  favourably  exhibited  before  the  Christian  public. 

"  It  is  to  be  particularly  observed,  however,  that  such  a  plan  should  bear 
no  relation  whatever  to  the  amalgamation  of  those  denominations  who  may 
be  willing  to  enter  into  such  an  arrangement.  This  must  be  left  to  each 
in  its  own  ecclesiastical  capacity.  Only  that  unity  which  is  consistent  with 
denominational  distinction,  should  be  embraced  in  the  plan. 

§72. 

"It  is  therefore  respectfully  recommended  that  the  General  Assembly 
offer  for  consideration  to  the  supreme  judicatories  of  those  denominations  in 
the  United  States,  who  are  of  the  description  above  mentioned,  the  follow- 
ing propositions. 

"  1.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Synods 
of  the  Associate  lleformed  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  Associate  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Reformed  Dutch  Protest- 

* "  A  rRsolution  from  tlie  Presbytery  of  Montgomery,  advising  the  appointment  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  delegates  to  the  convention  to  be  held  in  London  with  a  view  to  form  a  Christian  union. 

JResotval,  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  ttie  General  Assembly  to  appoint  delegates  to  said  Convention."— 
MinuUs,  l«4tj,  p.  194. 


Part  I.]  RlilFORMED   CHURCHES.  529 

ant  Cliurcli,  and  the  German  Pteformed  Church,  will  appoint  both  min- 
isterial and  lay  delegates  in  such  numbers  as  they  shall  deem  proper,  to 
meet  in  conference  at  such  time  and  place  as  shall  be  hereafter  designated, 
and  consult  and  decide  respecting  a  suitable  plan  of  intercourse  as  may  be 
deemed  profitable  and  safe. 

"2.  The  results  of  this  conference  shall  be  reported  to  the  several  bodies, 
and  shall  be  regarded  as  adopted  only  so  far  as  they  shall  be  approved  by 
each  body. 

"3.  This  Assembly  will  appoint  a  committee  who  shall  have  charge  of 
previous  arrangements,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  and  shall  be  authorized 
to  communicate  with  the  bodies  above  named,  and  confer  with  any  com- 
mittees by  them  appointed." — Ilinutes,  1847,  p.  392. 

§  73.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Conference. 

"The  Committee  on  Christian  Union,  appointed  by  the  last,  General 
Assembly,  beg  leave  to  report.  That  they  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the 
duty  assigned  them,  and  have  proceeded  as  far  as,  in  their  judgment,  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  would  permit.  The  object  of  their  appointment 
was  to  communicate  with  the  Synods  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbyte- 
rian, the  Reformed  Presbyterian,  the  Associate  Presbyterian,  the  Reformed 
Dutch,  and  the  German  Reformed  Churches ;  and  to  confer  with  any  com- 
mittees which  might  be  appointed  by  them  respecting  a  suitable  Flan  of 
Intercourse. 

"■  It  was  too  late,  after  the  rising  of  the  Assembly,  to  confer  with  most  of 
these  bodies  at  their  meetings  last  year.  In  anticipation  of  their  annual 
sessions  this  year,  the  Committee  have  sent  to  the  presiding  officers  of  each, 
a  copy  of  the  Report  and  Resolutions  of  the  Assembly  on  Christian  Union, 
and  have  invited  such  committees  as  they  may  see  fit  to  appoint,  to  a 
conference  to  be  held  at  the  Mission  House  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the 
first  Monday  of  October  next. 

"The  report  was  approved,  and  the  committee  continued." — Minutes, 
1848,  p.  14. 

§  74.   Second  report  of  the  Committee. 

"  The  Committee  on  Christian  Union  presented  a  Report,*  which  was  read,  and  is  as 
follows,  viz. 

In  that  memorable  prayer,  which  our  Lord  addressed  to  the  Father  immediately  pre- 
vious to  the  consummation  of  his  sufferings,  we  find  this  petition  in  behalf  of  his  follow- 
ers, "  That  they  all  may  be  one,  as  thou.  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  may 
be  one  in  us,  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me."  The  union  of  all  the 
members  of  the  household  of  faith,  in  the  truth  and  fellowship  of  the  gospel,  should  be  not 
only  the  desire,  but  the  aim  of  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  indeed  the  fact, 
that  among  all  true  believers  there  does  exist  a  spiritual  union.  They  are  all  constituent 
members  of  that  one  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  living  Head,  and  they  are  all  partakers 
of  the  same  Spirit.  In  the  present  world,  however,  they  are  imperfect  in  knowledge  and 
in  sanctification,  and  consequently  that  spiritual  union  which  exists  among  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  body  of  Christ,  is  but  imperfectly  manifested.  Their  views  of  divine  truth,  so 
long  as  they  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  and  know  only  in  part,  may  be  expected  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  to  differ ;  and  consequently  difficulties  will  arise,  in  the  way  of 
manifesting  their  union  before  the  view  of  the  world.  Both  the  prayers  and  the  active 
efforts  of  the  followers  of  Christ,  should  therefore  be  directed  to  the  object  of  bringing 
into  the  unity  of  the  faith  the  different  portions  of  the  Christian  Church,  so  that  they  may 
not  only  be,  but  appear  in  the  view  of  the  world,  one  body  in  Christ. 

Unhappily,  the  Church  of  Christ  is  at  present  divided  into  a  great  variety  of  distinct 
organizations.     From  this  state  of  things  it  results,  that  instead  of  marching  forward  with 

*  This  report  was  originally  made  to  a  Conyention  composed  of  the  committees  from  the  various 
Presbyterian  bodies  appointecl  to  confer  together  on  the  subject  of  Christian  Union.  It  was  presented 
to  the  General  Assembly  as  showing  the  rtsult  thus  fur,  of  the  labours  of  that  Convention. 

67 


530  CONFERENCE  OF  THE  REFORMED  CHURCHES.      [Book  VI. 

a  united  front  against  the  common  foe,  much  of  the  time  and  strength  of  the  different 
denominations  of  the  Christian  Church  is  wasted  in  opposing  each  other.  And  not 
unfrequently  has  the  world  beheld  the  strange  spectacle  of  different  portions  of  the  Church 
opposing  each  other  with  a  virulence  in  proportion  to  the  nearness  of  their  approximation 
to  each  other.  Over  this  state  of  things  the  Cliurch  has  long  had  occasion  to  mourn; 
and  it  seems  to  be  high  time  that  some  more  systematic  efforts  should  be  made  to  bring 
into  Christian  fellowship  the  different  portions  of  the  household  of  faith.  And  in  so  far 
as  some  of  the  distinct  portions  of  the  Church  are  concerned,  there  is  the  greater  encour- 
agement to  labour  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  object,  since  they  already  approximate 
so  nearly  to  each  other. 

In  our  country,  there  now  exist  some  six  or  eight  distinct  portions  of  the  Presbyterian 
family,  whose  views  of  evangelical  truth,  as  exhibited  in  their  different  standards,  are  sub- 
stantially the  same,  and  whose  form  of  ecclesiastical  order  is  the  same.  Could  these 
bodies  be  brought  more  closely  together,  so  as  to  act  in  concert,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  much 
more  might  be  accomplished  in  advancing  the  interests  of  the  common  Christianity,  and 
in  promoting  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  gospel,  than  is  practicable  in  our  present 
divided  state.  With  a  view  to  prepare  the  way  in  some  degree  for  the  consummation  of  an 
object  so  desirable,  your  Committee  beg  leave  to  submit  for  the  consideration  of  the  con- 
vention, the  following  resolutions. 

Whereas,  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  constitutes  one  body,  of  which  he  is  the  divine 
Head,  and  consequently  should  be  so  organized  as  to  exhibit  to  the  view  of  the  world  the 
appearance,  as  well  as  the  reality  of  unity ;  and  whereas,  the  present  divided  condition  of 
the  Church  is  in  appearance  at  least,  inconsistent  with  her  unity ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  followers  of  Christ  to  aim  at  bringing 
about  a  union  of  all  the  different  portions  of  the  household  of  faith  upon  a  scriptural 
basis. 

Resolved,  2.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Convention,  it  is  not  only  desirable,  but  prac- 
ticable, to  effect  a  closer  union  than  that  which  now  exists  among  the  bodies  which  are 
here  represented,  whereby  they  might  more  successfully  accomplish  the  great  work  for 
which  the  Church  was  established. 

And  whereas,  the  views  of  the  great  system  of  evangelical  truth,  as  exhibited  in  the 
standards  of  these  different  Churches,  namely,  in  the  Westminster  Confession  and  Cate- 
chism, the  Articles  of  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  and  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  are  sub- 
stantially the  same,  therefore, 

Resolved,  3.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  these  churches  to  cultivate  towards  each  other  the 
spirit  of  fraternal  affection,  to  exercise  Christian  forbearance,  and  to  co-operate  in  all 
scriptural  efforts  to  promote  the  common  Christianity. 

Resolved,  4.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Convention,  while  the  singing  of  God's 
praise  is  an  interesting  part  of  religions  worship,  and  while,  for  the  present,  it  is  left  to 
the  different  churches  to  employ  whichever  of  the  authorized  versions  now  in  use  may  be 
most  acceptable  to  them,  the  sacred  songs  contained  in  the  book  of  Psalms  are  every  way 
suitable  and  proper  for  that  purpose,  and  any  intimation  that  they  breathe  a  spirit  incon- 
sistent with  the  gospel,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  reflection  upon  their  Divine  Author. 

Resolved,  5.  That  where  it  is  practicable,  without  any  surrender  of  principle,  an  inter- 
change of  ministerial  services  be  recommended,  and  that  the  different  churches  pay  respect 
to  each  other's  acts  of  discipline,  and  sustain  each  other  in  all  scriptural  efforts  to  promote 
the  good  order  and  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  Church. 

Resolved,  6.  That  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  of  Missions,  it  is  desirable  that .  these 
different  churches,  as  far  as  practicable,  should  act  in  concert ;  the  Missionaries  in  the 
exercise  of  their  ministry  being  accountable  to  the  particular  body  with  which  they  are 
ecclesiastically  connected. 

Resolved,  7.  That  for  the  promotion  of  a  better  understanding  and  more  intimate  in- 
tercourse between  these  different  churches,  it  is  desirable  that  a  correspondence  be 
maintained,  either  by  letter  or  by  delegation,  as  may  be  judged  most  expedient. 

Resolved,  8.  That  these  resolutions  be  recommended  to  the  consideration  of  the  different 
churches  represented  in  this  Convention,  that  they  may  report  their  judgment  in  the  pre- 
mises, to  a  future  Convention  to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Albany  on  the  first  day  of 
November  next,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

On  motion,  the  report  was  referred  to  a  select  committee." — Minutes,  1849,  p.  231. 


Part  I.]  RELATIONS  TO  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  531 

§  75.  Action  of  the  Assemhly  on  the  report. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  subject  of  Christian  Union  among  all  those  who 
love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  taking  him  as  their  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King,  is  one  of  increasing  importance  in  this  age,  and  one  which  should 
be  prayerfully  and  zealously  prosecuted,  until  the  various  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  become  one  in  appearance  and  action,  as  they  are  now  one 
in  spirit. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  while  we  do  not  undertake  to  examine  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  Conference  so  critically  as  to  be  able  to  approve  every  form  of 
expression  used  therein;  nevertheless,  we  do  most  cordially  approve  of  the 
spirit  and  aim  of  all  their  proceedings,  and  rejoice  moreover  at  the  unani- 
mity with  which  the  representatives  of  so  many  branches  of  the  Church 
arrived  at  their  generally  just  and  valuable  conclusions. 

''3.  Resolved,  That  the  former  Committee  of  the  Assembly,  with  such 
additional  members  as  may  be  now  appointed,  be  continued;  and  they  are 
hereby  authorized  to  meet  and  act  in  such  future  Conferences  as  may 
assemble  to  promote  this  important  object;  of  which  action  they  shall  make 
a  report  to  the  General  Assembly."  [Unanimously  adopted.] — Minutes, 
1849,  p.  238. 

[Next  year  a  report  was  called  for,  but  none  was  presented,  and  the  subject  disappeared 
from  the  Minutes.] — Minutes,  1850,  p.  440. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RELATIONS  TO  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

§  76.  3Ir.  Tennent^s  reasons  of  dissent  from  the  Church  of  Ireland. 

"  Mr.  William  Tennent's  affair  being  transmitted  by  the  committee  to 
the  Synod,  was  by  them  fully  considered,  being  well  satisfied  with  his  cre- 
dentials, and  the  testimony  of  some  brethren  here  present,  as  also  they  were 
satisfied  with  the  material  reasons  which  he  ofiered  concerning  his  dissenting 
from  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland;  being  put  to  a  vote  of  the  Synod, 
it  was  carried  in  the  affirmative  to  admit  him  as  a  member  of  the  Synod. 
Ordered,  that  his  reasons  be  inserted  in  the  Synod  book  ad  futuram  rei 
onemoriam.  The  Synod  also  ordered  that  the  Moderator  should  give  him  a 
serious  exhortation  to  continue  steadfast  in  his  now  holy  profession,  which 
was  done. 

"The  reasons  of  Mr.  William  Tennent  for  his  dissenting  from  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  Ireland,  delivered  by  him  to  the  Reverend  Synod,  held  at 
Philadelphia  the  17th  day  of  September,  1718. 

"  Imprimis.  Their  government  by  Bishops,  Arch-Bishops,  Deacons, 
Arch-Deacons,  Canons,  Chapters,  Chancellors,  Vicars,  wholly  anti-scrip- 
tural. 

"2.  Their  discipline  by  Surrogates,  and  Chancellors  in  their  Courts 
Ecclesiastic,  without  a  foundation  in  the  word  of  Grod. 

"3.  Their  abuse  of  that  supposed  discipline  by  commutation. 

*'4.  A  Diocesan  Bishop  cannot  be  founded  jure  divino  upon  those  Epis- 
tles to  Timothy  or  Titus,  nor  anywhere  else  in  the  word  of  God,  and  so  is  a 
mere  human  invention. 

"  5.  The  usurped  power  of  the  Bishops  at  their  yearly  visitations,  acting 
all  of  themselves,  without  consent  of  the  brethren. 

"  6.  Pluralities  of  benefices. 


532  RELATIONS  TO  THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  [Book  VI. 

"Lastly.  The  clmrclies  conuiving  at  the  practice  of  Araiiuiau  doctrines 
inconsistent  with  the  eternal  purpose  of  God,  and  an  encouragement  of 
vice.  Besides,  I  could  not  be  satisfied  with  their  ceremonial  way  of  wor- 
ship. These,  &c.,  have  so  affected  my  conscience,  that  I  could  no  longer 
abide  in  the  Church  where  the  same  are  practised. 

Signed  by  William  Tennent." 

— Minutes,  1718,  p.  51. 

§  77.  A  casual  correspondence  tvith  the  Clergy  of  Pliiladelphia. 

(a)  ''An  address  from  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  belonging 
to  this  city,  was  brought  in  and  read;  wherein  they  complain  that  some 
members  of  this  Synod  have  intermeddled  in  their  Church  affairs  to  their 
disliking,  and  query,  whether  the  paper  which  they  say  was  signed  by  the 
IModerator  [Mr.  Davies]  and  some  other  members,  was  signed  as  a  Synodi- 
cal  act. 

''  The  Synod  assure  these  Reverend  Gentlemen  that  they  never  signed  it 
as  a  Synodical  body,  nor  heard  the  paper  read  in  Synod,  nor  was  it  as  much 
as  made  known  to  many  of  the  members  of  this  body.  As  we  have  not 
seen  the  paper  we  cannot  judge  how  far  they  have  concerned  themselves  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Church  of  England.  "We  desire  to  intermeddle  with  no 
affairs  that  do  not  belong  to  us,  but  as  a  body,  can  neither  prevent  the  pri- 
vate correspondence  of  our  members,  nor  oblige  them  to  produce  their 
letters ;  but  we  presume,  if  application  should  be  made  to  the  persons  who 
have  written,  a  sight  of  the  paper  maybe  obtained.  And  we  heartily  desire 
that  the  same  good  understanding  which  has  hitherto  happily  subsisted 
between  us  and  the  Reverend  Gentlemen  of  the  Church  of  England  may 
still  continue. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Clerk  give  a  copy  of  this  minute,  if  desired." — 
Ilmutes,  1760,  p.  306. 

(b)  "A  letter  from  the  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Clergy,  now  in  this 
city,  to  the  Synod,  was  brought  in  and  read,  complaining  of  a  number  of  our 
body  for  interfering  in  the  settlement  of  Mr.  McClenachan  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  together  with  a  letter  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
on  this  subject."  • 

"The  complaint  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  came  to  be  considered,  and 
Messrs.  McDowell,  Caleb  Smith,  Samuel  Finly,  "Wilson,  Hector  Alison, 
being  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  minute  on  this  subject,  brought 
it  in,  and  is  as  follows: 

"The  Synod  would  be  sorry  that  any  occasion  of  difference  should  arise 
between  us  and  that  Church,  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  brethren  mentioned 
acted  without  due  consideration  and  improperly  in  that  affiiir,  and  particu- 
larly for  the  induction  of  Mr.  McClanachan  to  this  city,  for  induction  in  a 
legal  sense  is  what  we  disapprove  as  contrary  to  our  principles.  But  the 
members  complained  of  declare  as  follows,  viz.  That  by  induction  they  did 
not  mean  a  forcible  obtrusion  of  a  minister  upon  the  people  against  their 
will,  which  their  principles  as  Presbyterians  would  never  allow  them  to 
propose;  but  only  the  Archbishop's  influence  in  settling  the  gentleman  iu 
question,  with  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  said  congregation,  which  they 
■understood  was  the  true  state  of  the  case.  And  the  Synod  further  think, 
these  brethren  should  not  lie  under  the  imputation  of  what  is  quoted  from 
Mr.  McClanachan's  letter,  merely  upon  his  doubtful  insinuation,  nor  be  put 
to  the  unusual  task  of  clearing  themselves,  when  there  is  no  evidence 
against  them,  and  we  hope  this  will  satisfy  the  gentlemen  who  complain." 
— MinuteSj  1764,  pp.  311,  312. 


Part  I.]  FOREiaN  churches.  533 

CHAPTER  X. 

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  FOREIGN  CHURCHES. 

Title  1. — Early  Relations. 

[For  earlier  intercourse  with  the  Churches  of  Europe  see  above,  Book  I.,  §  3;  and 
Book  v.,  §§  21,22,  24.] 

§  78.    Stated  Correspondence. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  of  correspondence  with 
foreign  churches,  brought  in  one,  which  is  as  follows : 

"  1.  That  the  committee  during  the  sessior^of  Synod  bring  in  a  copy  of  a 
letter  or  letters  to  the  churches,  to  be  read  and  approved  by  them. 

"2.  That  if  there  be  occasion  to  write  to  any  of  the  churches  at  any  other 
time,  three  at  least  of  the  committee  shall  prepare  and  send  letters,  copies 
of  which  shall  be  laid  before  the  Synod  at  their  next  meeting. 

"3.  That  letters  received  by  the  committee  from  any  of  the  churches  be 
annually  laid  before  the  Synod,  as  well  as  the  answers  given  to  any  of 
them. 

"  4.  That  the  churches  with  whom  we  shall  correspond  be  Holland,  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  or  their  com- 
mission, the  Synods  of  seceding  Ministers,  the  Ministers  in  and  about 
London,  the  General  Synod  of  Ireland,  and  Ministers  of  Dublin,  New 
England  and  the  Churches  in  South  Carolina. 

"The  Synod  appointed  Dr.  Alison,  Messrs.  Richard  Treat,  Rodgers, 
Ewing,  McWhorter,  Joseph  Treat,  Beatty,  and  V.  Livingston,  as  a  com- 
mittee to  correspond  with  the  Foreign  Churches  for  the  ensuing  year,  to  meet 
this  evening  at  seven  o'clock." — Minutes,  1766,  p.  356. 

§  79. 

[This  correspondence  was  maintained  until  1 77 1,  when  occurs  the  last  notice  of  letters 
in  connection  with  it.] 

Title  2. — The  Later  Intercourse. 

§  80.    The  subject  moved  in  the  Assembly. 
[In  1797  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  having  moved  the  Assembly  on 
the  subject  of  more  extensive  correspondence  both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  the  follow- 
ing answer  was  returned.] 

§  81.  Embarrassments  to  such  correspondence. 

"  When  a  plan  so  benevolent  in  its  nature,  and  honourable  to  the  enlarg- 
ed conceptions  of  its  authors,  as  the  one  contained  in  this  address,  solicits 
attention,  the  task  becomes  painful  which  requires  a  detail  of  the  obstacles 
unfavourable  to  its  adoption  or  success.  In  order  to  commence  the 
correspondence  proposed,  a  more  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  address  of 
foreign  churches  appears  requisite,  than  is  at  present  possessed,  as  the 
smallest  inaccuracy  here  might  have  an  injurious  tendency.  The  channels 
of  intelligence  at  the  present  period  are  likewise  interrupted  and  obstructed 
in  an  uncommon  degree,  rendering  the  conveyance  of  letters  highly  preca- 
rious. The  disorders  and  convulsions  of  the  European  world,  also  afford 
little  ground  to  expect  a  calm,  deliberate  attention  to  any  new  proposal  from 
^a  distant  region  which,  however  harmless  or  laudable  in  itself,  might  excite 


634  C0RREf5P0NDENCE   WITH  [Book  VI. 

fear  and  apprelieusion  on  one  part,  with  jealousy  and  suspicion  on  another. 
Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  former  advances  of  the  like  kind,  made 
under  far  more  auspicious  circumstances,  afford  little  encouragement  to 
renew  them.  Neither  does  the  history  of  the  Christian  church,  since  it 
became  divided  into  various  persuasions,  afford  inviting  instances,  we 
believe,  of  the  design  under  contemplation  having  been  frequently  attempt- 
ed, or  attended  with  beneficial  consequences.  Some  of  the  same  remarks 
apply  to  the  intercourse  projected  between  other  denominations  in  this 
country  and  our  own,  with  whom  the  correspondence  moved  by  us  proved  of 
short  duration,  and  yielded  no  salutary  effect.  Repeated  applications  of 
the  same  kind  from  the  same  quarter  may  give  rise  to  unfavourable  surmises 
of  latent  designs,  or  create  suspicions  of  a  meddling  dictatorial  temper.  No 
considerable  change  has  happened  since  the  preceding  effort  proved  fruitless, 
to  produce  a  repetition  of  it.  And  perhaps  the  best  method  of  promoting  a 
more  intimate  connection  among  various  communions  is  to  cultivate  a  good 
understanding  with  each  other  by  personal  communications  and  familiar 
acquaintance,  till  predispositions  arise  for  a  more  intimate  relation.  It  is 
natural  for  different  denominations  to  be  most  tenacious  of  their  peculiar 
distinctions,  whether  they  regard  objects  essential  or  indifferent.  These 
they  wish  others  to  adopt,  or  fear  others  have  an  intention  to  invade.  In 
the  course  of  communicating  sentiments,  it  is  entirely  within  the  compass 
of  probability,  that  something  of  the  kind  might  be  touched  which  would 
lead  to  troublesome  discussions  without  producing  a  desirable  conclusion. 
Were  the  prospect  of  success  in  the  premises  even  more  flattering,  our  judi- 
catures, it  is  presumed,  find  abundant  employment  in  upholding  their  exist- 
ence, and  discharging  their  functions;  they  therefore  may  not  act  prudently 
in  extending  their  services,  and  voluntarily  augmenting  the  sphere  of  labo- 
rious, expensive,  and  troublesome  action.  Nevertheless,  seeing  time  and 
trial  often  show  the  defectiveness  of  arguments  which  seem  conclusive,  to 
keep  alive  the  hope  of  being  able  to  engage  in  the  great  design  recommend- 
ed, under  some  of  its  aspects,  and  at  some  future  day,  it  appears  desirable, 
and  may  prove  useful,  for  the  members  of  our  Church  to  make  such  inqui- 
ries as  their  prudence  shall  dictate,  and  such  observations  on  the  subject  as 
opportunity  shall  afford,  and  communicate  the  result  at  seasonable  periods, 
whereby  a  subsequent  Assembly  can  form  an  enlightened  judgment  con- 
cerning the  practicability,  expediency,  and  utility  of  a  measure  which  may 
be  declined  at  present." — Minutes,  1797,  p.  12-4. 

§  82.    The  subject  re/erred  to  the  Board  of  Missions. 
[Again  upon  a  memorial  from  the  same  Synod  a  report  was  adopted  which  commends 
the  subject  to  the  Board  of  Missions,  thus] 

"Your  committee  believe  that  it  will  correspond  with  the  views  of  the 
Synod,  and  of  the  Assembly,  if  the  Committee  of  Missions  will  institute,  in 
the  name  of  this  Assembly,  a  correspondence  in  such  manner  as  they  may 
find  to  be  best  adapted  for  obtaining  a  clear  and  satisfactory  knowledge  of 
the  actual  state  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  various  countries  of  the  East, 
North,  and  West,  whether  in  the  communion  of  the  Greeks,  Roman  Catho- 
lics, or  Protestants,  with  respect  to  doctrines,  worship,  present  spirit,  and 
immediate  prospects  either  secular  or  spiritual,  in  the  respective  nations.  In 
this  correspondence  your  committee  recommend  that  a  free  and  particular 
communication  be  made  of  the  state  of  the  Churches  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  that  such  propositions  be  mutually  made  and  received  as  to 
them,  and  the  organs  of  the  foreign  Churches  with  whom  they  correspond, 
may  severally  be  deemed  most  useful  for  exciting,  promoting,  and  directing 
a  universal  zeal  for  purifying  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  extending 


Part  I.]  FOREIGN   CHURCHES.  535 

to  all  nations  the  light  of  the  gospel,  and  collecting  all  nations,  when  it 
shall  please  the  wisdom  of  divine  Providence,  into  the  bosom  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  Redeemer.  All  which  correspondence  it  is  recommended 
may  be  submitted  annually,  or  as  often  as  convenient,  to  the  General  As- 
sembly. 

^^ Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Missions  be  authorized  to  employ  a 
person  or  persons  to  make  any  transcriptions  or  translations  which  may  be 
requisite,  in  carrying  on  the  aforesaid  correspondence,  an^l  that  the  expense 
be  defrayed  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1811,  p.  4G9. 

§  83.    The  subject  resumed. 

"The  committee  appointed  [in  1819]  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of 
collecting  information  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  general  state  of 
the  Protestant  Churches  in  Europe,  and  into  the  expediency  of  establish- 
ing a  communication  with  the  judicatories' of  said  Churches,  or  any  of 
them,  reported,  and  their  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows, 
viz. 

''That  having  considered  the  subject,  they  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  cor- 
respondence with  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Europe  might  be  productive 
of  important  advantages,  but  that  in  the  present  state  of  those  Churches, 
such  correspondence  can  more  advantageously  be  carried  on  by  individuals 
connected  with  the  General  Assembly,  and  members  of  foreign  Churches, 
than  by  the  judicatories  of  those  Churches  and  this  body. 

"And  the  committee  were  discharged." — Minutes,  1820,  p.  731. 

§  84.    Suhscquent  intercourse.  « 

[In  1828  the  Assembly  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Protestants  of  France  which  led  to 
an  interchange  of  communications  for  several  years  with  some  of  the  French  Ministers. 
—Minutes,  1828,  p.  236;  1829.  p.  391 ;   1830,  p.  51;    1831,  p.  210. 

In  1829  a  letter  was  received  from  the  Board  of  Congregational  Ministers  in  London, 
the  commencement  of  an  occasional  correspondence  with  them,  which  did  not  continue 
more  than  six  or  eight  years. — Minutes,  1829,  pp.  369,  386;  1833,  p,  512;  1834,  p.  51, 
&c. 

In  1830  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Synod  of  Ulster,  the  opening  of  intercourse  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland. — Minutes,  1830,  p.  23. 

In  1833  correspondence  was  commenced  with  the  United  Secession  Church  of  Scot- 
land.— Minutes,  1833,  p.  475,  A  letter  was  at  the  same  time  addressed  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  which  no  reply  appears  to  have  been  received. 

In  1834  a  letter  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  in  British  America,  opened 
intercourse  with,  the  Presbyterian  CJhurch  in  Canada. — Minutes,  1834,  p.  34.] 

§85. 

[After  the  Division  of  1838,  it  was] 

'■'■Resolved,  That  letters  be  addressed  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  to  the  Synod  of  the  Pi^esbyterian  Church  of  Canada,  to 
the  General  Synod  of  Ulster,  to  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Ireland,  to  the 
General  Synod  of  the  United  Secession  Church  of  Scotland,  and  to  the  Con- 
gregational Union  of  England  and  Wales,  in  order  to  convey  to  said  bodies  a 
succinct,  yet  accurate  account  of  the  present  state  of  our  Church;  and  also, 
in  the  case  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  express  our  desire  of  opening  with 
the  General  Assembly  of  that  Church,  a  friendly  and  Christian  correspond- 
ence."— Mimites,  1838,  p.  38. 

[The  result  was  a  transient  correspondence. 

In  1844  letters  were  exchanged  with  the  Synod  of  Australia Minutes,  1844,  p.  402.] 


536  CORRESPONDENCE    WITH  [Book  VI. 

§  8C.   Correspondence  with  the  Continental  Churches  resumed. 

"The  Committee  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  to  enter  into  cor- 
respondence with  several  ecclesiastical  bodies  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
all  of  them  Presbyterian  in  their  organization,  and  most  of  them  small,  but 
interesting,  because  of  their  peculiar  position,  labours,  and  trials.  These 
bodies  are :  The  Free  Church  of  France,  The  Free  Church  of  the  Canton 
ofVaud,  The  Synod  of  Geneva,  and  The  Synod  of  the  Waldensian  Church. 
The  Committee  have  reason  to  believe  that  a  correspondence  with  these 
bodies  might  be  highly  interesting  to  us,  and  profitable  to  them.  They  are 
struggling  with  many  difficulties,  and  demand,  as  well  as  deserve,  our  sym- 
pathy. 

''The  Presbytery  or  Synod  of  Belgium  was  added  to  the  list  of  continen- 
tal bodies  with  which  it  is  proposed  to  correspond."  —  Minutes,  1853, 
p.  452. 

§  87.    Correspondence  toith  the  Wdldenses. 

(a)  [The  Assembly  in  1853  numbered  among  its  corresponding  members  the  Rev  J.  P. 
Revel,  the  Moderator  of  the  Waldensian  Synod.  The  following  appeal  to  the  Churches 
on  the  object  of  his  visit  was  subsequently  adopted.] 

"  Tlie  Genercd  Assembly  of  the  Preshyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
to  the  churches  under  their  care — Greeting: 

^'■Dearly  Beloved  Brethren — It  has  been  our  privilege  during  the  pre- 
sent session,  to  receive  as  a  guest  the  llev.  J.  P.  Revel,  Moderator  of 
the  Waldensian  Synod,  and  representative  of  that  ancient  and  venerable 
Church.  Standing  upon  the  same  platform  of  doctrine  and  order  with  our- 
selves, being  Calvinistic  in  one,  and  Presbyterian  in  the  other,  this  Church 
is  endeared  to  us  on  many  grounds; — because  she  can  trace  her  lineage,  iu 
a  direct  historic  line,  to  that  primitive  Church,  which,  for  aught  we  know, 
was  founded  by  Apostolic  labours ;  because  through  that  long  night  of  a 
thousand  years,  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  "wandered  after  the  beast," 
she  kept  the  beacon  light  of  truth  and  godliness  upon  her  Alpine  watch- 
tower;  because  her  mountain  fastnesses  have  aiforded  an  asylum  to  the  per- 
secuted saints  of  the  Lord  in  every  land,  during  those  ages  when  'the 
woman  was  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus;'  because, 
during  sis  centuries  the  grace  and  power  of  God  have  preserved  her,  like 
the  burning  bush,  amidst  the  flames  of  persecution — and  thus  she  stands 
forth  a  precious  memorial  of  God's  covenant  fidelity,  and  of  Christ's  power, 
as  King  iu  Zion,  to  keep  his  seed  alive  upon  the  earth;  because,  not  need- 
ing herself  to  be  reformed,  she  has  in  every  age  earnestly  sym,pathized  with 
every  effort  to  purge  the  Church  of  error  and  impiety;  because,  throvigh 
six  hundred  years  she  has  been  a  faithful  witness  for  God  and  the  truth, 
furnishing  a  noble  army  of  confessors,  who  have  sealed  their  testimony  with 
their  blood;  and  because,  in  every  age,  she  has  been  a  Missionary  Church, 
devoted  to  Evangelical  labours — and  now,  in  the  first  lull  of  that  storm 
which  has  so  long  beaten  upon  her,  she  comes  forth  from  the  cleft  in  the 
rock,  and  girds  herself  anew  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity. 

"Though  like  the  conies  they  are  a  feeble  folk,  numbering  only  23,000 
souls,  who  glean  a  scanty  subsistence  from  their  mountain  terraces,  yet  'the 
abundance  of  their  joy  and  their  deep  poverty  have  abounded  unto  the 
riches  of  their  liberality.'  They  have  undertaken  not  only  to  sustain  their 
own  Pastorates,  but  to  build  churches  in  Turin,  Genoa,  Pignerol,  Nice,  and 
other  important  places  contiguous  to  their  territory ;  to  sustain  Missionaries, 
through  whom  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  'sound  out  into  the  regions 
beyond;'  and  especially  to  found  a  Theological  School,  which  shall  train  a 


Part  L]  FOREIGN  CHURCHES.  537 

native  ministry  adapted  to  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  Papal  Europe. 
For  these  various  purposes  the  sum  of  $50,000  is  imperatively  needed; 
which,  while  it  would  enrich  them,  is  but  the  small  dust  of  that  wonderful 
wealth  which  a  benignant  Providence  has  poured  into  the  lap  of  the  Ame- 
rican Church.  We  do  the  more  earnestly  commend  this  great  object. 
Christian  brethren,  to  your  sympathy  and  aid,  since  Mr.  Revel,  the  repre- 
sentative of  this  Martyr  Church,  has  time  to  do  little  more  than  to  introduce 
himself  to  us,  and  through  us  to  introduce  his  cause  to  you.  Brethren,  it 
will  be  well  done  if  it  be  quickly  done.  Do  with  your  might  whatsoever 
your  hand  and  your  heart  may  find  in  this  matter;  and  send  your  contribu- 
tions which  God  may  give  you  grace  to  affoi'd,  to  the  Hon.  Walter  Lowrie, 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  ]\Iissious  in  New  York,  at  as  early  a 
period  as  possible.     Yours  in  the  Lord  Jesus." 

— Minutes,  1853,  p.  595. 

{b)  A  letter  from  Mr.  Revel. 

[By  the  Assembly  of  1854,  a  letter  was  received  from  Mr.  Revel.]  "The  letter 
expresses  the  warmest  gratitude  of  the  Vaudois  brethren,  for  the  favour  with  which  Dr. 
Revel  and  his  cause  were  received  by  the  General  Assembly  last  year,  and  by  the  churches 
under  its  care.  Dr.  Revel  also  suggests,  that  as  their  Synod  would  be  in  session  at  the 
same  time  with  our  General  Assembly  of  the  preisent  year,  one  hour  of  the  evening  of  the 
30th  inst.  be  set  apart  fof  special  prayer,  by  both  bodies,  for  the  following  objects: — 1.  A 
larger  measure  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  members  of  both  bodies,  and  upon  the  churches 
which  they  represent.  2.  The  continuance  of  the  blessings  of  heaven  on  their  labours 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  glory.  3.  More  intimate 
union,  and  more  hearty  and  energetic  action  for  the  advancement  of  their  common  faith." 
— Presbyterian,  of  May  27th,  1854. 

[In  accordance  with  the  suggestion  contained  in  this  letter,  the  General  Assembly 
observed  the  concert  of  prayer  on  the  evening  indicated.] — Minutes,  1 854,  p.  37. 

§  88.   Sf/mpatJii/ for  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

"Dr.  Krebs  offered  the  following  minute,  which  was  unanimously  adopt- 
ed, viz. 

"Whereas  the  Church  of  Scotland  is  at  the  present  moment  engaged  in 
a  perilous  struggle,  in  which  her  dearest  rights  are  involved,  and  in  which 
the  attempt  is  made  to  dictate  to  the  flock  of  Christ  who  shall  be  their  spiritual 
leaders  and  Pastors,  thus  virtually  usurping  the  place  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  the  only  Head  of  his  Church,  and  menacing  the  people  of 
God  with  the  deprivation  of  their  most  sacred  privileges;  and  whereas,  the 
prelacy,  papacy,  and  infidelity  of  Scotland,  rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of 
overturning  that  noble  Church  of  Christ,  (which  in  the  darkest  and  most 
appal-ling  periods  of  persecution  boldly  maintained  its  testimony  for  Christ,) 
are  arrayed  with  the  civil  power  to  despoil  the  Church  of  her  proper 
spiritual  rights  and  powers,  in  hope  of  counteracting  her  influence  in  oppos- 
ing error  in  all  its  forms;  therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  1.  That  this  General  Assembly  does  most  affectionately  extend 
to  the  Church  of  Scotland  its  most  tender  sympathy  in  her  present  season 
of  tribulation,  and  most  devoutly  prays  that  she  may  be  safely  guided 
through  her  painful  conflict  to  a  successful,  happy  and  peaceful  issue.    '^"" 

"2.  That  this  General  Assembly  recognizes  the  great  principles  for  which 
the  Church  of  Scotland  is  contending,  and  believes  them  to  be  just,  vital, 
and  scriptural,  and  that  for  their  defence  every  temporal  sacrifice,  even  to 
the  sacrifice  of  life  itself,  should  be  cheerfully  made, 

"3.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly  no  compromise  involv- 
ing the  sacrifice  or  the  abatement  of  these  principles  should  for  a  moment 
68 


538  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  [Book  VI. 

be  listened  to,  and  that  the  contest  should  never  be  relaxed,  until  the  seal 
of  reprobation  is  indelibly  affixed  to  the  odious  principle  of  patronage.  ' 

"4.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  and  a  copy  of  the  resolution 
respecting  the  Anniversary  Commemoration  of  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
signed  by  the  Moderator  and  Clerks  of  this  body,  be  transmitted  to  the 
Geneml  Assembly  of  the  Kirk  of  8cotland,  and  to  the  Synod  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Canada,  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  Scotland." — 
Minutes,  1842,  p.  43. 

§  89.  Delegates  from  the  Free  Church. 

[In  1844  Messrs.  Lewis  and  ('halmers  being  present  as  Commissioners  on  behalf  of 
the  Free  Church,  the  following  paper  was  adopteJ.] 

'^  The  General  Assembly  has  heard  with  the  warmest  interest  the  eloquent 
addresses  of  the  Rev.  brethren  Lewis  and  Chalmers,  relative  to  the  recent 
movements  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  with  a  view  to  preserve  her 
spiritual  purity  and  independence. 

"  By  the  sacrifices  she  has  already  made,  in  her  relinquishment  of  every 
temporal  advantage  conferred  upon  her  by  the  civil  power,  and  by  her  noble 
resolution,  in  reliance  on  the  divine  grace  and  providence,  to  encounter  all 
the  difficulties  which  may  impede  her  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  to 
which  God  has  called  her,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  borne  a  most 
noble  testimony  in  favour  of  her  devotion  to  all  that  is  sacred  in  the  rights 
of  conscience,  and  precious  in  the  principles  and  privileges  of  the  gospel; 
of  her  deep  conviction  of  the  superior  importance  of  the  approbation  of  her 
Lord  and  Master  over  the  favour  of  earthly  princes,  and  nobles,  and  of  the 
treasures  of  his  grace,  to  the  treasures  of  the  world. 

"By  this  truly  manly  and  Christian  course,  this  Church  has  acquired  a 
just  and  strong  claim  upon  the  admiration  and  sympathy  of  all  evangelical 
Christians,  and  has  set  before  the  world  a  noble  example  of  integrity  and 
self-denial.  The  conduct  of  our  fathers  and  brethren,  as  well  as  of  the 
people  under  their  care,  recalls  forcibly  to  our  recollection  the  glorious  strug- 
gles of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  days  gone  by,  when  she  stood  for  years 
against  the  fierce  and  persevering  assaults  of  a  bigoted  hierarchy  and 
tyrannical  monarchy,  tahiwj  joyfnllij  the  spoiling  oflier  goods,  and  resisting 
even  unto  Llood,  that  she  might  transmit  to  posterity  unimpaired  the 
spiritual  liberty  whereicith  Christ  had  made  her  free. 

"While  we  rejoice  to  recognize  in  her  present  struggles  the.  same  princi- 
ples and  the  same  spirit  which  animated  our  Presbyterian  forefathers  in 
Scotland,  and  made  the  history  of  their  persecutions  and  endurance  so 
interesting  and  glorious,  we  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  our  gratitude  to 
Almighty  God,  both  that  the  present  sons  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  show 
themselves  worthy  of  their  pious  and  honoured  ancestors,  and  that,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  have  been  so 
far  established,  as  to  prevent  ungodly  men  inflicting  on  those  who  now 
contend  for  spiritual  freedom,  the  same  extremities  of  sufiFerings  which  were 
endured  by  its  defenders  in  former  days.     Therefore, 

''Resolved,  1.  That  this  General  Assembly  express,  in  behalf  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Unitnd  States,  her  deep  sympathy  with  our 
brethren  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  sacrifices  they  have  been 
called  to  make,  and  the  trials  they  have  yet  to  endure,  in  defence  of  their 
spiritual  liberties. 

"  Resolved,  2.  That  we  hail  the  present  movement  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  as  an  evident  token  from  God  of  good  to  his  people  everywhere, 
and  we  would  render  to  Him,  as  the  giver  of  all  grace,  our  sincere  thanks 
and  praises  for  the  spirit  of  boldness,  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  his  holy 


Part  I.]  ,  FOREIGN  CHURCHES.  539 

cause,  manifested  by  our  brethren  during  their  recent  struggle  and  present 
difficulties. 

"  Resolved,  3.  That  we  cordially  recommend  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
in  all  her  interests  and  trials,  to  the  sympathies  and  prayers  of  all  the 
churches  under  our  care. 

'^Resolved,  4.  That  we  recommend  to  all  those  Ministers,  Elders  and 
Churches  under  our  care,  who  have  not  yet  assisted  these  suffering  brethren, 
to  solicit  contributions  in  behalf  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

"Resolved,  5.  That  this  Assembly  propose  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  to  open  a  friendly  correspondence,  by  the 
mutual  interchange  of  commissioners  to  attend  each  other's  sessions  at  such 
times  as  may  be  deemed  most  suitable. 

"Resolved,  6.  That  the  thanks  of  this  Assembly  be  tendered  to  brethren 
Lewis  and  Chalmers  for  the  deeply  interesting  intelligence  communicated 
to  us  by  them  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland." — 
Minutes,  1844,  p.  378. 

[Next  year  a  letter  was  received  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church.  See 
the  next  Title.] 

Title  3. — Foreign  Correspondence  and  the  Slavery  question. 

§90. 

(«)  [The  General  Synod  of  the  United  Secession  Church  in  their  first  letter  entered 
largely  into  the  question  of  slavery,  addressing  a  very  urgent  admonition  to  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  subject.  The  reply  "  receives  in  kindness  the  observations,"  and  recog- 
nizes in  them  "  the  reproofs  of  friends,  like  precious  oil." — Minutes,  1834,  pp.  62,  64. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland  in  1844  again  introduced 
the  subject.    In  reply  the  General  Assembly  says :] 

(Jj)  ''You  refer  us  to  what  you  call  'an  evil  which  has  long  disfigured  our 
civil  polity/  and  submit  to  our  consideration  your  resolution  on  the  subject 
of  slavery.  We  receive  your  communication  on  this  subject  with  all  the 
frankness  and  kindness  which  dictated  your  whole  letter.  There  is  no 
disposition  on  our  part  either  to  repel  the  counsel  of  brethren  abroad,  or 
evade  responsibility  and  discussion  on  this  momentous  question,  at  home. 

We  enclose  to  you  a  preamble  and  resolutions  which  we  have  just  adopt- 
ed, with  a  nearly  unanimous  vote;  in  which  you  will  see  that  we  are  not 
contented  to  slumber  amidst  the  evils  connected  with  slavery,  nor  to  shun 
investigation  of  our  duty  to  the  bottom. 

"You  are  strangers,  we  preseme,  in  a  great  measure  to  the  principal 
eause'of  the  aggravations  which  attend  domestic  slavery  in  this  country; 
such  as  the  severity  of  particular  laws  enacted  in  the  slave-holding  States, 
and  the  extreme  sensibility  with  which  many  of  our  fellow-citizens  there 
refuse  to  receive  advice  and  entertain  discussion.  That  cause  is  mainly  the 
vehemence  and  fanatical  intolerance  with  which  many  in  what  are  called 
the  free  States  urge  on  the  South,  instant  abolition,  without  regard  to  circum- 
stances, consequences,  or  even  warrant  from  the  word  of  God  itself  We 
hope  that  a  better  mind,  and  one  in  accordance  with  the  paper  we  send  you, 
will  soon  pervade  every  part  of  our  otherwise  harmonious  country;  and  suf- 
fer that  'knowledge  of  Christianity'  you  mention  to  penetrate  all  relations 
existing  among  us,  and  exert  its  native,  free,  transforming  power  over  every 
institution,  which  either  necessity  may  suffer,  or  wisdom  perpetuate  among 
men." — 3Ilnutes,  1845,  p.  46. 

§  91.  Letter  to  the  Church  of  Scotland  on  the  suhjecf. 

[.\t  the  same  time,  in  reply  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land]— 

"  We  are  gratified  exceedingly  with  the  spirit  of  candour  and  inquiry 


540  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  [Book  VI. 

which  pervades  your  document  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  leads  us  to 
hope  that  we  shall  soon  be  able  to  acquaint  our  noble  brethren  in  Scotland, 
with  the  true  position  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country. 

"That  responsibility  for  the  evils  of  American  slavery  is  shared  by  our 
brethren  of  Great  Britain  to  some  extent,  that  you  are  restrained  from  per- 
emptory decision  on  the  question  of  our  particular  duty,  by  ignorance  of 
facts  and  circumstances,  and  that  you  appreciate  so  much  the  difficulties 
of  our  position,  as  to  admit  that  a  different  course  from  that  of  the  British 
Churches  may  be  justified  among  us  for  the  present,  are  generous  senti- 
ments and  enlightened  Christian  moderation,  which  prove  to  us  that  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  is  as  much  ennobled  by  elevation  above  the  preju- 
dices that  surround  her,  as  by  a  memorable  exodus  from  the  oppression  that 
enthralled  her.  Could  we  allay  excitement  and  restrain  impatience,  and 
correct  misunderstanding  among  our  brethren  of  the  British  Churches,  we 
have  no  doubt  that  our  course  in  this  most  delicate  and  difficult  subject 
would  be  so  entirely  approved,  that  no  intimation  of  ultimate  severance  on 
this  account  would  any  more  alloy  the  happiness  which  your  correspondence 
affords. 

"  Our  modes  of  thinking  in  this  country  have  not  been  moulded  by  any 
thing  like  a  civil  establishment  of  religion;  by  any  such  connection  of 
Church  and  State  as  induces  a  reciprocal  legislation  between  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  commonwealth.  The  State  never  interferes  with  us  as  a 
Church,  either  to  cherish  our  doctrines  or  to  control  our  privileges;  and  she 
expects  in  return  that  we  meddle  not  with  her  civil  and  domestic  regula- 
tions; one  of  which  is  slavery.  Every  man  in  the  Church  here  has  politi- 
cal right  and  power.  As  a  citizen,  he  has  the  utmost  opportunity  for 
contending  against  every  social,  civil,  or  moral  wrong,  which  the  institutions 
of  his  country  may  ordain  or  allow.  But  as  a  member  of  the  Church,  he 
belongs  to  a  kingdom  that  is  not  of  this  world,  that  has  always  been  pros- 
pered in  apostolic  and  reforming  times  by  separation  in  counsel  from  '  the 
powers  that  be,'  and  which,  while  it  fails  not  to  witness  against  the  sins  of 
the  land,  would  rather,  as  in  your  own  illustrious  example,  resign  even  the 
guardianship  of  these  powers,  than  permit  civil  and  spiritual  enactments 
either  to  clash  or  mingle  together. 

"  We  learn  our  duty,  dear  brethren,  not  only  from  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  Providence  in  our  political  institutions,  but  from  the  great  Charter 
of  the  Church  itself.  Here  we  have  a  religion  of  great  principles,  which 
it  behoves  us  to  promulgate  with  all  possible  energy,  industry,  and 
faithfulness — principles  which  in  the  end  will  overthrow  every  form  of 
oppression  that  is  incompatible  with  the  inalienable  rights  of  man,  Beyond 
the  assertion  of  these  principles,  and  their  vigorous  application  to  all  the 
existing  relations  of  society  around  us,  we  think  it  not  only  inexpedient  but 
unwarranted  and  presumptuous,  for  any  ecclesiastical  court  to  pronounce 
either  dogma  or  precept.  We  dare  not  contract  the  bond  of  union  among 
brethren  more  than  Christ  has  contracted  it;  nor  exclude  from  the  pale  of 
our  communion,  members  that  hold  a  relation  which  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
did  not  declare,  among  the  many  specific  declarations  against  prevailing 
sins,  to  be  incompatible  with  Christian  fellowship.  Slavery  existed  then 
as  well  as  now,  with  at  least  equal  atrocity;  and  in  our  opposition  to 
its  evils,  we  desire  to  treat  it  as  they  did,  rather  than  reduce  their  broad 
precepts  to  that  minute  kind  of  legislation  which  engenders  fanaticism,  dis- 
tracts and  enfeebles  the  Church,  and  defeats  the  eventual  triumph  of  the 
very  principles  it  proposes  to  enforce. 

"Enclosed,  we  send  you  a  copy  of  a  preamble  and  resolutions  on  this 
subject,  which  we  have  just  adopted  with  great  unanimity  and  deliberate 


Part  I.]  FOREIGN   CHURCHES.  541 

firmness,  from  which  you  will  learn  our  determination  to  abide  by  the  exam- 
ple of  Christ  and  his  Apostles — to  address  ourselves,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  more  than  ever  to  the  work  of  meliorating  evils  we  cannot  redress — 
improving  a  relation  we  cannot  dissolve,  and  disseminating  among  masters 
and  slaves  that  pure  gospel  whose  heavenly  influence  never  fails,  when  free 
from  the  extravagance  of  men,  to  purify  every  institution  which  God  approves, 
and  demolish  every  system  that  is  opposed  to  the  honour  of  his  name,  and 
the  best  interests  of  the  human  race/' — Minutes,  1845,  p.  41. 

§92. 

[In  1846,  a  second  letter  on  the  suliject  was  received  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  and  elicited  the  following  reply.] 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Ireland. 

"Venerable  and  Beloved  Brethren — We  have  received,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  our  present  sessions  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  Com- 
monwealth of  Pennsylvania,  your  letter  dated  at  Dublin,  on  the  7th  day  of 
July,  1845;  which  is  a  duplicate  of  your  letter  of  the  preceding  j^ear, 
having  prefixed  to  it  a  notice  of  your  action  touching  'certain  resolutions  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  adopted  by  the  Belfast  Auxiliai'y  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Anti-slavery  Society.' 

"The  reason  you  assign  for  sending  to  us  a  duplicate  of  your  letter  of 
last  year,  is  that  you  had  not,  at  the  date  of  your  last  letter,  *  been  favoured 
with  an  acknowledgment'  of  the  former  one.  We  cannot  tell  how  this 
has  happened;  since  our  Assembly  of  last  year,  about  the  end  of  the  month 
of  May,  sent  you  an  answer  to  that  letter,  which  ought  to  have  reached  you 
before  the  date  of  your  present  letter;  and  long  before  it  was  probably  des- 
patched by  your  Moderator  and  Clerks,  seeing  it  did  not  reach  this  conti- 
nent before  the  mouth  of  February  last.  A  copy  of  that  answer,  which  was 
printed  in  the  Appendix  to  our  Minutes  of  last  year,  is  now  sent  to  you, 
and  will,  we  hope,  reach  you  in  due  season. 

"Any  communications  which  you  may  think  proper  to  send  to  us,  no 
matter  what  may  be  their  original  source,  will  be  treated  by  us  with  the 
consideration  which  your  approval  of  them  cannot  fail  to  entitle  them  to,  in 
our  eyes.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  other  claim  that  'The  British  and 
Foreign  Anti-slavery  Society,'  or  its  Auxiliary  at  Belfast,  has  on  the  notice 
of  this  Assembly. 

"As  it  regards  the  general  subject  of  human  liberty,  it  seems  to  us  that 
nothing  need  be  said  in  vindication  of  the  ardent  and  hereditary  devotion 
of  all  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  amongst  the  rest,  and  perhaps 
somewhat  specially,  of  the  Presbyterian  people  of  this  country,  to  the  glo- 
rious cause  of  true  and  real  liberty  all  over  the  earth.  If  our  national 
annals  cannot  be  understood,  we  should  despair  of  making  our  sentiments 
intelligible.  We  are  not  aware,  however,  that  subjects  of  this  description 
are  the  most  appropriate  for  a  correspondence  between  Churches  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  since  it  is  their  particular  mission  to  give  the  blessed  gospel, 
and  not  free  institutions,  to  the  human  race. 

"As  it  regards  the  subject  of  Negro  Slavery,  now  tolerated  in  about  one- 
half  of  the  confederated  States  of  this  Union,  it  is,  perhaps,  due  to  our- 
selves and  to  you,  seeing  the  deep  interest  you  manifest  in  the  subject,  and 
the  obviously  erroneous  opinions  you  have  formed,  both  of  it  and  of  our  rela- 
tions to  it — that  we  should  make  a  somewhat  more  distinct  statement  than 
is  contained  in  our  former  letter.  '' 


542  CORRESPONDENCE   WITH  [Book  VI. 

"  The  relations  of  nei^ro  slavery  as  it  exists  in  the  States  that  tolerate  it, 
are  two-fold.  Chiefly,  it  is  an  institution  purely  civil,  depending  absolutely 
upon  the  will  of  the  civil  power  in  the  States  respectively  in  which  it  exists: 
secondarily,  it  has  various  aspects  and  relations,  purely  or  mainly  moral,  iu 
regard  to  which  the  several  States  permit  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  inter- 
vention. Touching  the  former  aspect  of  the  subject,  this  General  Assem- 
bly has  no  sort  of  power;  any  more  than  we  should  have,  if  we  met  in 
Great  Britain,  over  the  institution  of  Hereditary  Monarchy,  or  Aristocracy, 
or  a  thousand  other  things,  which  as  republicans,  we  unanimously  condemn, 
but  which  you  as  loyal  subjects,  cordially  approve.  Touching  the  latter 
aspect  of  the  subject,  and  especially  as  regards  the  conduct  of  Ministers  and 
members  of  our  own  Church,  we  are  of  course,  deeply  concerned;  and  we 
beg  to  assure  you,  that  since  the  foundation  of  our  Church  on  this  continent 
to  the  present  moment,  it  has  always  recognized  and  tried  to  discharge  the 
duties  which  God,  in  his  providence,  has  cast  upon  it,  in  this  regard.  That 
we  have  done  all  we  could,  much  less  all  we  should  have  done,  we  will  no 
more  venture  to  assert,  than  we  suppose  you  would  contend  that  you  had 
fully  discharged  your  duties,  during  the  past  two  centuries,  to  the  millions 
of  Popish  idolaters  who  dwell  around  you.  What  we  say  is,  that  we  think 
we  comprehend  our  duty,  in  this  respect,  and  that,  from  the  beginning,  our 
Church  has  openly  recognized  it,  and  tried  to  perform  it,  both  to  the  mas- 
ters and  to  their  slaves  :  and  we  add,  that  it  seems  to  us  wholly  impossible 
for  our  brethren  in  foreign  parts,  to  understand  what  we  can  do,  or  should 
do,  better  than  we  do  ourselves, 

"As  to  the  institution  of  slavery  in  itself  considered,  and  founding  our 
judgment  upon  the  condition  in  which  it  has  been  exhibited,  first  and  last, 
in  most  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  the  Presbyterian  Church  iu  the  United 
States,  has  never  failed  to  manifest  a  profound  interest,  nor  shrunk  from 
bearing  a  clear  and  constant  testimony.  If  we  have  the  misfortune  to  differ 
from  you  iu  regard  to  any  part  of  the  subject,  of  course  we  regret  it.  But 
you  can  hardly  expect  us  to  change  our  ancient,  deliberate,  and  settled  tes- 
timony on  a  subject  for  a  long  time  and  very  carefully  examined;  nor  does 
it  appear  to  us  to  be  for  edification,  that  our  sister  Churches  in  foreign 
countries  should  steadily  and  strenuously  condemn  us  in  regard  to  matters 
they  cannot  possibly  understand  as  well  as  we  do,  nor  possibly  feel  in  regard 
to  them  so  deep  and  solemn  a  responsibility  as  we  do.  We  have,  therefore, 
only  to  say  that  our  fathers,  from  the  beginning,  as  we  ourselves  now,  and 
the  Church  constantly,  have  held  and  testified,  that  slavery,  as  it  has  long- 
existed,  and  does  still  exist  in  many  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  cannot 
sci'ipturally  be  made  a  term  of  Christian  or  ministerial  communion;  and 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  an  institution  which  this  Church  never  did, 
and  does  not  now,  set  itself  to  defend.  This  is  the  substance,  very  briefly, 
of  the  testimony  borne  from  generation  to  generation  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  upon  this  point. 

"  As  we  have  already  said,  our  purpose  simply  is  to  make  a  statement,  by 
which  you  may  understand  exactly  how  this  Church  has  always  viewed  this 
subject;  you  will  then  act  as  your  sense  of  duty  and  propriety  shall  dictate. 
We  have,  of  course,  no  idea  of  discussing  at  large  a  question  of  this  sort 
with  you,  much  less  of  defending,  in  a  brief  letter  to  you,  our  conduct  or 
our  faith,  our  Church  or  our  country,  against  the  calumnies  of  ignorant  or 
corrupt  men,  either  in  your  country  or  ours.  It  is  because  we  love  and 
respect  you,  that,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  we  feel  constrained 
to  say  a  word  on  the  subject;  and  it  is  because  we  are  fully  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  our  opinions,  the  righteousness  of  our  testimony,  and  the  pro- 
priety of  our  conduct,  that  we  have  felt  it  needful  to  do  nothing  more  than 


Part  I.]  FOREIGN   CHURCHES.  543 

state  distinctly  our  true  position.  For  the  rest,  one  thing  is  beyond  all 
controversy:  notwithstanding  our  unworthiness,  our  Grod  has  smiled  on  us 
and  our  fathers,  ever  since  our  standard  was  lifted  up  in  this  vast  continent 
. — and  has  so  blessed  and  enlarged  us,  that  in  about  a  century  and  a  half  he 
has  brought  us  from  a  condition  so  feeble  that  we  had  but  a  single  minister 
of  the  gospel,  to  be  perhaps,  the  most  numerous  body  of  orthodox  Presbyte- 
rians on  the  face  of  the  earth;  and  by  his  grace,  we  believe  we  are  more 
united  this  day,  than  we  ever  were  before,  and  as  fully  resolved,  by  the  help 
of  God,  to  go  forward  in  the  glorious  work  to  which,  as  we  trust,  we  have 
been  divinely  called. 

^'  Praying  God  to  bless  you,  venerable  and  beloved,  we  remain,  in  the 
bonds  of  Christ's  gospel,  faithfully  and  cordially  your  brethren  and  friends. 

''Signed  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America. 

Charles  Hodge,  3Ioderator. 
Robert  Davidson,  Permanent  Clerh. 

Attest, 

Willis  Lord,  Stated  Clerk. 

Philadelphia.  June  1846." 

—3Iinutes,  1846,  p.  223. 

§  93.    The  Synod  in  Canada. 

[During  the  same  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  in  which  the  preceding  correspondence 
took  place,  a  letter  was  received  from  the  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada, 
occupied  mainly  with  the  subject  of  slavery;  and  couched  in  such  terms  as  precluded  any 
answer,  and  the  correspondence  there  terminated.] — Minutes,  1846,  pp.  191,  217. 

§  94.  Further  correspondence  with  the  Irish  Assembly. 

[The  next  year  the  subject  was  again  discussed  .in  a  letter  from  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Church  in  Ireland,  to  which  the  following  reply  was  addressed.] 

(a)  "With  respect  to  the  matter  to  which  the  greater  part  of  your  letter 
is  devoted,  we  would  simply  observe  that  we  have  heretofore  expressed  to 
you  our  position;  and  we  would  refer  you  to  our  former  statements  on  that 
subject.  If  we  have  declined  any  further  discussion  with  you,  in  relation 
to  slavery  in  the  United  States,  it  is  not  because  we  shrink  from  any  dis- 
cussion of  the  question  of  slavery,  or  as  to  the  question  of  our  own  duty  in 
relation  to  it.  We  trust  that  we  are  influenced  neither  by  timidity  nor  by 
any  apprehension  that  we  cannot  sustain  the  conclusions  we  have  deliber- 
ately adopted.  All  that  we  mean  to  say  is,  that,  as  the  subject  in  all  its 
bearings  is  before  our  eyes,  as  we  have  anxiously  examined  the  word  of  God 
to  discover  the  principles  which  it  discloses,  as  we  have  endeavoured  to 
pursue  a  course,  which  we  believed  to  be  not  only  strictly  conformable  to 
the  example  and  teaching  of  the  Bible,  but  to  have  been  approved  of  Heaven, 
in  the  actual  conditions  of  slavery  as  it  has  been  hitherto  influenced  by  the 
uniform  testimonies  of  our  Church,  both  in  the  treatment  of  slaves  and  in 
the  progress  of  emancipation;  and  as  there  is  nothing  in  the  arguments  you 
employ,  whether  they  involve  your  interpretation  of  the  Scripture,  or  your 
impressions,  with  respect  to  the  aspects  of  this  institution  as  it  exists  in  the 
Southern  part  of  this  country,  or  to  your  own  relations  to  it,  with  which  we 
have  not  been  entirely  familiar,  long  before  you  deemed  it  needful  to  call 
our  attention  to  it,  we  do  not  regard  it  for  edification,  to  engage  in  a  con- 
troversy, or  to  protract  the  discussion  with  your  Assembly,  upon  this 
business." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  176. 


544  RELATIONS  TO  THE  PAPACY.         [Book  VI. 

(b)  [Again  in  1851,  "the  Stated  Clerk  presented  and  read  a  letter  from  the  General 
Assemhiy  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland;"  renewing  the  agitation  of  the  topic; 
"which  on  motion  was  referred  to  a  select  committee  to  be  answered  at  their  discretion." 

(c)  Finally,  in  1854,  another  was  received  from  the  same  source,  expressed  in  a  style  of 
gross  arrogance  and  indignity.  It  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspond- 
ence, which  subsequently  recommended  "that  the  letter  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland  be  not  answered."  The  recommendation  was  adopted.] — 
Minutes,  1854,  p.  41. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THE  PAPACY. 

§  95.  It  is  held  to  be  excommunicate. 

(a)  "1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  deliberate  and  decided  judgment  of  this 
Assembly,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  essentially  apostatized  from 
the  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
recognized  as  a  Christian  Church. 

''2.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  in  our  communion,  to  en- 
deavour, by  the  diffusion  of  light  by  means  of  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  and 
all  other  proper  and  Christian  means,  to  resist  the  extension  of  Romanism, 
and  lead  its  subjects  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  as  it  is  taught  in  the 
word  of  God. 

''3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  strongest  obligations 
of  Christian  parents  to  place  their  children  for  education  in  Roman  Catholic 
Seminaries." — Minutes,  1835,  p.  33. 

(h)  "The  committee  on  the  memorial  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
on  the_subject  of  Popery,  made  a  report,  which  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. 

''  1.  Resolved,  That  a  Preacher  be  appointed  to  deliver  a  discourse  before 
the  next  Assembly  on  some  given  topic  connected  with  the  controversy 
between  Romanists  and  Protestants. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  most  earnestly  recommend  to  the 
Bishops  of  the  several  Congregations  under  our  care,  both  from  the  pulpit 
and  through  the  press,  boldly,  though  temperately,  to  explain  and  defend  the 
doctrines  and  principles  of  the  Reformation,  and  to  point  out  and  expose 
the  errors  and  superstitions  of  Popery. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  as  the  most  effectual  antidote,  not  only  against  papal, 
but  all  other  forms  of  error,  it  be  solemnly  enjoined  upon  all  the  Bishops 
and  Elders  of  the  several  Churches,  as  also  upon  our  Evangelists  in  the 
domestic  and  foreign  fields,  diligently  and  statedly  to  engage  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  people,  and  especially  of  children  and  youth,  in  the  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Catechisms  of  our  Church. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  solemnly  and  affectionately  team  all 
our  people  of  the  danger  and  impropriety  of  supporting,  or  in  any  manner 
directly  or  indirectly  patronizing  or  encouraging  Popish  schools  and  semi- 
naries. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  recommend  to  the  special  attention  of 
all  our  people  the  works  on  the  Reformation  and  Popery,  which  have  been 
issued  by  the  Board  of  Publication. 

<'6.  Resolved,  That  the  delegates  of  the  several  Presbyteries  be  called  on 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Assembly,  to  report  what  has  been  done  in  com- 
pliance with  these  resolutiona. 


Part  I.]  RELATIONS  TO   THE   PAPACY.  545 

''The  committee  tliat  reported  the  foregoing  resolutions  were  instructed  to 
nominate  a  Preacher  and  a  subject,  as  provided  by  the  first  resokition. 

^^ Resolved,  That  two  brethren  be  requested  to  preach  on  the  subject  of 
Popery,  at  such  times  during  the  current  Sessions  of  the  Assembly,  as 
shall  not  be  occupied  with  the  ordinary  business. 

"The  Rev.  Messrs.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  and  Robert  J.  Breckinridge, 
D.  P.,  were  elected  for  the  aforesaid  exercises." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  432. 

[In  1852  the  Assembly  repealed  this  rule  by  declining  to  appoint  a  Preacher  for  the 
next  year.]— JfiwM^es,  1852,  pp.  205,  209. 

(c)  Romish  Schools. 
[See  above  letters  a  and  b.] 

"What  course  ought  Church  Sessions  to  pursue  with  members  of  the 
Church  who  send  their  children  to  Catholic  boarding-schools,  where  they 
are  entirely  deprived  of  the  evangelical  means  of  grace,  and  are  obliged  to 
attend  upon  papistical  services? 

"1.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  deem  such  conduct  on  the  part  of 
any  Protestant  parents,  whether  Church  members  or  not,  as  highly  injudi- 
cious, fraught  with  great  danger  to  their  children,  and  utterly  inconsistent 
with  every  principle  of  Protestantism. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  we  deem  such  conduct  in  Church  members,  whose 
children  have  been  dedicated  to  God  in  baptism,  as  a  violation  of  their 
vows  made  in  that  ordinance,  and  a  great  hinderance  to  the  training  up  of 
their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  ministers  in  our  connection 
where  such  a  practice  exists,  to  present  this  subject  from  the  pulpit,  and 
in  other  suitable  ways  to  admonish  those  who  offend." — Minutes,  1849, 
p.  265. 

[Of  Romish  Baptism,  see  Book  III.,  §§  15—18.] 


69 


PAET  II. 

UNION  OF  'other  BODIES  WITH   THE  PKESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH. 


Title  1. — The  Presbytery  op  Suffolk. 
§96. 

'^The  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  county,  on  Long  Island,  by  their  delegate, 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Prime,  desired  to  be  admitted  as  members  of  this  Synod, 
with  the  proviso,  that  one  or  two  of  their  members  in  all  time  to  come, 
be  allowed  the  privilege  of  representing  them  in  the  Synod  and  acting 
for  them  as  delegates;  and  likewise,  that  some  members  of  New  York 
Presbytery  might  join  them  in  their  Presbyterial  judicatories.  In  answer 
to  which,  the  Synod  does  signify  that  they  are  willing  to  make  all  reasonable 
allowances  for  the  absence  of  their  members,  who  live  far  distant  from  the 
place  of  their  convention,  and  when  the  Synod  shall,  on  the  account  of  their 
growing  number  and  distant  abode,  conclude  to  form  any  of  its  sessions  of 
delegates,  they  will  readily  admit  that  Reverend  Presbytery  to  the  common 
privilege  of  their  body;  before  which,  we  judge  it  would  be  unprecedented 
and  unequal,  and  of  bad  tendency. 

"If  the  Reverend  Presbytery  aforesaid,  is  pleased  to  join  with  us  on  the 
aforesaid  terms,  then  we  declare  our  willingness  to  receive  them,  and  that 
such  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  who  live  on  Long  Island,  as  are  in- 
clined to  it,  may  join  with  them  as  members." — Minutes,  1748,  p.  236. 

"The  Presbytery  of  Suffolk  by  their  delegate,  Mr.  James  Brown,  signi- 
fied to  the  Synod  their  acceptance  of  the  terms  proposed  to  them  the  last 
session;  and  said  Presbytery  are  accordingly  admitted  into  our  Synod,  in 
consequence  whereof,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Prime  and  Mr.  James  Brown,  members 
of  said  Presbytery,  being  present,  are  now  admitted  to  sit  in  the  Synod  as 
members." — Minutes,  1749,  p.  238. 

Title  2. — Presbytery  of  Dutchess  County. 

§97. 

"A  request  was  brought  in  from  a  Presbytery  in  New  York  government 
to  the  east  of  North  River,  desiring  to  be  incorporated  with  this  Synod,  and 
that  some  members  of  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York  and  Suffolk,  which  are 
contiguous,  may  be  allowed  to  be  joined  with  them  in  a  Presbyterial  capa- 
city. After  several  members  of  this  body  had  given  full  satisfaction  con- 
cerning their  characters,  their  good  standing  in  the  churches,  and  that  it 
was  not  from  any  unbrotherly  or  unfriendly  views,  nor  from  any  disaffection 


Part  II.]  UNION   WITH   OTHER   BODIES.  547 

to  the  neighbouring  Churches  that  they  desired  to  unite  with  us,  it  ia 
agreed  to  grant  their  request,  provided  that  they  agree  to  adopt  our  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith,  and  Catechisms,  and  engage  to  observe  the 
Directory  as  a  plan  of  worship,  discipline,  and  government,  according  to  the 
agreement  of  this  Synod.  'Tis  allowed  that  Mr.  John  Smith  and  Mr. 
Chauncy  Graham  join  with  them;  and  from  Suffolk  Presbytery,  Messrs. 
Samuel  Sachet  aind  Eliphalet  Ball ;  and  that  they  be  called  by  the  name  of 
Dutchess  County  Presbytery." — Minutes,  1763,  p.  330. 

"The  Presbytery  of  Dutchess  County  being  present,  report  that  they  have 
complied  with  the  stipulations  of  the  Synod  in  the  year  1763,  and  have 
adopted  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Catechisms,  together  with 
the  Directory  for  Worship  and  Discipline,  according  to  the  usage  of  this 
Synod,  as  appears  from  their  minutes,  which  were  produced  and  read;  cer- 
tain members  of  said  Presbytery  being  present,  were  allowed  to  take  their 
seats  accordingly." — Minutes,  1766,  p.  351. 

Title  8. — Presbytery  of  South  Carolina. 

§98. 

(a)  "A  letter  from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  signifying  their 
desire  to  unite  with  this  Synod,  and  requesting  to  be  informed  of  the  terms 
on  which  such  union  may  be  obtained,  was  brought  in  and  read.  It  was 
agreed  to  send  them  the  following  letter  in  answer  to  their  proposal. 

^^  Rev.  and  Dear  Brethren — We  received  your  letter  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Caldwell,  proposing  an  union  of  your  Presbytery  with  this  Synod,  and  ask- 
ing the  conditions  on  which  it  may  be  obtained.  The  Synod  took  your  pro- 
posal into  consideration,  and  are  unanimously  of  opinion  that  the  union 
would  be  for  the  interest  of  religion  and  the  comfort  of  the  whole  body,  and 
therefore  agreed  that  it  should  take  place  for  all  ecclesiastical  purposes,  and 
expect  that  your  Presbytery  will  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  with  all 
the  regularity  that  your  situation  will  admit.  The  conditions  which  we 
require  are  only  what  we  suppose  you  are  already  agreed  in,  viz.  that  all 
your  ministers  acknowledge  and  adopt  as  the  standard  of  doctrine,  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith,  and  Catechisms,  and  the  Directory  as  the  plan 
of  your  worship  and  discipline.  The  Church  of  Scotland  is  considerecl  by 
this  Synod  as  their  pattern  in  general,  but  we  have  not  as  yet  expressly 
adopted  by  resolution  of  Synod,  or  bound  ourselves  to  any  other  of  the 
standing  laws  or  forms  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  than  those  above  men- 
tioned, intending  to  lay  down  such  rules  for  ourselves  upon  Presbyterian 
principles  in  general,  as  circumstances  should  from  time  to  time  show  to  be 
expedient. 

"The  only  difficulty  that  has  been  made  in  this  matter  is,  that  we  are 
not  certain  whether  the  corporation  of  the  Widows'  Fund  will  think  it  safe 
to  admit  the  members  of  your  Presbytery,  from  their  distance  and  other  cir- 
cumstances. It  is,  however,  the  opinion  of  the  members  of  this  Synod,  that 
you  either  do  not  intend  to  ask  admission  to  this  fund,  which  is  not  men- 
tioned in  your  letter,  or  that  you  are  both  able  and  willing  to  come  in  upon 
such  terms  as  will  not  in  the  least  injure  the  stock  or  embarrass  the  man- 
agement of  that  corporation. 

''After  receiving  this  letter  we  expect  you  will  send  your  answer  by 
such  of  your  members  as  may  attend  the  next  meeting  of  our  Synod,  which 
is  to  be  at  Philadelphia,  the  third  Wedaesday  of  May  1771. 

"The  Moderator  is  ordered  to  make  out  a  copy  of  this,  properly  attested, 
and  deliver  it  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Eodgers  and  Mr.  Caldwell,  to  be  trans- 


548  UNION    OF   OTHER   BODIES   WITH  [Book  VI. 

niitted  to  the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  by  the  first 
safe  opportunity." — MImites,  1770,  p.  408. 

(/;)  [Nothing  more  was  heard  from  this  Presbytery.  It  was  a  Scotch  body  which 
existed  in  the  low  country  of  South  ("arolina  as  early  as  1748,  and  is  probably  the  same 
mentioned  in  the  following  Chapter  as  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston.  No  union  took 
place,  and  the  body  is  extinct.] — Letter  from  the  Rev,  Dr.  Hoive. 

Title  4. — The  Presbytery  of  Charleston. 

§99. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  by  the  General  Assembly  the 
consideration  of  an  application  from  the  Charleston  Presbytery,  in  South 
Carolina,  to  be  taken  into  connection  with  the  Assembly,  made  their  report, 
which  being  corrected,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"After  examining  the  papers  and  propositions  brought  forward  by  the 
Charleston  Presbytery,  the  committee  think  it  expedient  that  the  General 
Assembly  refer  this  business  to  the  consideration  of  the  Synod  of  the  Caro- 
linas,  with  whom  this  Presbytery  must  be  connected,  if  they  become  a  con- 
stituent part  of  our  body.  That  the  said  Synod  be  informed  that  the  Pres- 
bytery ought,  in  the  event  of  a  connection  with  us,  to  be  allowed  to  enjoy 
and  manage,  without  hinderance  or  control,  all  funds  and  moneys  that  are 
now  in  their  possession ;  and  that  the  congregations  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  be  permitted  freely  to  use  the  system  of  psalmody  which  they 
have  already  adopted.  That,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Synod  must  be  care- 
ful to  ascertain  that  all  the  Ministers  and  congregations  belonging  to  the 
Presbytery  do  fully  adopt,  not  only  the  doctrine,  but  the  form  of  govern- 
ment and  discipline  of  our  Church.  That  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  under 
the  guidance  of  these  general  principles,  should  be  directed,  if  agreeable  to 
them  and  to  the  Presbytery,  to  receive  said  Presbytery  as  a  part  of  that 
Synod.  But  if  the  Synod  or  the  Presbytery  find  difficulties  in  finally  decid- 
ing on  this  subject,  that  they  may  refer  such  difficulties  and  transmit  all 
the  information  they  may  collect  relative  to  this  business,  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly." — Minutes,  1800,  p.  189. 

§100. 

(a)  "A  letter  from  the  Bev.  Dr.  Buist  was  presented  to  the  Assembly 
by  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  and  read,  requesting  in  behalf  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Charleston  in  South  Carolina,  that  they  may  be  received  into  con- 
nection with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  without 
connecting  themselves  with  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 

"Inasmuch  as  this  subject  has  been  regularly  before  the  Assembly  in 
the  year  1800,  and  certain  resolutions  adopted  thereon,  which  appear  not 
to  have  been  complied  with,  and  the  application  comes  before  the  Assembly 
in  an  informal  manner, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  cannot  now  act  upon  the  representation 
of  Dr.  Buist;  but 

"Resolved,  farther.  That  Dr.  Smith  be  appointed  to  write^  to  Dr.  Buist, 
informing  him,  and  through  him,  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  that  the 
Assembly  are  by  no  means  indisposed  to  admit  that  Presbytery  to  a  union 
with  their  body,  upon  a  plan  which  may  be  hereafter  agreed  upon ;  pro- 
vided, that  the  application  for  that  purpose  come  before  them  in  an  orderly 
manner  from  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston;  provided  farther,  that  it  shall 
be  made  to  appear  to  the  Assembly  that  the  difficulties  of  their  situation  or 
other  circumstances,  render  it  inexpedient  for  that  Presbytery  to  be  connected 
immediately  with  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas ;  and  provided,  that  they  give 


Part  II.]  THE   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  549 

the  requisite  assurance  to  the  Assembly,  that  the  Presbytery  and  the 
Churches  under  their  care  do  fully  adopt  the  standards  of  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America." — 
Minutes,  1804,  p.  296. 

(6)  [Upon  a  remonstrance  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  the  Assembly  adopted  the 
report  of  a  committee] 

"  That  this  subject  was  regularly  before  the  Assembly  of  the  year  1800; 
that  certain  resolutions  affecting  the  case  were  then  adopted,  to  which  that 
body  of  men  have  not  conformed,  on  their  part ;  and  that  no  application  has 
been  made  by  them  to  this  Assembly.  Your  committee  therefore  submit 
the  following  resolution,  viz. 

^'Resolved,  That  this  subject  be  dismissed." — Minutes,  1806,  p.  363. 

(c)  "A  letter  from  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  containing  a  request  on 
behalf  of  that  Presbytery  to  be  united  with  the  General  Assembly,  was  read, 
and  committed  to  Messrs.  Campbell,  Hosach,  Finley,  Couser,  and  Woodruff, 
who  were  directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly,  on  the  subject." 

''The  report  being  read  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted,  and  that  said  Pres- 
bytery, retaining  their  name  and  their  charter  of  incorporation,  be,  and  they 
hereby  are  taken  into  connection  with  the  General  Assembly;  provided  how- 
ever, that  the  members  of  said  Presbytery  shall  have  adopted  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  shall  also  effect  a  compromise  or  union  with 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  which  transactions  shall  be  subject  to  the  review 
and  control  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas." — Minutes,  1811,  pp.  467,  475. 

[See  above,  §  98,  6.] 

Title  5. — Union  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod. 

§  101.  Projwsal  hy  the  Assembli/. 

"  Whereas,  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  and  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America  are  one  in  their  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
Form  of  Government,  and  whereas  this  Assembly  knows  of  no  reason  why 
these  two  ecclesiastical  bodies  should  not  become  visibly  one  Church,  as  we 
trust  we  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  the  glory  of  God,  therefore 

"Resolved,  That  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  Blatchford,  Dr.  J.  McDowell,  Mr.  B. 
Strong,  and  Mr.  Henry  Southard,  be  a  committee  to  confer  on  this  subject 
with  a  similar  committee  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  now  in 
session  in  this  city,  if  they  shall  see  fit  to  appoint  one;  and  that  said  com- 
mittee report  the  result  of  their  conference  as  soon  as  convenient." — Min- 
utes, 1821,  p.  7. 

§  102.  Articles  of  union  adopted  hy  the  Assembly. 

"The  Committee  appointed  by  theGeneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Synod  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Church,  to  confer  with  respect  to  a  union  of  the  two  bodies, 
met  at  the  house  of  Jonathan  Smith,  Esq.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Green  was  cho- 
sen Chairman  of  the  meeting,  and  the  Rev.  John  Lind,  Secretary.  The 
business  was  introduced  by  prayer  by  Dr.  Green. 

"On  motion  of  Dr.  Blatchford,  seconded  by  Dr.  Mason,  it  was 

"Resolved  unanimously,  As  the  judgment  of  the  conferring  Committees, 
that  a  union  of  the  two  Churches  is  both  desirable  and  practicable. 

"The  following  articles  were  then  proposed  and  unanimously  approved, 
as  the  basis  of  such  a  union. 


550  UNION  OF  THE  [Book  VI. 

"  1.  Tlie  different  Presbyteries  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Cliurch  shall 
either  retain  their  separate  organization,  or  shall  be  amalgamated  with  those 
of  the  General  Assembly,  at  their  own  choice.  In  the  former  case,  they 
shall  have  as  full  powers  and  privileges  as  any  other  Presbyteries  iu  the 
united  body,  and  shall  attach  themselves  to  the  Synods  most  convenient. 

"2.  The  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  under  the  care  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  and  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church,  shall  be  consolidated. 

"  3.  Whereas,  Moneys  to  the  amount  of  between  nine  and  ten  thousand 
dollars,  which  were  given  to  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church,  and  of  which  the  interest  or  product  only  was  to  be  applied  to  the 
support  of  a  Theological  Seminary,  were  necessarily  used  in  the  current  ex- 
penses thereof,  which  moneys  so  expended  were  assumed  by  the  Synod  as 
its  own  debt,  at  an  interest  of  seven  per  cent;  the  united  body  agree  to  make 
a  joint  effort  to  repay  the  same,  and  will  apply  the  interest  accruing  thereon 
to  the  maintenance  of  a  Professorship  of  Biblical  Literature  in  the  Semi- 
nary at  Princeton,  analogous  to  that  which  now  exists  iu  the  Associate 
Reformed  Church;  and  until  such  Professorship  shall  be  established,  the 
said  interest  or  product  shall  be  used  for  the  general  purposes  of  the  Semi- 

"4.  The  theological  library  and  funds  belonging  to  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church  shall  be  transferred,  and  belong  to  the  Seminary  at  Princeton. 

"These  articles  having  been  approved,  were  ordered  to  be  transcribed 
and  signed,  and  a  copy  of  them  transmitted  to  thie  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church,  respectively. 

"The  meeting  was  closed  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Dickey. 

"All  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

"Ashbel  Green,  Samuel  Blatchford,  John  McDowell,  Henry  Southard, 
Benjamin  Strong,  J.  M.  Mason,  Ebenezer  Dickey,  John  Lind,  William 
Wilson,  Joseph  Gushing." 

"  The  foregoing  report  having  been  read  [in  the  Assembly]  and  duly 
considered;  was  unanimously  adopted." — Minutes,  1821,  p.  9. 

§  103.  Referred  to  the  Presbyteries  hy  the  Synod. 

"In  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church, 
^^  Resolved,  That  this  Synod  approve  of  the  plan  of  union  -agreed  upon  by 
the  joint  committees;  and  refer  the  same  to  the  consideration  of  the  different 
Presbyteries,  with  an  injunction  to  report  their  judgment  to  this  Synod  at 
its  next  meeting. 

''Philadelphia,  May  28,  1821.  —Minutes,  1821,  p.  11. 

§  104.    The  Plan  ratified. 

"  The  following  communication  from  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate 
Reformed  Church  was  received  and  read,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Synod  approve  and  hereby  do  ratify  the  plan  of  union 
between  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Church,  proposed  by  Commissioners  from  said  Churches." 
"  Extract    from    the  Minutes  of  the    General    Synod  of  the  Associate 
Reformed  Church  at  Philadelphia,  21st  May,  1822. 

James  Laurie,  Moderator. 
J.  Arbuckle,  Clerk. 


Part  IL]  ASSOCIATE    REFORMED    SYNOD.  551 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  resolution,  authenticated  by  the 
Moderator  and  Clerk,  be  immediately  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  Rev.  Ebenezer  Dickey,  and  Dr.  Eobert 
Patterson,  be  a  committee  to  wait  upon  the  Assembly  with  the  said  resolu- 
tion. J.  Arbuckle,  Clerk." 

§  105.    Tlie  Union  consummated. 

"The  committee  from  the  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church 
appeared  in  the  Assembly,  whereupon, 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  receive  this  communication  with  great 
pleasure;  and  the  Rev.  Jonas  Coe,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  McAu- 
ley,  LL.D.,  the  Rev.  William  Gray,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  and 
Mr.  Divie  Bethune,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  wait  upon  said  Synod, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  different  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  Synod 
cannot  appoint  delegates  to  attend  the  present  General  Assembly,  cordially 
to  invite  all  the  delegates  to  the  Synod  to  take  their  seats  in  this  house  as 
members  of  the  Assembly. 

"Resolved,  Moreover,  that  the  committee  aforesaid  be  directed  to  request 
the  members  of  said  Synod  to  attend  this  Assembly  on  to-morrow,  at 
4  o'clock,  P.  M.,  that  we  may  unitedly  return  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  for 
the  consummation  of  this  union." 

"The  committee  appointed  to  wait  on  the  Synod  of  the  Associate  Re- 
formed Church,  reported  that  they  had  fulfilled  the  duty  assigned  them. 

"The  members  of  the  Synod  attended,  and  an  appropriate  psalm  and 
hymn  were  sung,  and  two  appropriate  prayers  were  addressed  to  the  throne 
of  grace,  one  by  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  other  by  a  member  of 
the  Synod,  and  the  scene  was  deeply  interesting,  and  affecting;  and 
exhibited  a  union  of  heart,  as  well  as  a  union  in  form." — Minutes,  1822, 
pp.  11,  14. 

§  106.    The  Library  and  Funds  of  the  Synod. 

[The  Board  of  Directors  of  Princeton  Seminary  report] — "Shortly  after  the  last 
Assembly  rose,  this  library  together  with  the  valuable  cases  in  which  it  was  contained, 
was  delivered  by  a  committee  of  the  late  Associate  Reformed  Synod  to  a  committee  of 
the  Board  of  Directors.  The  books  and  cases  were  received  into  the  Seminary  in  the 
month  of  June  last.  On  this  subject  the  librarian  in  his  report  to  the  Board  remarks: 
"  The  number  of  volumes  is  between  2400  and  2500.  They  are,  with  some  exceptions, 
in  very  good  condition  as  to  binding  &c.,  generally  excellent  editions,  and  making 
altogether  a  collection  equally  rare  and  valuable,  and  fully  answering,  it  is  believed,  any 
expectations  that  may  have  been  formed  respecting  it." — Minutes,  1823,  p.  1.55. 

§  107.    Claims  to  the  Library. 

[In  1822  and  1823,  letters  were  received  by  the  General  Assembly  from  the  Associate 
Reformed  Synods  of  the  West  and  of  the  South,  laying  claim  to  part  of  the  library.] — 
Minutes,  1822,  pp.  26,  28,  and  1823,  p».  215. 

"A  communication  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York 
was  received,  viz.  a  memorial  of  said  Synod  claiming  the  library,  funds, 
&c.  transferred  as  stated  in  the  memorial,  by  the  late  General  Synod  of  the 
Associate  Reformed  Church  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton."  ^ 

"The  memorial  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York,  claim- 
ing the  library  and  funds  that  had  been  transferred  by  the  late  General 
Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  was,  with  the  leave  of  the  Assembly,  withdrawn  by  one  of  the 
Commissioners  who  had  presented  it,  stating  that  he  took  upon  himself  the 
responsibility  of  withdrawing  it.     The  other  Commissioner  had  left  the  city 


552  UNION  OF  THE  [Book  VI. 

several  days  previous.  The  memorial  having  been  withdrawn,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  if  any  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Synod  of  New  York,  shall  at  any  future  time,  send  any  of 
their  candidates  for  the  gospel  ministry  to  our  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  they  shall  be  received  on  the  same  terras  as  candidates  from  our 
own  Presbyteries,  and  entitled  to  all  privileges,  both  from  the  library  and 
the  funds  of  the  institution,  which  are  enjoyed  by  other  students  in  the 
same  personal  circumstances. 

''  2.  That  Drs.  Nott,  Blatchford,  and  Chester,  be  a  committee  to  confer 
with  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York,  or  any  committee  which 
that  Synod  may  appoint,  on  the  subject  of  a  friendly  correspondence  with 
this  body,  or  of  the  amalgamation  of  their  churches  with  the  Pi'esbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States ;  and  that  said  committee  report  to  the  next 
Assembly  any  such  measures  for  adoption  as  the  conferring  parties  may 
judge  best  calculated  to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  these  two  Presby- 
terian denominations. 

"After  these  two  resolutions  were  adopted.  Dr.  Proudfit,  the  commis- 
sioner present,  declared  that  he  was  much  more  pleased  and  gratified  by  the 
adoption  of  these  resolutions  than  he  would  have  been  by  the  Assembly's 
granting  the  claims  of  the  memorial  in  their  whole  extent." — Minutes, 
1823,  pp.  121, 138. 

§  108.    The  Lihrary  tran^ferrrd  to  tJie  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of 

New  Yorlc. 

<'In  regard  to  the  Mason  Library,  and  the  funds  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  the 
Trustees  have  to  report,  that  the  Chancellor  of  New  Jersey  has  given  a  decree  against 
them. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in  September  last,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up 
a  statement  proper  to  be  adopted  by  the  Trustees,  in  this  state  of  the  business.  At  the 
present  meeting  of  the  Board,  this  committee  reported  ;  and  their  report  was  adopted,  and 
ordered  to  be  incorporated  in  the  report  to  the  Assembly.     It  is  as  follows,  viz. 

The  Committee  appointed  September  1837,  on  the  subject  of  the  Mason  Library, 
respectfully  report, 

That  in  1831,  'the  Rev,  Joseph  M'Carrell  and  Mr.  John  Forsyth  appeared  in  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  as  Commissioners  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York,  and 
presented  a  memorial  from  said  Synod,  urging  a  claim  to  the  library  and  certain  funds, 
transferred  by  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  at  the  time  they  dis- 
solved, to  the  General  Assembly,  and  now  in  possession  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton.'  The  memorial  having  been  referred  to  a  committee,  and  a  report  made  thereon, 
it  was  resolved  by  the  Assembly,  'That  the  memorial  and  the  report  be  referred  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the 
claims  of  the  memorialists,  and  if  in  the  judgment  of  the  said  Trustees,  the  property  in 
question  belongs  either  in  law  or  equity  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York, 
the  said  Trustees  be  hereby  advised  by  this  Assembly  to  deliver  the  property  to  the  Synod 
aforesaid.'  In  September  1831,  the  memorial,  with  the  accompanying  documents,  was 
referred  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  a  committee,  consisting  of  the  Hon.  Charles  Ewing, 
the  Hon.  Samuel  L.  Southard,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  W.  Phillips.  That  committee, 
after  a  full  investigation  of  the  claim,  in  April  1833,  reported  their  opinion  to  the  Board, 
and  closed  their  report  by  saying  that,  'in  our  opinion  the  properly  in  question  does  not 
belong  either  in  law  or  equity  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York.'  This 
report  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Board,  and  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  in  May 
1832,  and  by  the  Assembly  referred  to  a  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Jonas  Piatt, 
Jessup,  Lumpkin,  Banks,  and  R.J.  Breckinridge.  Upon  the  report  and  recommendation 
of  the  committee,  the  Assembly  adopted  the  following  resolution,  viz.  ^Resolved,  That  the 
said  opinion  and  report,  transmitted  to  this  Assembly  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  be  accepted  and  approved  ;  and  that  said  Trustees  be  and  they  are 
hereby  empowered  to  adopt  and  pursue  any  measures  by  amicable  suit  at  law,  or  inequity, 
or  by  arbitration,  if  they  deem  it  expedient  or  necessary,  in  order  to  settle  and  determine 


Part  II.]  ASSOCIATE   REFORMED   SYNOD.  553 

any  alaim  or  claims,  which  the  Associate  ReformeJ  Synod  of  New  York,  or  any  other  per- 
son or  persons,  or  body  corporate,  may  make  to  the  property,  which  is  the  subject  of  the 
opinion  referred  to.'  Other  claims  to  the  property  having  been  from  time  to  time  prefer- 
red to  the  General  Assembly,  it  was  deemed  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  neither 
necessary  nor  expedient,  to  submit  the  decision  of  these  conflicting  claims  to  arbitration. 
Such  a  course  might  have  afforded  ground  for  cavil  or  complaint  against  the  Board  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  claimants.  In  pursuance  of  the  authority  contained  in  the  last  preced- 
ing resolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  an  appearance  was  entered  on  behalf  of  this  Board, 
to  an  amicable  suit,  instituted  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  in  Newburgh,  and  the  Trustees  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Congregation  in  Little  Britain,  as  well  for  themselves,  as  in  behalf  of  all 
the  other  Associate  Reformed  Churches  and  Congregations  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
against  the  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  cause 
having  been  argued  before  two  successive  Chancellors,  an  interlocutory  decree  in  favour  of 
the  complainants  was  made  by  his  excellency,  Philemon  Dickerson,  then  being  Chancellor, 
at  July  Term,  1837,  and  a  final  decree  rendered  thereon  at  January  Term,  1838. 

The  decree  of  the  Court  is,  that  the  complainants  are  entitled  to  recover  of  the  defend- 
ants, in  specie,  the  said  library  of  books,  papers,  records,  moneys,  and  other  property 
received  by  the  said  defendants,  by  virtue  of  the  Act  of  Union  between  the  General 
Assemtily  and  the  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  to  be  delivered  to  the  com- 
plainants or  their  solicitor  upon  his  written  order — also  all  interest  actually  received  by 
the  defendants  upon  the  funds,  and  that  each  party  pay  their  own  costs. 

From  the  foregoing  statement  of  facts,  it  is  apparent  that  the  object  of  the  General  As- 
sembly has  been,  not  so  much  to  establish  any  right  or  title  of  their  own  to  the  property 
in  question,  as  to  have  conflicting  claims  fairly  settled,  and  justice  done  to  all  parties  con- 
cerned. In  declining  to  submit  the  matter  to  arbitration,  and  in  having  the  question 
decided  by  a  competent  legal  tribunal,  upon  a  full  hearing  of  all  the  facts  involved  in  the 
controversy,  the  Board  have,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  met  the  views  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  fully  discharged  the  trust  reposed  in  them.  The  committee,  without  enter- 
ing into  the  merits  of  the  controversy,  or  expressing  any  opinion  as  to  the  probable  result 
of  an  appeal  from  the  decree  of  the  Chancellor,  to  a  higher  tribunal,  are  of  opinion  that  the 
views  of  the  supreme  judicature  of  the  Church  will  be  most  strictly  complied  with,  and  the 
interest  of  the  Church  itself  best  promoted,  by  a  submission  to  the  decree  of  the  Chancel- 
lor, and  an  early  compliance  with  its  directions.  They  therefore  respectfully  recommend 
that  no  appeal  be  taken  from  the  decree  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  aforesaid,  but  that  the 
library  and  other  property  in  the  possession  of  the  Board  be  delivered  over  in  pursuance 
of  the  decree  to  the  complainants  in  the  cause,  or  to  their  lawfully  authorized  agent." 

''The  Trustees  respectfully  request  the  General  Assembly  to  give  them 
instructions  iu  view  of  the  above  statement." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  60. 

V       (6)  Action  of  the  Assembly, 

"  The  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Princeton  was  presented,  read,  and  accepted,  and  it  was 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  approve  the  course  pursued  by  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  in  regard  to  the  decision  of 
the  Chancellor  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  directing  them  to  transfer  the 
Mason  Library,  and  accompanying  funds,  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod 
of  New  Yox\:'~Ihid.  p.  16. 

(c)  ''The  Board  [of  Trustees  of  Princeton  Seminary]  report  that  the 
Mason  Library,  adjudged  by  the  Chancellor  of  New  Jersey  to  belong  to  the 
Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York,  has  been  delivered  to  the  agent 
of  that  body,  and  has  been  removed." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  194. 


70 


PART  III. 

THE   PLAN   OF  UNION. 


Title  1. — Origin  of  the  Plan. 
§  109.  Proposed  hy  the  Association  of  Connecticut. 

(a)  "A  cominunication  was  read  from  tlie  General  Association  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  appointing  a  committee  to  confer  with  a  committee  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  consider  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted  by 
the  General  Association  and  the  General  Assembly,  for  establishing  au 
uniform  system  of  Church  government,  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  new 
settlements,  who  are  attached  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  government,  and 
those  who  prefer  the  Congregational  form. 

Ordered.,  That  said  communication  lie  on  the  table." 

[It  was  as  follows:] 

"  The  Rev.  John  Smalley,  Levi  Hart,  and  Samuel  Blatchford,  are  hereby  appointed  a 
committee  of  this  General  Association  to  confer  with  a  committee  to  be  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  if  they  see  cause  to  appoint  such  com- 
mittee, to  consider  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted  both  by  this  Association  and  the 
said  Assembly,  to  prevent  alienation,  to  promote  harmony,  and  to  establish,  as  far  as 
possible,  an  uniform  system  of  Church  Government,  between  those  inhabitants  of  the  new 
settlements  who  are  attached  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  Church  government  and  those 
who  are  attached  to  the  Congregational  form,  and  to  make  report  to  this  Association.  Any 
two  of  the  said  committee  are  hereby  empowered  to  act. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  proposals  be  transmitted  to  the  said  General 
Assembly,  and  that  they  be  respectfully  requested  by  the  Moderator  of  this  General  Asso- 
ciation to  concur  in  the  measure  now  proposed. 

By  order  of  the  committee.  Nathan  Williams,  Chairman, 

A  true  copy. — Attest,  Wm.  Ltman,  Jss't  Scribe." — Minutes,  1801,  p.  212. 

§  110.    The  Flan  adopted. 

"The  Rev.  Drs.  Edwards,  McKnight,  and  Woodhull,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Blatchford,  and  Mr.  Hutton,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  and 
digest  a  plan  of  government  for  the  Churches  in  the  new  settlements, 
agreeably  to  the  proposals  of  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  and 
report  the  same  as  soon  as  convenient." 

"The  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  consider  and  digest  a  plan  of 
government  for  the  Churches  in  the  new  settlements,  was  taken  up  and 
considered,  and  after  mature  deliberation  on  the  same,  approved,  as  follows : 

§111. 

"Regulations  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  America,  and  by  the  General  Association  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut;  (provided  said  Association  agree  to  them,)  with  a  view  to  prevent 


Part  III.]  '  ORIGIN   OF  THE   PLAN.  555 

alienation,  and  to  promote  union  and  harmony  in  those  new  settlements 
which  are  composed  of  inhabitants  from  these  bodies. 

"  1.  It  is  strictly  enjoined  on  all  their  missionaries  to  the  new  settle- 
ments, to  endeavour,  by  all  proper  means,-  to  promote  mutual  forbearance, 
and  a  spirit  of  accommodation  between  those  inhabitants  of  the  new 
settlements  who  hold  the  Presbyterian,  and  those  who  hold  the  Congrega- 
tional form  of  Church  government. 

"2.  If  in  the  new  settlements  any  Church  of  the  Congregational  order 
shall  settle  a  Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  order,  that  Church  may,  if  they 
choose,  still  conduct  their  discipline  according  to  the  Congregational  prin- 
ciples, settling  their  difficulties  among  themselves,  or  by  a  council  mutually 
agreed  upon  for  that  pupose.  But  if  any  difficulty  shall  exist  between  the 
Minister  and  the  Church,  or  any  member  of  it,  it  shall  be  referred  to  the 
Presbytery  to  which  the  Minister  shall  belong,  provided  both  parties  agree 
to  it  J  if  not,  to  a  council  consisting  of  an  equal  number  of  Presbyterians 
and  Congregationalists,  agreed  upon  by  both  parties. 

"3.  If  a  Presbyterian  Church  shall  settle  a  Minister  of  Congregational 
principles,  that  Church  may  still  conduct  their  discipline  according  to  Pres- 
byterian principles,  excepting  that  if  a  difficulty  arise  between  him  and  his 
Church,  or  any  member  of  it,  the  cause  shall  be  tried  by  the  Association  to 
which  the  said  Minister  shall  belong,  provided  both  parties  agree  to  it; 
otherwise  by  a  council,  one-half  Congregationalists  and  the  other  Presby- 
terians, mutually  agreed  upon  by  the  parties. 

"4.  If  any  Congregation  consist  partly  of  those  who  hold  the  Congregational 
form  of  discipline,  and  partly  of  those  who  hold  the  Presbyterian  form,  we 
recommend  to  both  parties  that  this  be  no  obstruction  to  their  uniting  in  one 
Church  and  settling  a  Minister;  and  that  in  this  case  the  Church  choose  a 
standing  committee  from  the  communicants  of  said  Church,  whose  business 
it  shall  be  to  call  to  account  every  member  of  the  Church  who  shall  conduct 
himself  inconsistently  with  the  laws  of  Christianity,  and  to  give  judgment 
on  such  conduct.  That  if  the  person  condemned  by  their  judgment  be  a 
Presbyterian,  he  shall  have  liberty  to  appeal  to  the  Presbytery;  if  he  be  a 
Congregationalist,  he  shall  have  liberty  to  appeal  to  the  body  of  the  male 
communicants  of  the  Church.  In  the  former  case,  the  determination  of 
the  Presbytery  shall  be  final,  unless  the  Church  shall  consent  to  a  further 
appeal  to  the  Synod,  or  to  the  General  Assembly;  and  in  the  latter  case,  if 
the  party  condemned  shall  wish  for  a  trial  by  a  mutual  council,  the  case 
shall  be  referred  to  such  a  council.  And  provided  the  said  standing  com- 
mittee of  any  Church  shall  depute  one  of  themselves  to  attend  the 
Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  to  sit  and  act  in  the  Presbytery, 
as  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." — Minutes,  1801,  pp. 
221,  224. 

[The  plan  was  ratified  by  the  General  Association.] — Minutes,  1802,  p.  237. 
§  112.  Plan  of  the  Presbytery  of  Alhany  in  1802. 

"A  communication  was  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  stating 
that  a  joint  committee,  consisting  of  members  of  that  Presbytery  and  mem- 
bers from  a  Presbytery  known  by  the  name  of  the  Northern  Associate 
Presbytery,  [a  Congregational  body,  in  New  York,]  had  met  and  agreed 
upon  a  plan  of  friendly  correspondence  between  the  5linisters  and  Churches 
belonging  to  these  Presbyteries,  respectively,  consisting  of  three  articles,  viz. 

"The  committee  has  in  effect  agreed, 

"1.  That  there  shall  be  occasional  communion  between  the  members  of 
the  particular  Churches  subordinate  to  those  Presbyteries  respectively. 


656  THE   PLAN   OF   UNION.  [Book  VI. 

"  2.  That  tliere  be  a  friendly  iutercliange  of  services  among  the  Ministers, 
and, 

"3.  That  each  Presbytery,  while  in  session,  may  invite  members  occa- 
sionally present  from  the  other,  to  sit  as  corresponding  members. 

"  That  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  having  heard  the  report  of  the  said 
committee,  approved  thereof,  and  resolved  to  request  the  General  Assembly 
to  sanction  the  same,  and  authorize  the  Presbytery  of  Albany  to  adopt  it. 

"The  Assembly,  after  due  examination  and  deliberation,  expressed  their 
approbation  of  the  said  plan  of  correspondence." — Minutes,  1802,  p.  344. 

§  113.  Plan  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  in  1808. 

"  The  Synod  of  Albany  requested  the  Assembly  to  sanction  a  plan  of  union 
and  correspondence  between  themselves  and  the  Northern  Associated 
Presbytery  and  the  Middle  Association,  in  the  AVestern  District  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  which  plan  is  contained  in  pages  117 — 121  of  the  Synodical 
Minutes.     The  plan  being  read,  and  the  subject  discussed, 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  sanction  the  aforesaid  plan." — Minutes, 
1808,  p.  404. 

§  114.  Action  in  the  Synod. 

[The  following  are  the  records  of  Synod  on  the  subject.] 

"Oct.  7,  1807. — The  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Fuller  of  the  Northern  Associated  Presbytery, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Joshua  Leonard,  from  the  Middle  Association  in  the  Western  District, 
produced  testimonials  of  their  appointment  as  Commissioners  from  their  respective  bodies, 
for  the  purpose  of  forming  some  union  with  this  Synod.  These  Commissioners,  being 
requested,  stated  the  views  and  wishes  of  their  respective  bodies.  The  subject  being  in 
some  measure  discussed,  was  deferred  until  to-morrow  morning  for  further  consideration. 

"  Wednesday  morning,  9  o'clock. — The  Synod  resumed  the  consideration  of  forming 
some  plan  of  union  and  correspondence  with  the  Northern  Associated  Presbytery,  and 
the  Middle  Association  of  the  Western  District.  After  mature  deliberation,  they  concluded 
it  to  be  an  object  of  great  importance  to  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness  of  the  con- 
gregations under  their  care,  locally  situated  as  they  are  together,  as  well  as  to  the 
advancement  of  the  interests  of  religion  generally,  that  some  plan  of  union  and  correspond- 
ence should  exist  between  them.     Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Coe,  Oliver,  and  Woodruffbe  a  committee  to  prepare 
a  draft  of  a  letter  to  these  ecclesiastical  judicatories,  stating  the  readiness  of  the  Synod, 
with  the  approbation  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  form  as  intimate  a  connection  with 
them  as  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  will  admit,  and  inviting  them  to  become  constitu- 
ent branches  of  the  Synod ;  and  assuring  them  of  our  cheerfulness  in  leaving  their 
churches  undisturbed  in  the  administration  of  their  own  government,  until  they  shall 
become  better  acquainted  with  ours,  and  shall  voluntarily  adopt  it." 

§  115.  Letter  and  proposals  of  the  Synod. 

"  Friday  morning,  9  o'clock. — The  Rev.  J.  Coe,  from  the  committee  to  prepare  the 
draft  of  a  letter  to  the  Northern  Associated  Presbytery,  and  the  Middle  Association  in  the 
Western  District,  in  answer  to  their  application  about  a  union  with  the  Synod,  brought 
in  such  a  draft,  which  was  read,  corrected  and  approved,  and  is  as  follows: 

CooPF-nsTOWN,  Oct.  9,  1807. 

Dear  Brethren — We  received  your  communication  by  the  Rev.  [Mr.  Leonard]*  with 
great  pleasure,  and  were  highly  gratified  with  the  object  of  his  mission,  which  has  occupied 
our  serious  attention.  Situated  as  our  judicatories  are,  in  a  new  country,  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  its  population;  blended  as  our  people  are  in  the  same  settlements,  and  holding  the 
same  divine  doctrines,  it  is  certainly  an  object  of  interesting  importance  that  we  should 
be  cemented  together  in  some  intimate  bond  of  union  and  correspondence.  Such  an  union 
would  make  us  better  acquainted,  and  increase  our  attachment  to  one  another,  as  servants 
of  our  common  Lord.  It  would  facilitate  the  establishment  of  the  gospel  in  many  of  the 
destitute  settlements  of  our  country,  by  uniting  our  people  in  a  common  cause ;  and  it 

*  [The  brackets  inclose  words  inserted  in  the  letter  to  the  Association,  and  omitted  in  that  to  the  Pres- 
bytery.] 


Part  III.]  ORIGIN   OF  THE   PLAN.  557 

would  enable  us  to  combine  our  exertions  more  effectually  in  suppressing  error,  licentious- 
ness and  vice,  and  promoting  the  great  interests  of  pure  morality  and  undetiled  religion. 
Prompted  by  these  considerations,  and  animated  with  a  desire  to  do  all  in  our  power  to 
advance  the  general  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  the  Synod  of  Albany  stand 
ready,  with  the  approbation  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  form  as  intimate  a  connection  with 
your  [Association]  Presbytery  as  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  will  admit. 

We  most  cordially  invite  you  to  become  a  constituent  branch  of  our  body,  by  [assuming 
the  characteristic  and  scriptural  name  of  Presbytery,  and]  adopting  our  standards  of 
doctrine  and  government,  and  sit  and  vote  with  us  in  all  the  great  and  interesting  con- 
cerns of  the  Church.  [Deeming  the  name,  however,  far  less  important  than  the  thing, 
although  of  consequence  to  uniformity  in  the  same  body,  yet  should  you  be  solicitous  to 
retain  yours,  it  will  not  be  considered  on  our  part  a  bar  to  so  desirable  a  union.] 

Nor  do  we  confine  our  invitation  to  you  as  Ministers ;  but  we  also  extend  it  to  dele- 
gates from  your  churches,  whom  we  are  willing  to  receive  as  substantially  the  same  with  our 
ruling  elders,  to  assist  us  in  our  public  deliberations  and  decisions.  Knowing  the  influence  of 
education,  and  habit,  should  the  churches  under  your  care  prefer  transacting  their  inter- 
nal concerns  in  their  present  mode  of  Congregational  government,  we  assure  them  of  our 
cheerfulness  in  leaving  them  undisturbed  in  the  administration  of  that  government,  unless 
they  shall  choose  to  alter  it  themselves. 

Should  you  accede  to  this  plan  of  union  and  correspondence,  and  our  General  Assem- 
bly permit  us  to  form  it,  which  we  are  disposed  to  think  they  readily  will,  we  anticipate 
the  auspicious  period  as  just  at  hand,  when  all  the  Congregations  of  Presbyterian  Churches 
in  this  northern  region  will  form  one  great  phalanx  against  the  common  enemy,  and  com- 
bine their  exertions  to  advance  the  mediatorial  kingdom  of  our  exalted  Lord. 
We  are,  Reverend  Brethren,  with  sentiments  of  respect  and  esteem. 

Yours  sincerely." 

§  116.    The  Middle  Association  received  hy  the  Synod. 

"Oct.  8,  1808. —  Whereas,  it  appears  that  the  plan  of  union  and  correspondence  pro- 
posed by  the  Synod  at  their  last  meeting  between  them  and  the  Middle  Association  on 
the  Military  Tract,  and  its  vicinity,  has  been  transmitted  to  said  Association  ;  and  whej-eas 
the  said  Association  have  acceded  to  said  plan  of  union  and  correspondence,  as  appears 
from  the  records  of  said  Association,  adduced  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  Wallace,  and  Deacon 
Peter  Hitchcock,  who  are  deputed  to  act  on  this  subject;  and  whereas  the  General  Assem- 
bly have  permitted  the  Synod  to  form  this  plan  of  union  and  correspondence ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  Middle  Association  on  the  Military  Tract  and  its  vicinity,  be  re- 
ceived as  a  constituent  branch  of  the  Synod,  and  they  are  hereby  received  accordingly 
— retaining  their  own  name  and  usages  in  the  administration  of  the  government  of  their 
Churches  according  to  the  terms  stated  in  the  plan." 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Clerk  furnish  the  Association  with  an  attested  copy  of  the  above 
Minute." 

<' The  Rev.  Joshua  Leonard,  Hugh  Wallace,  Nathan  B.  Derrow,  Francis  Pomeroy, 
and  Reuben  Hind ;  and  Messrs.  Gilbert  Weed,  Peter  Hitchcock,  and  Samuel  Seward, 
delegates,  members  of  said  Association,  being  present,  took  their  seats  in  Synod." — 
Minules,  Synod  of  Albany ,  published  by  the  Auburn  Convention. 

§117. 

[In  the  extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  1809,  the  statistical  table  is  thus 
introduced:] 

"  The  General  Assembly  have  under  their  jurisdiction,  7  Synods,  32  Presbyteries  and 
1  Association;  viz.  I.  Synod  of  Albany :  Presbyteries,  4 — Columbia,  Albany,  Oneida, 
Geneva.     Middle  Association,"  &c. — Extracts  1809,  p.  227. 

Title  2. — Operation  of  the  Plan. 

§  118.  Case  of  Daniel  W.  Lathrop. 

"  A  commission,  signed  by  the  Moderator  and  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Hartford,  appointing  Mr.  Daniel  W.  Lathrop,  one  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee of  the  Church  in  Ellsworth,  a  Commissioner  to  this  Assembly,  was 
read. 


558  THE   PLAN   OF   UNION.  [Book  VI. 

''A  motion  was  made  and  seconded,  that  he  be  received  as  a  member; 
after  some  discussion,  the  subject  of  the  motion  was  committed  to  Dr. 
Romeyn,  Messrs.  Winser,  and  Elias  B.  Caldwell,  who  were  directed  to 
report  to  the  Assembly  to-morrow  morning." 

"The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  motion  relative  to  IMr.  Lathrop, 
reported,  and  their  report  was  read,  and  several  amendments  having  been 
proposed,  the  subject,  after  a  discussion  of  considerable  length,  was  recom- 
mitted to  the  same  committee,  increased  by  the  addition  of  Drs.  Ilice, 
Spring,  and  Neill,  and  the  Rev.  Matthew  R.  Dutton,  and  the  committee 
was  directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly  as  soon  as  practicable." 

"The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  case  of  Mr.  Lathrop,  reported, 
and  their  report  being  read,  was,  without  opposition,  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows,  viz. 

"Whereas,  a  conventional  agreement  was  entered  into  with  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  one,  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  alienation,  and  promoting  harmony  in  those  new  settlements 
which  are  composed  of  persons  adhei'ing  to  both  those  bodies  : 

"And  whereas,  in  the  said  agreement  it  is  provided,  that  in  a  Church 
composed  in  part  of  Congregationalists  and  in  part  of  Presbyterians,  the 
Church  may  choose  a  standing  committee  for  the  exercise  of  discipline;  and 
moreover,  that  the  standing  committee  of  any  Church  may  depute  one  of 
their  body  to  attend  the  Presbytery,  and  that  the  person  so  deputed  may 
have  the  same  right  to  sit  and  act  in  Presbytery  as  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church: 

"And,  moreover,  as  in  the  mixed  state  of  Christian  society,  contemplated 
in  the  agreement  aforesaid,  Presbyteries  have  sometimes  appointed  members 
of  standing  committees  so  admitted  into  their  body  as  commissioners  to  re- 
present them  in  General  Assembly;  therefore, 

^^ Resolved,  In  order  to  carry  into  effect  the  friendly  object  of  the  above 
agreement,  that  Daniel  W.  Lathrop  be  admitted  as  a  member  of  this  As- 
sembly. 

^^  Resolved,  That  it  be  affectionately  recommended  to  the  brethren  who 
compose  mixed  societies  of  this  kind,  so  far  as  expediency  will  allow,  to 
conform  to  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
making  their  appointments  and  organizing  their  Congregations." — Minutes, 
1820,  pp.  721,  722,  724. 

§119.    Case  of  Josiah  Bissell. 

"Mr.  Josiah  Bissell,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Rochester,  appeared  in  the 
Assembly,  and  produced  a  commission  as  an  Elder  from  that  Presbytery. 
A  member  of  that  Presbytery  informed  the  Assembly  that  Mr.  Bissell  had 
not  been  set  apart  as  an  Elder ;  but  that  he  was  appointed,  as  was  supposed 
by  the  Presbytery,  \\\  conformity  with  the  conventional  agreement  between 
the  General  Assembly  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut." 
"After  considerable  discussion,  it  was 

^^  Resolved,  That  Mr.  Bissell  be  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  Assembly." 

§  120.   Protest  in  this  case. 

"The  following  protest  was  offered,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
Minutes,  viz.  "The  subscribers  enter  their  dissent  and  protest  against  the 
resolution  by  which  Mr.  Josiah  Bissell  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  this 
General  Assembly,  for  the  following  reasons: 

"  1.  Because  he  was  neither  an  ordained  Minister,  nor  a  Ruling  Elder; 
and  consequently  he  was  destitute  of  the  qualifications  which  the  Constitution 


Part  III.]  OPERATION   OF  THir  PLAN.  559 

of  our  Churcli  requires  in  Commissioners  appointed  by  Presbyteries  as  their 
representatives  in  this  body. 

"2.  Because  he  was  not  even  a  'Committee-man/  on  vphich  ground, 
some  might,  in  existing  circumstances,  have  been  disposed  to  advocate  his 
admission  as  a  member. 

"3.  Because  he  had  not,  either  from  the  Constitution,  or  from  the  Con- 
ventional agreement,  [the  Plan  of  Union]  the  shadow  of  a  claim  to  a  seat  in 
this  house." 

[Signed  by  forty-two  members  of  the  Assembly.] 

§  121. 

[In  reply,  it  is  said  that]  "  Mr.  Bissell  was  admitted  by  the  Assembly  for 
the  following  reasons : 

"1.  The  commission  which  Mr.  Bissell  produced  was  in  due  form,  and 
signed  by  the  proper  officers  of  Presbytery, 

"  2.  Every  Presbytery  has  a  right  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its  own 
members;  and  is  amenable  to  Synod,  and  not  to  the  General  Assembly, 
except  by  way  of  appeal,  or  reference,  or  complaint,  regularly  brought  up 
from  the  inferior  judicatories,  which  has  not  been  done  in  the  present  case. 

'*3.  It  would  be  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  would  lead  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  order  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  to  permit  unauthenticated  verbal 
testimony  to  set  aside  an  authenticated  written  document." — Minutes,  1826, 
pp.  8,  28,  28. 

§  122.    Case  of  Clement  Tuttle. 

[The  Committee  of  Elections  reported] — "With  respect  to  the  case  of 
the  standing  committee-man  from  Grand  River  Presbytery,  they  decline 
expressing  any  opinion  as  to  the  constitutional  question  of  the  right  of  such 
to  a  seat  in  the  Assembly. 

"The  Assembly  proceeded  to  consider  the  case  of  the  person  denominated 
'  standing  committee'  in  the  commission ;  and  after  considerable  discussion 
it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  member  be  received  and  enrolled  among  the  list  of 
members." — Minute<^,  1831,  p.  158. 

§  123.  Protest  in  this  case. 

"The  following  protest  was  read,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  Min- 
utes, viz. 

"At  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  held  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
year  1831,  Mr.  Clement  Tuttle,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Grand  Kiver,  was 
certified  to  the  said  General  Assembly  as  a  committee-man,  in  one  of  the 
churches  under  the  care  of  said  Presbytery,  formed  according  to  the  Plan 
of  Accommodation,  recommended  in  the  Articles  of  Agreement,  bear- 
ing date  in  the  year  1801,  between  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut ;  and  was  allowed 
to  take  his  seat,  to  deliberate  and  vote  as  a  regular  member  of  this  body. 
Against  which  decision,  and  against  the  right  of  the  said  Clement  Tuttle  to 
a  seat  in  said  body,  we  protest. 

"In  the  12th  Chap,  and  2d  Sec.  of  the  Porm  of  Church  Government,  it  is 
enacted,  'The  General  Assembly  shall  consist  of  an  equal  delegation  of 
Bishops  and  Elders  from  each  Presbytery.'  Who  the  persons  are  that  are 
recognized  as  Bishops  within  the  body  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  dis- 
tinctly shown  in  Chap.  iv.  of  the  Form  of  Government.  Nor  is  there  the 
least  reason  for  supposing,  nor  has  any  one  intimated,  that  this  'Committee- 
man' holds  his  seat  here  by  virtue  of  the  pastoral  ofiice. 

"In  Chap.  5th  of  the  Form  of  Government,  the  manner  of  electing  and 
ordaining  Ruling  Elders  is  prescribed;  wherein  it  is  rendered  necessary  that 


560  THE   PLAN   OF   UNION.  [Book  VI, 

the  candidate  should  specifically  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith 
of  our  Church,  that  he  should  approve  of  its  government  and  discipline; 
that  he  should  accept  the  office  and  promise  faithfully  to  perform  all  its 
duties,  and  that  he  should  promise  to  study  the  peace,  unity  and  purity  of 
the  Church.  It  is  furthermore  stated  in  the  6th  Sec.  of  said  Chapter,  that 
the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  is  perpetual;  and  he  who  holds  it  can  neither 
lay  it  aside  at  pleasure,  nor  be  divested  of  it  but  by  deposition. 

"The  nature  of  some  of  the  duties  which  the  Ruling  Elders  take  upon 
themselves  at  their  ordination,  is  particularly  set  forth  in  Chap.  9th  of  the 
Form  of  Church  Grovernment,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  duties  there 
mentioned  cannot  be  performed  except  by  a  church  officer  coming  up  com- 
pletely to  the  Presbyterian  idea  of  a  Ruling  Elder. 

^'All  the  foregoing  qualifications  must  concur  in  an  individual  (if  he  be 
not  a  Pastor  or  Bishop)  before  he  is  capable  of  being  voted  for  as  a  Com- 
missioner to  the  General  Assembly.  All  these  concurring,  he  may  be  voted 
for;  and  if  elected,  must,  before  his  name  is  enrolled  as  a  member  of  this 
body,  produce  a  commission  here,  under  the  hand  of  the  Moderator  and 
Clerk  of  his  Presbytery,  asserting  upon  the  face  of  it  that  he  is  a  Ruling 
Elder  in  a  particular  Congregation.  See  Chap,  xxii,,  Sec.  2,  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment. 

''Now  there  is  nothing  even  conducing  to  prove  that  the  said  Clement 
Tuttle  was  ever  elected  or  ordained  as  a  Ruling  Elder,  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church;  that  he  has  ever  formally  and  publicly  adopted  its  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  approved  its  Discipline  and  Form  of  Government;  that  he  has 
been  elected  by  any  Presbytery  a  Commissioner  to  this  Assembly  in  the 
character  of  a  Ruling  Elder,  nor  that  he  bears  any  commission  certifying 
any  such  fact;  but  on  the  contrary  the  commission  he  produces,  shows 
clearly  that  he  is  not  a  Ruling  Elder,  but  a  "Committee-man,"  and  that 
the  Church  to  which  he  belongs  can  be  only  in  part,  and  for  anything  that 
appears,  in  very  small  part,  a  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  Wherefore  we  do  solemnly  protest  against  the  decision  of  the  General 
Assembly,  allowing  the  said  Clement  Tuttle  to  take  his  seat  in  this  body  as 
a  Ruling  Elder,  by  virtue  of  his  said  commission  as  a  '  Committee-man,' 
because  that  decision  is  contrary  to  the  plain  letter  of  our  Church  Constitu- 
tion. And  we  do  protest  against  the  right  of  the  said  Clement  Tuttle  to 
take  a  seat  in  this  General  Assembly  as  a  Ruling  Elder,  by  virtue  of  a  com- 
mission certifying  that  he  holds  another  name  and  office,  because  the  neglect 
and  disrepute  into  which  such  practices  must  bring  the  office  of  Ruling 
Elder,  are  in  high  degree  fatal  to  the  l*resbyterian  Church. 

"The  articles  of  agreement  alluded  to  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper  are 
supposed  to  give  this  individual,  and  all  others  similarly  situated,  a  seat  in 
this  Assembly.  That  agreement  is  one  altogether  anomalous  to  our  Form 
of  Government,  and  so  far  as  it  does  extend,  is  in  derogation  of  it.  The 
plainest  rules  of  common  sense  tell  us,  that  the  principles  of  such  instru- 
ments shall  not  be  extended  beyond  the  cases  to  which  they  are  applied  in 
terms,  and  must  be  strictly  limited  by  the  details  contained  within  them- 
selves. The  rule  is,  that  a  body  of  men  when  making  such  an  agreement, 
shall  not  be  called  on  to  embrace  in  a  codicil  of  exceptions  every  point  to 
which  a  given  rule  would  apply,  and  except  it  by  saying — this  is  not  granted 
away — but  on  the  other  hand  having  plainly  set  down  what  was  meant,  it 
is  very  clear  that  what  is  not  set  down  is  not  meant.  It  is  the  only  rule  of 
sense  or  safety. 

"  This  being  so,  those  articles  can  never  cover  this  case,  because  they 
expressly  stipulate  the  Church  Session  and  Presbytery,  as  the  Church 
(^urts  to  which  these  "  Committee-men"  may  have  access  in  the  character 
of  Ruling  Elders,  and  mention  no  others.     As  the  grant  was  in  derogation 


Part  II.]  OPERATION   OF   THE   PLAN.  561 

of  the  rights  of  the  Eldership,  and  adverse  to  the  nature  of  our  Church 
government,  it  is  manifestly  just  such  a  grant,  as,  if  valid  at  all,  could  only 
be  so  within  the  strict  import  of  its  own  terms.  We  do  not  feel  called  on 
to  discuss  the  fact,  whether  these  articles  thus  interpreted  are  constitutional 
or  not.  If,  however,  they  are  so  construed  as  to  place  members  here  who 
are  by  our  Constitution  forbidden  to  be  here,  or  as  in  any  degree  to  affect 
the  principles  of  the  organization  of  this  house  as  clearly  defined  in  our 
Books,  then  it  is  manifest  that  the  articles  must  be  considered  utterly  null 
and  void.  The  Constitution  cannot  be  obligatory,  and  yet  something  else, 
which  is  against  and  adverse  to  the  Constitution,  be  obligatoiy  also;  unless 
a  sense  can  be  found  in  which  the  same  proposition  is  both  false  and  true 
at  the  same  moment,  and  at  every  successive  moment. 

"  If  any  one  will  fix  with  precision  the  time  when  the  principles  of  our 
government  shall  grow  into  disesteem,  there  will  no  longer  remain  any  diffi- 
culty in  designating  the  period,  when  every  other  peculiarity  of  our  Church 
will  be  viewed  with  equal  aversion.  The  preservation  of  the  true  principles 
of  Presbyterian  polity  affords  the  best  external  security  for  the  preservation 
of  the  true  principles  of  Presbyterian  doctrines. 

*^We  do  therefore  consider  ourselves  to  be  discharging  a  high  and  solemn 
duty  when  we  thus  point  to  a  vital  principle  in  our  system  of  government, 
wrested  from  its  original  design,  and  thus  enter  our  protest  against  an 
unconstitutional  act  arising  therefrom. 

[Signed  by  sixty-seven  members  of  the  Assembly.] — Minutes,  1831,  p.  185. 

The  reply  to  the  above  protest  is  identical  in  its  arguments  with  the  protest  accompa. 
nying  the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted  towards  the  close  of  the  session;  the 
majority  having  changed  in  consequence  of  numbers  obtaining  leave  of  absence. 

§  124,  Delegation  of  Committee-men  disapproved. 
"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly  the  appoint- 
ment by  some  Presbyteries,  as  has  occurred  in  a  few  cases  of  members  of 
standing  committees  to  be  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  is  inexpedient 
and  of  questionable  constitutionality,  and  therefore  ought  not  in  future  to 
be  made." — Mimctes,  1831,  p.  190. 

§  125.  Protest  against  tJiis  act. 

"  The  following  protest  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  Min- 
utes, viz. 

"It  appears  from  the  Digest,  page  292,  that  in  1790,  only  two  years  after 
its  constitution,  the  General  Assembly  adopted  measures  to  form  '  a  plan  of 
union  and  corresjwndence  with  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut.' 
This  'union'  appears  to  have  been  formed  upon  the  principle  of  tolerance 
which  has  always  characterized  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  it  was  con- 
summated in  1791  by  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  the  two  bodies 
respectively,  to  whom  was  given  the  right  of  deliberating  and  voting. 

''In  1801  this  plan  of  union  was  still  further  extended,  and  'a  plan  of 
union  between  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  in  the  new  settlements' 
was  agreed  upon;  which  was  also  called  'a  plan  of  government  for  the 
churches  in  the  new  settlements.'  This  plan  consisted  of  a  number  of  regu- 
lations of  a  most  liberal  character,  in  which  Presbyterians  and  Congrega- 
tionalists were  harmoniously  united  in  the  same  Church.  The  Churches 
founded  upon  this  mixed  plan  were  allowed  to  exercise  discipline  by  a 
Standing  Committee,  which  was  virtually  but  another  name  for  Eldership. 
And  in  one  of  the  articles  of  agreement  it  was  provided,  that  should  the 
said  'Standing  Committee  of  any  church  depute  one  of  themselves  to  attend 
the  Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  to  sit  and  act  in  the  Presbytery 
as  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.'  When  we  consider  the 
71 


5G2  THE    PLAN    OF    UNION.  [Book  VI. 

nature  of  tliis  agreement,  its  principles  and  objects,  that  it  granted  recipro- 
cal rights  and  privileges,  we  cannot  for  a  moment  doubt,  that  it  was 
intended  to  give  to  such  member  of  a  Standing  Committee  all  the  Presbyte- 
rial  rights  of  every  other  lay  member  of  Presbytery.  What  in  common 
lano'uage  would  be  understood  as  the  Presbyterial  rights  of  a  lluling  Elder, 
but  'to  sit  and  act'  in  Presbytery?  This  phrase  would  be  considered  as 
including  all  Presbyterial  rights,  unless  some  exception  was  made,  and  one 
of  these  "rights  is  eligibility  to  the  General  Assembly.  This  would  be  evi- 
dently according  to  the  very  spirit  of  the  compact;  and  whatever  other  view 
nii'dit  be  taken  of  it,  this  and  this  alone,  is  the  plain,  natural,  common 
sense  construction  of  the  terms  of  the  agreement. 

"The  principle  which  admits  a  member  of  a  Standing  Committee  to  a 
seat  in  the  Presbytery,  in  its  extension  of  course  admits  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  the  infraction  of  the  Constitution  is  no  greater  in  the  one 
case  than  in  the  other;  for  the  Constitution  in  its  letter  admits  Elders  only 
either  to  Presbytery  or  Assembly.  This  plan  of  union  was  deemed  of  so 
great  importance,  that  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed,  and  copies  delivered  to 
the  missionaries  who  might  be  sent  by  the  Assembly,  among  the  people 
concerned.  In  pursuance  of  this  plan  very  many  Churches  have  been 
formed,  and  which  have  always  been  returned  and  represented  to  the  Assem- 
bly as  Presbyterian  churches,  and  have  thus  constituted  an  integral  part  of 
<the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,'  and  have  from 
time  to  time  been  represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  by  Standing  Com- 
mittee-men, in  place  of  Elders. 

"The  compact  in  question  appears  by  the  Digest,  to  have  been  a  conven- 
tional agreement  or  treaty,  made  between  two  parties,  independent  of  each 
other,  for  mutual  benefit,  and  a  desire  to  advance  unitedly  the  cause  of  reli- 
gion. When  one  of  the  parties  becomes  dissatisfied,  in  what  mode  shall  it 
obtain  redress  ?  Certainly  not  by  breaking  the  treaty,  without  notice  to  the 
other;  but  by  a  proposition  for  an  alteration.  And  this  course  the  Assem- 
bly did  pursue  three  years  ago  in  a  parallel  case  before  alluded  to,  by  pro- 
posing to  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  that  the  right  of  Delegates 
%o  vote  should  be  withdrawn,  which  was  acceded  to  by  that  body;  and 
such,  in  the  opinion  of  the  protestants,  should  have  been  the  course  in  the 
present  case. 

"We  also  further  protest  against  said  resolution  because  it  was  adopted 
after  the  Assembly  had  been  in  session  more  than  two  weeks,  and  when 
nearly  one-third  of  the  members  had  returned  home,  and  those  chiefly 
residing  at  a  distance,  and  most  interested  in  the  question;  and  also  because 
this  Assembly,  on  the  first  day  of  its  session,  when  full,  did  by  a  large  majo- 
rity decide  this  question  by  admitting  a  member  of  a  standing  committee  to 
a  seat  in  this  house ;  and  the  protestants  have  therefore,  as  they  think,  good 
reason  to  believe,  that  had  the  question  been  taken  at  an  earlier  day  of  the 
session,  there  would  have  been  a  majority  against  it." — Minntes,  1831, 
p.  192. 

§  126.    Tii'o  Committee-men  allowed  to  loitMraw  their  commissions. 
"The  Committee  [of  Commissions]  reported  two  commissions  for  mem- 
bers of  Standing  Committees,  instead  of  lluling  Elders,  from  the  Presby- 
terv  of  Grand  liiver.   '  These  commissions  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
of  Elections. 

"The  Conmiittce  of  Elections  reported  that  the  commissions  referred  to 
them  from  the  Presbytery  of  Grand  Eivcr  had  been  withdrawn  by  the 
persons  presenting  them." — Minutes,  1882,  pp.  314,  315. 

§  127.    Committee-men  excbidcd  in  the  South. 
"The  records  [of  the   Synod  of   South   Carolina   and   Georgia]   were 


Part  II.]  OPERATION   OF  THE   PLAN.  563 

approved,  with  tlie  exception  of  a  resolution  recorded  on  pages  218  and  219, 
on  the  subject  of  admitting  the  representatives  of  Congregational  and  Inde- 
pendent Churches  to  be  members  of  their  Presbyteries  and  Synod,  in  the 
same  manner  as  Ruling  Elders." — Minutes,  1832,  p.  331. 

§  128.  Proposed  interpretation  of  the  Plan. 
"The  following  resolutions  were  oifered  and  seconded,  viz. 
"1.  Be  it  Resolved  by  this  General  Assembly,  That  the  Plan  of  Union 
of  1801  between  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut,  does  not,  when  properly  construed, 
authorize  any  Committee-man  now  to  sit  and  act  in  any  Presbytery  as  a 
Ruling  Elder,  unless  he  represents  a  Church  composed  partly  of  Presbyte- 
rians and  partly  of  Congregationalists;  nor  even  then,  unless  in  the  express 
case  of  discipline  provided'for  under  the  fourth  head  of  that  Plan  of  Union. 

<'2.  Be  it  further  Resoloed,  That  the  said  Plan  of  Union,  when  truly 
construed,  does  not  authorize  any  private  person,  not  being  a  Committee- 
man, to  sit  and  act  in  Presbytery  in  any  case  whatever. 

"i?e  it  further  Resoloed,  ~T\mt  the  said  Plan  of  Union,  when  traly  con- 
strued, does  not  authorize  any  Committee-man  to  sit  or  act  in  any  case  in 
any  Synod  nor  in  the  General  Assembly. 

*' After  considerable  discvission  it  was 

^^  Resolved,  That  without  expressing  an  opinion  on  the  resolutions  offered, 
it  is  inexpedient  at  this  time  to  consider  them." — Mimites,  1832,  p.  329. 

§  129.  Op>eration  of  the  Plan  in  the  Si/nod  of  the  Western  Reserve. 
"A  motion  was  made  to  cite  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve  to  appear 
before  the  next  General  Assembly;  which  motion  was  put  upon  the  docket. 
*' After  considerable  discussion  the  following  minute  was  adopted,  viz. 
"Whereas,  a  resolution  was  introduced  citing  the  Synod  of  the  Western 
Reserve,  to  answer  certain  charges  brought  by  common  rumour  against  the 
order  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyteries  and  Churches  belonging  to  that 
Synod;  viz.  that  the  said  Synod  is  chargeable  with  delinquency  in  permitting 
persons  to  be  received  as  ordained  Ministers  coming  from  other  Churches 
without  being  required  by  the  Presbyteries  to  receive  and  adopt  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  and  whereas,  the  said  Synod  is 
further  charged  by  common  fame  with  having  failed  to  take  effectual  care 
that  the  Presbyteries  observe  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  in  this,  that 
many  churches  have  no  Ruling  Elders  connected  with  them,  and  that  the 
office  of  Ruling  Elder  has  been  allowed  to  go  into  disuse,  to  a  great  extent, 
throughout  the  bounds  of  said  Synod;  after  discussion,  in  which  much 
information  respecting  the  state  and  proceedings  of  said  Presbyteries  and. 
Churches  was  given, 

'^Resolved,  That  instead  of  issuing  a  citation  to  the  Synod  of  the  Western 
Reserve,  said  Synod  be  directed  to  review  and  examine  the  state  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  Churches  under  its  care,  and  make  a  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  with  special  reference  to  these  points." — Minutes,  1832, 
pp.  322,  327. 

§  130.   Subsequent  action. 
"The  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  agreeably  to  the  directions  of  the 
last  General  Assembly,  made  a  report  on  the  points  stated  in  the  Minutes 
of  the  last  Assembly,  which  report  was  read  and  committed." 

"The  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Western  Reserve,  made  a  report  which  being  read  and  amended,  was 
adopted  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"After  having  maturely  considered   the  subject  referred  to  them,  they 


664:  THE   PLAN   OF   UNION.  [Book  VI. 

recommend  to  the  Assembly,  without  approving  the  views  of  the  Synod  in 
relation  to  order  and  discipline,  as  stated  in  their  report,  that  the  report  be 
accepted  and  printed  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly," 

§181. 

"The  report  of  the  Synod  is  as  follows." 

"At  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  held  at  Detroit,  October 
8th,  1833,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz. 

Resolved,  That  in  reference  to  the  points  named  by  the  Assembly,  as  having  been 
charged  by  common  rumour  against  this  Synod;  the  Synod  having,  as  their  custom  is, 
agreeably  to  the  direction  of  the  Assembly,  devoted  a  part  of  their  Sessions  to  review  and 
examine  the  state  of  the  Presbyteries  and  Churches  under  their  care,  do  report  to  the 
next  General  Assembly: 

1.  That  the  Synod  see  no  ground  for  the  charge  of  delinquency  in  relation  to  the  per- 
misson  alleged  in  the  first  specification.  The  Synod  would  remark,  that  previously  to  the 
resolution  of  the  Assembly  on  this  subject  in  1830,  it  is  believed  that  a  difference  of 
practice  prevailed  in  our  Presbyteries,  in  the  reception  of  members  from  corresponding 
Churches;  some  of  them  admitting  members  from  such  Churches  (as  has  been  common 
in  other  Presbyteries  in  different  parts  of  the  country,)  without  any  formal  profession  of 
adopting  the  Confession  of  Faiih  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  But  since  the  passage  of  that 
resolution  by  the  Assembly,  the  Synod  believe  that  no  such  practice  has  obtained  in  any  of 
our  Presbyteries.  In  respect  to  the  allegation  respecting  persons  licensed  and  ordained  by 
our  Presbyteries,  without  receiving  and  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Synod  have  no 
knowledge  or  belief  of  the  prevalence  of  any  such  practice  in  any  of  our  Presbyteries. 

2.  That  in  relation  to  the  remaining  allegation,  viz.,  on  the  subject  of  Ruling  Elders,  the 
Synod  do  not  discover  any  reason  for  the  charge  of  having  violated  the  Constitution  of 
the  Church,  inasmuch  as  that  Constitution  does  not  make  the  Eldership  essential  to  the 
existence  of  a  Church,  and  as  the  number  of  members  in  many  Churches  is  too  small  to 
admit  the  election  of  suitable  persons  to  fill  the  office;  and  where  this  is  not  the  case,  the 
fact  of  there  being  Congregationalists  intermingled  with  Presbyterians  in  many  Churches, 
is  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  non-existence  of  the  Eldership,  according  to  the  plan  of 
agreement  between  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut ; 
from  the  spirit  of  which  the  Synod  believe  that  none  of  our  Presbyteries  have  departed. 

However,  with  regard  to  the  charge  of  the  Presbyteries  allowing  the  office  of  Ruling 
Elder  to  go  into  disuse,  the  Synod  would  say,  that  during  the  last  year,  there  have  been 
more  Ruling  Elders  elected  and  ordained  in  the  Churches  connected  with  our  Presby- 
teries, than  during  any  three  or  four  years  previously. 

By  order  of  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve.  Wm.  Hanfohd,  Stated  Clerk." 

— Minutes,  1833,  pp.  478,488. 

§  132.  A  sentiment  in  this  response  condemned. 
''The  report  of  the  Committee  to  examine  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of 
the  Western  Reserve,  was  taken  up  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.  That 
the  Records  be  approved,  with  the  exception  of  the  sentiment  on  page  154, 
that  the  Eldership  is  not  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  the  Synod  advance  a  sentiment 
that  contravenes  the  principles  recognized  in  our  Form  of  Government,  Chap, 
ii.,  Sec.  4.,  Chap,  iii.,  Sec.  5,  Chap,  v.,  Chap,  ix.,  Sec.  1,  2." — Minutes, 
1833,  p.  489. 

§  133.    Case  of  Era st us  Upson. 
"The  Committee  [of  Commissions]  reported  that  Mr.  Erastus  Upson,  a 
Standing  Committee-man,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Oswego,  had  been  appoint- 
ed a  member  of  this  body.     A  motion  was  made  to  refer  this  case  to  the 
Committee  of  Elections,  which  was  negatived.     It  was  then 

"  Resolved,  That  Mr.  Upson  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  application." — 
Minutes,  1833,  p.  476. 

§  134. 

[For  further  action  upon  the  Plan  of  Union,  and  its  ultimate  abrogation,  see  Book 
Vir.,  §§115,1.;  116,  Resolution  2;  U7:  3;  124,  VII.;  VZb,  Resolution  6 ;  and  144, 
et  seq.] 


BOOK    VII. 
HERESIES    AND    SCHISMS 


PART  L 

TESTIMONIES  AGAINST  ERRORS. 


§  1.  Duty  of  opposition  to  error. 

"We  live  at  a  time  when  it  becomes  a  duty  peculiarly  incumbent,  to 
'contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.'  It  vpill  how- 
ever be  remembered,  that  the  sacred  cause  of  truth  can  never  be  promoted 
by  angry  controversy  or  railing  accusation.  It  is  therefore  recommended  to 
the  churches  to  vindicate  the  truth,  not  only  by  sound  and  temperate  dis- 
cussion, but  also  and  especially  by  the  manifestation  of  its  sanctifying  and 
transforming  power  over  the  life  and  conversation;  and  by  evincing  that 
'the  like  mind  is  in  us  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.' 

"  It  should  ever  be  recollected,  that  error  in  doctrine  has  a  native  ten- 
dency to  produce  immorality  in  practice;  and  therefore,  that  we  should  not 
be  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  Let  us  prove  all  things,  and 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good.  This  caution,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  received 
with  attention  and  solemnity,  inasmuch  as  the  Church  has  been  of  late 
invaded  by  errors  which  strike  at  the  very  foundation  of  our  faith  and  hope; 
such  as  the  denial  of  the  Grodhead  and  atonement  of  the  blessed  Redeemer, 
the  subjection  of  the  Holy  Scripture  to  the  most  extravagant  impulses  of 
the  heart  of  man.  These,  and  other  errors  of  a  dangerous  nature,  have 
been  industriously,  and,  alas !  that  the  Assembly  should  be  constrained  to 
add,  in  some  portions  of  our  country,  too  successfully  disseminated." — Min- 
utes, 1806,  p.  357. 

§  2.  Letter  of  the  General  AssemhTi/  to  the  Churches  under  its  care,  on  the 
maintenance  of  doctrinal  purity. 
(a)  ^^Dear  Brethren — The  General  Assembly  being  the  bond  of  union, 
correspondence,  and  mutual  confidence  among  all  the  churches,  has  autho- 
rity to  reprove,  to  warn,  or  bear  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine  or 
immorality  in  practice.  It  is  bound  to  exercise  this  prerogative  whenever 
the  Church  is  exposed  to  any  particular  danger,  or  needs  admonition  or 
exhortation  with  regard  to  any  special  duty.  Believing  that  the  present 
circumstances  of  our  Church  render  the  duty  of  maintaining  a  faithful 


566  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

adherence  to  our  standards  of  doctrine  and  discipline  peculiarly  necessary, 
the  Assembly  desire  to  call  attention  to  this  important  subject. 

"God  has  been  pleased  to  bring  us  through  a  protracted  and  arduous  con- 
flict, in  which  we  have  been  contending  for  the  truth  and  order  of  the 
Church.  While  we  gratefully  acknowledge  his  goodness  in  crowning  our 
efforts  to  sustain  oiir  standards  with  success,  it  becomes  us  to  look  back  and 
see  wherein  we  have  sinned,  that  we  may  penitently  confess  our  errors,  and 
learn  wisdom  for  our  future  guidance.  It  is  not  our  object,  on  this  occasion, 
to  point  out  the  various  particulars  in  which  the  past  conduct  of  our  Church 
may  have  offended  God,  but  simply  to  call  the  attention  of  our  ministers  and 
members  to  what,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  has  been  the  principal 
source  of  our  long  continued  diihculties.  Our  great  error  has  been  a  want 
of  fidelity  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  ecclesiastical  compact.  It 
is  important,  therefore,  that  these  principles  should  be  distinctly  stated,  and 
the  duty  of  adhering  to  them  be  urged  upon  the  Church. 

"Our  fathers  taught  that  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath 
left  it  free  from  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men  which  are  in  any 
thing  contrary  to  his  word,  or  beside  it,  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship; 
that  saints  by  profession  are  bound  to  maintain  a  holy  fellowship  and  com- 
munion in  the  worship  of  God,  and  in  performing  such  other  spiritual  ser- 
vices as  tend  to  their  mutual  edification,  and  that  this  communion,  as  God 
offereth  opportunity,  is  to  be  extended  unto  all  those  who,  in  every  place, 
call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  perfect  consistency  with  these 
principles  of  liberty  of  conscience  and  communion  of  saints,  they  held  that 
every  Christian  Church  or  association  of  Churches  is  entitled  to  declare  the 
terms  of  admission  into  its  communion,  and  the  qualifications  of  its  minis- 
ters and  members,  as  well  as  the  whole  system  of  its  internal  government, 
which  Christ  has  appointed. 

(i)  "The  terms  of  Christian  communion,  adopted  by  our  Church,  have 
been  in  accordance  with  the  divine  command,  that  we  should  receive  one 
another  as  Christ  has  received  us.  We  have  ever  admitted  to  our  commu- 
nion all  those  who,  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  were  the  sincere  disciples  of 
Jesus  Christ.  If,  in  some  instances,  stricter  terms  have  been  insisted  upon, 
if  candidates  for  sealing  ordinances  have  been  required  to  sign  pledges,  to 
make  profession  of  anything  more  than  faith,  love,  and  obedience  to  Jesus 
Christ,  these  instances  have  been  few,  and  unauthorized,  and  therefore  do 
not  affect  the  general  character  of  our  Church.  We  fully  recognize  the 
authority  of  the  command :  '  Him  that  is  weak  in  faith,  receive  ye,  but  not 
to  doubtful  disputations.'  The  application  of  this  command  is  entirely  con- 
fined to  private  membership  in  the  Church.  It  has  no  reference  to  the 
admission  of  men  to  offices  in  the  house  of  God.  On  the  contrary,  we 
observe,  that  with  regard  to  ministerial  communion,  or  the  qualifications  for 
admission  into  the  office  of  the  ministry,  the  command  of  God  is,  that  a 
Bishop  must  be  blameless,  apt  to  teach,  holding  fast  the  faithful  word,  that 
he  may  be  able  by  sound  doctrine  both  to  exhort  and  convince  the  gain- 
sayers.  In  obedience  to  this  command,  the  founders  of  our  Church,  and 
all  who  have  entered  it  with  enlightened  views  and  honest  intentions,  have 
declared  to  the  world  and  to  all  other  Christian  Churches,  that  the  system 
of  doctrine  contained  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Cate- 
chisms, is  that  sound  doctrine  which  we  are  to  require  in  all  those  who 
seek  the  office  of  a  Bishop.  So  also  our  Form  of  Government  requires  of 
Elders  and  Deacons,  who  are  not  teachers,  but  rulers  and  stewards  in  the 
house  of  God,  a  no  less  unequivocal  and  public  profession  of  adherence  to 
our  standards;  and  in  this  the  Scriptures  abundantly  sustain  our  principles. 
When  the  Elders  and  Deacons  of  a  church  become  lax.  or  heretical  in  their 


Part  I.]  TESTIMONY  AGAINST   ERROR.  567 

doctrinal  views,  tliey  may,  and  often  do  adopt  measures  as  subA'ersive  of  the 
doctrine,  which  is  according  to  godliness,  as  could  be  any  measures  resorted 
to  by  the  Pastor  of  the  Church. 

"Such  are  the  principles  on  which  our  Church  was  founded,  and  on 
which,  for  more  than  a  century,  it  was  fluthfully  administered.  It  is  be- 
lieved, that  during  all  that  period  no  one  was  debarred  from  the  communion 
of  saints  who  was  regarded  as  a  sincere  disciple  of  Christ,  and  that  no  one 
was  admitted  to  any  office  in  our  Church,  or  if  admitted,  was  allowed  to 
retain  his  standing,  who  dissented  in  any  material  point  from  the  system  of 
doctrine  contained  in  our  standards.  That  this  latter  principle  of  our  Con- 
stitution has  of  late  years  been  in  many  cases  culpably  disregarded,  is  a 
matter  of  general  notoriety.  Many  Ministers  have  been  received  into  our 
Presbyteries  who  never  adopted  our  Confession  of  Faith;  and  many  others, 
Bishops  and  Elders,  who  professed  to  adopt  it,  have  been  allowed  publicly 
to  avow  opinions  subversive  of  its  distinguishing  doctrines.  The  General 
Assembly  bears  its  solemn  testimony  against  this  unfaithfulness.  It  enjoins 
on  the  Presbyteries,  on  the  one  hand,  to  abstain  fi-om  making  anything  a 
condition  of  ministerial  communion,  which  the  Constitution  does  not  pre- 
scribe; and,  on  the  other,  to  be  firm  and  faithful  in  demanding  everything 
which  the  Constitution  enjoins.  In  giving  this  injunction,  the  Assembly 
requires  nothing  that  is  unjust  or  unreasonable.  No  man  has  a  right  to 
join  any  society,  unless  he  is  willing  to  submit  to  its  rules.  Much  less  has 
any  man  the  right  to  assume  the  office  of  teacher,  ruler,  or  steward  in  a 
Church,  unless  he  fully  assents  to  its  doctrines.  All  those  who  approve  of 
the  doctrines  which  we  are  pledged  to  sustain,  and  who  are  otherwise  quali- 
fied for  the  work,  we  cordially  welcome  to  our  fellowship,  and  promise  them 
our  confidence  and  support.  But  we  protest  against  the  unfairness  of  those 
who  adopt  our  standards  in  a  sense  diti'erent  from  their  obvious  import,  con- 
trary to  the  known  and  generally  received  interpretation,  as  a  dishonesty 
and  an  injury,  against  which  the  Presbyteries  are  bound  to  protect  the 
Churches,  and  against  which  the  Churches  should  both  watch  and  pray. 

(c)  "  The  Presbyteries  should  remember  that  they  are  not  independent 
bodies,  each  acting  for  itself  alone,  and  therefore  at  liberty  to  receive  any 
candidate  who  they  may  suppose,  is  qualified  to  do  good.  The  Presbyteries 
are  co-ordinate  members  of  an  extended  communion,  bound  together  by  a 
written  compact.  When,  therefore,  they  admit  a  member  who  has  not  the 
constitutional  qualifications,  they  ai"e  guilty  of  a  breach  of  faith.  So  also 
the  churches  and  sessions  are  not  at  liberty  to  desire  and  urge  the  election 
and  ordination  of  any  of  their  own  number  to  any  office  in  the  Church,  or  to 
approve  of  their  continuance  in  such  office,  unless  they  are  known  to  be 
men  who  hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words,  and  show  in  doctrine  uucor- 
ruptness. 

"Were  the  points  in  regard  to  which  the  Presbyteries,  Sessions,  and 
Churches  are  thus  exhorted  to  adhere  to  the  Constitution,  mere  matters  of 
form,  the  duty  would  still  be  binding,  but  as  they  relate  to  the  truth  of 
God,  it  is  the  more  obligatory  and  important.  The  truth  is  a  sacred  depo- 
site  which  we  are  bound  to  treasure  and  transmit  uncorrupted.  It  is  the 
fire  upon  God's  altar  which  we  ai-e  to  watch,  without  which  there  can  be  no 
acceptable  ofiering,  and  which,  if  once  extinguished,  can  hardly  be  rekin- 
dled. The  sanctuary  remains  dark  and  desolate  for  ages.  The  history  of 
the  Christian  Church  is  one  solemn  admonition  on  this  subject.  IndilFer- 
ence  to  the  truth  is  one  of  the  first  and  surest  indications  of  the  decline  of 
religion  in  any  communion.  Men  cannot  be  indift'erent  to  what  they  see 
and  feel  concerns  their  own  salvation.  The  Assembly,  therefore,  would 
deplore  any  manifestation  of  such  indifference,  and  would  warn  all  in  our 


568  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

communion  against  its  insidious  approaches.  It  may  put  on  the  guise  of 
liberality,  or  assume  the  name  of  charity,  but  its  nature  is  not  thereby 
altered.     It  is  only  the  more  dangerous  from  these  false  assumptions. 

(d)  ''We  should  ever  remember  that  truth  is  in  order  to  goodness;  that 
the  great  touchstone  of  truth  is  its  tendency  to  promote  holiness;  that  no 
opinion  can  be  either  more  pernicious  or  more  absurd  than  that  which , 
brings  all  opinions  upon  a  level,  and  represents  it  as  of  no  consequence  what 
a  man  believes,  if  he  be  sincere.  On  the  contrary,  we  should  ever  remem- 
ber that  there  is  an  inseparable  connection  between  faith  and  practice,  truth 
and  duty.  (Form  of  Government,  Chap,  i..  Sec.  4.)  The  Assembly  is  the 
more  earnest  on  this  subject,  as  the  most  subtle  errors  to  which  our  churches 
are  at  present  exposed  are  intimately  connected  with  experimental  religion. 
It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  forms  of  error  in  our  day  vary  from  the  refine- 
ments of  Arminiauism  to  the  grossest  Atheism,  from  high  Arianism  to  the 
lowest  humanitarianism,  and  from  the  most  abstruse  metaphysical  philoso- 
phy, touching  free  will,  moral  agency,  and  sin,  original  and  actual,  to  the 
bold  and  daring  denial  of  all  accountability  and  of  the  moral  government  of 
God.  It  is  neither  possible  nor  necessary  for  the  Assembly  to  enter  into  a 
detail  of  these  various  and  varying  forms  of  error.  But  it  is  proper  briefly 
to  allude  to  a  few  of  the  more  subtle  character,  held  by  men  who  have  been 
and  are  still  desirous  of  appearing  to  be  entitled  to  our  confidence.  We 
observe,  therefore,  that  it  has  been  openly  taught,  in  works  widely  circu- 
lated and  highly  recommended,  that  self-love  is  the  ultimate  foundation  of 
moral  obligation;  that  the  reason  why  we  are  bound  to  do  right  is,  that  it 
will  make  us  happy ;  that  our  obligation  to  obey  God  does  not  arise  out  of 
our  relation  to  him  as  our  Creator,  nor  out  of  his  infinite  excellence,  but  from 
the  fact  that  he  knows  best  what  will  promote  our  happiness.  How  can  a 
man  have  proper  sentiments  towards  God  who  entertains  such  views?  How 
can  self  be  thus  made  the  centre,  the  beginning,  and  the  end  of  religion  and 
morality,  and  yet  true  piety  flourish  in  the  soul  ?  How  is  God  degraded 
and  man  exalted  !  How  is  the  eternal  distinction  between  right  and  wrong, 
holiness  and  sin,  obliterated,  and  all  religion  made  a  mere  calculation  of 
profit  and  loss  by  such  a  doctrine ! 

"It  has  still  more  frequently  and  undisguisedly  been  taught,  that  such  is 
the  nature  of  free  agency,  that  God  cannot  certainly  control  the  acts  of 
moral  agents;  that  he  could  not  prevent  the  introduction  of  sin  into  a  moral 
system,  nor  even  the  present  amount  of  sin ;  that  he  does  all  he  can  for  the 
conversion  of  all  who  hear  the  gospel.  This  doctrine  has,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  Church,  been  the  dividing  line  between  the  friends 
and  the  enemies  of  the  doctrines  of  grace.  It  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  that  system  which  is  known  among  us  as  the  new  divinity.  If 
this  doctrine  is  true,  God  is  dependent  and  uncertain  in  his  plans;  his  pro- 
mises are  all  precarious,  and  prayer  is  a  mockery. 

"The  doctrine  of  original  sin,  as  taught  in  our  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
as  held  by  all  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation,  has  been  extensively  repu- 
diated. Yet  this  doctrine  not  only  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  whole 
system  of  redemption,  but  is  most  intimately  connected  with  religious  expe- 
rience. The  new  doctrine  denies  the  corruption  of  our  nature;  it  makes  the 
evil  that  is  in  our  hearts  a  light  matter,  to  be  overcome  by  a  volition,  by  a 
mere  change  of  purpose.  Regeneration,  therefore,  is  an  easy  work;  as  easy 
as  a  change  of  determination  regarding  a  profession  or  a  journey.  The 
change  itself  is  generally  different  from  what  the  Christian  world  has 
hitherto  regarded  it.  It  is  a  mere  choice  of  a  different  source  of  happi- 
ness: a  choice  made  from  self-love  and  for  self-gratification.     What  kind  of 


Part  I.]  TESTIMONY  AGAINST   ERROR.  569 

religion  is  that,  brethren,  the  very  essence  of  which  is  not  the  love  of  God, 
but  the  love  of  self? 

The  sinner,  moreover,  according  to  this  system,  is  not  dependent  on  the 
sovereign  mercy  of  God;  he  has,  independently  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  full  power  to  change  his  heart,  and  perfectly  keep  the  law  of  God. 
The  work  of  the  Spirit,  though  occasionally  introduced  into  the  writings  of 
the  advocates  of  these  views,  seems  entirely  out  of  place  and  heterogeneous. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  having  the  prominence  which  it  has  in  the  word  of 
God,  and  in  the  writings  of  the  Reformers,  it  is  subordinate,  secondary,  and 
unimportant. 

"  The  Assembly  would  further  remind  you,  that  radical  error  regarding 
the  priestly  office  of  Christ,  and  our  justification  through  him,  has  been  and 
is  extensively  taught.  Our  standards  of  doctrine  teach  that  Christ,  as  a 
priest,  'offered  himself  a  sacrifice  to  satisfy  divine  justice,'  and  that  we 
are  justified  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  consisting  in  his  obedience,  and 
in  ofiering  of  himself  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  'imputed  to  us,  and  received  by 
faith  alone.'  The  Scriptures  declare  that  Christ,  'through  the  eternal 
Spirit,  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God.'  Here  is  language  not  equivo- 
cal, and  it  is  easy  of  apprehension.  Need  we  inform  you  that  there  are 
those  who  subvert  this  truth — who  deny  that  Christ,  as  a  surety,  made  a 
legal  satisfaction  for  our  sins,  or  that  he  wrought  out  a  righteousness,  which 
is  imputable  to  us  for  our  justification  in  the  sight  of  God?  Such  tell  you, 
in  the  face  of  the  Bible,  and  of  what  you  have  been  taught,  that  justifica- 
tion is  a  sovereign  act  of  pardon,  that  it  takes  place  in  every  instance  by  a 
suspension  of  the  regular  order  of  distributive  justice,  and  that  the  death 
of  Christ  was  a  mere  exhibition  of  the  desert  of  sin  in  the  abstract,  produ- 
cing no  other  eff"ect  than  that  of  changing  the  moral  feelings  and  character 
of  the  sinner.  Thus  divine  truth  and  justice  are  dishonoured  in  our  salva- 
tion. We  are  not  mistaken  when  we  say  to  you,  that  this  most  unreasona- 
ble and  pernicious  error  is  extensively  propagated.  Let  it  prevail,  and  God 
is  dishonoured,  the  only  hope  of  a  convinced  sinner  is  taken  away,  and  there 
remains  for  him  nothing  but  the  wrath  of  incensed,  unappeased  justice.  As 
your  friends,  we  warn  you  to  be  guarded  against  such  departures  from  the 
faith  of  Jesus  to  another  gospel — a  gospel  which  subverts  the  foundation 
of  all  your  hopes;  which  denies  'that  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  according 
to  the  Scriptures;'  that  'he  Lore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree;' 
'that  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all;'  that  'Christ  hath 
redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us;'  and 
that  he  is  thus  'set  forth'  in  the  blessed  gospel,  'a  propitiation,  through 
faith  in  his  blood  to  declare  God's  righteousness,  in  the  remission  of  sins 
that  are  past,'  that  he  might  be  just,  'and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that 
believeth  in  Jesus.'  Such  truth  as  the  Saviour's  actual  substitution  for 
sinners,  is  fundamental  to  the  plan  of  our  salvation,  and  cannot  be  surren- 
dered without  an  entire  subversion  of  the  gospel  system. 

"  This  whole  system,  in  making  self-love  the  ground  of  all  moral  obliga- 
tion ;  in  denying  the  corruption  of  our  nature;  in  exalting  the  power  of  man ; 
in  depreciating  the  necessity  of  the  Spirit's  influence;  in  misrepresenting  the 
nature  of  the  work  of  Christ,  is  in  direct  hostility  to  evangelical  religion,  and 
as  this  Assembly  solemnly  believes,  cannot  prevail  without  bringing  death 
and  desolation  upon  the  churches.  We,  therefore,  warn  all  our  Ministers 
and  members  against  this  system  of  error,  and  enjoin  on  all  our  Presbyte- 
ries to  be  firm  and  faithful  in  resisting  its  approaches.  The  Assembly  lays 
claim  to  no  new  powers,  it  prescribes  no  new  tests;  it  lays  down  no  new 
terms  of  ministerial  communion.  It  bears  its  testimony  against  prevailing 
errors;  and  it  requires  that  those  who  are  set  as  teachers  and  guides  over 
72 


570  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book   VII. 

the  cluirches  committccl  to  its  care,  should  preach  the  doctrines  which  they 
profess  to  believe. 

(f)  "Let  our  churches  and  judicatories,  then,  in  humble  dependence  upon 
Grod,  and  in  a  spirit  of  meekness  and  love,  adhere  faithfully  to  the  great 
principles  of  our  ecclesiastical  compact;  never  demanding  more  than  the 
Constitution  requires,  and  never  being  contented  with  less. 

"In  order  to  secure  doctrinal  purity  in  our  Churches,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  Presbyteries  be  faithful  in  guarding  with  sedulous  care  the 
entrance  into  the  ministry,  in  regard  to  the  piety,  the  orthodoxy,  and  the 
learning  of  the  candidates.  These  three  grand  qualifications  are  not  inde- 
pendent of  each  other,  but  intimately  connected.  Our  book  of  discipline 
requires,  that  before  any  person  is  received  as  a  candidate,  he  should  be 
subjected  to  an  examination  in  regard  to  his  piety  and  his  motives  for  seek- 
ing the  sacred  office.  There  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  this  examina- 
tion, in  many  Presbyteries,  is  slight,  and  little  more  than  a  form;  as  we 
seldom  hear  of  any  persons  rejected  or  kept  back  for  want  of  evidence  that 
they  are  truly  converted.  Unless  Presbyteries  pay  a  special  attention  to 
this  subject,  the  Church  will  be  overrun  and  ruined  by  unconverted  Minis- 
ters; and  such  are  not  only  incapable  of  guiding  inquirers  in  the  way  to 
Heaven,  but,  possessing  no  sincere  love  to  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of 
the  Bible,  they  will  be  constantly  inclined  to  conceal  them,  to  set  them 
aside,  or  to  reject  them  altogether.  On  this  subject  the  General  Assembly 
would  solemnly  admonish  all  the  Ministers  and  Elders  in  our  communion, 
to  exercise  a  faithful  care;  and  also  to  be  thorough  in  the  examination  into 
the  theological  opinions  of  candidates.  It  has  been  found  by  sad  experi- 
ence, that  it  is  not  sufficient  for  candidates,  in  the  general,  to  answer  the 
questions  proposed  in  our  discipline;  this  they  will  often  do,  while  they 
entertain  opinions  diametrically  repugnant  to  some  plainly  expressed  articles 
of  faith  ;  and  will  go  on  and  inculcate  their  erroneous  opinions.  This  arises 
from  a  false  notion  respecting  the  true  principles  on  which  our  formularies 
should  be  adopted,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken.  Few  young  men  are 
so  lost  to  honesty,  that  they  will,  before  Presbytery,  avow  opinions  which 
they  do  not  believe;  although  they  will  often  conceal  their  real  opinions, 
unless  they  are  elicited  by  a  searching  examination. 

''The  (xeneral  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  of  unspeakable  importance,  that 
weak,  ignorant,  and  imprudent  men  should  not  be  introduced  into  the  min- 
istry. Such  men,  though  incapable  of  doing  much  good,  even  if  pious,  yet 
may  do  immense  mischief  to  the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  only  serve  to 
bring  the  holy  ministry  into  contempt,  a  result  against  which  we  are  repeat- 
edly admonished  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  It  is  not  enough  to  increase 
the  number  of  the  clergy.  The  Church's  wants  cannot  be  supplied  by 
merely  multiplying  the  number  of  Ministers,  unless  they  are  well  quali- 
fied for  the  duties  of  the  sacred  office.  Indeed,  the  greater  the  number  of 
unsound,  or  ignorant  Ministers,  the  greater  the  injury  to  the  Church. 

(/)  Another  thing  of  great  importance  in  securing  and  promoting  purity 
of  doctrine,  is  the  election  of  suitable  men  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders. 
Frequently  it  is  found  that  men  of  intelligence  and  influence,  who  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  shrink  from  this  office  on  account  of  the  difficulties 
which  attend  the  performance  of  its  duties.  This  disposition  to  avoid  the 
responsibilities  of  the  office,  the  Assembly  cannot  but  consider  as  a  derelic- 
tion of  duty  deserving  censure.  A  sound,  intelligent  and  faithful  eldership 
is  essential  to  the  successful  operation  of  our  system.  Every  eff"ort  should 
be  made,  therefore,  to  make  this  class  of  office-bearers  what  the  plan  of 
Presbyterian  Church  Government  contemplates. 

(jj)  ''The  General  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  important  to  enjoin  upon  all 


Part  I.]  TESTIMONY  AGAINST   ERROR.  571 

Pastors  the  more  frequent  and  diligent  use  of  our  formularies  of  doctrine. 
Tbey  would  recommend,  that  the  Sessions  of  our  Churches  hold  frequent 
meetings  for  free  conversation,  and  for  the  study  of  our  doctrinal  formula- 
ries, as  well  as  our  discipline.  They  also  reiterate  the  injunction,  so  often 
given,  that  great  care  be  taken  in  every  church,  to  have  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism taught  to  all  the  youth;  except  that,  if  a  class  can  be  formed  for 
learning  the  Larger  Catechism,  such  young  persons  should  be  encouraged 
to  commit  this  excellent  summary  of  Christian  doctrine.  It  would  be  satis- 
factory to  the  people,  and  would  confirm  them  in  the  belief  of  the  doctrines 
of  our  Church,  if  Ministers  would  more  frequently  refer  to  the  language  of 
our  Confession  and  Catechisms,  and  would  occasionally  adopt  the  very 
words  of  our  formularies,  in  their  sermons  and  lectures.  They  also  recom- 
mend, that  with  the  Catechisms,  the  Scripture  proofs  ought  to  be  carefully 
learned,  that  the  people  may  have  their  faith  founded,  not  on  the  authority 
of  men,  but  of  God. 

(Jt)  "  The  General  Assembly  also  feel  it  to  be  incumbent  on  them  to  give 
a  warning  against  false  teachers.  The  Scriptures  abound  with  solemn  admo- 
nitions on  this  subject,  and  such  admonitions  have  always  been  needed,  and 
are  at  this  time  peculiarly  seasonable.  Those,  in  every  age,  who  have  pro- 
pagated error,  have  been  characterized  by  various  insidious  arts,  by  which 
the  truth  has  either  been  subverted,  or  so  adulterated,  as  to  have  its  beauty 
disfigured,  and  its  efficacy  destroyed  or  diminished.  These  false  teachers 
are  numerous  and  cunning  and  bold.  They  beguile  unstable  souls.  If  it 
were  possible,  they  would  deceive  the  very  elect.  It  was  a  commendable 
feature  in  the  character  of  one  of  the  churches  of  Asia,  that  she  had  tried 
certain  false  teachers,  who  said  that  they  were  apostles,  and  had  found  them 
liars.  Remember,  brethren,  that  though  an  angel  from  heaven  should  bring  to 
you  any  other  doctrine,  than  that  ye  have  already  received  from  the  inspired 
writers,  he  is  accursed.  And  if  any  come  to  you  and  bring  not  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  receive  him  not  into  your  houses,  neither  bid  him  God  speed, 
lest  ye  be  partakers  with  him  in  his  evil  deeds.  Beware,  then,  of  wolves  in 
sheep's  clothing.  Beware  of  those,  who,  by  good  words  and  fair  speeches, 
beguile  unstable  souls. 

(i)  "The  Assembly  cannot  refrain  from  a  solemn  warning  to  all  their 
Churches  against  books  containing  erroneous  doctrines,  however  they  may 
come  recommended  by  men  in  high  places.  The  Assembly  is  fully  con- 
vinced, that  all  our  Ministers  and  members  ought,  with  the  greatest  care,  to 
guard  this  subject,  and  see  that  they  become  not  the  patrons  of  books  already 
published  or  proposed  to  be  published,  unless  they  are  well  certified  of  their 
character. 

"The  Assembly,  moreover,  feel  constrained  to  admonish  the  Churches  of 
the  great  importance  of  taking  and  reading  only  such  periodical  papers  as 
have  the  character  of  being  sound  in  doctrine,  and  advocate  the  genuine 
principles  of  Presbyterian  government  and  order.  It  is  by  no  means  our 
wish  to  interfere  in  the  least  with  the  liberty  of  the  people  to  buy  and  read 
such  publications  as  they  judge  best,  but  it  is  our  privilege  and  duty  in  all 
cases  where  the  truth  of  God,  or  the  order  of  his  house  is  concerned,  to 
admonish  and  ivarn  all  those  who  in  the  providence  of  God  are  placed 
under  our  watch  and  care.  And  when  but  one  religious  paper  is  taken  by 
a  family,  in  our  connection,  it  is  surely  not  unreasonable  to  advise,  and 
expect,  that  it  be  one  which  can  be  recommended  by  the  Ministers  and 
judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  We  are  convinced,  that  the 
difficulties  in  which  our  beloved  Church  has  been  involved,  have  been,  in 
no  small  degree,  owing  to  the  periodical  press ;  and  we  confidently  believe, 
that  unless  more  care  be  taken  to  guard  against  the  circulation  of  unsuitable 


572  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

papers  in  our  Churches,  the  same  evils  from  which  we  have  escaped,  will 
again  come  in  upon  us,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  the  pulpit  to 
counteract  them.  But  the  only  effectual  remedy  for  the  evil  of  which  we 
complain  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Let  every  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  resolve  to  introduce  at  least  one  weekly  paper  into  his  house; 
and  let  that  be  such  an  one  as  will,  in  all  respects,  have  a  salutary  influence 
on  those  who  peruse  it. 

"It  would  be  invidious  to  designate  particular  periodicals,  and  this  is 
entirely  unnecessary.  Let  the  person  who  wishes  to  subscribe  for  a  reli- 
gious newspaper  take  the  advice  of  his  Pastor,  or  of  some  judicious  friend,  on 
whose  honesty  and  judgment  he  can  depend.  The  Greneral  Assembly 
would  press  this  subject  on  the  attention  of  their  people.  It  has  hitherto 
been  too  much  overlooked,  but  is  becoming,  evidently,  of  primary  impor- 
tance. It  is  in  vain  that  the  Pastor  inculcates  sound  doctrine  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  if  through  the  week  the  people  are  occupied  with  books,  tracts, 
and  papers,  which  iusinuate,  and  even  inculcate,  a  contrary  doctrine. 

(J)  "In  conclusion,  the  Greneral  Assembly  would  solemnly  inculcate  on 
all  classes  of  persons,  a  pi'ofound  reverence  for  the  Holy  Scriptures.  These 
are  the  oracles  of  the  living  Grod.  'To  the  law  and  testimony,  if  they  speak 
not  according  to  these,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them.'  There  are 
few  things  more  alarming,  as  it  relates  to  purity  of  doctrine,  than  the  bold 
and  unauthorized  interpretations  put  on  certain  portions  of  the  word  of 
God  by  serious  persons,  in  order  to  maintain  some  favourite  principle  adopted 
by  them,  and  which  before  they  begin  their  inquiries,  they  confidently  pre- 
sume cannot  be  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  Instead,  therefore,  of  humbly 
submitting  their  own  opinions  to  the  divine  authority,  speaking  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  they  have  the  audacity  to  wrest  the  truth  of  God,  and 
bend  every  thing  to  suit  their  own  preconceived  sentiments.  Against  all 
such  profime  handling  of  the  word  of  God,  the  Assembly  lifts  up  its  voice  of 
warning. 

"And  finally,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  was  promised  to  be  a  guide  into  all 
truth;  and  as  this  most  precious  gift  is  still  granted  to  the  Church  in 
answer  to  prayer,  let  all  who  love  the  truth  and  desire  to  see  it  universally 
prevail,  never  cease  to  pray  for  this  blessing,  which  is  indeed  the  rich 
source  of  all  good  things.  The  strenuous  defenders  of  the  truth  have  been 
charged  with  holding  and  being  contented  with  'a  dead  orthodoxy.'  Let 
us  roll  away  this  reproach  as  far  as  there  is  any  foundation  for  it.  While 
the  truth  may  be  held  in  unrighteousness,  there  is  surely  no  natural  connec- 
tion between  orthodoxy  and  dead  formality.  The  importance  of  truth  is 
such,  that  there  can  be  no  right  feeling  without  it;  and  although  ignorance 
or  error  in  regard  to  some  truths  may  be  consistent  with  a  state  of  grace — 
for  otherwise  who  could  be  saved  ? — yet  every  truth  of  revelation  is  precious 
and  important;  so  that  if  any  portion  of  it  is  never  brought  to  bear  on  the 
mind  and  heart,  just  so  far  there  will  be  a  defect  in  the  Christian  character. 
Just  as  if  a  seal  on  which  is  engraved  a  certain  image  or  inscription,  if  it  be 
ever  so  little  marred  or  mutilated,  in  the  same  degree  leaves  an  imperfect 
impression  on  the  wax. 

"Dear  brethren,  receive  in  good  part  our  exhortation.  We  sincerely  aim 
to  promote  your  spiritual  welfare.  Our  lot  is  cast  in  an  eventful  and 
critical  period,  as  it  relates  to  our  ecclesiastical  affairs.  After  much  and 
long  agitation,  a  great  schism  has  occurred.  A  large  number  of  those 
recently  comprehended  in  the  same  denomination  with  us  have  now  gone 
out  from  us.  In  this  whole  transaction  the  Providence  of  God  has  been 
very  remarkable.  Let  us  now  endeavour,  as  becomes  the  sincere  disciples 
of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  while  we  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered 


Part  I.]  TESTIMONY  AGAINST   ERROR.  573 

to  the  saints,  to  be  careful  not  to  strive  about  words  to  no  profit,  or  with  a 
spirit  unbecoming  the  Christian  character.  Faith  and  charity  are  twin 
sisters  and  should  never  be  separated.  See  that  ye  love  one  another  with  a 
pure  heart,  fervently.  Brethren,  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with 
you  iiWr—^linutes,  1839,  p.  183. 

§  3.    Testimony  against  Universalian  and  Socinian  errors. 

(ffl)  "  Whereas,  The  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  and  of  the  finite 
duration  of  hell  torments,  has  been  propagated  by  sundry  persons  who  live 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  people  under  our  care  may  possibly, 
from  their  occasional  conversation  with  the  propagators  of  such  a  dangerous 
opinion,  be  infected  by  the  doctrine,  the  Synod  take  this  opportunity  to 
declare  their  utter  abhorrence  of  such  doctrines  as  they  apprehend  to  be 
subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion  and  morality,  and  there- 
fore earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  their  Presbyteries  and  members  to  be 
watchful  upon  this  subject,  and  to  guard  against  the  introduction  of  such 
tenets  amongst  our  people." — Minutes,  1787,  p.  540. 

(b)  ''If  there  is  a  religion  revealed  by  God,  it  is  as  important  to  have 
correct  views  of  its  principles  to  perform  the  duties  which  it  enjoins  in  the 
various  relations  of  life,  as  it  is  to  have  correct  views  of  morality,  that  our 
lives  may  be  moral.  Error  in  principle  invariably  produces  error  in  prac- 
tice. To  be  ever  learning  and  never  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
is  characteristic  of  none  but  those  who  assume  for  the  human  understanding 
the  prerogative  of  sitting  in  judgment  upon  the  inspired  truth  of  God,  either 
condemning  the  whole  as  an  imposition,  or  undertaking  to  correct  its  alleged 
mistakes  by  abridging  and  falsifying  its  contents.  Of  the  former  class,  we 
rejoice  that  their  number  and  influence  are  diminished.  Not  many  years 
past,  they  triumphed,  to  the  regret  and  anguish  of  the  followers  of  Christ. 
With  brazen  front,  infidelity  threatened  the  annihilation  of  the  Church,  and 
the  ruin  of  her  Lord's  authority.  But  the  Church  not  merely  survives  its 
attacks;  she  has  increased  in  numbers  and  in  grace,  whilst  her  adversaries 
are  compelled,  though  unwillingly,  to  pay  homage  to  the  paramount  claims 
of  her  God  and  her  Saviour,  who  is  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords.  Few 
are  to  be  found,  who  respect  themselves,  openly  opposing  the  truth  of  God 
as  contained  in  the  Scriptures.  There  are  however,  some  within  our  bounds, 
who,  whilst  they  profess  to  honour  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  with  unhal- 
lowed hands  would  cutout  of  its  pages  those  passages  which  command  us  to 
honour  the  Son  as  we  honour  the  Father,  and  rob  the  trembling  sinner  of 
the  only  hope  of  acceptance  with  God  which  his  soul  can  cherish.  The 
well  beloved  and  only  begotten  Son  of  God  they  reduce  to  the  level  of  frail 
humanity,  and  his  work  of  redemption  to  the  mere  fact  of  furnishing  us  a 
perfect  example  of  conversation  and  conduct.  By  denying  his  character  as 
a  covenant-surety  to  bear  our  sins  and  carry  our  sorrows,  they  lower  his 
example  as  a  righteous  and  holy  man,  below  that  which  his  apostles  and  pri- 
mitive followers  aff'ord  us.  And  so  far  as  we  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
judging  from  facts  which  have  fallen  under  our  observation,  their  principles 
have  introduced  among  all  who  have  embraced  them,  so  great  a  conformity 
in  their  practice  to  the  world  which  lieth  in  wickedness,  as  to  render  it 
impossible  to  discriminate  them  from  the  children  of  that  world. 

"In  connection  with  these  Anti-Trinitarians,  for  we  reject  the  name 
which  they  have  assumed  of  Unitarians,  holding  the  unity  of  God  as  strictly 
as  they  do,  are  the  Universalists,  or  the  supporters  of  the  doctrine  of 
universal  salvation.  It  is  a  tribute  however,  which  we  owe  to  truth,  to  say, 
that  whilst  the  Anti-Trinitarians,  for  the  sake  of  consistency  are  compelled 
to  maintain  the  ultimate  and  eternal  salvation  of  all,  the  Universalists  believe 


574  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

ill  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  They, 
however,  by  assuring  all  that  they  will  be  in  the  end  for  ever  happ}^  pro- 
vide for  the  gratification  of  present  desires  and  continuance  in  sin,  whilst 
they  live. 

"  As  these  errors  in  principle  do  exist  in  some  portion  of  our  Church, 
though  we  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  they  are  not  increasing,  the 
Assembly  trust  that  they  will  be  opposed,  and  their  ruinous  tendency  un- 
folded, with  fidelity  and  success." — Minutes,  1818,  p.  677. 

(c)  "In  some  parts  of  our  land,  attempts  are  made  to  propagate  the  most 
pernicious  errors.  With  a  zeal  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  and  under  lofty 
pretensions  to  superior  rationality  and  to  deeper  discoveries  in  religion, 
some  are  endeavoui'ing  to  take  away  the  crown  from  the  Redeemer's  head; 
to  degrade  Him  who  is  the  mighty  God,  and  the  Prince  of  Life,  to  a  level 
with  mere  men,  and  to  rob  us  of  all  our  hopes  of  redemption  through  his 
blood.  Pretending  to  a  more  expanded  benevolence  to  man,  and  more 
ennobled  ideas  of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  they  assiduously  propa- 
gate the  sentiment,  that  all  men  will  ultimately  obtain  eternal  happiness, 
however  sinful  their  present  temper  and  conduct  may  be,  without  any 
regard  to  the  cleansing  of  the  blood  of  atonement,  or  the  sanctifying  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Believing  that  these  sentiments  are  utterly 
subversive  of  gospel  truth  and  holiness;  that  they  are  alike  dishonouring  to 
God,  and  destiaictive  to  the  present  and  eternal  welfare  of  men,  we  cannot 
but  affectionately  warn  you  against  them.  *  Beware,  brethren,  lest  ye  also, 
being  led  away  with  the  error  of  the  wicked,  fall  from  your  own  steadfast- 
ness.' Cherish  an  ai'dent  attachment  to  the  '  truth  which  is  according  to 
godliness ;'  and  seek  to  experience  in  your  own  souls,  its  sanctifying  influ- 
ence."— Minutes,  1822,  p.  30. 


PAET    II. 

THE  CASE  OF  MESSRS.  COWELL  AND  TENNENT. 


§  4.    Tlie  subject  brought  into  Si/nod. 

(a)  "Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  represented  to  the  Committee  [on  business] 
that  there  had  been  differing  sentiments  in  some  important  points  of  doc- 
trine between  himself  and  Mr.  Cowell,  upon  which  there  had  been  sundry 
large  letters  passed  between  them,  concerning  which  he  desires  the  Synod's 
opinion.  It  is  overtured  that  this  affair  be  considered  by  a  committee 
appointed  by  the  Synod,  who  shall  be  directed  to  converse  with  Mr.  Ten- 
nent and  Mr.  Cowell  together,  that  they  may  see  whether  they  so  widely 
differ  in  their  sentiments  as  is  supposed;  and  if  they  find  that  there  be 
necessity,  distinctly  to  consider  the  papers;  that  Mr.  Tennent  and  Mr. 
Cowell  be  both  directed  to  refrain  from  all  public  discourses  upon  this  con- 
troversy, and  all  methods  of  spreading  it  among  the  populace,  until  the 
committee  have  made  their  report  to  the  Synod,  and  that  no  other  member 
take  notice  of  and  divulge  the  affair." — Minutes,  1738,  p.  140. 

(b)  ''An  overture  was  brought  in  upon  the  affair  between  Messrs.  Gilbert 
Tennent  and  David  Cowell,  by  the  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
which  is  as  follows,  viz.  The  committee  having  heard  Mr.  Tennent  and  Mr. 
Cowell  explain  themselves  upon  the  debate  between  them,  think  it  proper  to 
take  this  affair  under  further  consideration,  that  they  may  have  opportunity 
to  peruse  the  papers  that  are  produced,  to  give  us  a  fuller  view  of  this 
controversy,  that  so  we  may  be  prepared  to  give  a  report  to  the  next  Synod." 
—Ibid. 

§  5.  The  issue  of  it. 
''The  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  to  consider  the  controversy 
between  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Mr.  David  Cowell,  brought  in  the  follow- 
ing overture,  which  being  read,  the  Synod  had  the  great  satisfaction  to  find 
the  contending  parties  fully  agreed  in  their  sentiments  upon  the  point  in 
controversy,,  according  to  the  doctrine  contained  in  the  said  overture,  viz. 
Though  they  apprehend  that  there  are  some  incautious  and  unguarded 
expressions  used  by  both  the  contending  parties-,  yet  they  have  ground  to 
hope  that  the  principal  controversy  between  them  flows  from  their  not  having 
clear  ideas  of  the  subject  they  so  earnestly  debate  about,  and  not  from  any 
dangerous  errors  they  entertain,  since  they  both  own  that  the  glory  of  God 
is  the  ultimate  end  of  all  things;  and  as  the  point  under  debate  concerns  an 
important  doctrine  of  religion,  we  would  take  liberty  to  express  our  minds 
with  respect  to  it  in  a  few  words,  which  we  hope  will  be  agreeable  to  the 
sentiments  of  the  Synod,  and  readily  agreed  to  by  the  parties  concerned  in 
this  dispute.  We  apprehend  that  the  glory  of  God  was  the  only  motive  that 
influenced  him  to  all  his  external  operations.     For  since  nothing  else  had  an 


576  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

existence,  nothing  certainly  could  influence  liim  from  without  himself.  By 
his  glory  declarative,  we  mean  the  manifestation  of  his  essential  and  adora- 
ble perfections  for  the  great  and  excellent  ends  he  designed  in  this  mani- 
festation. It  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  eveiy  creature,  according  to  its 
utmost  capacity,  to  aim  at  the  same  end  which  the  blessed  God  has  in  view, 
and  to  endeavour  to  direct  all  his  actions  unto  it.  The  method  in  which 
the  great  God  has  required  us  to  prosecute  this  end  is  by  a  conformity  to 
his  image  and  example,  and  a  sincere  and  universal  obedience  to  his  laws. 
In  his  infinite  and  astonishing  grace  he  has  been  pleased  inseparably  to 
connect  our  happiness  with  the  prosecution  of  this  end.  This  obedience 
which  we  are  to  pay  to  the  divine  law,  and  by  which  alone  we  can  glorify 
him,  must  be  performed  by  us,  not  only  because  it  is  the  way  to  happiness, 
but  because  it  is  infinitely  just  and  reasonable  in  itself,  agreeable  to  the 
blessed  God,  whom  we  are  under  indissoluble  obligations  to  obey,  and  carry 
on  the  same  designs  which  he  has  been  pleased  to  propose  in  all  his  actions. 
And  these  designs  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  our  own  happiness,  are  so  insepa- 
rably connected,  that  they  must  never  be  placed  in  opposition  to  each  other. 
For  in  all  cases,  he  that  actively  glorifies  God,  promotes  his  own  happiness, 
and  by  a  conformity  to  the  divine  statutes  and  laws,  which  is  the  only  way 
to  happiness,  we,  in  the  best  manner  we  are  capable,  glorify  God." — 3Iai- 
utes,  1740,  p.  148. 

[With  this  result  Mr.  Tennent  was  dissatisfied,  and  urged  the  Synod  to  take  up  and 
consider  the  case.     But  his  proposition  was  rejected.] — Minutes,  1740,  pp.  151,  153. 


PAET    III. 

THE    SCHISM    OF    1741 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANTECEDENT    DIFFICULTIES. 

§  6.  Act  on  Ministers  intruding  on  Churches,  &c. 

(fj?)  ^'  Inasmuch  as  Grod,  who  is  a  God  of  order,  requires  in  an  especial  man- 
ner, that  all  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  on  earth  should  be  done  decently 
and  in  order ;  and  inasmuch  as  there  may  be  frequent  occasion  in  the  course 
of  divine  providence,  for  the  transportation  or  moving  of  Ministers,  or  pro- 
bationary Preachers,  from  one  Presbytery  to  another,  for  preventing  many 
inconviences  that  may  ensue  upon  irregular  steps  that  may  be  taken  on  such 
occasions,  it  is  humbly  proposed  as  a  fit  expedient : 

"  First.  That  no  probationer  take  upon  him  to  preach  in  any  vacant  Con- 
gregation without  the  order  of  the  Presbytery  under  whose  care  he  is. 

"Secondly.  That  no  such  probationer  preach  to  any  vacant  Congregation 
without  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs,  until  his  way  be 
cleared  thereunto  by  the  order  and  appointment  of  the  Presbytery  under 
whose  care  and  inspection  such  Congregation  is. 

"Thirdly.  That  no  Presbytery  take  upon  them  to  appoint  such  proba- 
tioner to  preach  within  their  bounds  without  Presbyterial  credentials,  or 
recommendations  for  that  purpose  from  the  Presbytery  unto  which  such 
probationer  belongs. 

"Fourthly.  That  no  vacant  Congregation  take  upon  them  to  invite  or 
encovirage  any  Minister,  or  probationer,  to  preach  among  them  without  the 
consent  and  concurrence  of  their  own  Presbytery,  nor  until  such  probationer 
has  preached  before  them  with  approbation. 

"  Fifthly.  That  no  Minister  take  upon  him  to  invite  any  Minister  or  pro- 
bationer, from  the  bounds  of  another  Presbytery,  to  preach  unto  any  vacant 
Congregation  without  the  advice  and  concurrence  of  the  brethren  of  his  own 
I'resbytery. 

"  To  evince  the  reasonableness  of  the  above  particulars,  besides  the  incon- 
veniences that  may  ensue  upon  the  neglecting  of  such  an  order  or  method, 
it  may  be  considered  that  both  probationers  and  vacant  Congregations  are, 
and  ought  to  look  upon  themselves  as,  under  the  direction  and  government 
of  their  respective  Presbyteries.  That  they  ought  to  be  ordered,  directed, 
and  concurred  with  by  them,  in  all  the  steps  taken  in  order  to  their  being 
settled. 

"It  is  also  humbly  proposed  that  the  Synod  would  make  an  order  to 
73 


678  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

inquire  yearly,  at  dur  respective  Presbyteries,  concerning  their  observation 
of  the  order  and  agreement  of  September  1735,  in  reUition  to  our  receiving 
of  Ministers  and  Preachers  from  Europe." — Mtmita^,  1737,  p.  134. 

(Jj)  "  It  was  overtured  by  some  members  that  some  order  shoukl  be  made  to 
prevent  irregularities  that  may  arise  in  our  Churches,  by  some  Ministers  and 
probationers  preaching  to  vacant  Congregations  without  the  bounds  of  their 
respective  Presbyteries,  without  allowance  from  the  Presbytery  under  whose 
care  the  said  vacant  Congregations  may  be.  This  was  debated  for  some 
time,  and  deferred  till  next  sederunt." 

"The  debate  concerning  Ministers  preaching  without  the  bounds  of  their 
own  Presbyteries,  to  vacancies  in  the  bounds  of  another  Presbytery,  without 
the  consent  of  some  of  the  members,  was  reassumed,  and  Overtured  vpon  it, 
That  no  Minister  belonging  to  this  Synod  shall  have  liberty  to  preach  in  any 
Congregation  belonging  to  another  Presbytery  whereof  he  is  not  a  member, 
after  he  is  advised  by  any  Minister  of  such  Presbytery,  that  he  thinks  his 
preaching  in  that  Congregation  will  have  a  tendency  to  procure  divisions 
and  disorders,  until  he  first  obtain  liberty  from  the  Presbytery  or  Synod  so 
to  do.     This  being  put  to  the  vote,  was  approved. 

"Overtured,  That  in  order  to  obviate  some  mistakes,  that  it  is  supposed 
some  of  the  members  of  the  Synod  were  in,  with  respect  to  the  preceding 
overture,  that  it  be  voted  that  every  Minister  belonging  to  this  Synod  has 
liberty  to  preach  in  any  vacant  Congregation  where  he  shall  be  occasionally 
and  providentially  called,  even  though  he  is  out  of  the  bounds  of  the  Pres- 
bytery to  which  he  belongs,  unless  he  be  first  advised  by  some  Minister  of 
such  Presbytery,  that  his  preaching  there  is  likely  to  procure  divisions  and 
disorders  in  such  Congregation;  and  even  when  he  is  so  advised  by  any 
Minister  of  such  Presbytery,  he  may  yet  preach  in  such  Congregation,  if 
by  liberty  first  obtained  from  such  Presbytery  or  from  the  Synod,  but  not 
otherwise.     Agreed  nemine  contradicente." — MhnUcs,  1738,  p.  137. 

§  7.  Act  on  the  examination  of  Candidates. 

"  A  proposal  was  made  by  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes  to  this  Synod,  which 
is  as  follows :  That  this  part  of  the  world  where  God  has  ordered  our  lot, 
labours  under  a  grievous  disadvantage  for  want  of  the  opportunities  of 
Universities,  and  Professors  skilled  in  the  several  branches  of  useful  learn- 
ing, and  that  many  students  from  Eul'ope  are  especially  cramped  in  prose- 
cuting their  studies,  their  parents  removing  to  these  colonies  before  they 
have  an  opportunity  of  attending  the  college,  after  having  spent  some  years 
at  the  grammar-school ;  and  that  many  persons  born  in  the  country  groan 
under  the  same  pressure,  whose  circumstances  are  not  able  to  support  them 
to  spend  a  course  of  years  in  the  European  or  New  England  colleges,  which 
discourages  much,  and  must  be  a  detriment  to  our  Church;  for  we  know 
that  natural  parts,  however  great  or  promising,  for  want  of  being  well  im- 
proved, must  be  marred  of  their  usefulness,  and  cannot  be  extensively  ser- 
viceable to  the  public;  and  that  want  of  due  care  and  pains  paves  the  way 
for  ignorance,  and  this  for  a  formidable  train  of  sad  conscqviences.  To  pre- 
vent this  evil,  it  is  humbly  proposed  as  a  remedy,  that  every  student  who 
has  not  studied  with  approbation,  passing  the  usual  courses  in  some  of  the 
New  England  or  European  colleges,  approved  by  public  authority,  shall, 
before  he  be  encouraged  by  any  Presbytery  for  the  sacred  work  of  the  min- 
istry, apply  himself  to  this  Synod,  and  that  they  appoint  a  committee  of 
their  members  yearly,  whom  they  know  to  be  well  skilled  in  the  several 
branches  of  philosophy,  and  divinity,  and  the  languages,  to  examine  such 
students  in  this  place,  and  finding  them  well  accomplished  in  those  several 
parts  of  learning,  shall  allow  them  a  public  testimonial  from  the  Synod, 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OP  1741.  579 

which,  till  better  provision  be  made,  shall  in  some  measure,  answer  the 
design  of  taking  a  degree  in  the  college.  And  for  encouragement  of  stu- 
dents, let  this  be  done  without  putting  them  to  further  expenses  than 
attending.  And  let  it  be  an  objection  against  none — where  they  have  read, 
or  what  books;  but  let  all  encouragement  be  only  according  to  merit.  And 
it  is  hoped  this  will  fill  our  youth  with  a  laudable  emulation;  prevent  errors 
young  men  may  imbibe  by  reading  without  direction  or  things  of  little  value; 
will  banish  ignorance,  fill  our  infant  Church  with  men  eminent  for  parts,  and 
learning,  and  advance  the  glory  of  Grod,  and  the  honour  of  our  Synod  both 
at  home  and  among  our  neighbours,  who  conceive  a  low  opinion  of  us  for 
want  of  such  favourable  opportunities.  'Tis  further  proposed,  that  all  that 
are  not  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel,  what  university  or  college  soever  they 
come  from,  may  undergo  the  same  trials.  But  inasmuch  as  this  act  cannot 
be  put  in  force  this  year,  without  discouraging  such  as  may  not  be  apprized 
of  it,  'tis  ordered,  that  there  be  two  Standing  Committees  to  act  in  the  above 
aft'air  for  this  year,  one  to  the  northward  and  the  other  to  the  southward  of 
Philadelphia,  and  that  Messrs.  John  Thomson,  Greorge  Gillespie,  Thomas 
Evans,  Henry  Hook,  James  Anderson,  James  Martin,  Francis  Alison,  be  a 
Committee  for  the  Presbyteries  southward  of  Philadelphia.  And  that 
Messrs.  Andrews,  Robert  Cross,  Gilbert  Tennent,  Pemberton,  Dickinson, 
Cowell,  and  Pierson,  be  a  Committee  to  the  northward.  Approved  by  a 
great  majority." — Minutes,  1738,  p.  141. 

§  8.    This  act  amended. 

"The  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  having  brought  a  paper  of  objections 
against  the  act  made  last  year,  touching  the  previous  examination  of  candi- 
dates, the  Synod  consented  to  review  that  act,  and  upon  deliberation  agreed 
to  the  following  overture,  which  they  substitute  in  the  room  of  it,  viz.  It 
being  the  first  article  in  our  excellent  Directory  for  the  examination  of  the 
candidates  for  the  sacred  Ministry,  that  they  be  inquired  of,  what  degrees 
they  have  taken  in  the  university,  &c.  And  it  being  oftentimes  impracticable 
for  us  in  these  remote  parts  of  the  earth,  to  obtain  an  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions, of  those  who  propose  themselves  to  examination,  many  of  our 
candidates  not  having  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  a  university  education,  and 
it  being  our  desire  to  come  to  the  nearest  conformity  to  the  incomparable 
prescriptions  of  the  Directory,  that  our  circumstances  will  admit  of,  and 
after  long  deliberation  of  the  most  proper  expedients  to  comply  with  the 
intentions  of  the  Directory,  where  we  cannot  exactly  fulfil  the  letter  of  it; 
the  Synod  agree  and  determine,  that  every  person  who  proposes  himself  to 
trial  as  a  candidate  for  the  Ministry,  and  who  has  not  a  diploma,  or  the  usual 
certificates  from  an  European  or  New  England  university,  shall  be  examined 
by  the  whole  Synod,  or  its  commission,  as  to  the  preparatory  studies  which 
we  generally  pass  through  at  the  college,  and  if  they  find  him  qualified, 
they  shall  give  him  a  certificate,  which  shall  be  received  by  our  respective 
Presbyteries  as  equivalent  to  a  diploma  or  certificate  from  the  college. 
This  we  trust  will  have  a  happy  tendency  to  prevent  unqualified  men  from 
creeping  in  among  us,  and  answer,  in  the  best  manner  our  present  circum- 
stances are  capable  of,  the  design  which  our  Directory  has  in  view,  and  with 
which  by  inclination  and  duty,  we  are  all  bound  to  comply  to  our  utmost 
ability.     This  was  agreed  to  by  a  great  majority. — Mhmtes,  1739,  p.  140. 

"  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  protested  in  behalf  of  himself  and  such  as  should 
join  with  him,  viz.  William  Tennent,  sen'r,  William  Tennent,  jun'r,  Samuel 
Blair,  Eleazer  Wales,  Charles  Tennent,  Ministers.  Thomas  Worthington, 
David  Chambers,  William  McCrea,  John  W^eir,  Elders;  against  the  above- 
mentioned  act  respecting  the  trial  of  candidates." — Ihid. 


680  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

§  9.    Tli-c  act  on  Ministerial  intrusion,  amended. 

"  The  act  made  last  year  with  respect  to  Ministers  preaching  out  of  their 
own  bounds,  being  taken  under  a  review,  the  Synod  determine,  that  if  any 
Minister  in  the  bounds  of  any  of  our  Presbyteries,  judge  that  the  preaching 
of  any  Minister  or  candidate  of  a  neighbouring  Presbytery  in  an^'  Congre- 
gation, has  had  a  tendency  to  promote  division  among  them,  or  hinder  the 
orderly  settlement  of  a  gospel  Ministry,  in  that  case  he  shall  complain  to  the 
Presbytery  in  whose  bounds  the  said  Congregation  is,  and  that  the  Minister 
who  is  supposed  to  be  the  cause  of  the  foresaid  division  shall  be  obliged  to 
appear  before  them,  and  it  shall  be  left  to  them  to  determine  whether  he 
shall  preach  any  more  in  the  bounds  of  that  Congregation,  and  he  shall  be 
bound  to  stand  to  their  determination,  until  they  shall  see  cause  to  remove 
their  prohibition,  or  the  Synod  shall  have  opportunity  to  take  the  affair 
under  cognizance.  Approved,  nemine  contradicenteJ^ — Minutes,  1739, 
p.  1-16. 

§  10.    The  rule  for  examination  disregarded  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 

Brunswick. 

"It  appearing  by  the  Presbytery  book  of  New  Brunswick  that  notwith- 
ing  the  Synod's  agreement  last  year,  that  no  candidate  for  the  Ministry  who 
has  had  a  private  education,  should  be  admitted  to  trials,  in  order  to  be 
licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  any  Presbytery  within  our  bounds,  until 
such  candidate's  learning  were  previously  examined  by  a  committee  appoint- 
ed for  that  purpose,  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  have  admitted 
to  trials  and  licensed  Mr.  John  Rowland  to  preach  the  gospel  without  his 
submitting  to  such  preparatory  examination  as  was  appointed.  The  Synod 
do  therefore  judge  the  proceedings  of  the  said  Presbytevy  of  New  Brunswick 
to  be  very  disorderly,  and  do  admonish  the  said  Presbytery  to  avoid  such 
divisive  courses  for  the  future;  and  do  determine  not  to  admit  the  said 
Mr.  John  Rowland  to  be  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  within  our  bounds,  nor 
encourage  any  of  our  people  to  accept  him  until  he  submit  to  such  exami- 
nations as  were  appointed  by  this  Synod  for  those  that  have  had  a  private 
education." — Minutes,  1739,  p.  147. 

§  11.  New  proposals  for  accommodation. 

"Upon  reading  over  the  minutes  of -the  last  year,  the  act  about  the  pre- 
vious trial  of  candidates  for  the  ministry,  which  has  been  the  occasion  of 
much  debate  in  the  Synod,  and  protested  against  by  some  of  the  brethren, 
came  under  consideration,  upon  which  a  paper  was  brought  in  and  read, 
containing  proposals  for  accommodating  of  the  said  unhappy  debates. 
Which  being  new  to  the  Synod,  they  resolved,  that  in  compliance  with  the 
desire  of  several  other  members  of  the  Synod,  as  well  as  the  protesting 
brethren,  each  of  them  should  have  a  copy  of  the  proposals  to  consider  of 
till  to-morrow  morning. 

"The  other  act,  relating  to  Ministers  preaching  within  the  bounds  of 
other  Presbyteries  than  that  to  which  he  or  they  do  belong,  coming  in 
course  to  be  considered,  the  Synod  agree  to  defer  any  debates  about  that 
matter  till  the  preceding  aff'air  be  issued." — Minutes,  1740,  p.  151. 

§  12. 

"  The  affair  between  the  Synod  and  the  brethren  dissatisfied  with  the  act 

last  year,  came  under  consideration,  and  the  protesting  brethren  declaring 

their  dissatisfaction  with  the  proposals  for  accommodation  that  were  laid 

before  them;  the  Synod  therefore  still  desiring  that  that  unhappy  difference 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  581 

may  be  accommodated,  recommend  it  to  any  brethren  of  the  S3"nod  to  con- 
sider any  further  expedient  to  that  end,  to  be  brought  in  the  next  sederunt. 

[Next  day]  "  The  affair  between  the  Synod  and  the  protesting  brethren, 
reassumed,  and  an  overture  was  brought  in  by  one  of  the  brethren  as  an 
expedient  to  accommodate  the  difference  that  has  arisen  and  yet  subsists  on 
account  of  an  act  of  last  year,  and  much  discourse  was  had  upon  it.  It  was 
agreed  by  all  the  members,  the  protesting  brethren  as  well  as  others,  that 
the  Synod  are  proper  judges  of  the  qualifications  of  their  own  members. 
But  the  protesting  brethren  thought  the  inserting  that  agreement  into  our 
minutes  unnecessary. 

"The  uncomfortable  debate  about  the  agreement  of  the  Synod  last  year, 
to  bring  under  the  examination  of  the  Synod  such  persons  as  have  had  a 
private  education  in  order  to  the  sacred  ministry,  being  reassumed,  it  was  put 
to  vote  whether  the  said  agreement  should  be  repeated  or  continued  until 
some  other  expedient  could  be  found  that  will  answer  the  design  of  that 
agreement  to  the  Synod's  satisfaction,  and  it  was  voted  that  it  shall  con- 
tinue at  present. 

"The  protesting  brethren  renewing  their  former  protest  against  the 
present  proceeding,  the  following  members  joined  with  them  in  their  pro- 
testation, viz.  Messrs.  John  Cross,  Alexander  Craighead,  Robert  Cummins, 
John  Henry,  James  Cockran,  William  Emmitt,  James  Miller,  Richard 
Walker,  James  McKoy,  Robert  Matthews,  Daniel  Henderson,  Joseph  Steel, 
Hugh  Lynn,  George  Gillespie,  and  Alexander  Hutchinson,  desired  their 
dissent  might  be  entered." — Minutes,  1740,  p.  153. 

§  13.  Proposed  interpretation  of  the  acts. 

"  An  overture  was  brought  in  upon  the  two  late  acts  in  order  to  explain 
them,  which  is  as  follows:  The  Synod  having  the  last  year,  nemine  conti-a- 
dicente,  come  into  an  agreement,  that  no  Minister  shall  preach  out  of  the 
bounds  of  his  Presbytery  in  any  Congregation,  after  his  being  warned  by 
the  Presbytery,  in  whose  bounds  such  Congregation  is,  that  his  preaching 
there  is  a  cause  of  division  in  the  Congregation,  and  that  he  is  therefore  to 
desist,  which  was  agreed  to  in  order  to  prevent  divisions  in  our  Congrega- 
tions :  But  finding  that  some  of  our  brethren  are  now  dissatisfied  with  that 
agreement,  and  that  it  is  wrong  interpreted  and  misunderstood  by  many  of 
our  people,  as  though  it  was  calculated  to  prevent  itinerant  preaching :  The 
Synod  do  now  declare,  that  they  never  thought  of  opposing,  but  do  heartily 
rejoice  in  the  labours  of  the  ministry  in  other  places  besides  their  own  par- 
ticular charge.  And  that  they  may  not  give  any  umbrage  to  the  contrary 
they  do  now  repeal  that  agreement,  and  do  agree  that  our  Ministers  shall,  in 
that  respect,  conduct  themselves  as  though  it  had  never  been;  and  to  obvi- 
ate all  misrepresentations  that  are  like  to  be  made  of  our  agreement  the  last 
year,  to  bring  such  candidates  of  the  ministry  under  the  examination  of  the 
Synod,  or  the  commission  of  the  Synod  as  to  their  proficiency  in  human 
learning,  who  have  had  a  private  education,  the  Synod  declare,  that  they  do 
not  thereby  call  in  question  the  power  of  subordinate  Presbyteries  to  ordain 
Ministers,  but  only  assert  their  own  right  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of 
their  own  members.  And  though  they  do  not  deny  but  that  such  as  are 
brought  into  the  ministry  contrary  to  this  agreement  may  be  truly  gospel  Min- 
isters, yet  inasmuch  as  they  cannot  but  think  that  agreement  needful  to  be 
insisted  on,  in  order  to  the  well  being  of  this  part  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  they 
cannot  admit  them  when  so  brought  into  the  ministry  to  be  members  of  this 
Synod,  until  they  submit  to  the  said  agreement,  though  they  do  consent,  that 
they  be  in  all  other  respects  treated  and  considered  as  Ministers  of  the 


582  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

gospel,  anything  that  may  be  otherwise  construed  in  any  of  our  former  pro- 
ceedings, notwithstanding. 

Two  expedients  for  peace  were  proposed  to  answer  the  end  of  the  act  for 
preserving  learning  by  examination  for  candidates,  which  were  taken  under 
consideration  till  the  next  sederunt. 

[Next  sederunt  "  the  further  consideration  of  the  above  said  overture  deferred,"  and  not 
resumed.] — Minutes,  1740,  p.  153. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  DIVISION  TAKES  PLACE. 

§  14.    The  Old  Side  Protestation. 

"A  protestation  was  brought  in  by  IMr.  Cross,  read,  and  signed  by  several 
members,  which  is  kept,  in  retentls. — Minutes,  1741,  p.  157. 

"^  Protestation  presented  to  the  Synod,  June  I,  1741. 

Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren — We,  the  Ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  members  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  being  wounded  and  grieved  at  our  very  hearts,  at  the  dreadful 
divisions,  distractions,  and  convulsions,  which  all  of  a  sudden  have  seized  this  infant  Church 
to  such  a  degree,  that  unless  He,  who  is  King  in  Zion,  do  graciously  and  seasonably  in- 
terpose for  our  relief,  she  is  in  no  small  danger  of  expiring  outright,  and  that  quickly,  as  to 
the  form,  order,  and  constitution  of  an  organized  Church,  which  hath  subsisted  for  above 
these  thirty  years  past,  in  a  very  great  degree  of  comely  order  and  sweet  harmony,  until  of 
late;  we  say,  we  being  deeply  afflicted  with  these  things  which  lie  heavy  on  our  spirits, 
and  being  sensible  that  it  is  our  indispensable  duty  to  do  what  lies  in  our  power,  in  a  law- 
ful way,  according  to  the  light  and  direction  of  the  inspired  oracles,  to  preserve  this  swoon- 
ing Church  from  a  total  expiration:  And  after  the  deliberate  and  unprejudiced  inquiry 
into  the  causes  of  these  confusions  which  rage  so  among  us,  both  Ministers  and  people, 
we  evidently  seeing,  and  being  fully  persuaded  in  our  judgments,  that,  besides  our  misim- 
provement  of,  and  unfruitfulness  under,  gospel  light,  liberty,  and  privileges,  that  great 
decay  of  practical  godliness  in  the  life  and  power  of  it,  and  many  abounding  immoralities: 
we  say,  besides  these,  our  sins,  which  we  judge  to  be  the  meritorious  cause  of  our  present 
doleful  distractions,  the  awful  judgment  we  at  present  groan  under,  we  evidently  see  that 
our  protesting  brethren  and  their  adherents,  were  the  direct  and  proper  cause  thereof, 
by  their  unwearied,  unscriptural,  anti-Presbyterial,  and  uncharitable,  divisive  practices, 
which  they  have  been  pursuing,  with  all  the  industry  they  were  capable  of,  with  any 
probability  of  success,  for  above  these  twelve  months  past  especially,  besides  too  much  of 
the  like  practices  for  some  years  before,  though  not  with  such  barefaced  arrogance  and 
boldness. 

And  being  fully  convinced  in  our  judgments,  that  it  is  our  duty  to  bear  testimony 
against  these  disorderly  proceedings,  according  to  our  stations,  capacity,  and  trust  reposed 
in  us  by  our  exalted  Lord,  as  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  his  Zion,  we  having  endeavoured 
sincerely  to  seek  counsel  and  direction  from  God,  who  hath  promised  to  give  wisdom  to 
those  that  ask  him  in  fiiith,  yea,  hath  promised  his  Holy  Spirit  to  lead  his  people  and 
servants  into  all  truth,  and  being  clearly  convinced  in  our  consciences,  that  it  is  a  duty 
called  unto  in  this  present  juncture  of  affairs  : 

Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  we  hereby  humbly  and  solemnly  protest,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  great  and  eternal  God,  and  his  elect  angels,  as  well  as  in  the  presence  of  all 
here  present,  and  particularly  to  you,  Reverend  Brethren,  in  our  own  names,  and  in  the 
names  of  all,  both  Ministers  and  people,  who  shall  adhere  to  us,  as  follows: 

1.  We  protest  that  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  this  Synod,  to  maintain  and  stand  by 
the  principles  of  doctrine,  worship,  and  government,  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  as  the  same 
are  summed  up  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  and  Directory,  composed  by  the 
Westminster  Assembly,  as  being  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  which  this  Synod 
have  owned,  acknowledged,  and  adopted,  as  may  appear  by  our  Synodical  records  of  the 
years  1729,  1736,  which  we  desire  to  be  read  publicly. 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  583 

2.  We  protest  that  no  person,  Minister  or  Elder,  should  be  allowed  to  sit  and  vote  in 
this  Synod,  who  hath  not  received,  adopted,  or  subscribed,  the  said  Confessions,  Cate- 
chisms, and  Directory,  as  our  Presbyteries  respectively  do,  according  to  our  last  explica- 
tion of  the  adopting  act ;  or  who  is  either  accused  or  convicted,  or  may  be  convicted  be- 
fore this  Synod,  or  any  of  our  Presbyteries,  of  holding  or  maintaining  any  doctrine,  or 
who  act  and  persist  in  any  practice  contrary  to  any  of  those  doctrines,  or  rules  contain- 
ed in  said  Directory,  or  contrary  to  any  of  the  known  rights  of  Presbytery,  or  orders 
made  or  agreed  to  by  this  Synod,  and  which  stand  yet  unrepealed,  unless,  or  until  he 
renounce  such  doctrine,  and  being  found  guilty,  acknowledge,  confess,  and  profess  his 
sorrow  for  such  sinful  disorder  to  the  satisfaction  of  this  Synod,  or  such  inferior  judicatory 
as  the  Synod  shall  appoint  or  empower  for  that  purpose. 

3.  We  protest  that  all  our  protesting  brethren  have  at  present  no  right  to  sit  and  vote 
as  members  of  this  Synod,  having  forfeited  their  right  of  being  accounted  members  of  it 
for  many  reasons,  a  few  of  which  we  shall  mention  afterwards. 

4.  We  protest  that,  if,  notwithstanding  of  this  our  protestation,  these  brethren  be  allow- 
ed to  sit  and  vote  in  this  Synod,  without  giving  suitable  satisfaction  to  the  Synod,  and 
particularly  to  us,  who  now  enter  this  protestation,  and  those  who  adhere  to  us  in  it,  that 
whatsoever  shall  be  done,  voted,  or  transacted  by  them,  contrary  to  our  judgment,  shall 
be  of  no  force  or  obligation  to  us,  being  done  and  acted  by  a  judicatory  consisting  in  part 
of  members  who  have  no  authority  to  act  with  us  in  ecclesiastical  matters. 

5.  We  protest  that,  if,  notwithstanding  this  our  protestation,  and  contrary  to  the  true 
intent  and  meaning  of  it,  these  protesting'  brethren,  and  such  as  adhere  to  them,  or  sup- 
port and  countenance  them  in  their  anti-Presbyterial  practices,  shall  continue  to  act  as  they 
have  done  this  last  year,  in  that  case,  we,  and  as  many  as  have  clearness  to  join  with  us, 
and  maintain  the  rights  of  this  judicatory,  shall  be  accounted  in  nowise  disorderly,  but 
the  true  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  province;  and  they  shall  be  looked  upon  as  guilty  ot 
schism,  and  the  breach  of  the  rules  of  Presbyterial  government,  which  Christ  has  estab- 
lished in  his  Church,  which  we  are  ready  at  all  times  to  demonstrate  to  the  world. 

Reverend  and  dear  Brethren,  we  beseech  you  to  hear  us  with  patience,  while  we  lay 
before  you  as  briefly  as  we  can,  some  of  the  reasons  that  move  us  thus  to  protest,  and 
more  particularly,  why  we  protest  against  our  protesting  brethren's  being  allowed  to  sit  as 
members  of  this  Synod. 

1.  Their  heterodox  and  anarchical  principles  expressed  in  their  Apology,  pages  twen- 
ty-eight and  thirty-nine,  where  they  expressly  deny  that  Presbyteries  have  authority  to 
oblige  their  dissenting  members,  and  that  Synods  should  go  any  further,  in  judging  of 
appeals  or  references,  &c.  than  to  give  their  best  advice,  which  is  plainly  to  divest  the 
officers  and  judicatories  of  Christ's  kingdom  of  all  authority,  (and  plainly  contradicts  the 
thirty-first  article  of  our  Confession  of  Faith,  section  three,  which  these  brethren  pretend 
to  adopt,)  agreeable  to  which  is  the  whole  superstructure  of  arguments  which  they  ad- 
vance and  maintain  against  not  only  our  Synodical  acts,  but  also  all  authority  to  make 
any  acts  or  orders  that  shall  bind  their  dissenting  members,  throughout  their  whole 
Apology. 

2.  Their  protesting  against  the  Synod's  act  in  relation  to  the  examination  of  candi- 
dates, together  with  their  proceeding  to  license  and  ordain  men  to  the  Ministry  of  the 
gospel,  in  opposition  to,  and  in  contempt  of,  said  act  of  Synod. 

3.  Their  making  irregular  irruptions  upon  the  Congregations  to  which  they  have  no 
immediate  relation,  without  order,  concurrence,  or  allowance  of  the  Presbyteries  or 
Ministers  to  which  Congregations  belong,  thereby  sowing  the  seeds  of  division  among 
people,  and  doing  what  they  can  to  alienate  and  fill  their  minds  with  unjust  prejudices 
against  their  lawfully  called  Pastors. 

4.  Their  principles  and  practice  of  rash  judging  and  condemning  all  who  do  not  fall 
in  with  their  measures,  both  Ministers  and  people,  as  carnal,  graceless,  and  enemies  to 
the  work  of  God,  and  what  not,  as  appears  in  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent's  sermon  against  un- 
converted Ministers,  and  his  and  Mr.  Blair's  papers  of  May  last,  which  were  read  in  open 
Synod;  which  rash  judging  has  been  the  constant  practice  of  our  protesting  brethren, 
and  their  irregular  probationers,  for  above  these  twelve  months  past,  in  their  disorderly 
itinerations  and  preaching  through  our  Congregations,  by  which,  (alas !  for  it,)  most  of 
our  Congregations,  through  weakness  and  credulity,  are  so  shattered  and  divided,  and 
shaken  in  their  principles,  that  few  or  none  of  us  can  say  we  enjoy  the  comfort,  or  have 
the  success  among  our  people,  which  otherwise  we  might,  and  which  we  enjoyed  here- 
tofore. 

5.  Their  industriously   persuading  people  to  believe  that  the  call  of  God  whereby  he 


584  HERESIES    AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  YII. 

calls  men  to  the  Ministry,  does  not  consist  in  their  being  regularly  ordained  and  set  apart 
to  that  work,  according  to  the  institution  and  rules  of  the  word;  hut  in  some  invisible 
motions  and  workings  of  the  Spirit,  which  none  can  he  conscious  or  sensible  of  but  the 
person  himself,  and  with  respect  to  which  he  is  liable  to  be  deceived,  or  play  the  hype- 
crite.  That  the  gospel  preached  in  truth  by  unconverted  Ministers,  can  be  of  no  saving 
benefit  to  souls;  and  their  pointing  out  such  Ministers,  whom  they  condemn  as  graceless 
by  their  rash  judging  spirit,  they  etlectually  carry  the  point  with  the  poor  credulous  peo- 
ple, who,  in  imitation  of  their  example,  and  under  their  patrociny,  judge  their  Ministers 
to  be  graceless,  and  forsake  their  Ministers  as  hurtful  rather  than  profitable. 

6.  Their  preaching  the  terrors  of  the  law  in  such  a  manner  and  dialect  as  has  no  pre- 
cedent in  the  word  of  God,  but  rather  appears  to  be  borrowed  from  a  worse  dialect;  and 
so  industriously  working  on  the  passions  and  affections  of  weak  minds,  as  to  cause  them 
to  cry  out  in  a  hideous  manner,  and  faW  down  in  convulsion-like  fits,  to  the  marrinf  of 
the  profiting  both  of  themselves  and  others,  who  are  so  taken  up  in  seeing  and  hearing 
these  odd  symptoms,  that  they  cannot  attend  to  or  hear  what  the  Preacher  says;  and 
then,  after  all,  boasting  of  these  things  as  the  work  of  God,  which  we  are  persuaded  do 
proceed  from  an  inferior  or  worse  cause. 

7.  Their,  or  some  of  them,  preaching  and  maintaining  that  all  true  converts  are  as 
certain  of  their  gracious  state  as  a  person  can  be  of  what  he  knows  by  his  outward  senses  ; 
and  are  able  to  give  a  narrative  of  the  time  and  manner  of  their  conversion,  or  else  they 
conclude  them  to  be  in  a  natural  or  graceless  state,  and  that  a  gracious  person  can  judge 
of  another's  gracious  state  otherwise  than  by  his  profession  and  life.  That  people  are 
under  no  sacred  tie  or  relation  to  their  own  Pastors  lawfully  called,  but  may  leave  them 
when  they  please,  and  ought  to  go  where  they  think  they  get  most  good. 

For  these  and  many  other  reasons,  we  protest,  before  the  eternal  God,  his  holy  an- 
gels, and  you.  Reverend  Brethren,  and  before  all  here  present,  that  these  brethren  have 
no  right  to  be  acknowledged  as  members  of  this  judicatory  of  Christ,  whose  principles 
and  practices  are  so  diametrically  opposite  to  our  doctrine,  and  principles  of  government 
and  order,  which  the  great  King  of  the  Church  hath  laid  down  in  his  word. 

How  absurd  and  monstrous  must  that  union  be,  where  one  part  of  tTie  members  own 
themselves  obliged,  in  conscience,  to  the  judical  determinations  of  the  whole,  founded 
on  the  word  of  God,  or  else  relinquish  membership ;  and  another  part  declare,  they  are 
not  obliged  and  will  not  submit,  unless  the  determination  be  according  to  their  minds, 
and  consequently  will  submit  to  no  rule,  in  making  of  which  they  are  in  the  negative. 

Again,  how  monstrously  absurd  is  it,  that  they  should  so  much  as  desire  to  join  with 
us,  or  we  with  them,  as  a  judicatory,  made  up  of  authoritative  ofTicers  of  Jesus  Christ, 
■while  they  openly  condemn  us  wholesale;  and,  when  they  please,  apply  their  condemna- 
tory sentences  to  particular  brethren  by  name,  without  judicial  process,  or  proving  them 
guilty  of  heresy  or  immorality,  and  at  the  same  time  will  not  hold  Christian  communion 
with  them. 

Again,  how  absurd  is  the  union,  while  some  of  the  members  of  the  same  body,  which 
meet  once  a  year,  and  join  as  a  judicatory  of  Christ,  do  all  the  rest  of  the  year  what  they 
can,  openly  and  above  board,  to  persuade  the  people  and  flocks  of  their  brethren  and  fel- 
low members,  to  separate  from  their  own  Pastors,  as  graceless  hypocrites,  and  yet  they 
do  not  separate  from  them  themselves,  but  join  with  them  once  every  year,  as  members 
of  the  same  judicatory  of  Christ,  and  oftener,  when  Presbyteries  are  mixed.  Is  it  not 
most  unreasonable,  stupid  indolence  in  us,  to  join  with  such  as  are  avowedly  tearing  us 
in  pieces  like  beasts  of  prey  1 

Again,  is  not  the  continuance  of  union  with  our  protesting  brethren  very  absurd,  when 
it  is  so  notorious  that  both  their  doctrine  and  practice  are  so  directly  contrary  to  the  adopt- 
ing act,  whereby  both  they  and  we  have  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms 
and  Directory,  composed  by  the  Westminster  Assembly  ] 

Finally,  is  not  continuance  of  union  absurd  with  those  who  would  arrogate  to  them- 
selves a  right  and  power  to  palm  and  obtrude  members  on  our  Synod,  contrary  to  the 
minds  and  judgment  of  the  body  '! 

In  fine,  a  continued  union,  in  our  judgment,  is  most  absurd  and  inconsistent,  when  it  is 
so  notorious,  that  our  doctrine  and  principles  of  Church  government,  in  many  points,  are 
not  only  diverse,  but  directly  opposite.  For  how  can  two  walk  together,  except  they  be 
agreed  ] 

Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  these  are  a  part,  and  but  a  part  of  our  reasons  why 
we  protest  as  above,  and  which  we  have  only  hinted  at,  but  have  forborne  to  enlarge  on 
them,  as  we  might,  the  matter  and  substance  of  them  are  so  well  known  to  you  all,  and 


Part  III.]  THE   SCHISM   OF  1741.  585 

the  whole  world  about  us,  that  we  judged  this  bint  sufficient  at  present,  to  declare  our 
serious  and  deliberate  judgment  in  the  matter;  and  as  we  profess  ourselves  to  be  re- 
solvedly against  principles  and  practice  of  both  anarchy  and  schism,  so  we  hope  that 
God,  whom  we  desire  to  serve  and  obey,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose  Ministers  we  are, 
will  both  direct  and  enable  us  to  conduct  ourselves  in  these  trying  times,  so  as  our  con- 
sciences shall  not  reproach  us  as  long  as  we  live.  Let  God  arise,  and  let  his  enemies  be 
scattered,  and  let  them  that  hate  him  fly  before  him,  but  let  the  righteous  be  glad,  yea, 
let  them  exceedingly  rejoice.  And  may  the  Spirit  of  life  and  comfort  revive  and  comfort 
this  poor  swooning  and  fainting  Church,  quicken  her  to  spiritual  life,  and  restore  her  to 
the  exercise  of  true  charity,  peace  and  order. 

Although  we  can  freely,  and  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts,  justify  the  divine  pro- 
ceedings against  us,  in  suffering  us  to  fall  into  these  confusions  for  our  sins,  and  particu- 
larly for  the  great  decay  of  the  life  and  power  of  godliness  among  all  ranks,  both  Minis- 
ters and  people,  yet  we  think  it  to  be  our  present  duty  to  bear  testimony  against  these 
prevailing  disorders,  judging  that  to  give  way  to  the  breaking  down  the  hedge  of  disci- 
pline and  government  from  about  Christ's  vineyard,  is  far  from  being  the  proper  method 
of  causing  his  tender  plants  to  grow  in  grace  and  fruitfulness. 

As  it  is  our  duty  in  our  station,  without  delay,  to  set  about  a  reformation  of  the  evils 
whereby  we  have  provoked  God  against  ourselves,  so  we  judge  the  strict  observation  of 
his  laws  of  government  and  order,  and  not  the  breaking  of  them,  to  be  one  necessary 
mean  and  method  of  this  necessary  and  much  to  be  desired  reformation.  And  we  doubt 
not,  but  when  our  God  sees  us  duly  humbled  and  penitent  for  our  sins,  he  will  yet  return 
to  us  in  mercy,  and  cause  us  to  flourish  in  spiritual  life,  love,  unity,  and  order,  though 
perhaps  we  may  not  live  to  see  it,  yet  this  testimony  that  we  now  bear,  may  be  of  some 
good  use  to  our  children  yet  unborn,  when  God  shall  arise  and  have  mercy  on  Zion. 

Ministers — Robert  Cross,  John  Thomson,  Francis  Alison,  Robert  Cathcart,  Richard 
Zanchy,  John  Elder,  John  Craig,  Samuel  Caven,  Samuel  Thomson,  Adam  Boyd, 
James  Martin,  Robert  Jamison. 

EUcrs — Robert  Porter,  Robert  McKnight,  William  McCulIoch,  John  McEwen, 
Robert  Rowland,  Robert  Craig,  James  Kerr,  Alexander  McKnight." 

§  15.  The  Neio  Brunswick  party  xoithdraio. 

"  Upon  this  it  was  canvassed  by  tlie  former  protesting  brethren,  whether 
they  or  we  were  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  Synod.  We  maintained  that  they 
had  no  right  to  sit  whether  they  were  the  major  or  minor  number.  Then 
they  motioned  that  W^  should  examine  this  point,  and  that  the  major  num- 
ber was  the  Synod.  They  were  found  to  be  the  minor  party,  and  upon  this 
they  withdrew.  After  this  the  Synod  proceeded  to  business." — Minutes, 
1741,  p.  158. 

§  16.    The  Synod  re-adopts  the  Westminster  Standards. 

"  Overtured,  That  every  member  of  this  Synod,  whether  Minister  or 
Elder,  do  sincerely  and  heartily  receive,  own,  acknowledge,  or  subscribe,  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  as 
the  confession  of  his  faith,  and  the  Directory,  as  far  as  circumstances  will 
allow  and  admit  in  this  infant  Church,  for  the  rule  of  Church  order. 
Ordered,  That  every  Session  do  oblige  their  Elders  at  their  admission  to 
do  the  same.  This  was  readily  approved,  nemine  contradicentc." — Minutes, 
1741,  p.  159. 

CHAPTER  III. 

NEGOTIATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  BRETHREN. 

§  17.   Measures  proposed. 

''Upon  a  motion  made  by  the  Moderator,*  that  our  Synod  should  hold  a 

conference  with  the  Brunswick  brethren  that  they  rejected  last  year,  in 

order  to  accommodate  the  diflerence  and  make  up  that  unhappy  breach,  it 

*  Mr.  Dickinson. 

74 


586  HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

is  agreed,  that  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Penaberton,  Pierson,  Cross,  Andrews, 
Thomson,  Cathcart,  David  Evans,  and  Alison,  meet  with  these  brethren, 
and  try  all  methods  consistent  with  gospel  truth,  to  prepare  the  way  for 
healing  the  said  breach.  Agreed  that  the  conference  be  held  at  the  usual 
place  of  the  Synod's  meeting,  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  and  that  the  Synod 
adjourn  till  nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning." 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Synod  be  resolved  into  an  interloqnitur  of  Ministers 
and  Elders,  to  manage  the  conference  with  the  ejected  brethren,  who  are 
allowed  if  they  see  cause,  to  bring  with  them  the  Ministers  that  they 
ordained,  that  were  never  allowed  to  be  Ministers  of  this  Synod,  and  all 
their  respective  Elders. 

''  After  a  great  deal  of  time  spent  to  no  purpose,  the  interloquitur  found 
that  all  attempts  for  a  coalition  were  vain  and  fruitless,  and  therefore  it  is 
agreed  to  adjourn  till  three  o'clock,  afternoon.     Concluded  with  prayer." 

*'  The  Synod  entered  upon  the  aii'air  complained  of  by  the  ejected  members, 
and  the  question  put  for  the  managing  said  affair  was,  who  should  be  the 
judges  of  the  case?  The  ejected  members  would  submit  the  business  to  the 
consideration  of  none  as  judges,  but  such  as  had  not  signed  the  protest  last 
year.  And  the  protesting  brethren  answered  to  the  point:  That  they,  with 
the  members  that  had  adhered  to  them,  after  ejecting  said  members,  were 
the  Synod,  and  acted  as  such  in  the  rejection,  and  in  so  doing  they  only  cast 
out  such  members  as  they  judged  had  rendered  themselves  unworthy  of 
membership,  by  openly  maintaining  and  practising  things  subversive  of  their 
constitution,  and  therefore  would  not  be  called  to  account  by  absent  mem- 
bers, or  by  any  judicature  on  earth,  but  were  willing  to  give  the  reasons  of 
their  conduct  to  their  absent  brethren,  and  to  the  public  to  consider  or 
review  it. — Minutes,  1742,  p.  162. 

§  18.   Protest  of  the  Neio  Yorlc  members. 
[After  renewed  ineffectual  efforts  by  way  of  interloquitur,] 

"  A  protest  was  given  in  by  some  members  of  our  Synod,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz.  ' 

"  To  the  Reverend  Synod  now  sitting  in  Philadelphia :  We  the  subscribers, 
in  our  own  and  in  the  name  of  all  that  shall  see  meet  to  join  with  us,  look 
upon  ourselves  obliged  in  the  most  public  manner,  to  declare  our  opinions 
with  respect  to  the  division  made  in  our  Synod  the  last  year,  by  a  protest  that 
was  delivered  in  by  several  of  our  members. 

''First.  We  declare  against  the  excluding  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick and  their  adherents,  from  the  communion  of  the  Synod  by  a  protest, 
without  giving  them  a  previous  trial,  as  an  illegal  and  unprecedented 
procedure,  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  gospel  and  subversive  of  our  excellent 
constitution. 

"  Secondly.  We  declare  and  protest  against  the  conduct  of  our  brethren, 
the  last  year's  protestors,  in  refusing  to  have  the  legality  of  their  said  pro- 
test tried  by  the  present  Synod. 

"Thirdly.  We  therefore  declare  and  protest,  that  these  members  of  the 
New  Brunswick  Presbytery,  and  their  adhei'ents,  that  were  excluded  by  the 
last  year's  protest,  are  to  be  owned  and  esteemed  as  members  of  this  Synod, 
until  they  ai-e  excluded  by  a  regular  and  impartial  process  against  them, 
according  to  the  methods  prescribed  in  sacred  Scripture,  and  practised  by 
the  Churches  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion. 

"  Fourthly.  We  protest  against  all  passages  in  any  of  the  pamphlets  which 
have  been  lately  published  in  these  parts,  which  seem  to  reflect  upon  the 
work  of  divine  power  and  grace,  which  has  been  carrying  on  in  so  wonderful 
a  manner  in  many  of  our  Congregations,  and  declare  to  all  the  world,  that 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  587 

we  look  upon  it  to  be  the  indispensable  duty  of  all  our  Ministers  to  encour- 
age that  glorious  work  with  their  most  faithful  and  diligent  endeavours. 
And  in  like  manner,  we  protest  and  declare  against  all  divisive  and  irregular 
methods  and  practises,  by  which  the  peace  and  good  order  of  our  Churches 
have  been  broken  in  upon. 

*'  This  is  what  our  duty  to  God,  and  our  regard  to  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  his  Church  oblige  us  to  protest  and  declare,  and  we  desire  it  may 
be  recorded  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Synod  in  perpetuam  rei  memoriam. 
Jonathan  DigiciNSON,        Azariah  Horton, 
John  Pierson,  Nathaniel  Hazard, 

Ebenezer  Pbmberton,        David  Whitehead, 
Simon  Horton,  Silas  Leonard, 

Daniel  Elmer,  Timothy  Whitehead. 

Philadelphia,  May  29,  llA^i:'— Minutes  1742,  p.  163. 
§  19.  Abortive  negotifitions. 

"An  overture  was  brought  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  which  was 
ordered  to  be  read,  and  was  as  followeth,  viz. 

^^  At  a  Presbytery  convened  at  Newarh,  May  15,  1743. 

"  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  to  be  proposed  to  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  their  next  meeting. 

"  The  Presbytery  taking  into  consideration  the  melancholy  divisions  that 
have  of  late  obtained  in  the  Synod,  to  the  great  dishonour  of  God,  the  scan- 
dal of  our  holy  profession,  the  prejudice  of  our  religious  interests,  and  the 
too  great  encouragement  of  those  dangerous  errors  and  delusions  which  are 
making  such  a  progress  amongst  us ;  think  it  our  duty  to  contribute  all  we 
can  towards  healing  these  breaches,  and  promoting  the  unity  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  bonds  of  peace,  and  do  therefore  propose : 

"1.  That  inasmuch  as  the  Presbytery  cannot  see  how  the  excluding  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  and  those  other  Ministers  that  join  with 
them  by  a  protestation,  without  a  particular  hearing,  and  deliberate  vote  of 
the  Synod,  formed  upon  such  a  distinct  hearing  of  the  case,  can  be  agreea- 
ble to  the  laws  of  Christ,  or  any  rules  of  discipline  that  have  ever  been 
known  among  any  churches  of  our  profession :  We  therefore  propose  that 
the  said  protestation  be  withdrawn,  and  those  members  peaceably  take  their 
place  in  the  Synod  as  formerly. 

"2.  Whereas  it  is  of  greatest  necessity  that  the  education  of  our  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry  be  well  regulated,  and  that  our  former  difference  upon 
that  subject  be  healed,  we  propose  that  all  such,  who  for  the  future  shall  be 
privately  educated  with  a  design  for  improvement  in  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel,  shall  submit  to  the  former  agreement  of  the  Synod  in  that  case,  or 
else  sent  to  one  of  the  colleges  in  New  England,  and  accept  of  such  a  station 
there  as  they  are  found  qualified  for,  and  that  they  continue  there  at  least 
one  year,  and  obtain  their  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts;  and  in  case  there 
should  be  any  pious  and  promising  youths  that  are  privately  educated  for 
the  ministry,  who  cannot  well  bear  the  charge  of  continuing  so  long  at  the 
college,  they  shall,  upon  the  commendation  of  their  respective  Presbyteries, 
and  the  approbation  of  the  Synod,  or  commission  of  the  Synod,  have  such 
allowances  from  the  Synod  for  their  support  at  the  college,  as  the  Synod  or 
their  commission  shall  think  proper,  and  so  much  of  the  income  of  the  fund 
as  is  sufficient,  shall  be  appropriated  to  that  purpose. 

"  3.  Whereas  there  have  been  differences  among  us  with  respect  to  itin- 
erant preaching,  with  the  consequences  of  it,  we  propose  that  there  be  an 
united  agreement  of  the  Synod,  that  all  our  pulpits  be  open  to  those  Minis- 
ters that  are  in  our  communion,  and  we  unanimously  resolve  to  invite  each 


588  HERESIES   AND    SCHISxMS.  [Book  VII. 

other  to  preach  in  our  respective  parishes  as  occasion  offers.  And  for  any 
Minister  to  refuse  another  3Iinister  the  use  of  his  pulpit  when  reguhu-ly 
applied  to,  and  to  continue  in  that  refusal  from  time  to  time,  shall  be  looked 
upon  as  an  unbrotherly  practice,  tending  to  division  and  separation  among 
us.  I'rovided  always,  that  the  Minister  refusing  his  pulpit  as  aforesaid,  has 
not  such  reason  for  his  conduct  as  shall  be  approved  by  the  Presbytery,  or 
Synod,  or  commission  of  the  Synod;  and  that  there  may  be  no  schism  or 
confusion  maintained  in  our  Congregations,  it  be  proposed  that  all  our  Min- 
isters shall  be  obliged,  that  they  will  not  for  the  future  promote  or  encour- 
age any  divisions  or  separations,  neither  by  setting  up  separate  meetings  in 
any  of  our  Congregations,  nor  by  any  methods  whatsoever  endeavouring  to 
alienate  the  affections  of  the  people  from  their  Minister;  but  that  every  one 
of  us  shall  do  what  we  can  to  assist  one  another,  and  strengthen  each  other's 
hands  in  the  work  of  the  Lord;  and  every  contravention  of  this  article  shall 
be  looked  upon  as  just  matter  of  censure  either  by  Presbytery  or  Synod. 

"4.  It  is  also  proposed  that,  if  any  of  our  Ministers  either  really  have,  or 
suppose  they  have,  just  matter  of  complaint  against  any  of  their  brethren  in 
the  ministry  within  our  bounds,  with  respect  either  to  his  doctrine,  manner 
of  preaching,  diligence  in  his  discharge  of  the  more  public  or  private  parts 
of  his  ministerial  duties,  or  with  respect  to  his  conduct  or  conversation,  such 
Minister  shall  first,  in  a  kind,  tender,  and  affectionate  manner,  particularly 
make  known  the  matter  of  his  complaint  to  such  of  his  brethren  in  a  private 
conference;  and  if  these  endeavours  fail  of  desired  success,  he  shall  put 
into  his  hands  a  written  copy  of  his  complaints,  with  a  citation  to  answer 
them  before  his  Presbytery,  or  before  the  Synod,  or  commission  of  the 
Synod,  as  the  complainant  shall  think  lit. 

"  5.  It  is  also  proposed  that  all  former  matters  of  difference  and  debate  in 
the  Synod,  be  now  entirely  buried  in  oblivion,  and  that  each  Minister  of  the 
Synod  do  from  this  time  treat  one  another  vnth  the  same  intimate  love, 
kindness,  and  respect,  as  if  such  differences  had  never  been.  This  article 
not  being  to  be  understood  as  excluding  any  of  our  Ministers  from  reasoning 
either  publicly  or  privately  in  a  brotherly,  or  a  Christian  manner,  against 
any  point  of  doctrine  which  they  suppose  erroneous  or  dangerous. 

"6.  The  Presbytery  considering  the  absolute  neeessity  of  union  and  good 
agreement  in  a  religious  society,  since  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself  cannot 
stand,  do  earnestly  pray,  that  this  or  some  other  plan  of  accommodation  be 
come  into  at  this  meeting  of  the  Synod.  But  if  our  hopes  in  that  matter 
should  prove  abortive,  and  no  methods  can  be  obtained,  it  is  proposed  that 
this  Synod  do  unitedly  agree  that  another  Sj'nod  be  erected,  by  the  name 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  that  any  of  our  members  shall  have  liberty 
to  join  themselves  to  which  of  the  two  Synods  they  shall  think  fit;  and  in 
order  to  our  communion  one  with  another,  and  to  consult  the  general  inter- 
est of  religion  in  these  parts,  it  is  proposed  that  there  be  two  correspondents 
sent  yearly  from  each  Synod  to  the  other. 

Ebenezer  Pemberton,  Moderator." 
— Minutes,  1743,  p.  166. 

§20. 

"Some  remarks  upon  the  above  overture  were  read ;  and  after  some  con- 
sideration, it  was  put  to  vote,  whether  this  overture  was  to  be  accepted  as  a 
plan  of  acconmiodation  or  not,  and  it  was  unanimously  voted  in  the  nega- 
tive. 

"A  paper  was  upon  this  given  in  by  Mr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  in  his 
own  name,  and  in  the  names  of  Messrs.  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  John  Pierson, 
and  Aaron   Burr,  having   previously  declared  that  they  complain  of  no 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF   1741.  589 

unfriendly  or  unbrotherly  treatment  from  the  Synod  with  relation  to  them- 
selves, but  that  their  conduct  in  this  affair  may  be  Uable  to  misrepresenta- 
tions, which  said  paper  is  as  follows : 

"As  I  look  upon  myself  to  be  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
and  have  a  continued  right  to  sit  and  act  in  the  same  as  such,  so  I  look 
upon  the  New  Brunswick  Presbytery,  and  those  other  brethren  that  adhere 
to  them,  and  are  therefore  shut  out  of  the  Synod  on  that  account,  to  be  truly 
members  of  this  Synod  as  myself,  or  any  others  whatsoever,  and  have  a  just 
claim  to  sit  and  act  with  us.  I  cannot,  therefore,  at  present,  see  my  way 
clear  to  sit  and  act  as  though  we  were  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  while  the 
New  Brunswick  Presbytery,  and  the  other  members  with  them,  are  kept 
out  of  the  Synod  in  the  manner  they  now  are." 

§21. 

"A  proposal  of  agreement  and  union  between  us  and  the  brethren  of  New 
Brunswick  was  sent  to  those  brethren  by  Mr.  Aaron  Burr,  which  is  as  fol- 
loweth,  viz. 

"  Proposals  made  to  the  New  Brunswick  brethren,  in  order  to  their  being 
admitted  to  take  their  places  in  the  Synod,  upon  a  Scripture  foundation. 

"Forasmuch  as  we  are  informed  that  the  New  Brunswick  brethren  are 
willing  and  desirous  of  reconciliation  and  union  with  the  Synod,  and  to 
know  on  what  terms  this  may  be  obtained :  That  the  said  brethren  may  be 
fully  persuaded  that  we  have  no  delight  in  division  for  its  own  sake,  but  on 
the  contrary,  are  sincerely  desirous  of  union  and  peace  upon  just  and  rea- 
sonable terms,  so  that  upon  our  cordial  agreement  there  be  a  foundation 
laid,  that,  through  God's  blessing,  may  prevent  the  havoc  and  destruction 
of  the  Church  threatened  by  our  common  enemies.     Therefore  we  propose, 

"1.  That  as  they  desire  to  be  received  and  treated  as  members  of  our 
Synod  they  will  submit  to  the  determinations  and  conclusions  of  our  judica- 
tures, even  in  those  cases  wherein  they  are  negatives  in  giving  their  votes, 
and  so  allow  a  determination  to  be  by  the  majority,  or  else  no  longer  plead 
a  right  of  membership ;  and  that  they  renounce  their  principles  delivered  in 
their  Apology,  especially  that  whereby  they  declare  that  Presbyteries  and 
Synods  have  no  right  to  make  any  agreements,  or  come  to  any  determinations 
by  votes  that  shall  bind  any  members  who  do  not  give  their  consent  to  those 
conclusions  or  determinations.  For  without  this  recantation  they  can  never 
be  members  of  this  Synod,  seeing  they  put  in  a  claim  for  arbitrary  power  to 
destroy  and  overturn  all  our  agreements,  and  to  despise  and  disregard  our 
censures,  as  they  have  already  professedly  done,  in  licensing  and  ordaining 
so  many  men  for  the  work  of  the  Ministry. 

"2.  If  they  profess  they  will  use  all  endeavours  to  secure  a  learned  Min- 
istry, we  desire  that  they  testify  this  by  desisting  from  licensing  or  ordaining 
men  for  the  work  of  the  Ministry,  who  have  not  complied  with  the  Synod's 
agreement,  or  the  alternative  proposed  in  the  last  year's  conference  with  these 
brethren,  and  that  they  give  up  all  those  persons  that  they  have  heretofore 
licensed  or  ordained  in  opposition  to  our  public  agreement,  to  be  examined 
and  tried  by  the  Synod  whether  they  have  suitable  ministerial  qualifications, 
or  that  they  will  not  maintain  ministerial  communion  with  any  of  them  for 
the  future,  who  refuse  to  be  examined  by  the  Synod,  or  who,  upon  examina- 
tion, are  found  deficient,  until  they  give  suitable  satisfaction. 

"  3.  That  for  the  future  they  will  desist  from  either  acting  or  preaching,  or 
sending  their  Missionaries  within  the  bounds  of  our  Presbyteries,  or  fixed 
pastoral  charges  as  heretofore ;  that  they  will  not  encourage  new  separate 
societies  in  Congregations  as  heretofore,  nor  supply  with  preaching  the 
societies  they  have  made  or  occasioned,  among  the  people  under  our  care, 


690  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

but  declare  that  all  such  practices  are  of  pernicious  tendency,  and  inconsist- 
ent with  the  Presbyterian  plan. 

"  4.  That  they  will  not  publicly  nor  privately,  endeavour  to  diminish  the 
character  of  any  Minister  as  graceless,  unconverted,  or  unworthy  of  his  office, 
until  he  be  tried  by  a  proper  judicature  and  censured;  and  that  they  claim 
no  right  to  judge  of  men's  spiritual  estates  towards  God,  so  as  to  determine 
whether  they  be  gracious  or  graceless,  if  sound  in  the  faith,  and  of  a  gospel 
life  and  conversation,  and  that  they  condemn  all  such  practices. 

"  5.  That  they  renounce  all  such  tenets  or  doctrines  that  have  been  ad- 
vanced in  Mr.  Tennent's  Nottingham  sermon,  which  are  contrary  to  our 
Presbyterian  plan  and  subversive  of  gospel  order,  and  a  floodgate  to  let  in 
divisions  and  disorders  into  the  Church,  such  as  an  allowance  to  Church 
members  to  guess  at  the  spiritual  state  of  their  Pastors,  and  upon  this  guess, 
without  further  trial,  to  leave  them  as  graceless  and  unconverted ;  their 
asserting  an  inward  call  to  the  Ministry,  in  opposition  and  contradiction  to 
the  outward  call,  or  ordaining  to  the  gospel  Ministry,  and  all  who  maintain 
them  can  be  no  members  of  a  Presbyterian  society  or  church,  because  they 
take  all  government  out  of  the  hands  of  a  Synod  or  Presbytery,  and  give 
it  to  any  person  that  hath  ignorance  and  impudence  enough  to  bring  God's 
house  into  confusion. 

"6.  That  they  acknowledge  that  too  many  of  them  have  been  guilty  in  all 
these  points,  and  that  notwithstanding  whatever  zeal  and  intention  to  ad- 
vance a  work  of  grace  they  might  have  been  influenced  by,  yet  now  they 
are  convinced  that  these  practices  have  had  a  dreadful  tendency  to  promote 
and  spread  the  divisions  and  confusions  that  perplex  and  disturb  this 
Church. 

*'7.  We  propose  that,  if  they  have  any  ground  of  complaint  against  any 
of  our  members,  with  respect  to  their  doctrine,  their  conversation,  or  dili- 
gence in  the  Ministry,  that  they  shall  be  welcome  to  table  the  charge  against 
them  in  a  proper  judicatory,  whether  they  comply  with  these  terms  or  not; 
and  that,  if  Aey  satisfy  us  in  these  points,  and  accept  their  seats  in  our  Synod, 
all  other  grounds  of  complaint  shall  be  removed,  either  by  public  trial,  or 
such  other  method  as  they  and  we  in  conjunction  shall  determine,  and  will 
best  promote  the  gloiy  of  God,  and  the  good  of  his  Church.  And  we  declare 
that  if  all  or  any  of  these  brethren  accept  these  terms,  or  any  other  that  we 
and  they  can  devise  or  come  to,  that  will  lay  a  foundation  to  secure  these 
important  rights  of  societies,  a  learned  and  pious  Ministry,  and  to  prevent 
errors  and  divisions,  in  a  way  agreeable  to  God's  word,  and  the  Presbyterian 
constitution,  we  are  heartily  willing  to  receive  them ;  and  we  desire  that 
they  may  give  us  their  answer  to  these  heads  as  soon  as  they  can  conve- 
niently. 

§22. 

"These  proposals  were  sent  in  an  extra-judicial  way  to  the  Brunswick 
brethren,  upon  reading  of  which  in  open  Synod,  it  was  agreed  that  these 
proposals  were  reasonable,  in  order  to  open  a  way  toward  an  accommodation 
and  interview  between  these  brethren  and  us.  And  to  these  we  received 
an  answer  by  Mr.  William  Tennent,  junior,  which  is  as  followeth : 

''Upon  a  paper  sent  to  us  from  the  Ministers  that  protested  against  us, 
proposing  certain  terms  of  union,  this  conjunct  meeting  of  the  Presbyteries 
of  New  Brunswick  and  New  Castle  does  judge  that  there  can  be  no  regular 
methods  of  proceeding  towards  the  compassing  a  stated  union  between  them 
and  us,  until  their  illegal  protest  be  withdrawn ;  yet  so  they  and  we  may 
both  stand  upon  an  equal  foot  in  the  regular  trial  of  the  differences  between 
us.     That  their  paper  contains  sundry  misrepresentations  and  unreasonable 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM   OF  1741.  591 

demands,  and  that  we  have  several  charges  against  them  to  be  satisfied  in, 
before  we  could  come  into  a  settled  union  with  them." — Minutes,  1743, 
p.  1G8. 

§  23.  Further  overtures  from  Neio  York  Presbytery. 

"Messrs.  Dickinson,  Pierson,  and  Pemberton,  in  the  name  of  the  New 
York  Presbytery,  and  by  a  commission  from  them,  desire  that  the  Synod 
appoint  a  committee  to  confer  with  them  to  try  whether  an  overture  can  be 
prepared,  removing  any  grounds  of  dissatisfaction  or  difference  between 
them  and  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1745,  p.  178. 

§  24.  Reply  of  the  Synod. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  draw  a  plan,  &c.  being  inquired  at,  answer^ 
that  they  have  drawn  a  plan  to  be  now  laid  before  the  Synod.  Previous  to 
reading  it,  some  inquired  at  their  New  York  brethren,  whom  of  the  New 
Brunswick  brethren  they  alleged  to  be  members,  whether  all  that  are  now 
of  that  party,  or  only  such  of  them  as  enjoyed  membership  before,  and  they 
declared  they  account  only  such  as  have  been  members  and  had  their  seats, 
to  be  now  members,  and  no  others. 

"  The  overture  drawn  up  by  the  committee  was  read  twice,  and  the  vote 
put,  whether  it  was  a  proper  plan  for  accommodation  to  be  now  proposed, 
and  it  was  voted  proper  to  propose  it,  and  it  is  as  follows : 

"I.  The  glory  of  God  and  the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom,  by  the 
persuading  souls  to  embrace  the  Lord  Jesus  on  gospel  terms,  and  by  pre- 
serving peace,  truth,  and  good  order  in  the  churches,  ought  to  be  the  grand 
design  of  all  Christians,  and  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  particular. 
But  to  our  great  concern  and  sorrow,  the  disorderly  intrusions  into  the 
pastoral  charges  of  Ministers,  and  surmises  that  were  raised  to  blacken 
their  characters  as  carnal  and  unconverted;  the  bold  violation  of  our  Synodi- 
cal  acts  and  regulations,  and  the  new  method  of  itinerant  preaching  where 
there  is  a  stated  gospel  ministry,  hath,  in  a  great  measure,  marred  this  noble 
design,  by  rending  the  churches  of  Christ,  and  filling  the  minds  of  people 
with  uncharitable  opinions  of  one  another. 

To  check  these  evils  prevailing  by  means  of  some  claiming  to  themselves 
a  privilege,  under  pretence  of  extraordinaries,  to  trample  under  foot  the 
rights  of  mankind,  to  destroy  all  pastoral  relation,  and  to  lay  aside,  at  least 
for  a  season,  that  form  of  government  and  discipline  that  was  practised  and 
used  in  our  Presbyterian  Churches,  a  number  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
protested  against  such  illegal,  disorderly  practices  in  the  year  1741.  And 
being  wearied  with  fruitless  attempts  to  redress  these  delusive,  unscriptural 
methods  of  proceeding,  determined  to  withdraw  from  Syuodical  communion, 
unless  such  as  were  guilty  of  such  practices  gave  proper  satisfaction  accord- 
ing to  gospel  rules.  The  majority  of  the  Synod  then  present,  made  this 
protest  their  act,  and  declared  that  those  brethren  should  either  give  such 
satisfaction,  or  withdraw  from  membership,  upon  which  they  chose  to  with- 
draw. ** 

"This  method  of  procedure  was  complained  of  next  year,  as  contrary  to 
the  method  of  proceeding  in  our  Churches,  by  some  members  that  were 
absent  when  this  separation  was  made.  Upon  which  it  was  proposed  that 
the  whole  aifair  should  be  reviewed  by  the  Synod  then  met,  and  if  anything 
was  found  illegal,  it  should  be  redressed.  But  these  brethren  could  find 
clearness  to  do  nothing,  till  these  disorderly  brethren  who  withdrew  shtiuld 
again  be  allowed  to  take  their  seats  as  members,  which  the  majority  of  the 
Synod  could  not  comply  with.  Upon  which  they  entered  a  declaration 
against  the  method  of  proceeding  the  year  before.     At  our  next   Synod 


592  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

meeting,  they  proposed  methods  to  heal  the  breach  between  those  brethren 
who  withdrew  and  the  Synod;  which  occasioned  the  Synod  to  send  them 
proposals  of  peace,  which  they  rejected,  and  still  continued  their  divisive 
practices  of  counteracting  the  Synod's  regulations,  and  crumbling  of  Con- 
gregations to  pieces,  erecting  altar  against  altar,  to  the  great  scandal  of 
religion  and  ruin  of  vital  piety.  Those  brethren  from  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York,  who  were  dissatisfied  at  the  method  by  which  that  party  stand 
excluded,  having  on  this  occasion  laboured  to  have  their  own  scruples 
removed,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  peace  and  unity  restored  among  all 
that  ever  were  members  of  the  Synod;  all  the  Synod  now  met,  heartily  con- 
cur with  them  in  this  noble  undertaking,  if  it  can  be  obtained  in  such  a 
method  as  may  and  will  maintain  sound  doctrine,  and  preserve  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  the  Church. 

"In  order  to  accomplish  this,  these  brethren  proposed  it  as  an  expedient 
to  remove  their  scruples  and  heal  all  our  divisions,  that  eveiy  person  that  is 
or  has  been  a  member,  shall  now  voluntarily  subscribe  the  essential  agree- 
ments on  which  our  Synod  formerly  was  established,  and  which  are  the 
general  approved  agreements  of  our  Churches.  And  as  we  think  that  a  sub- 
scription of  these  articles  will  be  a  renouncing  disorder  and  divisive  practice, 
and  will,  when  obtained,  lay  a  foundation  for  maintaining  peace,  truth,  and 
good  order,  which  was  what  was  desired  in  the  protest,  by  which  the  Bruns- 
wick brethren  stand  excluded;  we,  therefore,  in  compliance  with  the  request 
of  these  brethren,  and  in  order  to  remove  all  scruples,  propose  that  all  that 
are  now  or  ever  have  been  members  of  this  Synod,  shall  subscribe  the  fol- 
lowing fundamental  articles  and  agreements  as  their  acts,  and  all  who  will 
do  so  shall  be  members  of  this  Synod. 

"  II.  That  in  all  prudential  acts  for  the  regular  management  of  the  affairs 
of  the  Church  of  God  among  us,  every  member  shall  either  actively  concur 
or  peaceably  submit  to,  and  not  counteract  such  things  as  are  determined  by 
the  majority,  as  being  founded  upon  God's  word;  or  if  any  do  declare  they 
have  not  freedom  of  conscience  to  comply,  they  shall  withdraw,  and  no  more 
be  acknowledged  as  members  of  this  Synod,  unless  they  afterwards  find 
clearness  and  so  return  and  comply. 

"III.  That  if  any  member  suppose  he  has  reason  of  complaint  against 
any  of  his  brethren  for  unsound  doctrine,  or  irregularities  of  life,  or  unfiiith- 
fuhiess  in  his  pastoral  office,  he  shall  proceed  in  a  Christian  way  according 
to  the  rules  of  God's  word,  and  our  known  methods  of  discipline,  and  shall 
not  in  public  or  private  spread  his  surmises,  offences,  or  scandals,  without 
proceeding  as  aforesaid;  or  else  be  accounted  guilty  of  unchristian  conduct, 
and  Jiable  to  censure.  Accordingly  we  look  upon  such  practices  to  be  con- 
trary to  the  gospel,  and  of  pernicious  tendency  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 

"IV.  That  no  member  of  this  Synod  shall  preach  in  the  Congregation  of 
another  brother  without  judicial  appointment,  or  being  invited  by  his  brother 
to  preach  for  him.  And  whoever  acts  contrary,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
unbrotherly  treatment  and  divisive  practice,  and  be  censured  accordingly; 
and  the  same  way,  nl)  Presbytery  shall  invade  the  charge  and  rights  of  other 
Presbyteries.  And  all  erections  within  the  bounds  of  regulated  Congrega- 
tions, that  have  been  or  sha-11  be  set  up  by  such  itinerant  preaching  and 
divisive  practices,  shall  be  deemed  contrary  to  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
this  Church,  and  consequently  shall  not  be  maintained  or  supported  by  any 
member  belonging  to  us. 

"  V.  We  agree,  that  none  who  have  not  heretofore  enjoyed  membership 
in  this  Synod,  shall  be  admitted  thereto  without  submitting  to  the  manner 
of  admission  determined  by  our  former  acts;  and  such  as  may  and  shall  be 
provided  in  that  case,  and  complying  with  these  general  articles  now  agreed 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  593 

upon :  and  all  such  as  upon  proper  trial  sliall  be  duly  qualified  with  respect 
to  learning,  soundness  in  the  faith,  and  a  gospel  conversation,  shall,  upou 
agreeing  to  these  articles,  and  submitting  to  our  method  of  Church  govern- 
ment, be  cordially  admitted  to  Synodical  communion. 

"  VI.  We  agree  that  each  member  of  this  Synod  shall  keep  a  day  of 
public  and  solemn  fasting,  and  thereupon  confess  and  bewail  the  prevailing 
evils  of  infidelity,  profaneness,  the  untenderness  and  barrenness  of  profes- 
sors, and  the  decay  of  religion  in  general;  and  particularly  the  debates, 
divisive  practices,  uncharitable  censures,  and  unbrotherly  treatment  that 
have  torn  and  divided  the  Church  of  Christ  in  these  parts,  to  the  dishonour 
of  God,  the  hurt  of  practical  piety,  the  offence  and  scandal  of  the  weak,  and 
the 'hardening  the  wicked,  and  the  opening  the  mouths  of  the  profane;  and 
deprecate  the  divine  displeasure,  and  implore  the  blessing  of  God  upon  this 
and  all  other  proper  means  for  the  advancement  of  true  and  undefiled  reli- 
gion, and  the  maintaining  and  propagating  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  peace,  unity,  and  increase  of  this  infant  Church." — Minutes,  1745, 
p.  179 

§  25.    The  New  YorJc  memhers  loitlidraio. 

''The  brethren  of  New  York  Presbytery  immediately  answered,  they 
would  not  accept  this  plan,  nor  be  united  with  us  upon  it;  and  therefore  as 
being  commissioned  by  New  York  Pi'esbytery  to  transact  in  this  aflPair,  they 
desire  that  a  copy  of  this  overture  may  be  given  them  to  carry  to  their 
Presbytery. 

"Propose  to  the  Synod  that  it  should  be  mutually  agreed,  that  they  be 
allowed  with  the  consent  of  this  body,  to  erect  another  Synod,  under  the 
name  of  the  S3'nod  of  New  York.  This  they  desire  to  do  with  the  consent 
of  this  body,  that  they  may  not  be  thought  to  set  up  and  act  in  opposition 
to  this,  and  that  there  may  be  a  foundation  for  the  two  Synods  to  consult 
and  act  in  mutual  concert  with  one  another  hereafter,  and  maintain  love  and 
brotherly  kindness  with  each  other. 

"The  Synod  appoint  Messrs.  Thomson,  Alison,  GriflSth,  and  McDowell, 
to  prepare  an  answer  to  this  proposal,  and  bring  it  into  the  Synod  the  next 
sederunt." 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  an  answer  to  the  proposal  of  the 
New  York  brethren,  brought  in  one  accordingly,  which  was  considered,  and 
after  much  discourse  upon  it,  was  approven  as  it  here  follows :  The  unhappy 
divisions  which  have  subsisted  among  us  for  some  years,  cannot  but  deeply 
aft'ect  all  that  wish  the  welfare  of  Zion ;  and  it  particularly  affects  us,  that 
some  of  our  brethren  of  New  York  do  not  at  present  see  their  way  clear  to 
continue  in  Synodical  communion  with  us;  and  though  we  judge  they  have 
no  just  ground  to  withdraw  from  us,  yet  seeing  they  propose  to  erect  them- 
selves into  a  Synod  at  New  York,  and  now  desire  to  do  this  in  the  most 
friendly  manner  possible,  we  declare,  if  they  or  any  of  them  do  so,  we  shall 
endeavour  to  maintain  charitable  and  Christian  affections  toward  them,  and 
show  the  same  upon  all  occasions,  by  such  correspondence  and  fellowship, 
as  we  shall  think  duty  and  consistent  with  a  good  conscience." — Minutes, 
1745,  p.  181. 

§  26.  Erection  of  tlie  Synod  of  New  York. 

"  Elizahethtoicn,  New  Jersey,  September  \%th,  1745. 
"The   Ministers  and   Elders  whose   names  are  presently  to  be  inserted, 
convened   and   formed  themselves  into  a  Synod,  under  the  name  or  title  of 
the  Synod  of  New  York. 

"Ministers  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York:  Messrs.  Jonathan  Pickin- 
75 


594  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

son,  John  Plerson,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  Simon  Horton,  Aaron  Burr, 
Azariah  Horton,  Timothy  Jones,  Eliab  Byram,  Robert  Sturcjeou. 

''Ministers  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery:  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent, 
Joseph  Lamb,  William  Tennent,  Richard  Treat,  James  McCrea,  William 
Robinson,  David  Youngs,  Charles  Beatty,  Charles  McKnight. 

"Ministers  of  New  Castle  Presbytery:  Messrs.  Samuel  Blair,  Samuel 
Piuly,  Charles  Tennent,  John  Blair. 

"  Elders — Joseph  Woodruffc,  Nathaniel  Hazard,  Joseph  Prudden,  Benja- 
min Leonard,  John  Ayres,  Samuel  Hazard,  Ftobert  Cummins,  John  Craig, 
Richard  Walker,  Peter  Peryen,  John  Love,  Alexander  Moody. 

"The  Ministers  and  Elders  before  mentioned,  first  considered  and  agreed 
upon  the  following  articles,  as  the  plan  and  foundation  of  their  Synodical 
union. 

"  1.  They  agree  that  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  with  the 
Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  be  the  public  confession  of  their  faith  in 
such  manner  as  was  agreed  unto  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  in  the 
year  1729;  and  to  be  inserted  in  the  latter  end  of  this  book.  And  they 
declare  their  approbation  of  the  Directory  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines  at 
Westminster,  as  the  general  plan  of  worship  and  discipline. 

"  2.  They  agree  that  in  matters  of  discipline,  and  those  things  that  re- 
late to  the  peace  and  good  order  of  our  Churches,  they  shall  be  determined 
according  to  the  major  vote  of  Ministers  and  Elders,  with  which  vote  every 
member  shall  actively  concur  or  pacifically  acquiesce ;  but  if  any  member 
cannot  in  conscience  agree  to  the  determination  of  the  majority,  but  sup- 
poses himself  obliged  to  act  contrary  thereunto,  and  the  Synod  think  them- 
selves obliged  to  insist  upon  it  as  essentially  necessary  to  the  well-being  of 
our  Churches,  in  that  case  such  dissenting  member  promises  peaceably  to 
withdraw  from  the  body,  without  endeavouring  to  raise  any  dispute  or  con- 
tention upon  the  debated  point,  or  any  unjust  alienation  of  affection  from 
them. 

"3.  If  any  member  of  their  body  supposes  that  he  hath  anything  to  object 
against  any  of  his  brethren  with  respect  to  error  in  doctrine,  immorality  iu 
life,  or  negligence  in  his  ministry,  he  shall  not  on  any  account,  propagate 
the  scandal,  until  the  person  objected  against  is  dealt  with  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  gospel,  and  the  known  methods  of  their  discipline. 

"4.  They  agree,  that  all  who  have  a  competent  degree  of  ministerial 
knowledge,  are  orthodox  in  their  doctrine,  regular  in  their  lives,  and  dili- 
gent in  their  endeavours  to  promote  the  important  designs  of  vital  godliness, 
and  that  will  submit  to  their  discipline,  shall  be  cheerfully  admitted  into 
their  communion. 

"  And  they  do  also  agree,  that  in  order  to  avoid  all  divisive  methods 
among  their  Ministers  and  Congregations,  and  to  strengthen  the  discipline  of 
Christ  in  the  Churches,  in  these  parts,  they  will  maintain  a  correspondence 
with  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  this  their  first  meeting,  by  appointing 
two  of  their  members  to  meet  with  the  said  Synod  of  Philadelphia  at  their 
next  convention,  and  to  concert  with  them  such  measures  as  may  best  pro- 
mote the  precious  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  these  parts. 

"  And  that  they  may  in  no  respect  encourage  any  factious  separating 
practices  or  principles,  they  agree  that  they  will  not  intermeddle  with 
judicially  hearing  the  complaints,  or  with  supplying  with  Ministers  and 
candidates  such  parties  of  men,  as  shall  separate  from  any  Presbyterian  or 
Congregational  Churches  that  are  not  within  their  bounds,  unless  the 
matters  of  controversy  be  submitted  to  their  jurisdiction  or  advice  by  both 
parties.    Thereupon, 

"The  Synod  opened  by  prayer." — Minutes,  1745,  p.  233. 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  595 

CHAPTER  IV. 

SUBSEQUENT  TRANSACTIONS  AND  REUNION. 

§  27.    The  Synod's  account  of  the  schism,  to  the  President  and  Fellows  of 

Yale  College. 

^'Philadelphia,  May  SO(h,  1746. 

'^Very  Reverend  Sir: — We  received  the  favour  of  yours  of  the  21st  of 
November  last,  and  acknowledge  our  obligation  to  the  President  and  Fellows 
of  Yale  College  for  considering  our  request  and  expressing  their  readiness 
to  promote  the  interest  of  religion  and  learning  among  us. 

"We  agree  with  you  that  the  affair  is  of  great  importance,  and  are  willing 
to  satisfy  you  to  the  utmost  as  to  the  plan  and  constitution  of  our  school, 
and  the  present  state  of  our  Synod,  under  whose  care  it  is.  Some  years  ago 
our  Synod  found  the  interest  of  Christ's  kingdom  likely  to  suffer  in  these 
parts  for  want  of  a  College  for  the  education  of  young  men.  And  our 
supplies  either  from  Europe  or  New  England  were  few  in  proportion  to  the 
numerous  vacancies  in  our  growing  settlements.  Mr.  William  Tennent  set 
up  a  school  among  us,  where  some  were  educated,  and  afterwards  admitted 
to  the  ministry  without  sufficient  qualifications  as  was  judged  by  many  of  the 
Synod.  And  what  made  the  matter  look  worse,  those  that  were  educated  in 
this  private  way  decried  the  usefulness  of  some  parts  of  learning  that  we 
thought  very  necessary.  It  was  therefore  agreed  to  try  to  erect  a  College, 
and  apply  to  our  friends  in  Britain,  and  Ireland,  and  New  England,  to  assist 
us.  We  wrote  to  the  Association  of  Boston  on  this  head,  and  had  a  very 
favourable  answer.  But  when  we  were  thus  projecting  our  plan,  and  appoint- 
ing Commissioners  to  Britain,  &c.,  to  promote  the  thing,  the  war  with  Spain 
was  proclaimed,  which  put  a  stop  to  our  proceedings  then.  The  Synod  then 
came  to  a  public  agreement  to  take  all  private  schools  where  young  men 
were  educated  for  the  ministry,  so  far  under  their  care  as  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  our  Synod  to  examine  all  such  as  had  not  obtained  degrees  in  the 
European  or  New  England  Colleges,  and  give  them  certificates  if  they  were 
found  qualified,  which  was  to  serve  our  Presbyteries  instead  of  a  college 
diploma,  till  better  provision  could  be  made.  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  cried 
out  that  this  was  to  prevent  his  father's  school  for  training  gracious  men  for 
the  ministry;  and  he,  and  some  of  his  adherents,  protested  against  it,  and 
counteracted  this  our  public  agreement,  admitting  men  to  the  ministry 
which  we  judged  unfit  for  that  office,  which  course  they  persisted  in,  though 
admonished  and  reproved  by  us  for  such  unwarrantable  proceedings.  While 
these  debates  subsisted,  Mr.  Whitefield  came  into  the  country,  whom  they 
drew  into  their  party  to  encourage  divisions.  And  they  and  he  have 
been  the  sad  instiniments  of  dividing  our  Churches.  And  by  his  interest 
Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  grew  hardy  enough  to  tell  our  Synod  he  would  oppose 
their  design  of  getting  assistance  to  erect  a  college  wherever  we  should  make 
application,  and  would  maintain  young  men  at  his  father's  school  in  opposi- 
tion to  us.  This,  with  his  and  his  adherents'  divisive  practices,  obliged  the 
Synod  to  exclude  him  and  others  of  his  stamp,  from  their  communion.  In 
this  situation  our  affairs  grew  worse;  for  our  vacancies  were  numerous,  and 
we  found  it  hard  in  such  trouble  to  engage  such  gentlemen  either  from  New 
England  or  Europe  to  come  among  us,  as  our  best  friends  in  those  places 
could  recommend  as  steadfast  in  the  fiiith,  and  men  of  parts  and  education. 
Upon  this  the  Synod  erected  a  school  in  the  year  1744.     It  was  agreed  that 


596  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

the  said  school  should  be  opened  under  the  inspection  of  the  Synod,  where 
the  languages,  philosophy,  and  divinity  should  be  taught  gratis,  to  all  that 
should  comply  with  the  regulation  of  the  school,  being  persons  of  good 
character  and  behaviour.  They  appointed  a  master  and  tutor  for  this  busi- 
ness, who  were  to  be  paid  by  such  contributions  as  the  Synod  could  obtain 
for  this  purpose;  and  agreed,  from  year  to  year  to  appoint  trustees  to  meet 
twice  a  year  to  inspect  the  master's  diligence  and  method  of  teaching,  who 
direct  what  authors  are  chiefly  to  be  read  in  the  several  branches  of  learning, 
to  examine  the  scholars  as  to  their  proficiency  and  good  conduct,  and  apply 
the  money  procured  to  such  uses  as  they  judge  proper,' and  who  order  all 
affairs  relating  unto  the  school.  And  the  trustees  are  yearly  to  be  account- 
able to  the  Synod,  and  to  make  report  of  their  proceedings,  and  the  state  of 
the  school.  And  it  is  agreed,  that  after  said  scholars  pass  the  course  of 
studies  prescribed  them,  they  shall  be  publicly  examined  by  the  said  trus- 
tees, and  such  Ministers  as  the  Synod  shall  think  fit  to  appoint,  and  if 
approved,  receive  testimonials  of  their  approbation,  and  without  such  testi- 
monials none  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  our  Synod  shall  improve 
any  of  our  scholars  in  the  ministry.  From  this  narrative  you  see  how  narrow 
our  foundation  is,  and  yet  how  necessary  it  was  that  we  should  do  some- 
thing of  this  nature  to  prevent  our  being  overrun  with  ignorance  and  con- 
fusion. You  see  how  we  have  been  straitened  by  the  endeavours  of  some 
that  belonged  to  our  body,  who  in  their  zeal  have  spoken  diminutively  of 
all  the  Reformed  Churches,  and  endeavoured  to  pour  contempt  on  Colleges 
and  Universities.  We  hope,  therefore,  you  will  enable  us  to  make  a  stand 
against  those  evils,  and  to  be  united  with  you  in  this  grand  design,  is  one 
reason  of  our  present  application.  We  can  with  pleasure  inform  you  that 
our  poor  undertaking  has  been  so  blessed  by  Providence  as  to  exceed  our 
expectations.  Several  Ministers  and  gentlemen  have  helped  us  to  books  to 
begin  a  library;  and  we  hope  that  in  time  we  may  obtain  assistance  from 
England,  Ireland,  and  elsewhere,  to  enable  us  to  found  a  College,  though 
the  troubles  of  the  times  hinder  our  application  at  present.  We  have  not 
obtained  a  charter  as  yet,  but  have  reason  to  hope  we  may  procure  one  if 
there  be  occasion ;  but  have  another  way  judged  by  our  best  lawyers  a 
good  foundation  to  secure  donations,  by  appointing  trustees  and  obliging 
them  to  give  declarations  of  trust.  We  have  also,  belonging  to  our  Synod, 
a  considerable  fund  for  public  uses,  but  have  no  occasion  hitherto  to 
apply  any  of  it  to  the  use  of  the  school,  being  otherwise  supplied.  What 
hath  been  said  may  satisfy  you  that  our  school  is  under  such  regulation  as 
does  as  nearly  correspond  with  yours  as  our  present  circumstances  will  ad- 
mit ;  but  we  shall  readily  make  any  amendments  that  you  desire  if  it  be  in 
our  power.  We  are  obliged  to  admit  boys  to  read  grammar,  but  are  deter- 
mined to  recommend  none  but  such  as  have  made  a  good  proficiency  in  the 
languages,  and  are  in  some  measure  acquainted  with  the  usual  course  of  study 
in  the  arts  and  sciences  now  used  in  the  British  Colleges,  though  we  freely 
acknowledge  our  vast  disadvantages,  especially  in  natural  philosophy,  and 
will  cheerfully  agree,  as  far  as  our  circumstances  will  permit,  that  the  same, 
or  generally  the  same,  authors,  on  the  arts  and  sciences  be  taught  in  our 
school  as  are  used  by  you ;  and  would  gladly  be  favoured  with  a  particular 
account  of  them.  The  time  of  stay  with  you  which  you  mention,  and  the 
expenses,  we  think  reasonable;  yet,  as  learning  is  not  in  the  same  esteem 
in  this  government  as  in  New  England,  we  beg  all  the  indulgence  your 
constitution  can  allow  us,  lest  parents  grudge  expenses  if  they  run  high. 
We  heartily  agree  that  our  scholars  be  examined  by  the  President  and  Fel- 
lows, and  be  treated  only  according  to  their  proficiency ;  that  they  be  obliged 
to  bring  recommendations  from  our  Synod,  or  trustees  of  the  school,  and 


Part  ni.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  597 

shall  claim  no  precedency  in  your  classes,  nor  the  privilege  of  freshmen,  but 
what  are  consistent  with  the  good  order  of  your  College.  Nor  do  we  plead 
any  such  privilege  for  any  but  the  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,  or  the  parts 
that  are  as  far  distant  from  New  Haven,  and  are  educated  under  our  care,  and 
have  Synodical  recommendations.  We  further  assure  you,  that  improving 
in  the  ministry  such  scholars  as  you  expelled,  has  been  as  ofiensive  to  us  as 
to  you.  And  those  which  joined  with  the  Tennents  and  their  party  in  this 
aflfair,  as  we  understand,  have  withdrawn  from  our  Synodical  communion, 
and  joined  with  them  entirely  under  the  denomination  of  the  Synod  of  New 
York.  As  to  the  Synod's  constitution,  we  are  unanimously  agreed  in  the 
same  plan  in  every  respect  on  which  we  constituted,  and  continued  in  our 
most  flourishing  circumstances;  so  we  are,  to  a  man,  dissatisfied  with  the 
late  divisive  practices,  and  would  soon,  we  hope,  be  in  a  flourishing  state 
again  had  we  Ministers  to  supply  our  vacancies.  We  excluded  from 
Synodical  communion,  as  we  remarked  already,  the  four  Tennents,  Blair, 
Craighead,  (who  is  since  turned  a  rigid  Covenanter,  or  Cameronian,)  Treat, 
and  Mr.  Wales.  These,  especially  the  Tennents,  Blair,  and  Treat,  being  the 
ringleaders  of  our  divisions,  and  the  destroyers  of  good  learning  and  gospel 
order  among  us;  and  they,  with  a  few  others  that  joined  with  them,  erect- 
ed themselves  into  a  separate  body,  and  licensed  and  ordained  men  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry  that  were  generally  ignorant,  and  warm  in  the  divisive 
scheme,  and  they  have  troubled  Virginia,  and  the  New  English  govern- 
ment, and  as  we  are  informed,  pretend  that  they  belong  to  our  body.  But 
we  can  assure  you,  that  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent,  and  his  adherents,  were 
disowned  as  members,  and  excluded  commimion,  before  his  famous  tour 
through  the  Churches  of  New  England.  Some  of  our  brethren  of  New 
York  Presbyteiy,  whom  we  esteem  and  regard,  particularly  Messrs.  Dickin- 
son, Pierson,  and  Pemberton,  have  always  as  freely,  till  lately,  blamed 
those  practices  as  any  of  us ;  but  now,  through  some  unhappy  bias,  are  be- 
come warm  advocates  for  them,  and  blaming  our  method  of  excluding  them, 
have  for  two  or  three  years  past  laboured  to  procure  them  seats  among  us, 
without  acknowledging  their  faults  in  dividing  our  Churches,  and  promising 
amendment  before  we  receive  them  again.  And  we  believe  that  their  par- 
tiality for  these  men  might  occasion  them  to  join  in  encouraging  some  of 
your  disorderly  scholars,  which  we  are  far  from  vindicating.  When  these 
gentlemen  could  not  succeed  in  their  attempt  to  bring  in  those  itinerants 
without  acknowledging  their  faults  as  we  said,  they  withdrew  from  the  Synod, 
declaring  that  they  had  no  other  ground  to  do  so  but  our  excluding  those 
members  in  a  way  they  disliked;  and  last  September  they  erected  them- 
selves into  a  Synod,  which  goes  under  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  New  York. 
And  we  have  now  before  us  a  letter  desiring  correspondence  with  them,  by 
receiving  two  or  three  of  their  members  to  sit  with  us  yearly,  and  sending 
as  many  to  them.  They  do  also  propose  that  we  should  every  third  year 
meet  in  some  convenient  place,  by  delegates,  to  order  public  affairs  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  good  of  the  Church.  The  proposals  seem  fair,  but  till 
these  dividers  of  our  Churches,  and  who  chiefly  make  up  that  body,  declare 
against  the  late  divisive,  uncharitable  practices;  till  they  show  us  in  what 
way  they  intend  to  have  their  youth  educated  for  the  ministry,  and  be  as 
ready  to  discourage  all  such  methods  of  bringing  all  good  learning  into  con- 
tempt as  the  shepherd's  tent,  we  shall  be  shy  to  comply  with  their  propo- 
sals. Thus,  sir,  we  have  given  you  a  just  account  both  of  the  Synod  and 
school  at  present,  by  which  you  may  understand  the  difiiculties  we  labour 
\inder;  and  we  doubt  not  but  your  sincere  desire  to  promote  the  interest  of 
religion  and  learning  among  us  will  incline  you  to  do  all  in  your  power  for 


598  HERESIES  AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

our  help  and  encouragement.  You  will  be  pleased  to  communicate  this  to 
the  corporation,  and  if  they  think  fit  to  take  any  notice  of  it,  we  will  depend 
on  them  to  favour  us  with  an  answer.  We  heartily  wish  the  Divine  bless- 
ing on  your  labours  in  the  ministry,  and  in  training  up  youth  for  that  sacred 
work,  and  pray  that  your  College  may  flourish  and  become  more  and  more 
a  blessing,  not  only  to  New  liUgland,  but  the  neighbouring  Colonies,  and 
we  beg  leave  to  assure  you  that  to  maintain  a  Christian,  friendly  corres- 
pondence with  you,  will  be  a  great  pleasure  to,  very  Ileverend  Sir,  your 
affectionate  brethren,  and  humble  servants. '^ — Minutes,  P.,  1746,  p.  186. 

§  28.  Proposals  for  a  reunion. 

"  The  motion  for  making  proposals  of  union  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
reassumed,  and  after  much  reasoning  upon  it,  it  was  carried  by  a  great  majo- 
rity of  votes,  that  proposals  for  an  union  Ipe  made  to  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia in  the  following  words,  viz. 

''The  Synod  of  New  York  are  deeply  sensible  of  the  many  unhappy  con- 
sequences that  flow  from  our  present  divided  state,  and  have  with  pleasure 
observed  a  spirit  of  moderation  increasing  between  many  of  the  members  of 
both  Synods;  this  opens  a  door  of  hope,  that  if  we  were  united  in  one  body, 
we  might  be  able  to  carry  on  the  designs  of  religion  in  future  peace  and 
agreement  to  our  mutual  satisfaction;  and  though  we  retain  the  same  senti- 
ments of  the  work  of  God  which  we  formerly  did,  yet  we  esteem  mutual 
forbearance  our  duty,  since  we  all  profess  the  same  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Directory  of  Worship.  We  would,  therefore,  humbly  propose  to  our  brethren 
of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  that  all  our  former  difl"erences  be  buried  in 
perpetual  oblivion,  and  that  for  the  time  to  come,  both  Synods  be  united 
into  one,  and  that  henceforth  there  be  no  contentions  among  us;  but  to 
carry  towards  each  other  in  the  most  peaceable  and  brotherly  mannei',  which 
we  are  persuaded  will  be  for  the  honour  of  our  Master,  the  credit  of  our 
profession,  and  the  edification  of  the  Churches  committed  to  our  care. 
Accordingly  we  appoint  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Pierson,  Gilbert  Tennent, 
Ebenezer  Pemberton,  and  Aaron  Burr,  to  be  our  delegates  to  wait  upon  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  with  these  proposals.  And  if  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia see  meet  to  join  with  us  in  this  design,  and  will  please  to  appoint  a 
commission  to  meet  for  that  purpose,  we  appoint  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John 
Pierson,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  Aaron  Burr,  Gilbert  and  William  Tennent, 
Richard  Treat,  Samuel  or  John  Blair,  John  Roan,  Samuel  Finly,  Ebene- 
zer Prime,  David  Bostwick,  and  James  Brown,  (whom  we  appoint  a  com- 
mission of  the  Synod  for  the  ensuing  year,)  to  meet  with  the  commission  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  choose,  to 
determine  the  afi"air  of  the  union,  agreeable  to  the  preliminary  articles  con- 
cluded upon  by  this  Synod;  and  it  is  agreed  that  any  other  of  our  members 
who  shall  please  to  meet  with  the  commission,  shall  have  liberty  of  voting 
and  acting  in  said  affair  equally  with  the  members  of  said  commission. 
Which  articles  proposed  as  a  general  plan  of  union,  are  as  follows,  viz. 

"1.  To  preserve  the  common  peace,  we  would  propose  that  all  names  of 
distinction  which  have  been  made  use  of  in  the  late  times,  be  for  ever  abol- 
ished. 

"2.  That  every  member  assent  unto  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Directory,  according  to  the  plan  formerly  agreed  to  by  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  in  the  years . 

"3.  That  every  member  promise,  that  after  any  question  has  been  deter- 
mined by  the  major  vote,  he  will  actively  concur  or  passively  submit  to  the 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  599 

judgment  of  the  body;  but  if  his  conscience  permit  him  to  do  neither  of 
these,  that  then  he  shall  be  obliged  peaceably  to  withdraw  from  our  Synod- 
ical  communion,  without  any  attempt  to  make  a  schism  or  division  among 
us.  Yet  this  is  not  intended  to  extend  to  any  cases  but  those  which  the 
Synod  judges  essential  in  matters  of  doctrine  or  discipline. 

''4.  That  all  our  respective  congregations  and  vacancies  be  acknowledged 
as  Congregations  belonging  to  the  Synod,  but  continue  under  the  care  of  the 
same  Presbytery  as  now  they  are,  until  a  favourable  opportunity  presents 
for  an  advantageous  alteration. 

"  5.  That  we  all  agree  to  esteem  and  treat  it  as  a  censurable  evil,  to 
accuse  any  of  our  members  of  error  in  doctrine  or  immorality  in  conversa- 
tion, any  otherwise  than  by  private  reproof,  till  the  accusation  has  been 
brought  before  a  regular  judicature  and  issued  according  to  the  known  rules 
of  our  discipline." — Minutes,  1749,  p.  238. 

§  29.  Difficulties  in  the  way. 
[These  proposals  were  readily  entertained  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  But  when 
it  was  attempted  to  draw  out  in  detail  the  principles  upon  which  the  two  bodies  should 
be  reunited,  difficulties  arose,  which  postponed  the  result  from  year  to  year.  One  chief 
difficulty  was  in  regard  to  the  protestation  of  1741,  the  New  York  Synod  insisting  that 
as  a  preliminary  measure  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  should  annul  it.  At  length  the  J\ew 
York  brethren  declared] 

''We  must  own  that  our  insisting  on  the  Synod's  disannulling  the  protes- 
tation of  1741,  could  have  no  propriety  in  it,  but  from  our  apprehension 
that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  a  Synod,  had  approved  and  adopted  said 
protestation ;  and  consequently  if  our  brethren  shall  declare,  that  in  their 
Synodical  capacity  they  do  not  adopt  it,  this  will  remove  the  ground  of  our 
insisting  any  further  on  this  point  with  the  Synod." — Minutes,  1756, 
p.  221. 

[To  this  the  Philadelphia  Synod  replied] 

"We  desire  to  unite  on  the  same  terms,  on  which  the  members  of  both 
Synods  were  united  when  one  body.  And  we  are  glad  to  join  with  the 
Synod  of  New  York  in  an  expedient  to  cut  oif  all  debates  about  the  protes- 
tation of  1741.  We  allow  the  protestors  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and 
you  will  allow  that  we  '  neither  can  disannul  nor  withdraw  their  protestation ;' 
but  in  a  Synodical  capacity,  at  your  desire,  we  declare  and  do  assure  you 
that  we  neither  adopted  nor  do  adopt  said  protestation  as  a  term  of  ministe- 
rial communion;  it  was  never  mentioned  to  any  of  our  members  as  a  term 
of  communion  more  than  any  of  the  other  protestations  delivered  into  our 
Synod  on  occasion  of  those  differences.  We  only  adopt  and  desire  to 
adhere  to  our  standards,  as  we  agreed  when  formerly  united  in  one  body ; 
we  adopt  no  other. 

*'We  refer  these  proposals  to  the  serious  consideration  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York;  we  are  in  earnest  for  peace  and  union,  and  we  hope  they  are  so 
too.  As  it  may  be  necessary  that  a  committee  of  both  Synods  meet  to  adjust 
matters  previous  to  an  union,  we  appoint  the  commission  of  our  Synod,  on 
timely  notice  given,  to  meet  with  such  members  as  they  may  appoint  for 
this  purpose,  at  Philadelphia  or  any  other  convenient  place." — Mimites, 
175G,  p.  223. 

§  30.    Commissions  of  the  Synods. 

[In  accordance  with  this  appointment] 

"  The  c6mmissions  of  the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  met  at 
the  place  appointed,  and  reported  to  their  Synods  the  result  of  the  confer- 
ence ;  pursuant  hereunto  the  Synod  of  New  York  sent  us  a  copy  of  a  minute, 
requesting  that  commissions  of  both  Synods  meet  on  the  Monday  next  pre- 


600  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

ceding  the  meeting  of  both  Synods,  according  to  our  agreement,  to  prepare 
matters  for  both  Synods  and  their  happy  union. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  commission  of  our  Synod  meet  with  the  commission 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York  for  this   purpose,  on  the  Monday  immediately 
before  the  meeting  of  our  Synod." — Minutes,  1757,  p.  225. 
§  31.    Tlie  union  consummated. 

"  Our  members  of  the  committee  appointed  to  meet  with  those  of  New 
York  Synod,  report  that  they  met  on  Saturday  hist,  and  communicated  the 
amendments  proposed  by  each  Synod  in  the  plan  of  union,  and  conferred 
upon  them. 

"  Ordered,  That  these  members  lay  the  amendments  proposed  by  the 
Synod  of  New  York  before  this  Synod,  which  they  did. 

''  The  Synod  considered  them,  and  agreed  they  should  be  allowed. 

''  Ordered,  That  the  same  members  of  the  above  mentioned  committee 
inform  the  Synod  of  New  York  of  this  agreement. 

''  The  members  went  and  informed  them  accordingly,  and  Soon  returned 
aud  acquainted  this  Synod  that  the  Synod  of  New  York  had  also  agreed  to 
admit  the  amendments  proposed  in  this  Synod,  and  therefore  thought  the 
affair  was  now  ripe  for  the  two  Synods  to  meet  together  and  complete  the 
agreement. 

"The  plan  as  now  prepared  was  finally  put  to  the  vote,  and  was  unani- 
mously approved  as  a  satisfactory  plan  for  uniting  upon. 

'^Agreed  that  this  Synod  meet  with  the  Synod  of  New  York  at  3  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  and  that  this  be  notified  to  them. 

''Adjourned  till  3  o'clock,  P.  M.  and  concluded  with  prayer. 

"N.  B.    At  3  o'clock,  F.  M.  the  two  Synods  met. 

"The  Plan  of  Union  was  now  read  before  them,  and  unanimously  agreed 
to. 

"The  Synods  being  now  united,  a  new  book  was  opened,  and  the  whole 
plan  and  articles  of  union  entered,  as  may  be  seen  in  that  book,  where  the 
minutes  of  the  new  united  Synod  are  recorded." — Minutes,  1758,  p.  231, 

§  32.    Terms  of  the  reunion. 

"  The  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  taking  into  serious  consid- 
eration the  present  divided  state  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  land, 
and  being  deeply  sensible  that  the  division  of  the  Church  tends  to  weaken 
its  interests,  to  dishonour  religion,  aud  consequently  its  glorious  Author;  to 
render  government  and  discipline  ineffectual,  and  finally  to  dissolve  its  very 
frame;  and  being  desirous  to  pursue  such  measures  as  may  most  tend  to 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  establishment  and  edification  of  his  people,  do 
judge  it  to  be  our  indispensable  duty  to  study  the  things  that  make  for  peace, 
and  to  endeavour  the  healing  of  that  breach  which  has  for  some  time  sub- 
sisted amongst  us,  that  so  its  hurtful  consequences  may  not  extend  to  pos- 
terity ;  that  all  occasion  of  reproach  upon  our  society  may  be  removed,  and 
that  we  may  carry  on  the  great  designs  of  religion  to  better  advantage  than 
we  can  do  in  a  divided  state ;  and  since  both  Synods  continue  to  profess  the 
same  principles  of  faith,  and  adhere  to  the  same  form  of  worship,  govern- 
ment, and  discipline,  there  is  the  greater  reason  to  endeavour  the  compro- 
mising those  differences,  which  were  agitated  many  years  ago  with  too  great 
warmth  and  animosity,  and  unite  in  one  body. 

''  For  which  end,  and  that  no  jealousies  or  grounds  of  alienation  may 
remain,  and  also  to  prevent  future  breaches  of  like  nature,  we  agree  to  unite 
and  do  unite  in  one  body,  under  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  on  the  following  plan. 

"  1.  Both  Synods  having  always  approved  and  received  the  Westminster 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  601 

Confession  of  Faith,  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  as  an  orthodox  and 
excellent  system  of  Christian  doctrine,  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  we  do 
still  receive  the  same  as  the  confession  of  our  faith,  and  also  adhere  to  the 
plan  of  worship,  government,  and  discipline,  contained  in  the  Westminster 
Directory,  strictly  enjoining  it  on  all  our  members  and  probationers  for 
the  ministry,  that  they  preach  and  teach  according  to  the  form  of  sound 
words  in  said  Confession  and  Catechisms,  and  avoid  and  oppose  all  errors 
contrary  thereto. 

"  11.  That  when  any  matter  is  determined  by  a  major  vote,  every  member 
shall  either  actively  concur  with,  or  passively  submit  to  such  determination; 
or,  if  his  conscience  permit  him  to  do  neither,  he  shall,  after  sufficient  lib- 
erty modestly  to  reason  and  remonstrate,  peaceably  withdraw  from  our  com- 
munion, without  attempting  to  make  any  schism.  Provided  always,  that 
this  shall  be  understood  to  extend  only  to  such  determinations  as  the  body 
shall  judge  indispensable  in  doctrine  or  Presbyterian  government. 

"  III.  That  any  member  or  members,  for  the  exoneration  of  his  or  their 
conscience  before  God,  have  a  right  to  protest  against  any  act  or  procedure 
of  our  highest  judicature,  because  there  is  no  further  appeal  to  another  for 
redress ;  and  to  require  that  such  protestation  be  recorded  in  their  minutes. 
And  as  such  a  protest  is  a  solemn  appeal  from  the  bar  of  said  judicature,  no 
member  is  liable  to  prosecution  on  the  account  of  his  protesting.  Provided 
always,  that  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  and  unlawful,  to  enter  a  protesta- 
tion against  any  member  or  members,  or  to  protest  facts  or  accusations 
instead  of  proving  them,  unless  a  fair  trial  be  refused,  even  by  the  highest 
judicature.  And  it  is  agreed,  that  protestations  are  only  to  be  entered 
against  the  public  acts,  judgments,  or  determinations  of  the  judicature  with 
which  the  protester's  conscience  is  offended. 

"IV.  As  the  protestation  entered  in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  Ann. 
Dom.  1741,  has  been  apprehended  to  have  been  approved  and  received  by 
an  act  of  said  Synod,  and  on  that  account  was  judged  a  sufficient  obstacle  to 
a  union;  the  said  Synod  declare,  that  they  never  judicially  adopted  the 
said  protestation,  nor  do  account  it  a  Synodical  act,  but  that  it  is  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  act  of  those  only  who  subscribed  it;  and  therefore  cannot  in 
its  nature  be  a  valid  objection  to  the  union  of  the  two  Synods,  especially 
considering  that  a  very  great  majority  of  both  Synods  have  become  members 
since  the  said  protestation  was  entered. 

"  V.  That  it  shall  be  esteemed  and  treated  as  a  censurable  evil,  to  accuse 
any  member  of  heterodoxy,  insufficiency,  or  immorality,  in  a  calumniating 
manner,  or  otherwise  than  by  private  brotherly  admonition,  or  by  a  regular 
process  according  to  our  known  rules  of  judicial  trial  in  cases  of  scandal 
and  it  shall  be  considered  in  the  same  view,  if  any  Presbytery  appoint  sup 
plies  within  the  bounds  of  another  Presbytery  without  their  concurrence 
or  if  any  member  officiate  in  another's  congregation,  without  asking  and 
obtaining  his  consent,  or  the  Session's  in  case  the  Minister  be  absent ;  yet  it 
shall  be   esteemed  unbrotherly  for  any  one,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  to 
refuse  his  consent  to  a  regular  member  when  it  is  requested. 

"VI.  That  no  Presbytery  shall  license  or  ordain  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, any  candidate,  until  he  give  them  competent  satisfaction  as  to  his 
learning,  and  experimental  acquaintance  with  religion,  and  skill  in  divinity 
and  cases  of  conscience;  and  declare  his  acceptance  of  the  Westminster 
Confession  and  Catechisms  as  the  confession  of  his  faith,  and  promise  sub- 
jection to  the  Presbyterian  plan  of  government  in  the  Westminster  Direc- 
tory. 

"VII.  The   Synods  declare  it  is  their  earnest  desire,  that  a  complete 
union  may  be  obtained  as  soon  as  possible,  and  agree  that  the  united  Synod 
70 


602  HERESIES  AND   SCHISMS.  [Book   VII. 

shall  model  the  several  Presbyteries  in  such  manner  as  shall  appear  to  them 
most  expedient.  Provided  nevertheless,  that  Presbyteries,  where  an  altera- 
tion does  not  appear  to  be  for  edification,  continue  in  their  present  form. 
As  to'divided  Congregations  it  is  agreed,  that  such  as  have  settled  Ministers 
on  both  sides  be  allowed  to  continue  as  they  are ;  that  where  those  of  one 
side  have  a  settled  Minister,  the  other  being  vacant,  may  join  with  the  set- 
tled Minister,  if  a  majority  choose  so  to  do;  that  when  both  sides  are  vacant 
they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  unite  together. 

"  VIII.  As  the  late  religious  appearances  occasioned  much  speculation 
and  debate,  the  members  of  the  New  York  Synod,  in  order  to  prevent  any 
misapprehensions,  declare  their  adherence  to  their  former  sentiments  in 
favour  of  them,  that  a  blessed  work  of  God's  Holy  Spirit  in  the  conversion 
of  numbers  was  then  carried  on ;  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned, 
this  united  Synod  agree  in  declaring,  that  as  all  mankind  are  naturally  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins,  an  entire  change  of  heart  and  life  is  necessary  to 
make  them  meet  for  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  Grod;  that  such  a  change 
can  be  only  effected  by  the  powerful  operations  of  the  divine  Spirit;  that 
when  sinners  are  made  sensible  of  their  lost  condition  and  absolute  inability 
to  recover  themselves,  are  enlightened  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  con- 
vinced of  his  ability  and  willingness  to  save,  and  upon  gospel  encourage- 
ments do  choose  him  for  their  Saviour,  and  renouncing  their  own  righteous- 
ness in  point  of  merit,  depend  upon  his  imputed  righteousness  for  their  jus- 
tification before  God,  and  on  his  wisdom  and  strength  for  guidance  and  sup- 
port; when  upon  these  apprehensions  and  exercises  their  souls  are  com- 
forted, notwithstanding  all  their  past  guilt,  and  rejoice  in  God  through 
Jesus  Christ;  when  they  hate  and  bewail  their  sins  of  heart  and  life,  delight 
in  the  laws  of  God  without  exception,  reverently  and  diligently  attend  his 
ordinances,  become  humble  and  self  denied,  and  make  it  the  business  of 
their  lives  to  please  and  glorify  God,  and  to  do  good  to  their  fellow  men ; 
this  is  to  be  acknowledged  as  a  gracious  work  of  God,  even  though  it 
should  be  attended  with  unusual  bodily  commotions  or  some  more  excep- 
tionable circumstances,  by  means  of  infirmity,  temptations,  or  remaining  cor- 
ruptions ;  and  wherever  religious  appearances  are  attended  with  the  good 
effects  above  mentioned,  we  desire  to  rejoice  in  and  thank  God  for  them. 

"But  on  the  other  hand,  when  persons  seeming  to  be  under  a  religious 
concern,  imagine  that  they  have  visions  of  the  human  nature  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  hear  voices,  or  see  external  lights,  or  have  fainting  and  convul- 
sion-like fits,  and  on  the  account  of  these  judge  themselves  to  be  truly  con- 
verted; though  they  have  not  the  scriptural  chai'acters  of  a  work  of  God 
above  described,  we  believe  such  persons  are  under  a  dangerous  delusion; 
and  we  testify  our  utter  disapprobation  of  such  a  delusion,  wherever  it 
attends  any  religious  appearances,  in  any  Church  or  time. 

"Now  as  both  Synods  are  agreed  in  their  sentiments  concerning  the 
nature  of  a  work  of  grace,  and  declare  their  desire  and  purpose  to  promote 
it,  different  judgments  respecting  particular  matters  of  fact,  ought  not  to  pre- 
vent their  union ;  especially  as  many  of  the  present  members  have  entered 
into  the  ministry  since  the  time  of  the  aforesaid  religious  appearances. 

"Upon  the  whole,  as  the  design  of  our  union  is  the  advancement  of  the 
Mediator's  kingdom;  and  as  the  wise  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  ministe- 
rial function  is  the  principal  appointed  mean  for  that  glorious  end,  we 
judge,  that  this  is  a  proper  occasion  to  manifest  our  sincere  intention,  uni- 
tedly to  exert  ourselves  to  fulfil  the  ministry  we  have  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Accordingly,  we  unanimously  declare  our  serious  and  fixed  resolu- 
tion, by  divine  aid,  to  take  heed  to  ourselves  that  our  hearts  be  upright,  our 
discourse  edifying,  and  our  lives  exemplary  for  purity  and  godliness;  to 


Part  III.]  THE  SCHISM  OF  1741.  603 

take  heed  to  our  doctrine,  that  it  he  not  only  orthodox,  hut  evangelical  and 
spiritual,  tending  to  awaken  the  secure  to  a  suitable  concern  for  their  salva- 
tion, and  to  instruct  and  encourage  sincere  Christians;  thus  commending 
ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God;  to  cultivate  peace 
and  harmony  among  ourselves,  and  strengthen  each  other's  hands  in  pro- 
moting the  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  diflFusing  the  savour  of  piety 
among  our  people. 

"  Finally,  we  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  under  our  care,  that  instead 
of  indulging  a  contentious  disposition,  they  would  love  each  other  with  a 
pure  heart  fervently,  as  brethren  who  profess  subjection  to  the  same  Lord, 
adhere  to  the  same  faith,  worship,  and  government,  and  entertain  the  same 
hope  of  glory.  And  we  desire  that  they  would  improve  the  present  union 
for  their  mutual  edification,  combine  to  strengthen  the  common  interests  of 
religion,  and  go  hand  in  hand  in  the  path  of  life;  which  we  pray  the  Grod 
of  all  grace  would  please  to  effect,  for  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 

"The  Synod  agree,  that  all  former  diiferences  and  disputes  are  laid  aside 
and  buried;  and  that  no  future  inquiry  or  vote  shall  be  proposed  in  this 
Synod  concerning  these  things ;  but  if  any  member  seek  a  Synodieal  inquiry, 
or  declaration  about  any  of  the  matters  of  our  past  differences,  it  shall  be 
deemed  a  censurable  breach  of  this  agreement,  and  be  refused,  and  he  be 
rebuked  accordingly." — 3Iiniites,  1758,  p.  285. 


PAET   IV. 

CASE  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  HARKER. 


§  33.  A  committee  to  deal  tcith  Mr.  HarTcer. 

"A  reference  was  brought  into  the  Synod  from  the  New  Brunswick  Pres- 
l^yt^ry,  respecting  Mr.  Samuel  Harker,  one  of  their  members,  as  having 
imbibed  and  vented  certain  erroneous  doctrines;  the  further  consideration 
of  this  affair  deferred  till  the  next  sederunt." 

"The  affair  of  Mr.  Harker  resumed.  The  Synod,  after  serious  considera- 
tion had,  do  agree  that  inasmuch  as  Mr.  Harker  is  absent  they  cannot 
proceed  to  a  regular  determination  of  said  affair,  and  do  therefore  appoint 
Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent,  Richard  Treat,  Samuel  Finly,  and  John  Blair,  to 
deal  with  him  as  they  shall  have  opportunity,  in  such  manner  as  shall 
appear  to  them  best  adapted  for  his  conviction;  and  refer  the  further  deter- 
mination to  the  next  Synod,  if  there  shall  be  need;  and  in  the  mean  time 
the  Synod  does  recommend  it  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  to  take 
such  measures  as  they  shall  judge  best  to  prevent  the  spread  and  hurtful 
influence  of  these  errors." — MiniUes,  1758,  pp.  283,  284. 

§  34.  Report  of  the  Committee. 

"Mr.  Harker's  affair  was  taken  into  consideration.  The  committee 
appointed  last  year  to  converse  with  him  brought  in  the  following  report : 

"That  they  met  at  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Pierson's,  nbi post  preces  sederunt, 
Ministers — Messrs.  John  Pierson,  Caleb  Smith,  Jacob  Green,  Timothy 
Jones,  Azariah  Horton,  Samuel  Kennedy,  and  Jonathan  Elmore,  corres- 
pondent. 

'*  Ministers  absent — Messrs.  Alexander  Cummins,  Charles  Beatty. 

"Mr.  Pierson  chosen  Moderator,  and  Mr.  Kennedy,  Clerk. 

"Mr.  Samuel  Harker's  paper,  containing  his  principles,  together  with 
some  arguments  to  support  them,  was  read  and  maturely  deliberated  upon; 
and  the  committee  being  in  doubt  what  Mr.  Harker's  real  sentiments  were, 
as  they  appeared  not  to  be  clearly  expressed  in  said  paper,  proceeded  to 
query  with  him  largely  on  the  several  heads,  and  were  well  pleased  to  find, 
on  inquiry,  that  Mr.  Harker's  sentiments  in  some  points,  which  on  first 
view  of  his  paper  appeared  erroneous,  were  in  substance  (though  far  from 
being  happily  and  cautiously  expressed)  agreeable  to  the  opinion  of  the 
generality  of  our  orthodox  divines,  particularly  as  to  all  men's  being  in  the 
covenant,  and  the  regenerate's  not  being  probationers  for  heaven ;  as  Mr. 
Harker  means,  by  the  former,  no  more  than  this,  viz.  that  the  covenant 
respects  the  whole  human  race,  in  the  proposals  thereof;  and  by  the  latter, 
only  designs,  that  every  regenerate  person  has  a  sure  and  unfailing  title  to 
heaven,  by  virtue  of  their  being  interested  in  the  merits  of  Christ.  But 
the  committee  were  sorry  to  find,  that  in  two  branches  of  doctrine  Mr. 


Part  IV.]  hakker's  case.  605 

Harker  appears  really  to  have  fallen  into  an  error,  particularly  in  holding, 
that  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  God  has  bound  himself, 
by  promise,  to  bestow  saving  blessings  upon  the  faith  and  endeavours  of 
unregenerate  men;  and  that  God  has  predestinated  persons  to  salvation, 
upon  a  foresight  of  their  faith  and  good  works,  or  compliance  with  the 
terms  of  the  covenant.  On  both  which  heads,  the  committee  laboured  to 
convince  Mr.  Harker  of  his  mistake,  but  without  being  so  happy  as  to  suc- 
ceed in  their  endeavours,  at  least  from  what  then  appeared.  Finally,  they 
recommended  to  Mr.  Harker  greater  caution  in  his  phraseology,  and  that 
where  he  could  with  a  safe  conscience,  he  would  aim  at  the  common  forms 
of  sound  words,  without  affecting  to  deviate  from  the  usual  modes  of  ex- 
pression among  orthodox  divines.     Concluded  with  prayer." 

"As  the  Synod  apprehend  they  had  some  success,  but  find  him  mistaken 
in  the  two  above  propositions,  still  it  is  thought  expedient  to  try  yet  whether 
further  converse  may  convince  him ;  the  Synod  agree  that  he  meet  with 
Messrs.  Samuel  and  James  Finly,  Blair,  Robert  and  Sampson  Smith,  at 
Nottingham,  the  second  Tuesday  of  November  next.  And  in  his  return 
meet  with  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent,  Treat,  Ewing,  and  Dr.  Alison,  in  this 
city,  to  converse  on  these  points." — Minutes,  1760,  p.  301. 

§  35.    The  case  furtlier  continued. 

"  Mr.  Harker's  case  came  to  be  considered.  He  declared  to  the  Synod, 
that  he  had  prepared  his  sentiments  for  the  press,  yet  if  the  Synod  would 
take  the  trouble  to  read  his  performance,  and  convince  him  that  he  is 
wrong,  he  would  amend  what  is  so,  otherwise  he  would  think  himself 
obliged  to  print  without  delay.  The  Synod  have  not  sufficient  time  to  read 
and  dispute  every  point  in  his  performance,  which  they  may  judge  erroneous 
or  suspicious.  Several  members  of  this  body  have  heard  him  discourse  on 
these  subjects,  and  have  read  some  parts  of  his  performance,  who  think  he 
labours  under  several  mistakes;  but  as  the  whole  Synod  cannot  form  a 
judgment  upon  his  sentiments  from  the  report  of  a  few  who  may  understand 
them,  they  only  at  present  declare  to  the  world,  that  as  far  as  they  have 
been  acquainted  with  his  opinions,  they  do  not  approve  of  some  of  them. 

"  The  Synod  further  agree,  that  if  Mr.  Harker,  notwithstanding  this  dis- 
approbation, shall  proceed  to  print,  every  member  may  bring  in  their  re- 
marks upon  his  book  to  the  next  Synod  in  order  to  their  further  notice, 
and  that  Dr.  Alison,  Messrs.  Treat,  Ewing,  Samuel  Finly,  Steel,  and 
McDowell,  or  any  three  of  them,  be  in  particular  a  committee  for  this  pur- 
pose."— Minutes,  1761,  p.  308. 

§  36.  3Ir.  Harker's  hook  condemned. 

"As  Mr.  Harker  has,  without  the  approbation  of  the  Synod,  printed 
a  book  containing  his  principles,  Messrs.  Spencer,  Rodgers,  Blair,  Lawrence, 
McDowell,  Wilson,  and  Robert  Smith,  are  appointed  as  a  committee  to 
examine  said  book,  and  to  bring  in  a  report  before  the  Synod  breaks  up.'' 
— Minutes,  1762,  p.  315. 

[The  committee  did  not  report  until  next  meeting  of  the  Synod,  when] 
"The  Synod  proceeded  to  consider  Mr.  Harker's  principles,  collected  from 
his  book  by  the  committee,  which  are  in  substance  as  follows : 

"1.  That  the  covenant  of  grace  is  in  such  a  sense  conditional,  that  fallen 
mankind  in  their  unregenerate  state,  by  the  general  assistances  given  to  all 
under  the  gospel,  have  a  sufficient  ability  to  fulfil  the  conditions  thereof, 
and  so,  by  their  own  endeavours  to  ensure  to  themselves  regenerating  grace 
and  all  savins  blessings. 


606  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

*'2.  That  God  has  bound  himself  by  promise  to  give  them  regenerating 
grace,  upon  their  fulfilling  what  he,  (Mr.  Ilarker,)  calls  the  direct  conditions 
of  obtaining  it,  and  upon  the  whole,  makes  a  certain  and  an  infallible  con- 
nection between  their  endeavours  and  the  afoi'esaid  blessings. 

"3.  That  God's  prescience  of  future  events,  is  previous  to  and  not 
dependent  on  his  decrees,  that  his  decrees  have  no  influence  on  his  own 
conduct,  and  that  the  foresight  of  faith  was  the  ground  of  the  decree  of 
election. 

It  is  further  observed,  that  he  often  uses  inaccurate,  unintelligible,  and 
dangerous  modes  of  expression,  that  tend  to  lead  people  into  false  notions  in 
several  important  matters,  as  that  Adam  was  the  federal  father  of  his  pos- 
terity in  the  second  covenant  as  well  as  in  the  first;  that  the  regenerate  are 
not  in  a  state  of  probation  for  heaven,  and  several  such  like. 

"  The  Synod  judge  that  these  principles  are  of  a  hurtful  and  dangerous 
tendency,  giving  a  false  view  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  perverting  it  into  a 
new  modelled  covenant  of  works,  and  misrepresents  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  decrees  as  held  by  the  best  Reformed  Churches,  and  in  fine,  are 
contrary  to  the  word  of  God  and  our  approved  standards  of  doctrine. 

"The  Synod  called  in  Mr.  Marker  and  questioned  him  in  many  particu- 
lars, and  the  further  consideration  of  his  aflfair  is  deferred  till  to-morrow 
morning." 

§  37.  Final  issue  of  the  case. 

"  Mr.  Harker's  affair  was  resumed,  and  the  Synod,  upon  mature  delibera- 
tion, came  to  the  following  judgment,  viz. 

"  The  Synod  considering  that  Mr.  Harker  has  for  several  years  been  dealt 
with  in  the  tenderest  manner,  and  much  pains  taken  by  his  brethren  ia 
private,  and  in  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs,  and  by  committees 
which  the  Synod  appointed  to  confer  with  him,  in  order  to  reclaim  him 
from  his  erroneous  notions;  but  that  instead  of  succeeding  in  these 
attempts,  he  appeared  to  be  the  rather  confirmed  and  resolute  in  propagating 
his  opinions  among  the  people,  by  a  variety  of  methods,  to  the  great  scan- 
dal of  the  Church,  seducing  and  perplexing  the  unwary  and  unstable  :  and 
as  he  has  departed  from  the  truth,  and  opposed  this  Church  in  some  impor- 
tant articles,  and  misrepresented  the  Church  of  Scotland,  his  doctrine 
and  practice  have  a  schismatical  tendency.  On  the  whole,  though  the  exclu- 
sion of  a  member  be  grievous,  yet  we  judge  that  the  said  Mr.  Samuel 
Harker  cannot  consistently  be  continued  a  member  of  this  body,  and 
accordingly  declare  him  disqualified  for  preaching  or  exercising  his  ministry 
in  any  Congregation  or  vacancy  under  our  care;  and  do  hereby  order,  that 
all  be  duly  warned  not  to  receive  his  doctrines,  nor  admit  his  ministrations, 
until  it  shall  please  God  to  convince  him  of  his  mistakes,  and  to  bring  him 
to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  tnith,  and  recover  him  from  the  error  of  his 
ways." 

"Upon  hearing  the  foregoing  minute  read,  Mr.  Harker  requested  a  copy, 
which  the  Synod  ordered  to  be  given  him,  properly  attested. 

"After  some  time  Mr.  Harker  came  in,  and  desired  to  be  informed  by  the 
Synod,  what  they  designed  by  their  determination  respecting  him  as  to  its 
nature  and  extent.  The  Synod  were  much  divided  in  their  opinions ;  but 
the  majority  of  the  Synod  returned  the  following  answer:  That  as  by  our 
determination  in  the  forenoon  he  is  declared  disqualified  for  exercising  any 
part  of  the  ministerial  office  in  any  of  the  Congregations  or  vacancies  under 
our  care ;  so  by  a  parity  of  reason  we  judge  him  disqualified  to  exercise  it 
anywhere,  while  he  retains  his  present  sentiments." — Minutes,  1763,  p.  329. 


PAET    V. 

THE    DONEGAL    SCHISM 


§  38.  Occasion  of  the  scMsm, 
[The  two  Synods  had  been  in  the  habit  of  pursuing  different  methods  to  ascertain  the 
piety  of  candidates  for  the  ministry.  The  New  York  Synod  pursued  the  plan  now  gene- 
rally adopted,  of  interrogaiing  candidates  as  to  their  personal  experiences;  whilst  that  of 
Philadelphia,  thinking  such  a  course  an  unwarrantable  inquisition,  sought  to  secure  the 
same  object  by  inquiries  as  to  what  the  candidate  supposed  to  be  the  evidences  of  conver- 
sion, and  whether  he  apprehended  himself  to  possess  those  evidences.  The  New  York 
Synod  having  been  the  more  numerous  body,  its  members  soon  began  to  urge  the  adoption 
of  their  views  by  all  the  Presbyteries.  The  question  was  at  length  brought  into  the 
Synod.] 

§  39.    The  question  at  issue. 

"  The  Synod  apprehending  they  have,  from  much  conversation  on  the 
subject  in  their  late  character  of  a  committee,  obtained  sufficient  light  to 
proceed  in  answering  the  question  under  consideration,  order,  that  the  sen- 
timents of  the  Synod  be  taken  by  calling  the  roll  in  order,  to  which  the 
affiiir  was  stated  in  the  very  words  of  the  question,  viz.  '  Whether  a  candi- 
date's declaration  of  his  own  personal  exercises  and  experiences  in  religion, 
given  in  the  way  of  a  narrative  of  these,  or  answer  to  questions  put  to  him 
concerning  them,  should  be  required  by  a  judicature,  as  one  appointed, 
warrantable  and  useful  mean  of  forming  a  judgment  of  his  experimental 
acquaintance  with  religion,  according  to  which  judgment  they  are  to  admit 
or  reject  him.' 

"  And  the  state  of  the  question  being  put,  affirm  or  deny,  it  was  carried 
in  the  affirmative,  there  being  thirteen  negative,  and  one  non  liquet. 

''  In  consequence  of  some  conversation,  j^i'o  and  con,  respecting  the  sixth 
article  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  two  papers  were  brought  in,  which  are  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

"  1.  Proposed,  Whether  the  question  now  answered  in  the  affirmative  be, 
in  the  sentiments  of  the  Synod,  an  agreement  or  compliance  with  the  most 
plain  sense  aTid  meaning  of  a  part  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  Plan  of  Union, 
where  it  is  said,  '  No  Presbytery  shall  license  or  ordain  any  candidate  to  the 
ministry  until  he  give  them  a  competent  satisfaction  as  to  his  experimental 
acquaintance  with  religion.'  And,  also,  agreeable  to  the  order  or  direction 
in  the  Westminster  Directory,  wherein  a  Presbytery  is  directed  to  inquire 
touching  the  grace  of  God  in  him,  (viz.  a  person  offering  himself  as  a  can- 
didate.) 

"The  2d  proposed.  Whether  said  answer  in  the  affirmative  was  not  a 
direct  and  open  violation  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  union,  by  which  both 
Synods  were  allowed  to  follow  their  own  judgment  for  obtaining  competent 
satisfaction  as  to  a  candidate's  learning  and  experimental  acquaintance  with 
religion.  For  it  was  well  known  to  the  Synod  of  New  York,  that  the  Pres- 
byteries belonging  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  did  not  examine  a  candi- 
date's experiences  in  order  to  have  competent  satisfaction  of  his  experimen- 
tal acquaintance  with  religion,  nor  do  they  think  this  method  scriptural  or 
warrantable ;  and  in  all  the  proposals  between  the  two  Synods  prior  to  their 


608  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

union  this  method  was  not  once  mentioned ;  and  the  Synod  of  New  York 
proposed  then,  and  in  the  seventh  article  of  the  union  they  agreed,  that  the 
Presbyteries  might  continue  to  act  separately,  as  they  had  done,  by  which 
agreement  tliey  confirmed  the  method  used  by  the  Synod  in  Philadelphia 
for  licensing  candidates. 

'*  The  sentiments  of  several  members  of  the  Synod,  how  they  understood 
the  sixth  article  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  was  required  on  this  occasion,  and,  on 
calling  the  roll,  it  appears  that  the  members  of  the  late  Synod  of  New  York 
that  were  at  making  the  union,  do  in  general  agree  in  understanding  the 
article  so  as  to  enjoin  such  a  declaration  of  experiences ;  and  the  members 
of  the  late  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  that  were  at  making  that  union,  do  in 
general  agree  in  understanding  that  article  so  as  not  to  enjoin  such  a  decla- 
ration ;  and  each  declare  that  they  so  understood  it  at  the  time  of  making 
the  union." — Minutes,  1762,  p.  318. 

§40.  Mediation  of  the  Neio  York  Presbytery. 

''When  the  Synod  seemed  to  be  greatly  perplexed,  and  unable  to  accom- 
modate this  difference  about  examining  the  experiences  of  candidates,  an 
overture  was  brought  in  by  two  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  in 
the  name  and  by  the  appointment  of  that  Presbytery,  who,  fearing  a  breach 
in  the  Synod  on  this  question,  chose  to  be  absent." — Minutes,  1762,  p.  319. 

§  41.    Compromise  proposed. 

''The  overtures  for  an  accommodation  were  resumed.  As  the  affair  is  of 
great  importance,  the  entering  into  a  consideration  of  the  matter  was  pre- 
ceded by  solemn  prayer  to  God  for  his  gracious  presence  and  direction. 

''Whereas  some  members  complain  of  two  determinations  of  this  Synod: 
The  first  was  a  resolution  of  a  query  concerning  the  examination  of  a  candi- 
date's experience,  in  order  to  his  admission  or  rejection:  The  other  was,  the 
obvious  sense  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  apprehending  that  by 
said  determinations  the  Synod  laid  an  obligation  on  them  to  act  according 
to  the  sentiments  expressed  by  said  determinations : 

"  Now  to  give  relief  and  full  satisfaction  to  such  brethren,  the  Synod 
declares  they  had  no  designs  by  these  determinations,  to  lay  the  least  obliga- 
tion or  restraint  on  said  members  with  respect  to  their  conduct,  but  only  to 
express  their  own  sense  of  the  meaning  of  that  article,  and  their  sentiments 
of  the  query ;  and  hereupon  the  members  declared  themselves  satisfied,  and 
withdrew  their  protest. 

"The  affair  respecting  the  inquiry  into  the  religious  exercises  or  experi- 
ences of  persons  offering  themselves  as  candidates  for  the  ministry,  was 
maturely  considered;  and,  as  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  Synod  do 
declare  they  cannot  esteem  an  infjuiry  into  a  person's  religious. experiences, 
a  proper,  warrantable,  or  useful  mean  of  obtaining  a  competent  satisfaction 
of  a  candidate's  experimental  acquaintance  with  religion,  and  therefore  can- 
not in  conscience  make  use  of  it:  The  Synod  earnestly  desiring  that  all  due 
liberty  of  conscience  be  preserved  inviolate,  and  that  peace  and  harmony  be 
maintained  and  promoted,  do  agree  that,  when  any  person  shall  offer  him- 
self as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry  to  any  of  our  Presbyteries,  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbytery  may  use  that  way  which  he  in  conscience  looks  upon 
proper,  to  obtain  a  competent  satisfaction  of  the  person's  experimental 
acquaintance  with  religion,  and  that  then  the  Presbytery,  as  a  Presbytery, 
shall  determine  whether  they  will  take  him  on  further  trials.  This  agree- 
ment did  not  satisfy  a  number  of  the  Synod." — Ibid.  p.  321. 

§  42.   Difficulties  in  Donr(/(d  Presbytery. 
[The  difficulties  thus  developed  were  brought  to  a  crisis  in  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal. 
Originally  belonging  to  the  oldside  party,  it  had  been  so  remodelled  as  to  give  a  majority 
to  the  J\ew  York  members,  who  insisted  on  changing  the  mode  of  examination.] 


Part  v.]  DONEGAL   SECESSION.  609 

"  A  petition  from  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  was  brought  into  the  Synod 
by  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  praying  to  be  erected  into  two  Presbyteries, 
or  that  the  members  added  to  the  Donegal  Presbytery,  when  the  Presbyte- 
ries were  new  modelled,  be  ordered  to  return  to  their  former  judicatures/' 

"The  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  and  the  appeal  of  some 
members  were  further  considered,  and  it  was  agreed  not  to  grant  the  peti- 
tion."— Minutes,  17G5,  pp.  347,  o48. 

§  43.    The  Secession. 
[Various  expedients  were  proposed  by  the  Synod,  none  of  which  secured  the  relief 
sought  by  the  Donegal  party.     In  consequence  of  the  determinations  thus  had,  the  follow- 
ing declinature  was  handed  in  to  the  Synod.] 

"To  the  Rev.  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia: 

"We,  the  subscribers,  humbly  beg  leave  to  show,  that  though  we  much 
desire  to  be  in  union  and  friendship  with  this  reverend  body,  and  would 
not  knowingly  be  the  real  authors  of  any  discord  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
yet  the  determinations  of  the  Synod  consequent  on  our  petition  presented 
last  year,  and  again  to  this  present  meeting,  seem  so  grievous  and  oppres- 
sive to  us,  and  threatening  to  the  credit  and  interest  of  religion,  that  we 
find  ourselves  obliged  to  declare  to  this  Eev.  Synod,  that  we  cannot  submit 
to  them,  that  we  hereby  decline  all  authority  and  jurisdiction  of  this  body, 
and  that  no  judgment  or  determination  thereof  shall  bind  us,  or  affect  our 
persons  or  ministry  until  these  differences  of  sentiment  be  removed  by  bet- 
ter light,  and  satisfxctory  means  be  found  to  reconcile  and  unite  us  with 
this  reverend  body  again.  And  as  we  earnestly  desire  and  pray  for  this,  we 
reserve  to  ourselves,  and  expect  the  liberty  at  any  time,  respectfully  to  offer 
such  proposals  as  we  may  think  likely  to  answer  that  end,  and  upon  our  sat- 
isfying the  Eeverend  Synod,  or  they  us,  to  return  to  our  enjoyment  of  our 
privileges  with  them ;  and  in  the  meantime  we  shall  endeavour  to  carry 
respectfully  toward  this  Eev.  Synod,  avoiding  whatever  might  unnecessarily 
inflame  unchristian  passions,  or  tend  to  hinder  the  influence  of  our  brethren 
in  their  labours  in  the  gospel,  and  expect  to  be  mutually  treated  by  our 
brethren  as  Ministers  of  Christ. 

"The  reasons  inducing  us  to  this  mournful  step,  are  principally  such  as 
these : 

"1.  That  the  determinations  mentioned  had  not  the  least  apparent  ten- 
dency to  relieve,  but  seem  rather  calculated  to  increase  our  grievances,  and 
only  to  suppress  our  complaints  and  influence  in  judicatures  together. 

"  2.  We  petitioned  only  for  a  thing  lawful  and  often  precedented  in  Pres- 
byterian Synods,  and  which  was  wisely  requested  by  the  Synod  of  New 
York,  and  stipulated  for  in  our  Plan  of  Union;  and  yet  we  think  ourselves 
hereupon  treated  so  untenderly,  so  arbitrarily,  and  so  contrary  to  the  love 
and  friendship  that  is  expected  by  the  distressed,  that  had  the  matter  denied 
us  even  been  of  little  importance,  yet  it  seems  inconsistent  with  our  duty 
and  safety  to  own  and  be  subject  to  a  jurisdiction  so  exercised. 

"3.  We  cannot  but  observe  the  proceedings  of  this  Eeverend  Synod  ia 
this  as  well  as  in  many  other  affairs,  appear  plainly  calculated  to  bear  down 
one  part  of  this  united  Synod,  and  suppress  their  influence,  contrary  to  the 
equality  and  right  of  members,  and  to  the  nature  and  whole  professed  desigu 
of  our  union. 

"  We  pray  and  crave  that  this  our  declinature,  and  these  our  reasons,  be 
entered  in  the  records  of  this  Synod,  earnestly  wishing  that  the  Lord  may 
yet  rectify  all  hurtful  mistakes  and  heal  all  discords  among  us;  and  in  the 
meantime,  as  we  cannot  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  Plan  of  Union  in  peace, 
and  according  to  the  true  intent  thereof,  we  declare  ourselves  to  be  the  Pres- 
77 


610  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

bytery  of  Donegal,  and  members  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelpbiaj  as  before  the 
conjunction  of  the  two  Synods. 

"  Signed  by  us,  in  our  own  names  and  in  the  names  of  our  brethren, 

JosKPii  Tate, 
— Minutes,  1766,  p.  358.  John  Beard." 

§  44.    Overtures  for  reunion. 

"  A  letter  was  brought  into  the  Synod,  directed  to  the  Moderator,  signed 
by  the  Kev.  Messrs.  John  Elder,  and  John  Steel,  as  Moderator  and  Clerk 
of  a  Presbytery  which  they  call  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  representing  that 
they  had  been  forced  by  sundry  petitions  to  apply  to  Synod  to  be  erected  into 
two  Presbyteries,  which  petitions  not  having  had  desired  success,  they  were 
laid  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  entering  a  declinature  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Synod;  and  declaring  withal  their  readiness  to  return  into 
communion  with  the  Synod,  provided  they  might  be  erected  by  them  into  a 
separate  Presbytery;  which  letter  was  read,  and  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table 
for  a  second  reading.  From  all  which  the  Synod  observe  that  the  brethren 
of  Donegal  Presbytery,  who  petitioned  for  being  erected  into  a  separate 
Presbytery,  in  the  year  17G5,  adopt  the  declinature  entered  last  year,  by 
IMessrs.  Beard  and  Tate,  and  consequently  must  not  now  be  considered  as 
members  of  this  body." — Minutes,  1767,  p.  366. 

[This  request  was  refused  by  the  Synod.]— /iirf.  p.  372,  and  176S,  p.  383. 

§  45.   Reunion  with  the  Si/nod. 

"  Upon  reading  the  minute  of  yesterday  concerning  the  brethren  who  call 
themselves  the  Pi'esbytery  of  Donegal,  Mr.  Tate  said,  that  he  and  his  bre- 
thren with  him  were  not  authorized  to  make  any  other  proposals  to  the  Synod 
besides  those  mentioned  in  their  petition,  yet  he  believed  that  if  the  Synod 
would  allow  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Sampson  Smith  and  Beard  to  join  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  Castle,  Mr.  Thompson  that  of  Donegal,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Steel,  Elder,  andMcMordie,  the  second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  it  might 
heal  the  breach;  in  the  meantime  he  desired  liberty  to  join  the  second  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Lang  being  present,  being  asked 
whether  he  was  willing  to  be  joined  to  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  answer- 
ed, that  he  rather  chose  to  belong  to  the  second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
but  if  the  Synod  judged  it  the  best  expedient  for  peace,  and  the  rest  of  his 
dissatisfied  brethren  would  come  into  the  general  plan,  he  would  consent. 

''Therefore,  after  due  deliberation  the  Synod  came  to  this  conclusion,  viz. 
That  although  they  highly  disapprove  of  the  conduct  of  these  brethren  since 
their  departure  from  the  Synod,  yet  for  the  sake  of  peace  they  authorize  the 
above  mentioned  Presbyteries  to  receive  them  in  the  following  manner,  viz. 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Thompson  and  Lang  into  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Beard  and  S.  Smith  into  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Steel,  Elder,  Tate,  and  McMordie,  into  the  second  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  provided  that  they  apply  for  admission  the  first 
convenient  opportunity.  But  the  Synod  agree  that  this  regulation  is  not 
intended  to  subject  these  vacancies  that  now  are  or  hereafter  shall  be  in  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  to  any  other  Pi'esbytery,  nor  shall 
they  apply  at  any  time  to  any  other  without  express  leave  obtained  from  that 
Presbytery.  And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  if  any  of  said  brethren  comply 
with  said  regulations,  they  shall  previously  and  expressly  withdraw  their 
declinature  entered  at  New  York,  1766,  and  without  this  they  shall  not  be 
admitted  as  members  of  this  Synod  or  of  any  of  its  Presbyteries." — Minutes. 
176S,  p.  383. 

[The  reports  of  the  Presbyteries  at  the  next  meeting  of  Synod  showed  the  reception 
bv  »thein  of  the  seceding  members  severally  as  above  ordered.] — Minutes,  1769,  pp. 
390,  391. 


PAET    YI. 

DISORDERS  IN  ABINGDON  PRESBYTERY. 


CHAPTER  L 

FIRST  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DISORDER. 

§46.   A  Commission  of  the  General  S^nod. 

''Tlie  Synod  being  informed  that  several  disorders,  and  disagreeable  cir- 
cumstances have  taken  place  in  some  of  the  Churches  in  the  western  parts, 
especially  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  to  the  great 
prejudice  of  the  interests  of  religion  in  those  parts,  did  appoint  Mr. 
Mc'Corkle,  Mr.  Scott,  Mr.  ]Moses  Hoge,  Mr.  Francis  Cummings,  Mr.  John 
Smith  and  Mr.  Vance,  or  a  majority  of  them,  with  an  Elder  to  accompany 
each,  as  a  committee,  in  the  name  of  the  Synod,  to  meet  at  Salem  Church, 
on  the  waters  of  Nolachucky,  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  October  next, 
with  power  to  them  to  call  before  them  such  persons  concerned  in  these  dis- 
turbances, as  are  members  of  or  under  the  authority  of  this  Synod,  to  hear 
and  consider  what  shall  be  represented  to  them,  and  take  proof  of  disputed 
allegations,  if  necessary;  to  endeavour  with  prudence  and  meekness  to 
accommodate  the  diiferences ;  where  this  cannot  be  wholly  effected,  and 
matters  appear  to  them  to  be  ripe  for  decision,  and  they  be  unanimous,  to 
give  judgment;  if  not  unanimous,  that  they  cite  all  whom  they  think  neces- 
sary, to  appear  before  the  Synod  or  General  Assembly*  at  the  next  meeting, 
to  have  the  matter  fully  judged,  only  taking  care  in  any  case  where  proof  is 
necessary,  that  it  be  taken  upon  the  spot  that  there  may  be  no  unnecessary 
delay  of  a  final  and  efiectual  settlement.  They  are  also  empowered,  if  there 
appear  to  them  any  urgent,  or  very  doubtful  censures  inflicted  by  any  of  the 
parties  upon  others,  to  suspend  the  execution  till  the  meeting  of  the  Synod 
or  General  Assembly. 

"The  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon  are  required  by  Synod  to 
read  the  above  appointment  publicly  in  their  Congregations,  at  least  four 
weeks  before  the  meeting  of  the  committee,  and  this  reading  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  a  citation  to  all  parties  concerned,  to  appear;  and  if  any  fail  to 
appear,  the  committee,  however,  shall  proceed  to  take  evidence  as  they  shall 
see  cause;  and  no  evidence  pretended  to  be  produced  afterwards,  shall  be 
admitted  to  invalidate  the  measures  of  the  committee,  or  to  prevent  the 
decision  of  Synod." — Minutes,  1786,  p.  525. 

*  [The  General  Synod  was  at  the  time  engaged  in  the  preliminary  arrangements  for  the  organization 
of  the  Ucneral  Assembly.] 


612  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

§  47.    The  suJiJect  in  Si/nod  the  next  year. 

"  Ordered,  To  put  off  till  the  afternoon  the  further  consideration  of  the 
draught  of  a  plan  of  government  and  discipline,  in  order  to  inquire  into 
certain  disturbances  which  have  taken  place  in  the  west(#n  parts  of  the 
Church,  and  especially  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon ; 
for  the  settlement  of  which  a  committee  was  appointed  at  the  sessions  of 
Synod  in  178G,  to  meet  at  Salem,  in  Nola  Chuckey,  last  October. 

''JMr.  Hoge,  one  of  the  committee,  informed  the  Synod  that  he  was  the 
only  member  who  attended  ;  the  reasons  given  by  the  other  members  of  that 
committee  present  in  Synod  for  their  not  attending,  were  sustained. 

''The  Committee  of  Overtures  also  reported  a  petition  from  several  Elders 
and  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Nola  Chuckey,  setting  forth 
that  they  were  in  distressed  circumstances,  princij^ally  on  account  of  some 
irregular  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  and  requesting  the 
interposition  of  the  Synod  in  the  premises.  Upon  inquiring  into  the  nature 
of  the  uneasiness  subsisting  in  the  Churches  there,  as  referred  to  in  the  peti- 
tion, and  confirmed  by  the  minutes  of  last  Synod,  it  appeared  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Abingdon  was  charged  with  having  taken  upon  trial,  and 
licensed,  Mr.  James  Bulch,  under  improper  circumstances,  and  particularly 
while  under  suspension  by  Orange  Presbytery ;  that  some  members  of 
Abingdon  Presbytery  were  also  charged  with  having  countenanced  certain 
violent  proceedings  of  a  tumultuous  mob,  contrary  to  the  ministerial  and 
Christian  character,  and  that  several  other  irregularities  in  that  district 
occasioned  an  interruption  of  the  peace  of  the  Churches. 

"The  Synod,  upon  a  full  and  careful  investigation  of  the  subject, 
resolved,  that  the  said  James  Balch,  having  been  restored  to  the  communion 
of  the  Church  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover,  after  a  period  of  several  years, 
upon  a  certificate  exhibited  to  them  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  became 
a  proper  candidate  for  Presbyterial  trials,  and  at  his  licensure,  the  Presby- 
tery, then  met  according  to  adjournment,  was  competent  to  that  business, 
and  that,  therefore,  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  be  sustained.  With 
regard  to  the  other  subjects  of  difference  existing  within  these  bounds, 
inasmuch  as  several  of  the  parties  concerned  were  present,  it  was  resolved, 
that  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Rodgers,  Sproat,  Ewing,  Duffield,  McWhorter,  and 
Messrs.  Vangelder,  Snowden,  and  Taggert,  Elders,  should  be  a  committee 
to  meet  in  the  afternoon,  to  endeavour  to  bring  the  aforesaid  parties  to  an 
amicable  compromise,  and  to  lay  the  foundation,  if  possible,  to  prevent  all 
disputes  on  the  subjects  alleged  in  future;  and  that  the  said  committee 
make  report  to  Synod  on  the  result  of  their  endeavours." — Minutes,  1787, 
p.  536. 

§  48.  Decision  of  the  Stjnod. 

''The  committee  appointed  yesterday  to  converse  with  the  brethren  of 
Abingdon  Presbytery,  who  were  present,  and  to  endeavour  to  accommodate 
the  matters  of  uneasiness  among  them,  met  agreeably  to  order,  and  report 
as  follows : 

"That  they  heard  the  Abingdon  brethren  more  fully  than  they  had  been 
heard  before  Synod,  and  find  one  source  of  uneasiness  in  addition  to  what 
had  been  mentioned  in  their  county,  and  among  themselves,  was  about 
psalmody;  and  the  committee  after  hearing  them  fully,  recommended  to 
those  brethren,  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  love,  to  forgive  one  another,  and  bury 
in  oblivion  all  that  had  passed ;  and  they  readily  and  cheerfully  complied 
with  the  recommendation,  and  in  evidence  of  their  peace  and  amity  took 
each  other  by  the  right  hand;  and  they  promised  forbearance  towards  each 
other  in  those  matters  wherein  they  had    differed  in  judgment,   and  to 


Part  VI.]  DISORDERS  IN  ABINGDON  PRESBYTERY.  613 

encourage,  strengthen,  and  support  eacli  other,  in  advancing  the  common 
cause  of  their  Divine  Redeemer.  It  gave  your  committee  the  highest  plea- 
sure to  see  these  differences  and  dissensions  terminated  in  so  happy  an  issue, 
and  they  doubt  not  it  will  have  a  salutary  influence  upon  the  peace  of  the 
Church  in  those  parts;  and  in  order  to  accomplish  this  desirable  end,  that 
there  may  be  peace  and  brotherly  love  among  the  people  as  well  as  the  Min- 
isters, your  committee  propose  the  following  resolutions,  which  the  Synod 
adopted,  and  resolved  accordingly  : 

"  1st.  That  in  respect  to  political  differences  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
■which  occasioned  a  mob  or  riot,  the  Synod  highly  disapprove  of,  and  con- 
demn all  such  tumultuous  and  riotous  proceedings;  but  as  it  appears  by  a 
paper  signed  by  a  number  who  acknowledge  themselves  the  authors  of  the 
tumult,  and  also  from  the  testimony  of  Colonel  Cook,  that  Mr.  Balch  had 
no  hand  in  that  affair,  and  that  he  did  take  some  pains  to  restrain  those 
unhappy  proceedings  from  going  so  far  as  they  did,  therefore,  all  things 
considered,  we  do  not  think  him  blamable  in  that  matter. 

"  2d.  In  respect  to  psalmody,  the  Synod  have  allowed  the  use  of  the 
Imitation  of  the  Psalms  of  David  [Watts's]  for  many  years,  to  such  congre- 
gations as  choose  them,  and  still  allow  of  the  same,  but  they  are  far  from 
disapproving  of  Rouse's  version,  commonly  called  the  Old  Psalms,  in  those 
who  were  in  the  use  of  them  and  chose  them,  but  are  of  opinion  that 
either  may  be  used  by  the  Churches,  as  each  Congregation  may  judge  most 
for  their  peace  and  edification;  and  therefore  highly  disapprove  of  public, 
severe,  and  unchristian  censures  being  passed  upon  either  of  the  systems  of 
psalmody;  and  i-ecommend  it  to  all  Ministers  in  those  parts  of  the  Church, 
to  be  more  tender  and  charitable  on  these  heads. 

''3d.  In  regard  to  the  Presbytery's  excluding  two  Elders  from  sitting  in 
the  judicature  at  a  certain  time,  the  Synod  are  of  opinion,  that  the  Presby- 
tery had  some  support  for  so  doing  from  common  custom  and  usage,  but 
that  there  was  too  scrupulous  an  exactness  attended  to  in  that  matter,  and 
hope  that  such  events  will  be  guarded  against  in  future. 

"4th.  In  respect  to  the  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Balch,  through  the 
medium  of  the  press,  and  supposed  to  be  written  by  the  Rev.  William 
Gi'aham,  of  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  the  Synod  look  upon  the  same  as 
vei'y  unchristian,  and  unwarrantable  treatment  of  a  brother;  and  the  Synod 
do  order  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington  to  cite  Mr.  Graham  before  them,  and 
make  due  inquiry  whether  he  be  the  author,  and  into  the  reasons  of  his 
conduct  in  that  matter,  and  censure  or  acquit  him  as  the  nature  of  the  case 
may  appear,  and  report  their  proceedings  herein  to  the  next  Synod. 

^^  Ordered,  That  the  whole  of  the  proceedings  had  upon  the  affairs  of 
Abingdon  Presbytery,  both  at  the  last  Synod  and  at  the  present  sessions,  be 
inserted  in  the  Presbytery  book  of  Abingdon,  and  that  the  Ministers  of  that 
Presbytery  read  them  from  their  pulpits." — Minutes,  1787,  p.  537. 

[The  political  differences  above  alluded  to,  grew  out  of  the  abortive  attempt  to  erect  a 
new  State  west  of  the  mountains,  by  the  name  of  Frankland.  Mr.  Graham,  upon 
application  to  him,  drafted  a  constitution  for  the  new  State.  In  the  opposition,  Mr. 
Hezekiah  Dalch  took  part.  The  excitement  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  the  effigy  of  Mr. 
Graham,  with  that  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Houston,  was  burnt. 

§49.  Mr.  Graham  in  Presbytery. 
[In  obedience  to  the  direction  of  the  Synod,  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington  called  Mr. 
Graham  to  their  bar.  He  acknowledged  himself  the  author  of  the  letter  to  Mr.  Balch,] 
"and  produced  several  depositions  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  facts  with  which  he  charged 
Mr.  Balch,  and  especially  of  his  approving  of  the  conduct  of  the  mob  in  Frankland  in 
burning  the  effigies  of  Messrs.  Graham  and  Houston.  The  Presbytery,  therefore,  on 
mature  deliberation,  agree  that  although  they  could  wish  that  Mr.  Graham  had  been  more 


614  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

temperate  in  his  satire,  and  more  gentle  in  his  expostulations,  yet  that  the  treatment  he 
met  with  was  so  grossly  injurious,  that  they  cannot  suppose  him  to  merit  a  formal  cen- 
sure of  this  Presbytery,  on  account  of  said  letter." — Minutes  of  Presbytery,  in  Footers 
Virginia. 

[Probably  the  excitement  of  this  controversy  prepared  the  way  for  the  schism  in  the 
Presbytery  of  Abingdon.] 


CHAPTER  11. 

CASE  OF  REV,  HEZEKIAH  BALCH. 

§  50.    Origin  of  the  case. 

[Mr.  Balch  having  made  a  trip  into  New  England,  imbibed  the  theological  opinions 
which  were  put  forth  in  Dr.  Hopkins's  "System  of  Doctrines,"  then  recently  published. 
These  new  opinions  Mr.  Balch  published  in  the  form  of  Articles  of  Faith,  in  the  Knox- 
ville  Gazette.  In  propagating  thesfe  views,  he  was  overbearing  and  abusive.  The  sub- 
ject was  brought  before  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  and  upon  some  unmeaning  apologies 
from  Mr.  Balch,  it  was  dismissed.  Such  was  the  state  of  excitement  produced  by  these 
transactions,  that  five  of  the  leading  Ministers  in  the  Presbytery,  Messrs.  Charles  Cum- 
mins, Edward  Crawford,  Samuel  Doake,  Joseph  Lake,  and  James  Balch,  in  1797,  with- 
drew and  constituted  as  The  Independent  Abingdon  Presbytery;  professing  at  the  same 
time  their  readiness  to  the  Presbytery  so  soon  as  a  proper  exercise  of  discipline  should  be 
used  with  Balch  and  his  adherents.]* 

§  51.   First  action  of  the  Assembly. 

''The  Committee  of  Overtures  laid  before  the  Assembly  sundry  papers 
relative  to  the  situation  of  the  Church  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Abingdon;  and  after  some  progress  made  in  reading  them,  the  Assembly 
adjourned  till  half-past  3  o'clock,  P.  M." 

"As  it  appears  that  the  business  is  now  pending  before  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  and  there  is  an  adjourned  meeting  of  said  Synod  with  a  view  to 
issue  it,  the  Assembly  ought  not  judicially  to  interfere  in  it  till  it  shall  be 
decided  upon  by  the  Synod,  and  a  regular  appeal  be  made  from  said  deci- 
sion, or  the  whole  matter  be  referred  by  that  judicatory  to  the  Assembly; 
and  they  hereby  recommend  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  to  continue  their 
laudable  and  prudent  endeavours  to  bring  the  present  dispute  to  a  speedy 
issue. 

"On  motion,  it  was  agreed,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  draft  an 
address  to  the  Ministers  and  other  members  within  the  bounds  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Abingdon,  upon  the  subject  of  the  disturbances  there,  and  that 
Dr.  Smith,  Mr.  Arthur,  Mr.  Davis,  and  Mr.  Southard,  be  a  committee  to 
report  to-morrow  morning." — llinutcs,  1797,  pp.  125,  127. 

§  52.    The  Pastoral  Letter. 
"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States, 

to  the  Ministers  and  other  members  of  the  Churches  within  the  bounds 

of  the  Presbyteiy  of  Abingdon. 

"Friends  and  Fellow  Christians — It  is  with  extreme  sorrow  and  regret 
that  we  are  constrained  to  address  you  on  the  present  occasion.  At  our 
present  sessions  we  have  learned,  from  various  information,  that  ferments, 
animosities,  and  divisions  exist,  in  an  alarming  degree  amongst  you,  who 
have  heretofore  been  united  under  one  common  denomination.      In  direct- 

*  Foote's  North  Carolina,  p.  293. 


Part  VI.]  DISORDERS   IN   ABINGDON   PRESBYTERY.  615 

ing  our  attention  to  these  circumstances,  we  perceive  with  pain,  that  novel 
opinions,  or  at  least  opinions  presented  in  a  novel  dress  and  appearance, 
have  been  openly  and  extensively  circulated  amongst  you,  and  have  excited 
unusual  alarm;  whilst  at  the  same  time  they  have  given  rise  to  much  con- 
tention. We  are  also  apprehensive,  that  in  opposing  what  is  thought  to  be 
a  departure  from  the  plainness  and  simplicity  of  our  received  doctrines, 
some  of  our  brethren  have  been  precipitate  in  their  conduct.  They  appear 
to  have  separated  from  their  brethren,  without  having  in  a  constitutional 
manner  obtained  the  advice  and  decision  of  the  difTerent  judicatories  whose 
authority  they  had  been  used  to  acknowledge. 

"Whilst  we  express  our  deep  concern  at  these  unhappy  circumstances,  we 
do  not  conceive  ourselves  warranted  to  enter  into  a  judicial  investigation  of 
them,  nor  to  form  any  decision  thereon  at  present ;  as  they  have  not  yet 
been  brought  regularly  before  us.  We  have,  therefore,  thought  proper  to 
leave  the  whole  matter  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  in  whose  judgment, 
fidelity,  zeal,  and  discretion,  we  have  the  greatest  reliance;  and  whose  mem- 
bers must  have  the  best  opportunities  of  being  acquainted  with  all  the  facts 
and  circumstances.  But  whilst  we  thus  express  our  confidence  that  the 
competent  judicatory  will  discharge  their  duty  f;iithfully,  we  think  it  our 
duty  to  say  something  with  regard  to  ourselves.  We  take  the  present  occa- 
sion of  declaring  our  uniform  adherence  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  our 
Confession  of  Faith,  in  their  present  plain  and  intelligible  form;  and  our 
fixed  determination  to  maintain  them  against  all  innovations.  We  earnestly 
wish  that  nothing  subversive  of  these  doctrines  may  be  suffered  to  exist,  or 
to  be  circulated  amongst  the  churches;  we  hope  that  even  new  explanations 
of  our  known  principles,  by  unusual  and  offensive  phrases,  will  be  cautiously 
guarded  against,  lest  the  feelings  of  Christians  should  be  wounded,  the  cause 
of  religion  injured,  and  the  enemy  take  occasion  to  triumph  and  blaspheme. 
We  are  also  extremely  anxious  that  the  peace  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  its 
purity  of  doctrine,  maybe  preserved  inviolate;  that  everything  calculated  to 
inflame  the  passions,  to  invert  the  order  of  the  Church,  or  to  interrupt  and 
disturb  its  union,  will  be  cautiously  avoided.  We  are  willing  to  hope,  that 
both  Ministers  and  private  Christians  will  feel  all  the  force  of  the  Saviour's 
character  and  example,  who  was  meek  and  unassuming,  who,  when  he  was 
reviled,  reviled  not  again,  and  who  invites  us  to  learn  of  him  the  same 
temper.  We  conjure  you,  brethren,  to  consider  the  nature  and  genius  of 
our  holy  and  peaceful  religion,  and  to  act  under  its  influence.  Pray  for  the 
Spirit  of  grace  to  be  poured  forth  upon  the  Church  in  a  plentiful  efl'usion, 
as  the  best  enlightener  of  the  mind  and  healer  of  divisions.  Consider  the 
eternal  obligations  uuder  which  you  are  held  to  promote  the  glory  of  our 
common  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  to  contribute,  as  Christians,  your  united 
efforts  towards  the  increase,  purity,  peace,  and  prosperity  of  his  Church. 
This  duty  is  clear  and  express;  and  the  obligation  seems  to  ac([uire  peculiar 
force  at  this  time  of  general  calamity  to  religion,  and  of  more  fearful  expec- 
tation. When  infidelity  is  bold,  and  in  the  expectation  of  its  friends,  almost 
triumphant;  when  the  most  pernicious  errors  are  adopted  and  published  by 
professed  Christians;  and  when  indifference,  formality,  and  abounding 
iniquity  amongst  many  of  better  principles,  afford  sad  symptoms  of  the 
decline  of  pure  religion,  it  is  high  time  for  the  Ministers  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  awake  to  a  sense  of  their  situation  and  duty. 
In  this  way  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  may  lift  up  a  standard  against  the  com- 
mon enemy  when  he  comes  in  like  a  flood. 

"We  cannot  forbear  to  urge  upon  all  who  may  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
the  conduct  of  their  judicatories,  or  who  may  have  been  influenced  by 
extraordinary  misrepresentations,   to  return  into  a  connection   with  their 


616  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

brethren,  not  doubting  but  that  they  will  be  treated  with  tenderness  and 
regard. 

"  Finallj',  we  sincerely  wish  and  request  that  all  parties  may  submit  to 
the  jurisdiction,  advice,  and  decisions  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas;  that 
their  hands  may  be  strengthened  in  checking  error,  healing  divisions,  and 
maintaining  the  strict  and  prudent  exercise  of  discipline.  But  whilst  we 
thus  exhort  to  a  Christian  submission  to  the  authority  of  your  brethren  in 
the  Lord,  we  at  the  same  time  assure  you,  that  the  door  is  ever  open  for 
appeal  to  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  Church,  in  every  case  where  it  may 
be  apprehended  by  you  to  be  necessary." — Minutes,  1797,  p.  129. 

§53.    The  Commission  of  Synod. 

[The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  suspended  the  seceding  members  and  appointed  a  Com- 
mission to  meet  at  Mt.  Bethel,  Tennessee,  to  adjudicate  upon  the  matters  at  issue. 

'i'he  (Jommission  met  in  IVovember  1797.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Doake,  Jacob  Lake,  and 
James  Balch,  appeared,  and  upon  disavowing  the  Independent  Presbytery,  and  making 
proper  acknowledgments,  were  restored.  Several  parties  were  tried  and  censured  for 
disorders  arising  out  of  the  doctrinal  controversy,  and  the  creed  of  Mr.  Balch  was  refer- 
red to  the  General  Assembly.] 

§  54.   Balch  in  the  General  Assemhli/. 

''The  consideration  of  the  references  relative  to  Mr.  Balch  was  resumed; 
and  after  some  amendments  made  on  the  draught  brought  in  by  the  Com- 
mittee, it  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

/'They  remark  upon  the  first  article  of  the  creed  aforesaid,  that  Mr. 
Balch  is  erroneous  in  making  disinterested  benevolence  the  only  definition 
of  holiness,  or  true  religion;  because  this  may  perplex  the  minds  of  those 
not  accustomed  to  abstract  speculations,  is  questionable  in  itself,  and  may 
convey  the  idea  that  an  absolute  God,  or  a  God  out  of  Christ,  is  the  object 
of  the  highest  aifection  to  the  renewed  mind. 

"  On  the  second  article,  they  remark,  that  he  has  confounded  self-love 
with  selfishness  in  au  abstract  speculation,  calculated  to  puzzle  plain  Chris- 
tians, and  lead  to  unprofitable  disputes. 

"  On  the  third  article,  they  remark,  that  the  transferring  of  personal 
sin,  or  righteousness,  has  never  been  held  by  Calvinistic  divines,  nor  by  any 
person  in  our  Church,  so  far  as  is  known  to  us,  and  therefore  that  Mr. 
Balch's  observations  on  that  subject  appear  to  be  either  nugatory  or  calcu- 
lated to  mislead.  With  regard  to  his  doctrine  of  original  sin,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  that  he  is  erroneous  in  representing  personal  corruption  as  not 
derived  from  Adam;  making  Adam's  sin  to  be  imputed  to  his  posterity,  in 
consequence  of  a  corrupt  nature  alreadij  possessed,  and  derived  from  we 
knoio  not  what;  thus,  in  eft'ect,  setting  aside  the  idea  of  Adam's  being  the 
federal  head  or  representative  of  his  descendants,  and  the  whole  doctrine  of 
the  covenant  of  works. 

"It  is  also  manifest  that  Mr.  Balch  is  greatly  erroneous  in  asserting  that 
the  formal  cause  of  a  believer's  justification,  is  the  imputation  of  the  fruits 
and  efi'ects  of  Christ's  righteousness,  and  not  that  righteousness  itself; 
because  righteousness,  and  that  alone,  is  the  formal  demand  of  the  law,  and 
consequently  the  sinner's  violation  of  the  divine  law  can  be  pardoned  only 
in  virtue  of  the  Redeemer's  perfect  righteousness  being  imputed  to  him  and 
reckoned  as  his.  It  is  also  not  true  that  the  benefits  of  Christ's  righteous- 
ness are,  with  strict  propriety,  said  to  be  imputed  at  all ;  as  these  benefits 
flow  to  and  are  possessed  by  the  believer  as  a  consequence  of  his  justifica- 
tion, and  having  au  interest  in  the  infinite  merits  of  the  Saviour. 

"On  the  fourth  article  no  remark  is  necessary. 

"  On  the  fifth,  they  remark,  that  Mr.  Balch  appears  to  confound  senti- 


Part  VL]  DISORDERS   IN   ABINGDON   PRESBYTERY.  G17 

ment  witli  the  mere  perception  of  truth,  whereas  it  always  partakes  of  the 
disposition  of  the  heart,  and  consequently  involves  in  it  either  sin  or  holi- 
ness. The  article  as  stated  by  him,  contradicts  the  principle  laid  down  in 
the  introduction  to  our  Form  of  Grovernment,  and  levels  the  important  dis- 
tinction between  truth  and  falsehood,  so  as  to  be  liable  to  the  construction 
that  it  is  no  matter  what  a  man  believes.  And  though  Mr.  Balch  may  not, 
and  probably  did  not,  intend  to  insinuate  anything  disrespectful  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  where  he  asserts  that  'there  are  wrong  sentiments  in  the  Bible,' 
yet,  as  his  expression  is  liable  to  such  a  construction,  we  judge  it  highly 
censurable. 

"  On  the  sixth  and  seventh  articles,  no  remarks  seem  to  be  necessary, 
except  that  the  offence  given  by  the  reflection  cast  on  his  brethren,  the 
Presbyterians,  in  the  seventh,  has  been  sufficiently  removed  by  his  candid 
acknowledgment  before  the  Synod  and  G-eneral  Assembly. 

'<The  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  articles  require  no  remark,  except  that 
they  appear  to  be  unimportant. 

"On  the  twelfth  article,  they  remark,  that  his  observation  upon  love,  as 
exercised  by  the  human  race,  so  far  as  it  may  be  applicable  to  a  state  of 
infancy,  is  unintelligible;  and  that  though  a  distinction  may  be  made  be- 
tween regeneration  and  conversion,  yet  the  terms  in  which  the  article  is 
expressed  are  exceptionable,  as  they  seem  to  discourage  the  use  of  the  means 
of  grace. 

"On  the  thirteenth  article,  they  remark,  that  in  making  repentance  and 
faith  to  proceed  wholly  from  love  or  charity,  Mr.  Balch  has  expressed  an 
opinion  unnecessary  and  improper. 

"In  regard  to  the  subject  of  false  doctrine,  in  discoursing  from  Psalm  li. 
5,  and  Isa.  xlviii.  8,  nothing  seems  necessary  to  be  added  to  the  remarks 
made  on  the  subject  of  original  sin,  as  contained  in  Mr.  Balch's  creed, 
except  that  he  charges  Calvinistic  divines  with  holding  sentiments  relative 
to  infants  which  they  do  not  hold;  and  that  he  makes  positive  declarations 
in  regard  to  the  state  of  infants,  when  it  has  pleased  a  wise  and  holy  God 
to  be  silent  on  this  subject  in  the  revelation  of  his  will. 

"  On  the  whole,  your  committee  recommend  that  Mr.  Balch  be  required 
to  acknowledge  before  the  Assembly  that  he  was  wrong  in  the  publication 
of  his  creed;  that  in  the  particulars  specified  above,  he  renounce  the  errors 
pointed  out;  that  he  engage  to  teach  nothing  hereafter  of  a  similar  nature; 
that  the  Moderator  admonish  him  of  the  divisions,  disorder,  trouble,  and 
inconvenience  which  he  has  occasioned  to  the  Church  and  its  judicatories, 
by  his  imprudent  and  unwarrantable  conduct,  and  warn  him  against  doing 
anything  in  time  to  come,  that  may  tend  to  produce  such  serious  and  lament- 
able evils. 

"That  if  Mr.  Balch  submit  to  this,  he  be  considered  as  in  good  standing 
with  the  Church,  and  that  the  reference  and  the  queries  of  the  Synod  of 
the  Carolinas  be  considered  as  fully  answered  by  the  adoption  of  these 
measures." 

"From  this  decision,  Mr.  Langdon  [delegate  from  the  Association  of 
Connecticut]  and  Mr.  Williams  dissented. 

''Resolved — two-thirds  of  the  House  consenting — to  reconsider,  in  the 
decision  on  the  case  of  Mr.  Balch,  these  words,  'he  renounce  the  errors 
therein  pointed  out.' 

"It  was  moved  that  these  words  be  stricken  out  of  said  decision. 

"This  motion  was  determined  in  the  negative;  and  Mr.  Irwin  and  Mr. 
Langdon  asked,  and  obtained  leave,  to  have  their  dissent  from  the  opinion 
of  the  Assembly  in  this  last  vote,  entered  on  the  Minutes." 
78 


618  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

"  Mr.  Balch  appeared  before  the  General  Assembly,  and  made  the  fol- 
lowing declaration,  viz. 

''I  du  fully  acknowledge  that  I  was  wrong  in  publishing  my  Creed.  I  do 
solemnly  declare,  howevei",  as  in  the  presence  of  my  final  Judge,  that  I  never 
did  entertain  the  ideas,  nor  intend  to  teach  the  doctrines  which  are  pointed 
out  as  errors  in  the  statement  of  the  Assembly;  but  as  I  cannot  so  well  judge 
as  the  Assembly  what  ideas  my  language  actually  conveys,  and  the  Assem- 
bly declares  that  my  language  has  conveyed  these  ideas  and  doctrines  to 
their  minds,  I  do  fully  and  cheerfully  renounce  them  as  wrong  and  impro- 
per; and  I  do  solemnly  and  sincerely  engage,  in  a  reliance  on  divine  grace, 
never  hereafter  to  teach  or  preach  what  the  Assembly  have  stated  as  erro- 
neous; and  I  do  finally  and  cheerfully  submit  myself  to  the  admuuition  whicb 
the  Assembly  may  see  meet  to  give  for  my  irregularities,  which  I  acknow- 
ledge to  deserve  censure,  and  for  which  I  am  sincerely  sorry.'^ 

*' Whereupon  the  Moderator  gave  to  Mr.  Balch  the  solemn  admonition 
agreed  to;  and  then  the  Assembly  declared  themselves  fully  satisfied  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Balch,  and  that  he  is,  and  ought  to  be  considered  as  in  good 
standing  with  the  Church. 

"The  whole  transaction  was  concluded  with  prayer." — 3Iinutes,  1798, 
pp.  155,  157,  158. 

§  55.    Suhscquent  charges  against  Mr.  Balch. 

[At  the  sessions  of  Synod  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  1798,  a  reference  came  up  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Union,  (formed  by  the  division  of  Abingdon  the  previous  year,)  of 
charges  against  Mr.  Balch  comprehending  several  matters,  of  some  of  which  he  was  acquit- 
ted; and  in  one  or  two  points  convicted  of  censurable  conduct.  One  charge,  however,  viz. 
*'  saying,  since  his  return  from  the  General  Assembly,  that  he  was  fifty  thousand  times 
stronger  in  belief  of  that  definition  of  holiness,  (alluding  to  his  Creed)  than  he  was  before 
he  went  away  " — he  confessed,  and  that  his  only  objection  was,  it  was  not  strong  enough  ; 
instead  of  fifty  thousand  limes,  he  would  say,  five  hundred  thousand  times.  The  follow- 
ing extracts  from  the  Minutes  of  Synod  show  the  result.] 

§56. 

«'  The  Synod,  after  mature  deliberation,  judge  that  Mr.  Balch  has  acted  with  duplicity 
in  expressing  himself  as  laid  down  in  the  charge,  considering  the  judgment  of  the  Assem- 
bly, and  his  submission  to  that  judgment.'' 

"The  Synod  do  hereby  suspend  him  from  the  exercise  of  his  office  as  a  Minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  refer  him  to  the  Presbytery  of  Union,  to  which  he  belongs,  who  will  be  ade- 
quate to  the  removal  of  the  suspension,  when  reformation  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Balch  shall 
open  the  way." 

§57. 

[Mr.  Balch  was  subsequently  restored.  The  seed  thus  early  sown  by  Mr.  Balch  and 
others,  who,  sympathizing  with  him,  more  cautiously  preached  the  same  doctrines,  brought 
forth  its  fruit  when,  at  the  time  of  the  New-school  Schism  of  1838,  East  Tennessee  was 
in  a  great  measure  lost  to  the  Church.] 

§  58.    The  Independent  Preshytery  in  the  Assembly. 

*'A  reference  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Edward 
Crawford's  suspension  was  read.  There  were  also  read  two  letters  from  Mr. 
Crawford,  a  minute  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  at  their  sessions  of 
August  1796;  a  representation  from  the  same  Presbytery  to  the  Synod  of 
the  Carolinas  on  the  conduct  of  the  Independent  Brethren;  a  letter  from  the 
Synod  of  the  Carolinas  at  their  sessions  of  November  1796,  to  the  Indepen- 
dent Brethren;  a  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon  at  their  sessions 
in  June  1797,  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  on  Mr.  Balch's  Creed;  and 
a  minute  from  the  records  of  the  same  Presbytery,  containing  proposals  of 


Part  VI.]  DISORDEKS   IN   ABINGDON   PRESBYTERT.  619 

accommodation  to  the  Independent  Brethren.     And  after  some  deliberation 
on  these  subjects  they  were  postponed  for  further  consideration." 

"The  consideration  of  the  reference  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
respecting  Mr.  Crawford,  was  resumed,  and  after  deliberation,  the  Assembly 
adjudged — That  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod,  so  far  as  the  matter  has 
appeared  to  the  Assembly,  have  been  regular  and  constitutional,  and  that 
Mr.  Crawford  ought  to  have  submitted  to  the  act  of  suspension  when  fully 
informed  of  it,  and  ought  to  have  returned  with  the  other  Independent  Bre- 
thren at  the  meeting  of  the  Commission  of  Synod,  that  he  might  have  been 
restored  to  orderly  standing;  but  inasmuch  as  he  has  not  done  this,  and  has 
moreover,  in  his  letters  to  this  Assembly,  ill-treated  the  Synod  of  the  Caro- 
linas, the  Assembly  deem  it  their  duty  to  continue  his  suspension  until  he 
shall  make  proper  acknowledgments  to  the  Synod,  and  submit  himself  to  the 
order  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  be  in  regular  manner  restored. 

<'  And  whereas.  There  appears  in  one  of  the  letters  of  Mr.  Crawford  to 
this  Assembly  complaints  against  the  Rev.  James  Hall,  amounting  to  a 
charge  of  falsehood  and  forgery,  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  examine  certain 
documents  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  relative  to  these  matters,  which 
iucoutestably  prove  these  charges  to  be  unfounded.  And  for  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  character  of  this  brother,  and  the  information  of  all  concerned, 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  transmit  to  Mr.  Crawford  an  attested 
copy  of  the  above  Minute,  and  that  the  Rev.  jMr.  Doak  read  a  copy  thereof 
from  the  pulpit  in  the  Congregations  lately  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Mr. 
Crawford." — Minutes,  1798,  p.  157. 


PAET  YIL 

THE    NEW-LIGHT    HERESY. 


§  59.    The  origin  of  it. 

[The  Hopkinsian  principles  which  in  the  Caroiinas  and  Tennessee  were  developed  in 
the  heresies  of  Balch  and  Davis,  yielded  a  still  more  abundant  harvest  in  Kentucky,  in 
the  Pelagianism  of  Thomas  B.  Craifjhead,  and  of  the  followers  of  Barton  W.  Stone,  which 
in  the  latter  case  were  fully  ripened  into  a  Socinian  apostasy. 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  held  in  1803,  it  appeared  on  review 
of  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Washington,  that  a  memorial  had  been  presented  to  the 
Presbytery,  charging  two  of  its  members,  Messrs.  Richard  McNemar  and  John  Thompson, 
with  holding  certain  dangerous  errors.  It  also  appeared  that  at  a  previous  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery,  McNemar  had  been  subjected  to  a  judicial  examination,  and  convicted  and 
censured  for  holding  Arminian  tenets;  and  yet  the  memorial  had  been  utterly  disregarded, 
and  a  call  was  put  into  McNemar's  hands.  The  Synod  approved  the  examination  of 
McNemar,  and  censured  the  neglect  of  the  memorial,  and  then  resolved  upon  an  examin- 
ation of  Messrs.  Thompson  and  McNemar,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  correctness  of 
the  charges  against  them.  At  this  juncture,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Robert  Marshall,  Barton 
W.  Stone,  Richard  McNemar,  John  Thompson,  and  John  Dunlavy,  laid  in  a  protest  and 
dechnature  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Synod,  and  withdrew. 

A  committee  was  appointed  by  the  tiynod  to  endeavour  to  reclaim  them,  but  without 
effect.  The  next  day,  the  seceders  came  into  the  Synod  in  a  body,  and  informed  it  that 
they  had  formed  themselves  into  a  Presbytery.  Upon  this  the  Synod  suspended  them 
severally  from  the  office  of  the  Ministry,  and  declared  their  pulpits  vacant,  and  referred 
them  to  their  several  Presbyteries,  to  be  restored  upon  repentance. 

Such  was  the  case  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  in  1804.] 

§  60.  A  Committee  to  visit  the  Synod  of  Kentuclcy. 

"  A  letter  was  received,  signed  by  the  Kev.  Messrs.  James  Blythe,  Johu 
Lyle,  and  llobert  Stuart,  as  a  committee  of  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexing- 
ton, praying  the  attention  of  this  Assembly  to  the  unhappy  division  which 
has  taken  place  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky;  and  that  measures  may  be  taken 
by  the  Assembly  for  healing  the  breach,  or  at  least  preventing  the  extension 
of  it.  Certain  pamphlets  accompanying  the  said  letter,  were  also  laid  before 
the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1804,  p.  293. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  the  division  in  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  reported.  The  report  was  read,  amended,  and  adopted, 
as  follows : 

'^Yoixr  committee,  having  attended  carefully  to  the  pamphlets  and  letter 
on  that  subject,  are  of  opinion  the  business  comes  before  the  Assembly  in  so 
informal  a  manner,  that  no  regular  judicial  process  can  issue  thereon  in  the 
present  Assembly;  and  that  the  most  eligible  measures  the  Assembly  can 
take  in  the  case,  will  be  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  members  to  meet 


Part  VII.]  THE   NEW-LIGHT   HERESY.  621 

with  tlie  Synod,  or  a  committee  of  the  Synod  of  Kentuelcy,  and  endeavour 
to  heal  the  disorders  which  appear  from  the  above  pamphlets  and  letters  to 
have  taken  place  in  the  bounds  of  said  Synod. 

"  Your  committee  beg  leave  further  to  report,  that  in  their  opinion  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  of  this  Assembly,  and  the  adoption  of  the  pas- 
toral letter  read  last  evening,  will  supersede  the  necessity  of  a  letter 
addressed  particularly  to  jMessrs.  Blythe,  Lyle  and  Stuart." — Minutes,  1804, 
p.  311. 

[Drs.  Hall  and  Green,  and  Mr.  Marques,  were  appointed  the  committee,  and  Messrs. 
Alexander,  Le  Grand,  and  Baxter,  alternates.] — Ibid. 

§  61.  Proceedings  of  the  Committee  of  Visitation. 

J' The  committee  appointed  yesterday  to  draught  and  lay  before  this 
Assembly  a  statement  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  of 
the  committee  of  last  Assembly  that  met  with  them,  respecting  the  division 
of  that  Synod,  exhibited  the  following  report,  viz. 

*' Your  committee  have  had  the  subject  of  their  appointment  under  con- 
sideration, and  submit  the  following  statement  of  facts,  derived  from  authen- 
tic sources,  viz.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Marques  and  Le 
Grand,  being  the  full  complement  of  the  committee  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose by  last  Assembly,  met  with  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  the  16th  day  of 
October  last;  the  members  of  the  Synod  were  generally  present,  and  all  the 
dissenting  brethren,  except  one,  who  was  said  to  be  sick.  They  had  various 
interviews  with  the  protesters  in  private,  but  found  every  eifort  of  friendly 
accommodation  counteracted  by  marks  of  prejudice,  obstinacy,  and  preme- 
ditated decision. 

(a)  "  Agreeably  to  the  suggestion  of  the  General  Assembly,  a  commit- 
tee was  appointed  by  the  Synod,  to  confer  with  the  committee  of  the 
Assembly. 

"In  a  conference  between  this  joint  committee  and  the  dissenters,  the 
following  questions  were  proposed  by  the  committee,  to  which  the  dissenters 
returned  the  annexed  answers. 

^'■Question  1.  What  were  your  reasons  for  renouncing  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church? 

^^ Answer  1.  Because  we  believed  that  those  bodies  with  which  we  stood 
connected,  acted  contrary  to  their  own  rules. 

"2.  But  especially  because  the  Confession  of  Faith,  or  standard  of  that 
Church,  contained  several  things  which  we  viewed  as  contrary  to  the  word 
of  God;  on  which  account  we  could  not  retain  it  as  the  standard  of  our 
faith,  or  submit  to  be  judged  and  condemned  by  its  dictates.  This  we  saw 
evidently  to  be  the  design  of  Synod.  Other  reasons,  and  the  train  of 
circumstances,  which  in  a  gradual  chain,  brought  the  matter  to  that  issue, 
are  fully  exhibited  in  our  apology,  to  which  we  refer  all  who  want  informa- 
tion. While  we  were  let  alone,  we  were  willing  to  let  the  Confession  of 
Faith  alone  :  but  as  soon  as  we  found  that  our  sentiments  were  to  be  brought 
to  that  standard,  we  renounced  its  authority. 

'■^Question  2i.  Can  any  method  of  accommodation  be  proposed  which  may 
induce  you  to  return  to  the  jurisdiction  of  that  Church,  and  heal  the  divi- 
sion which  has  taken  place  in  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  ? 

^^ Answer.  To  the  first  part  of  this  question,  we  answer  in  the  negative; 
so  long  as  they  retain  the  Confession  of  Faith  as  the  standard  of  doctrine 
and  discipline,  because  we  cannot  receive  that  book  as  our  standard. 

''When  we  withdrew,  we  considered  ourselves  freed  from  all  creeds  but 
the  Bible ;  and  since  that  time,  by  constant  application  to  it,  we  are  led  far- 
ther from  the  idea  of  adopting  creeds  and  confessions  as  standards,  than  we 


622  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

were  at  first;  couscquently  to  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  tliat  Church 
now,  is  entirely  out  of  the  question. 

"We  feel  ourselves  citizens  of  the  world;  God  our  common  Father;  all 
men  our  brethren  by  nature,  and  all  Christians  our  brethren  in  Christ.  This 
principle  of  universal  love  to  Christians,  gains  ground  in  our  hearts,  in  pro- 
portion as  we  get  clear  of  particular  attachments  to  party.  We  therefore 
cannot  put  ourselves  in  a  situation  which  would  check  the  growth  of  so 
benign  a  temper,  and  make  us  fight  under  a  party  standard. 

"Notwithstanding  we  conceive  that  we  can  propose  a  method  of  accom- 
modation, which,  with  the  divine  blessing,  will  heal  the  division  which 
subsists  between  both  Ministers  and  people  throughout  the  bounds  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  as  follows  : 

"  1.  Let  us  remember  that  all  Christians  are  one  in  Christ;  members  of  his 
body;  partakers  of  his  nature,  and  heirs  of  his  kingdom;  therefore  they 
have  no  power  over  one  another  to  cut  off,  exclude,  or  unite. 

"2.   Let  us  pray  for  more  of  the  uniting,  cementing  spirit. 

"3.  Treat  differences  in  lesser  matters  with  Christian  charity  and  mutual 
forbearance,  and  bend  our  united  force  to  the  common  cause. 

"4.  Give  up  the  care  of  the  Church  to  God,  by  constant  fervent  prayer; 
counsel,  admonish,  advise,  reprove,  comfort,  and  strengthen  one  another,  as 
necessity  may  require,  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  meekness;  then  will  be 
accomplished  that  saying,  that  '  of  the  rest,  durst  no  man  join  himself  unto 
them.' 

(h)  "  It  was  thought  proper  to  publish  these  proceedings,  and  with  them, 
'An  address  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  to  the  Churches  under  their 
care.'  " 

§62. 

"The  address  is  as  follows: 

"Dear  Brethren — It  is  with  much  satisfaction  we  inform  you,  that  the 
kingdom  of  our  divine  Redeemer  is  extending  its  limits,  and  difi'using 
abroad  its  gracious  influences.  When  we  cast  our  eyes  toward  the  eastern 
continent,  we  are  revived  with  the  prospect.  Many  vigorous  and  pious 
exertions  are  making  in  Europe,  that  the  light  of  the  gospel  may  be  afforded 
to  the  benighted  corners  of  the  earth.  The  Sun  of  Righteousness  appears  to 
be  rising  with  healing  in  his  wings.  In  Africa,  Asia,  and  the  islands  of 
the  South  Sea,  the  name  of  Jesus  begins  to  be  known,  the  standard  of  the 
great  Redeemer  is  erected,  and  many  are  flocking  to  it ;  in  America  also, 
the  Lord  seems  in  a  remarkable  manner  to  be  visiting  his  heritage. 

"By  consulting  that  part  of  the  extracts  of  the  minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly,  published  with  this  address,  you  will  see  what  strenuous,  and  un- 
remitting endeavours  are  making  by  that  body,  to  promote  the  extension 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  God  seems  to  be  giving  the  heathen  to  his 
Son  for  his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  pos- 
session. 

"We  do  with  unfeigned  hearts  join  with  you  to  give  thanks  to  Almighty 
God,  that  he  has  in  so  remarkable  a  manner  visited  these  parts  of  the  earth 
where  our  lot  is  cast;  that  he  has  made  the  wilderness  a  fruitful  field,  has 
warmed  the  hearts  of  many  of  his  people  with  his  love,  and  brought  many 
sinners  among  us  to  the  knowlege  of  the  truth.  We  now  solemnly  promise 
to  you  and  to  each  other,  that  we  will  unite  all  our  endeavours  to  promote 
the  essential  parts  of  this  revival. 

"It  is,  however,  with  deep  regret,  that  we  are  constrained  again  to  call 
your  attention  to  that  most  unhappy  division  which  has  taken  place  in  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  tending  greatly  to  becloud  this  glorious  day,  divide  the 
hearts  of  God's  people,  and  damp  the  flame  of  Christian  love. 


Part  VII.]  THE   NEW-LIGHT   HERESY.  623 

"  We  are  sensible,  that  the  interests  of  religion  depend  much  upon  the 
harmony  and  unity  of  professing  Christians.  Our  design  is  not  to  foment 
divisions,  but,  as  far  as  in  our  power,  to  establish  the  minds  of  sincere 
inquirers  on  the  firm  basis  of  truth.  Since  the  circular  letter  which  was 
before  directed  to  the  Churches  under  our  care  was  written,  the  ground  on 
which  our  suspended  brethren  stand,  is  considerably  changed. 

"We  therefore  conceive  it  to  be  our  indispensable  duty  to  give  you  a  just 
and  true  account  of  their  present  standing.  They  have  now  not  only 
rejected  the  authorities  of  the  Presbyteries  and  S^mod,  and  the  pacific  mea- 
sures pursued  by  them,  but  have  also  refused  to  hearken  to  the  entreaties 
and  counsels  of  the  General  Assembly,  by  their  committee,  appointed  for 
the  express  purpose  of  bringing  about  a  conciliation.  They  can  now  no 
longer,  with  any  appearance  of  truth,  publish  to  the  world  that  they  were 
illegally  and  untenderly  dealt  with,  when  the  members  composing  the  com- 
mittee of  the  General  Assembly,  have  approbated  the  proceedings  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky. 

"We  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  their  own  words  on  this  subject.  That  you 
may  be  impartially  informed  of  the  present  state  of  their  minds,  and  also  the 
measures  used  upon  this  occasion,  we  beg  leave  also  to  lay  before  you  some 
extracts  from  the  minutes  of  the  joint  committees,  with  a  view  of  the  subse- 
quent proceedings. 

"  Consider,  dear  brethren,  the  pernicious  tendency  of  their  present  disor- 
ganizing plan.  Under  the  specious  pretence  of  honouring  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, they  would  persuade  you  to  reject  all  written  or  printed  creeds  and 
forms  of  discipline,  alleging  that  those  who  adopt  such,  substitute  them  for 
divine  inspiration. 

"But,  dear  brethren,  we  presume  you  need  scarcely  be  informed  of  the 
absurdity  of  such  insinuations.  You  know  that  we,  you  know  that  you  your- 
selves consider  them  differently.  Confessions  or  creeds  are  only  the  doc- 
trines which  we  believe  to  be  revealed  to  us  from  heaven,  collected  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  sacred  Scripture,  and  brought  into  one  view.  Must  not  all 
who  read  their  Bibles  and  believe  them,  form  some  opinion  of  what  is  taught 
therein  ?  And  where  can  be  the  criminality,  when  they  have  thus  searched 
and  collected,  to  publish  what  they  believe  to  be  the  truths  of  God?  In  so 
doing,  we  act  in  open  day,  as  children  of  the  light,  and  do  not  leave  the 
world  to  conjecture  whether  we  be  Pelagians,  Semi-Pelagians,  Catholics, 
Arminians,  or  Calvinists;  or  whether  we  differ  essentially  from  them  all. 
We  do  not  leave  those  with  whom  we  would  unite  in  the  most  tender  and 
endearing  bonds,  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  we  believe  or  disbelieve  what 
they  esteem  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Reject  all  written 
creeds  !  and  why  not  with  the  same  propriety  all  verbal  ones  ?  What  must 
then  follow?  Those  who  believe  our  blessed  Saviour  to  be  no  more  than  a 
mere  man,  and  those  who  believe  in  his  divine  nature;  those  who  believe  that 
God  will  manifest  an  eternal  displeasure  against  sin,  and  those  who  believe 
he  will  finally  receive  all  wicked  men  and  devils  into  his  favour;  in  short, 
those  who  believe  the  truth,  and  those  whose  creed  exhibits  the  most  glaring 
errors  and  contradictions,  may  all  unite  together,  enjoy  the  same  privileges, 
and  svxrround  the  same  board  of  communion.  Can  light  and  darkness  have 
fellowship  together?  Or  can  there  be  concord  between  Christ  and  Belial? 
Is  there  no  necessity  for  a  people,  about  to  put  themselves  under  the  pas- 
toral care  of  a  shepherd,  to  know  what  kind  of  doctrines  they  are  to  be 
taught?  or  is  it  perfectly  indifferent  which  of  the  above  contradictory  sys- 
tems they  receive  ? 

"But  if  we  attend  to  their  sentiments  on  church  government  and  dis- 
cipline, we  will  find  them  no  less  anti-scriptural,  and  subversive  of  all  good 


624  HERESIES    AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

order  in  Christ's  kingdom.  Their  own  declaration  is,  '  Christians  ha^-e  no 
power  over  one  another  to  cut  oflF,  exclude,  or  unite.' 

''  But  it  will  be  seriously  asked,  dear  brethren,  in  what  light  these  sus- 
pended members  are  to  be  considered? 

"  As  private  Christians,  we  hope  you  will  esteem  them  just  so  far  as  their 
sentiments  and  practice  correspond  with  the  word  of  God.  But  they  are  not 
to  be  considered  by  you  as  clothed  with  any  ministerial  authority,  or  legally 
qualified  to  administer  any  of  the  ordinances  of  God's  house — of  such 
authority  these  men  can  give  no  evidence.  As  to  an  internal  call,  God  only 
is  judge.  The  external  evidence,  by  which  alone  the  world  can  judge,  is 
the  testimonials  of  licensure  and  ordination,  '  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands 
of  the  Presbytery.'  1  Tim.  iv.  14.  It  is  true,  these  men  were  once  set 
apart  to  the  ministry  in  the  usual  way;  but  it  is  likewise  true,  that  several 
Presbyteries,  constituted  into  a  Synod,  have  suspended  them  from  the  exer- 
cise of  their  ministerial  function. 

"That  God  has  invested  the  Church  judicatories  with  a  such  a  power,  is 
evident  from  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

"The  keys  of  God's  visible  kingdom  are  put  into  the  hands  of  Church 
officers;  and  they  have  power,  not  only  to  invest  men  with  authority,  but  to 
suspend,  depose,  and  cut  off,  when  their  sentiments  and  conduct  are  contrary 
to  the  word  of  God,  and  the  received  doctrines  of  the  Church.  '  A  man  that 
is  an  heretic,  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject.'  Titus  iii.  10. 
The  evident  design  of  Church  censure,  is  to  reclaim  offenders,  and  prevent 
offences  in  those  who  have  not  yet  transgressed.  'Them  who  sin,  rebuke 
before  all,  that  others  may  fear.'  1  Tim.  v.  20.  And  in  order  to  produce 
these  effects,  the  members  of  the  Church  are  commanded,  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  to  withdraw  from  such  as  walk  disorderly,  that  they  may  be  ashamed : 
'Now  we  command  you,  brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother  who  walketh  disorderly,  and 
not  after  the  tradition  which  he  received  from  us;  and  if  any  obey  not  our 
word,  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man  and  have  no  company  with  him,  that  he 
may  be  ashamed.'  2  Thess.  iii.  6.  14. 

"It  cannot  be  reasonably  denied,  that  it  is  disorderly  for  any  person  to 
preach  the  word,  or  administer  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  who  is  not 
clothed  with  ministerial  authority.  Compare  2  Chron.  xxvi.  18,  with 
Heb.  V.  4. 

"  To  attend,  therefore,  upon  such  ministrations,  is  at  least  to  encourage 
disorder.  Such  conduct  is  a  breach  of  God's  law^  and  is  a  moral  evil.  If 
it  be  admitted  that  God  has  instituted  the  exercise  of  discipline  as  a  mean 
of  reclaiming  offenders,  those  who  take  persons  under  Church  censure  into 
their  bosom  and  caress  them,  defeat  the  intention  of  the  ordinances  of  God, 
harden  such  offenders  and  endanger  their  souls. 

"Dear  brethren,  we  are  very  unwilling  to  say  anything  respecting  their 
great  zeal  and  apparent  engagedness  in  preaching  the  word,  and  administer- 
ing the  ordinances. 

"But,  however  disagreeable  it  may  be,  yet  a  regard  for  your  souls  and  the 
cause  of  truth,  obliges  us  to  observe,  that  gravity  and  apparent  zeal  have 
been  usually  attempted  to  gain  the  ear  and  confidence  of  the  public,  by  a 
great  variety  of  sects  that  have  sprung  up  in  the  Christian  Church  since  the 
lleformation. 

"  We  apprehend,  many  honest  persons  among  you  have  great  difficulties 
in  your  mind,  arising  from  your  former  attachment  to  the  men  who  have 
been  suspended.  You  are  anxiously  desiring  to  obtain  liberty  to  commune 
and  hold  Christian  intercourse  with  them.  We  would  wish  to  gratify  you 
in  this  particular,  could  we  without  violating  the  precepts  of  the  gospel;  we 


Part  VII.]  THE    NEW-LIGHT   HERESY.  625 

refer  jou  on  this  subject  to  Matt.  chap,  x.,  and  Rom.  svi.  17,  18,  together 
with  the  passages  of  Scripture  ah-eady  quoted,  and  to  the  uniform  practice 
of  all  well  regulated  churches. 

''  Dear  brethren,  as  we  take  no  pleasure  in  depreciating  the  characters  of 
others,  we  forbear  to  make  further  remarks,  but  entreat  you  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  remember  that  men  who  have  renounced  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  cannot  with  propriety  be  countenanced  by  those 
who  are  friendly  to  order;  and  consequently  those  who  attend  on  their  min- 
istrations must  be  considered  as  opening  afresh  the  wounds  with  which  the 
Church  has  been  made  to  bleed,  and  causing  the  children  of  God  in  many 
parts  of  the  world  to  weep  in  distress.  Grieve  not  your  aged  brethren,  who 
have  long  borne  the  burdens  of  the  Church,  and  laboured  to  maintain  peace 
and  unity  therein.  Beware  lest  you  wound  the  lambs  of  Christ's  flock,  and 
cast  a  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  sinners.  Let  us  not  tear  down  the  bar- 
riers by  which  order  has  long  been  preserved.  Open  not  the  door  by  which 
men  of  corrupt  principles  may  enter  and  disseminate  their  poisonous  senti- 
ments among  our  unguarded  youth,  who  are  by  nature  more  prone  to  imbibe 
error  than  truth.  We  therefore  pray  you,  dear  brethren,  as  you  regard  the 
glory  of  God,  the  peace  of  Zion,  your  own  comfort,  the  salvation  of  your 
dear  oifspring,  and  the  happiness  of  your  fellow  men,  that  you  do  not  coun- 
tenance or  aid  in  any  way,  what  may  appear  inimical  to  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  Zion. 

'"Now  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord 
Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the  ever- 
lasting covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work,  to  do  his  will,  work- 
ing in  you  that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ; 
to  whom  be  glory  for  ever.     Amen.'  James  Kemper,  3Ioderator. 

John  P.  Campbell,   Clerk." 

§6.3. 

''It  appears  that  this  meeting  of  the  Synod  and  the  Assembly's  commit- 
tee, took  place  at  an  unfavourable  period,  and  when  it  was  too  late  to  effect 
a  conciliation.  The  dissenting  brethren  had  already  taken  their  ground. 
They  had  declared  and  published  their  sentiments;  they  had  erected  their 
standard,  and  enlisted  a  number  of  zealous  disciples.  It  was  a  time  when 
the  public  mind  was  greatly  agitated  and  divided  on  religious  subjects,  and 
a  spirit  of  disputation  greatly  prevailed.  It  was  the  opinion  of  many,  that 
the  dissenters  had  been  at  great  pains  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the 
committee  before  they  met  on  this  business.  They  had  appointed  a  camp- 
meeting  (so  called)  the  Sabbath  immediately  preceding  the  meeting  of  Synod, 
and  given  notice  of  it  in  the  public  papers.  This  meeting  was  appointed 
at  a  place  called  Bethel;  and  the  reason  assigned  for  appointing  it  at  this 
place,  was,  that  it  was  central  to  three  States,  viz.  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
and  Ohio.  It  was  also  stated  in  the  publication,  that  the  Lord's  Supper 
would  be  administered,  their  sentiments  explained,  and  that  a  number  of 
preachers  were  expected.  A  vast  concourse  of  people  assembled.  Numbers 
came  from  the  distance  of  between  one  and  two  hundred  miles,  and 
encamped  on  the  ground  for  several  days.  The  Loi'd's  Supper  was  admin- 
istered to  a  promiscuous  multitude,  and  nearly  to  all  who  desired  to  partici- 
pate. This  extraordinary  meeting,  however,  was  thought,  upon  the  wliole, 
to  have  operated  against  their  cause.  The  more  judicious  part  of  the 
audience  disapproved  of  such  disorder  and  confusion,  and  left  the  place  dis- 
gusted. 

''This  representation  may  serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  state  of  affairs  in 
that  part  of  the  country  when  the   Synod  met.     It  will   not,  therefore, 
79 


626  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

appear  strange  that  the  endeavours  of  the  committee  to  effect  a  reconcilia- 
tion and  restore  peace,  proved  abortive. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  it  appears  that,  however  the  committee  may  have  failed 
in  accomplishing  the  great  object  contemplated  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
their  appointment,  their  mission  has  not  been  altogether  fruitless;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  productive  of  several  salutary  effects.  They  met  with  a 
cordial  reception,  not  only  from  the  Synod,  but  also  from  all  who  owned  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  place.  It  had  a  beneficial 
influence  on  the  public  mind,  as  it  manifested  the  solicitous  concern  of  the 
General  Assembly  for  a  distant  and  suffering  member  of  their  body.  It 
had  a  happy  tendency  to  reclaim  some,  and  establish  others  who  were  waver- 
ing, and  seemed  to  'halt  between  two  opinions.'" 

''  The  above  report  having  been  considered,  the  Assembly 
"  Resolved,  That  they  highly  approve  the  firm  and  temperate  measures 
taken  by  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  the  committee  of  Assembly  that  met 
with  them;  and  are  of  opinion,  that  the  committee,  besides  the  pecuniary 
indemnity  assigned  them,  are  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  Assembly  for 
the  diligence,  prudence,  zeal,  and  fidelity,  with  which  they  appear  to  have 
executed  their  commission." — Minutes,  1805,  p.  325. 

§  64.    Sequel  of  the  Seceders. 

[In  1805,  Matthew  Houston  sent  to  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  a  declinature  of  its 
authority,  designing  to  join  the  New-Light  party.  He  was  at  once  suspended  by  the 
Presbytery. 

Of  these  men,  Houston,  McNemar,  and  Dunlavy,  before  the  end  of  the  year  1805, 
had  joined  the  Shakers;  Stone,  repudiated  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  being 
left  tlie  sole  leader  of  the  party,  finally  carried  it  into  the  bosom  of  the  sect  of  Campbellites 
Some  congregations  still  retain  their  separation  under  the  name  of  "  Christians."  Messrs. 
Marshall  and  Thompson,  in  1811,  presented  themselves  at  the  bar  of  Synod,  declaring 
their  penitence  for  their  share  in  these  transactions,  and  submitting  to  a  satisfactory 
examination  upon  the  doctrines  which  had  been  called  in  question.  The  subsequent  life 
of  Mr.  Marshall,  vindicated  the  sincerity  of  these  professions.  Mr.  Thompson  united  in 
the  New  school  secession  of  1838.] 


PART  YIIL 

THE    CUMBERLAND    SCHISM. 


§  65.    Origin  of  the  disorders  in  Cinnherland  Preshyfery. 

[The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  at  its  first  meeting  in  the  fail  of  1802,  erected  the  western 
part  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  into  the  Cumberland  Presbytery.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  held  the  previous  fall,  in  the  Cumberland  region,  and  at 
which,  owing  to  the  great  distance,  but  few  members  from  the  upper  part  were  present, 
Messrs.  Alexander  Anderson,  Finis  Ewing,  and  Samuel  King,  uneducated  men  of 
advanced  age,  "  oflered  themselves  to  the  Presbytery  for  the  service  of  the  Church."  After 
a  long  discussion,  the  Rev.  David  Rice  was  appointed  to  hear  them  read  in  private  dis- 
courses, which  they  had  prepared  under  the  advice  of  the  "revival  preachers"  of  the  body. 
Mr.  Rice  reported  favourably,  and  the  candidates  were  "  appointed  to  the  business  of  ex- 
hortation and  catechizing;"  and  directed  to  present  other  discourses  at  the  next  meeting, 
which  was  appointed  to  be  held  in  the  same  region  in  the  following  spring.  These  men 
immediately  divided  the  vacant  churches  of  the  Cumberland  country  into  three  circuits, 
which  they  regularly  traversed,  and  "  without  the  formality  of  announcing  a  text  of 
Scripture,"  addressed  the  assemblies  which  were  congregated  at  their  appointments.  At 
the  spring  meeting  of  Presbytery,  Messrs.  Anderson,  Ewing,  and  King,  read  the  pieces 
assigned  them ;  and  Mr.  Anderson  was  ordered  to  prepare  a  sermon  for  the  next  meeting, 
on  Luke  xiii.  24.  The  next  meeting  of  Presbytery  was  held  in  the  same  region,  and 
•within  a  few  days  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  so  that  the  distance, 
together  with  the  duty  of  attending  the  meeting  of  Synod,  again  prevented  the  attendance 
of  any  but  the  Cumberland  members.  By  this  meeting  the  above  named  persons  were 
licensed  as  probationers  for  the  ministry,  "  having  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  with  the  exception  of  the  idea  of  fatality,  which  they  believed  to  be 
taught  in  that  book  under  the  high  and  mysterious  doctrine  of  election  and  reprobation." 
"  They  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  as  far  as  they  understood  it;  meaning  that  they 
did  not  understand  what  is  taught  concerning  eternal  election  and  reprobation."*  Three 
ministers  and  two  elders  dissented  from  this  action.  Ephraim  McLean  and  Hugh  Kirk- 
patrick  were  received  as  candidates  for  the  ministry,  and  Lawrence  Robison,  Robert  Bell, 
and  James  Farr,  were  licensed  as  exhorters  and  catechists.  "  Mr.  James  Hawe,  a  regular 
member  of  the  Republican  Methodist  Church,  made  application  to  connect  himself  with 
Presbytery,  and  was  cordially  received,"  without  examination  or  adoption  of  the  standards. 
— Minutes,  Presbytery.'] 

§6G. 

[During  the  sessions  of  the  Synod,  which  met  within  a  few  days  of  these  transactions, 
and  in  entire  ignorance  of  them,  the  members  residing  in  the  Cumlierland  region,  and  by 
whom  these  proceedings  had  been  enacted,  were  detached  from  the  Transylvania  Presby- 
tery, and  constituted  the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland. 

By  this  Presbytery  the  system  previously  comtiienced  by  the  members  whilst  connected 
with  Transylvania,  was  so  efficiently  carried  forward,  that  by  the  fall  of  180.5  it  had 
licensed  fifteen  exhorters  and  six  candidates,  and  ordained  six  persons  to  the  ministry; 
the  parties  being,  with  few  or  no  exceptions,  uneducated,  and  required  to  adopt  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  no  farther  than  it  seemed  to  them  to  agree  with  the  word  of  God. 

*  History  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  by  the  Kev.  F.  J.  Simpson,  pp.  21,  33. 


628  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book   VII. 

§67. 

In  tlic  Synod  of  1803,  no  member  was  present  from  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  nor 
were  the  records  sent  up.  The  next  year  a  remonstrance  against  their  proceedings  was 
tabled  with  Synod  over  the  signature  of  three  members  of  Cumberland  Presbytery.  The 
Presbytery  was  cited  to  appear  before  the  Synod  at  its  next  meeting  to  answer  to  the  com- 
plaint; and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  attend  its  next  meeting,  and  inquire  into  the 
case.     But  one  member  of  this  committee  attended,  and  consequently  nothing  was  done. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod,  in  October  1805,  the  Cumberland  Presbytery  sent 
up  th(!ir  records,  but  failed  to  appear  to  answer  to  the  citation,  no  member  being  present 
except  two  of  the  minority.  By  the  showings  of  the  records,  though  defective,  and  by 
information  otherwise  obtained,  it  was  apparent  to  the  Synod,  that  if  prompt  and  decisive 
action  were  not  taken,  the  malady  would  soon  be  incurable.] 

§  GS.  Appointment  of  a  Commission  of  Synod. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  John  Lyle,  John  P.  Caniphell,  Archibald  Cameron,  Joseph 
P.  Howe,  Samuel  Rennals,  Robert  Stuart,  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  Robert  Wilson,  Thomas 
Cleland,  and  Isaac  Tull,  together  with  Messrs.  William  McDowell,  Robert  Brank,  James 
Allen,  James  Henderson,  Richard  Gaines,  and  Andrew  Wallace,  Ruling  Elders,  or  any 
seven  Ministers  of  them,  with  as  many  Elders  as  may  be  present,  be  a  Commission,  vested 
with  full  Synodical  powers,  to  confer  with  the  members  of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery, 
and  adjudicate  on  their  Presbyterial  proceedings  which  appear  on  the  Minutes  of  said 
Presbytery,  and  taken  notice  of  by  the  committee  appointed  by  Synod  to  examine  said 
Minutes.  That  the  said  Commission  meet  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  December  next,  at 
Gasper  Meeting  House,  J^ogan  county,  in  the  bounds  of  said  Presbytery,  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid.  That  notice  be  given  to  the  members  of  said  Presbytery,  by  the  Stated  Clerk 
of  Synod,  to  attend  on  the  day  and  at  the  place  aforesaid;  so  that  a  full,  fair,  and  friendly 
investigation  may  take  place.  That  the  said  Commission  take  into  consideration,  and 
decide  upon  a  letter  [the  remonstrance]  from  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Craighead  and  others,"  &c. 

§  69.  Procerdings  of  the  Commission. 

(n)  [Among  other  action]  "The  Commission  requested  in  a  friendly  manner,  the  majority 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbytery  to  give  the  reasons,  why  in  licensing'  and  ordaining  per- 
sons to  preach  the  gospel,  they  required  them  to  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith,  so  far 
only,  as  they  in  reason  think  it  corresponds  with  the  Scriptures."  The  reply  was,  "that 
the  Confession  of  Faith  was  human  composition  and  fallible,  and  that  they  could  not  in 
conscience  feel  themselves  bound  any  farther  than  they  believe  it  corresponds  with  Scrip- 
ture." 

(A)  [Hereupon  it  was  voted  that] 

"  Whereas,  it  appears  to  the  Commission  of  Synod,  from  the  records  of  Cumberland 
Presbytery — from  the  dissent  of  the  minority  of  said  Presbytery — and  from  the  open 
confession  of  those  who  were  at  the  time  of  the  dissent  a  majority,  that  they  did  license  a 
considerable  number  of  men  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  administer  the  ordinances  in  the 
Church,  contrary  to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  such  cases 
made  and  provided;  and  whereas,  those  men  have  been  required  to  adopt  the  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Discipline  of  said  Church,  no  (arthcr  than  they  believe  it  to  be  agreeable  to 
the  word  of  God,  by  which  no  man  can  know  what  they  believe  in  matters  of  doctrine: 
and  whereas,  it  is  alleged  by  said  Presb\tery,  that  those  men  possess  extraordinary 
talents,  by  which  they  have  been  induced  to  license  and  ordain  them,  without  attending 
to  the  method  prescribed  by  tiie  Book  of  Discipline;  therefore,  on  motion, 

'■  Resolved,  'i'hat  the  Commission  of  iSynod  now  proceed  to  examine  those  irregularly 
licensed,  and  those  irregularly  ordained  by  ('umberland  Presbytery,  and  judge  of  their 
qualifications  for  the  gospel  ministry." 

('■)  [The  I'resbytery  utterly  refused  to  submit  to  this  resolution;  and  the  parties  them- 
selves iieing  individually  called  upon,  severally  refused  to  be  examined;  whereupon,  the 
Commission  ado|)ted  the  following:] 

(^/)  "  Whereas,  The  Commission  of  Synod  have,  in  a  friendly  manner,  conferred  with 
the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  have  examined  into  tlie  pioceedings  of  the  said  Presby- 
tery, in  licen-ing  men  to  exhort  and  to  preach  the  grspel,  and  in  ordaining  some  to 
administer  orilinanccs,  and  have  found  that  ihey  were  irregularly  licensed,  &c.,  they  were 
called  upon  to  come  forward  to  be  examined  by  the  Cominissicm.  Messrs.  William  Hodge, 
James  McGready,  William   McGee,  John   Rankin,  and  Samuel    McAdow,  interposed  to 


part  VIII.]  THE    CUMBERLAND    SCHISM.  629 

prevent  the  examination,  and  also,  that  the  Moderator  called  upon  the  following  persons, 
viz.,  Robert  Guthrie,  Samuel  Hodge,  James  Porter,  David  Foster,  Finis  Ewing,  Hugh 
Kirkpatrick,  Thomas  Nelson,  Thomas  Calhoun,  Samuel  Donnel,  Samuel  King,  Samuel 
Blythe,  and  Robert  Bell,  to  come  forward  and  stand  an  examination  as  to  their  qualifica- 
tions for  the  gospel  ministry,  they  refuse  to  comply,  thereby  virtually  renouncing  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  it  being  prochiimed  by  common  fame,  that 
these  men  are  not  only  illiterate,  but  erroneous  in  sentiment. 

Resolved,  That  as  the  above  named  persons  never  had  regular  authority  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Cumberland  to  preach  the  gospel,  &c.,  the  Commission  prohibit  the  said  per- 
sons from  exhorting,  preaching,  and  administering  ordinances,  in  consequence  of  any 
authority  which  they  have  obtained  from  the  Cumberland  Presbytery." 

§  70.    The  Commission  cites  the  members  of  Pveshytery  to  the  har  of  Synod. 

"Although  we  conceive  the  Commission  have  Synodical  powers  to  adjudicate  upon 
the  conduct  of  James  McGready,  William  Hodge,  William  McGee,  John  Rankin,  and 
Samuel  McAdow,  in  not  submitting  to  the  examination  of  those  young  men  who  had 
been  irregularly  licensed  and  ordained,  when  solemnly  adjured  by  the  Moderator,  agreea- 
bly to  the  resolution  of  the  Commission,  yet  we  decline  pronouncing  sentence,  and  remand 
said  persons  to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky ;  and  they  are  hereby  cited  to  appear  at  onr  next 
annual  session,  to  be  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Lexington,  on  the  third  Tues- 
day of  October  next,  to  account  for  said  conduct. " 

"Whereas,  A  majority  of  Cumberland  Presbytery  are  involved  in  charges  which 
appeared  before  the  (commission  of  Synod,  and  whereas  it  appears  to  the  Commission 
that  there  is  not  a  sufiicient  number  of  members  who  are  disinterested,  to  adjudicate  upon 
matters  of  common  fame, 

"  Therefore,  as  common  fame  loudly  proclaims  that  the  Rev.  William  Hodge,  William 
McGee,  and  John  Rankin,  hold  doctrines  contrary  to  those  contained  in  our  Confession 
of  Faith,  viz.  That  they  in  effect  deny  election,  and  hold  that  there  is  a  certain  sufficiency 
of  grace  given  to  every  man,  which  if  he  will  improve,  he  shall  obtain  more,  &cc.,  until 
he  arrive  at  true  conversion.  This  grace  has  sometimes  been  expressed  by  the  following 
phrases,  or  phrases  of  a  similar  import  with  the  following:  'a  power  to  accept  the  offer 
of  salvation,'  '  a  spark  of  light  given  to  every  man  in  his  natural  state,'  '  talent,'  &c.  &c. 

"i\Vsci/f('c/,  That  the  above  named  men  be  cited,  and  they  are  hereby  cited,  to  appear 
at  our  next  annual  session  of  Synod,  to  be  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Lexington, 
on  the  third  Tuesday  in  October  next,  to  answer  the  above  charges." 

§  71.   Action  of  the  Synod. 

[The  Synod  approved  the  proceedings  of  the  Commission.  The  persons  who  had  been 
cited  to  be  here  present,  upon  being  called  on  declared  their  perfect  readiness  to  subject 
themselves  to  an  examination;  but  utterly  refused  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  Com- 
mission relating  to  the  examination  of  the  young  men.  After  endeavouring  in  vain  to 
persuade  them  from  this  resolution,  the  Synod  at  length  proceeded  to  suspend  them  seve- 
rally from  the  exercise  of  the  ministry. 

The  suspended  members  being  asked  in  regard  to  an  appeal  from  this  sentence,  replied 
that  they  should  take  none.  Although,  however,  they  declined  to  take  the  course  which 
they  well  knew  could  alone  open  the  way  to  a  judicial  investigation  by  the  General 
Assembly,  they  addressed  to  that  body  a  memorial  remonstrating  against  the  action  of 
the  Synod  in  their  case.] 

§  72.  A  remonstrance  from  the  Oumhcrland  secedcrs. 

"  A  remonstrance  from  Messrs.  Samuel  JMcAclow,  William  Hodge,  John 
Rankin,  and  William  McGee,  (formerly  members  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Cumberland,)  against  an  act  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  suspending  them 
from  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  was  handed  in  by  the  Committee  of 
Overtures,  and  read." — Minutes,  1807,  p.  378. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  write  an  answer  to  the  remonstrance  of 
Messrs.  Samuel  McAdow,  William  Hodge,  John  Rankin,  and  William 
McGree,  brought  in  the  following  answer,  which,  being  amended,  was 
adopted : 

'^Brethren — The  Assembly  have  received  your  address,  in  which  you 
inform  thorn,  that  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  have  suspended  you  from  your 


630  HEKESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

ministerial  office,  and  in  which  you  request  this  Assembly  to  interpose  in 
3'our  case  without  delay.  The  Assembly  are  grieved  at  finding,  that  any 
unhappy  differences  exist  in  that  part  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  which  you 
reside.  The  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland,  in  licensing  and 
ordaining  a  number  of  persons  not  possessing  the  qualifications  required  by 
our  Book  of  Discipline,  and  without  explicit  adoption  of  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  appears  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  evils  of  which  you  now  com- 
plain. The  Assembly  are  constrained  to  express  their  decided  disapproba- 
tion of  this  conduct,  as  being  highly  irregular  and  unconstitutional,  leading 
to  the  most  dangerous  consequences  in  introducing  into  our  Church  as 
teachers  illiterate  men,  and  men  of  any  religious  principles,  however  erro- 
neous. But,  inasmuch  as  you  have  not  regularly  appealed  to  this  Assembly, 
they  do  not  consider  themselves  as  called  on  judicially  to  decide  on  your 
case.  The  Assembly  have  advised  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  to  review  their 
proceedings  with  regard  to  you,  and  to  their  decision  we  refer  you. 

''We  exhort  you,  brethren,  to  return  to  a  strict  and  steady  adherence  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  you  sincerely  endea- 
vour to  promote  the  peace  and  best  interest  of  the  Iledeemer's  kingdom." — 
Minutes,  1807,  p.  392. 

§  73.  Letter  to  the  Synod  of  Kentuehy. 

"Dear  Brethren — The  record  of  your  proceedings  in  regard  to  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland,  and  other  measures  connected  with 
that  act,  has  attracted  the  marked  attention  of  this  Assembly,  and  been  the 
subject  of  much  discussion.  The  Assembly  have  truly  sympathized  with 
your  Syuod  in  reviewing  the  very  interesting  circumstances  in  which  you 
have  been  placed,  and  the  embarrassing  concerns  which  you  have  been 
called  to  manage.  While  the  Assembly  have  found  it  their  duty,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  approve  of  many  of  your  proceedings  on  the  very  irregular  and 
censurable  conduct  of  that  Presbytery,  and  even  to  commend  the  zeal  and 
decision  with  which  you  have  acted,  they  are  constrained,  on  the  other,  to 
suggest,  that  your  proceedings  in  demanding  that  the  young  men  irregular- 
ly licensed,  be  given  up  to  your  body  for  examination;  in  suspending  the 
irregularly  ordained  Ministers  without  process  in  their  case,  and  in  sus- 
pending Messrs.  Ilodge  and  Rankin,  for  not  submitting  to  the  re-examina- 
tion of  the  young  men,  are  at  least  of  questionable  regularity.  They,  thei-e- 
fore,  advise  that  you  seriously  review  these  proceedings,  and  consider 
whether  some  of  them  ought  not  to  be  rescinded,  and  steps  speedily  taken 
to  mitigate  the  sufterings  which  jnjur  censure  appears  to  have  produced,  and 
to  remove  at  least  a  part  of  the  complaints  which  it  has  excited.  In  doing 
this,  we  cannot  be  supposed  to  recommend  that  any  demands  of  our  consti- 
tutional standards  of  doctrine,  discipline,  and  government,  should  be  vio- 
lated or  disi'cgarded.  These  demands  are  equally  binding  on  us  and  on  you, 
and  the  recognition  of  their  justice  and  obligation  ought  to  be  considered  as 
indispensable  in  all  who  are  to  exei'cise  the  holy  ministry  in  connection  with 
our  (!hurch.  But  there  is,  and  ever  nuist  be  supposed  in  those  who  are 
vested  with  power,  the  right  and  the  duty  of  exercising  a  sound  discretion; 
which  will  consult  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of  the  law;  which  will 
sometimes  furbid  the  exercise  of  power  which  is  possessed;  which  will 
endeavour  with  equal  caution  to  avoid  the  extremes  of  rigour  and  of  lax- 
ness;  which  will  yield  something,  yet  not  concede  everything  to  circum- 
stances; which,  in  a  word,  will  recollect  that  power  is  given  for  edification 
and  not  for  destruction,  and  endeavour  to  be  guided  by  this  rule.  We  hope, 
brethren,  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  discretion  you  may  soon  be  able  to  re- 
establish the  Presbytery  of  Cumberland,  and  to  restore  to  Christian  commu- 


Part  VIIL]  THE    CUMBERLAND    SCHISM.  631 

nion,  and  ministerial  usefulness,  some  of  its  former  members  and  licentiates, 
without  sacrificing  either  the  doctrines  or  the  government  of  our  Church. 
Of  this  you  must  judge ;  and  we  pray  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church 
may  enable  you  so  to  judge  and  act,  as  that  the  true  and  lasting  interests  of 
bis  Church  may  really  be  promoted  by  your  measures.  Signed  by  order  of 
the  Assembly."— J/Zmt/es,  1807,  p.  389. 

§  74.  Another  petition. 
"  A  petition  from  Messrs.  Samuel  McAdow,  William  McGee,  and  Wil- 
liam Hodge,  formerly  members  of  the  late  Cumberland  Presbytery,  was 
handed  in  and  read;  and  Drs.  McKnight,  Hall,  and  Wilson,  were  appoint- 
ed a  committee  to  prepare  a  letter  in  answer  to  said  petition." — Minutes, 
1808,  p.  406. 

Tlie  reply. 

'^Dear  Brethren — We  have  received  your  address,  and  have  carefully 
marked  its  contents.  We  are  glad  to  discern  your  regard  to  the  order  of 
the  Church  in  not  constituting  yourselves  into  a  Presbytery. 

"In  your  letter  you  seem  to  expect  the  Assembly  to  adopt  measures  which 
do  not  belong  to  them,  and  to  afford  you  relief  in  a  case  which  is  not  con- 
stitutionally in  their  power. 

''Had  the  matter  in  which  you  are  concerned  come  before  a  former 
Assembly,  in  the  form  of  an  appeal  to  them  from  the  proceedings  and  deci- 
sions of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  their  Commission,  they  could  have 
taken  it  up  judicially,  and  afforded  you  all  that  relief  to  which  you  should 
have  appeared  entitled.  This  not  having  been  the  case,  reduced  the  Assem- 
bly to  the  necessity  of  adopting  the  only  alternative  which  was  in  their 
power,  namely,  that  of  advice  and  persuasion. 

"  The  business  is  not  before  the  present  Assembly  in  any  circumstances 
more  favourable  for  granting  you  that  relief  which  you  solicit.  As  the  case 
now  stands,  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  are  the  only  constitutional  body  compe- 
tent to  your  relief.  To  them  we  would  again  recommend  to  you  to  apply. 
We  know  of  no  way  in  which  the  matter  can  be  regularly  brought  before 
the  General  Assembly,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  act  upon  it,  but  by  your 
applying  to  the  Synod  to  review  their  proceedings,  and  to  reverse  what  is 
wrong  in  them;  and  in  case  they  either  refuse  to  review  or  rectify  them, 
you  know  it  is  your  privilege  to  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  who  will 
then  be  empowered  to  act  judicially  upon  it.  And,  brethren,  we  beg  leave 
to  remind  you,  that  divisions  of  this  nature  are  not  to  be  healed,  or  union 
and  peace  restored,  unless  the  parties  respectively  divesting  themselves  of 
partialities  and  prejudices,  and  yielding  to  the  benign  influence  of  truth  and 
grace,  are  mutually  disposed  candidly  to  acknowledge  and  retract  their 
errors  and  mistakes. 

"  We  are  disposed  to  hope  and  believe  that,  from  what  has  been  suggest- 
ed, you  will  readily  excuse  the  Assembly  for  not  extending  to  you  that 
relief  for  which  you  have  applied;  and  that  you  will  be  exceedingly  cautious 
of  taking  any  such  steps  as  would  tend  to  increase  alienation,  and  to  render 
the  breach  irreparable." — Minutes,  1808,  p.  408. 

§  75.    The  Synod  of  Kentucl-y  fully  justified. 

''  The  Assembly  took  into  consideration  a  letter  from  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  having  carefully  reviewed  the  same,  and  having  also  read  another 
letter  from  their  records,  which  by  accident  was  detained  from  the  last 
Assembly,  were  of  opinion  that  the  Synod  have  in  these  letters  exercised 
their  unquestionable  right  of  explaining  their  proceedings;  which  they  have 
done  in  a  respectful  and  able  manner,  and  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  this 


632  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

Assembly;  and  the  Assembly  tliiiik  it  due  to  that  Synod  to  say,  that  they 
deserve  the  thanks  of  the  Church  for  the  tirinness  aud  zeal  with  which  they 
have  acted  in  the  trying  circunistauccs  in  which  they  have  been  placed." — 
Minutes,  1809,  p.  41(3.' 

§  76.   Letter  to  the   Rev.   J.   W.  Sfejiltenson  in  regard  to  the   CumLerland 

boJj/. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  write  an  answer  to  the  Eev.  James  W.  Ste- 
phenson's letter,  addressed  to  the  Assembly,  brought  in  their  report,  which 
being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"Rev.  and  Bear  Sir — The  General  Assembly  have  attended  to  the  con- 
tents of  your  letter  with  peculiar  interest.  They  need  hardly  observe  that 
the  situation  of  the  Church  in  your  quarter  has  excited  their  sympathy  for  a 
long  time  back.  They  fondly  hope  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant,  when  the 
evils  you  have  experienced  will  be  completely  remedied.  Hitherto  the  Lord 
hath  helped  you,  and  your  duty  is  to  persevere,  maintaining  faith  and  a  good 
conscience.  We  cheerfully  admit  the  apology  you  ofl'er  for  the  absence  of  a 
Commissioner  and  the  want  of  a  report.  With  sentiments  such  as  you  pro- 
fess, if  cherished,  your  temporary  difficulties  will  soon  be  overcome.  The 
diversified  character  of  the  people  with  whom  you  are  connected  in  social 
intercourse,  is  one  of  those  circumstances  which,  as  they  are  unavoidable, 
so  they  will  call  for  the  exercise  of  forbearance,  patience,  firmness,  and 
watchfulness.  Look  to  a  covenant  God  in  faith  for  his  direction,  and  with 
filial  confidence  leave  the  issue  with  him.  Adhere  sacredly  to  your  own 
adopted  standard,  whilst  you  extend  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  others,  who, 
you  have  reason  to  hope,  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  this  way  alone  do 
we  conceive  peace  can  be  cultivated,  and  union  in  the  end  established 
between  diifering  Christians.  To  relinquish  principles  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
is  too  dear  a  sacrifice  ;  and  every  overture  made  to  us  from  any  quarter  to  pro- 
duce a  union  at  such  an  expense,  we  unhesitatingly  reject.  The  men  of 
whom  you  speak,  went  out  from  us  because  they  were  not  of  us.  The  objec- 
tion they  make  to  our  Confession  of  Faith,  as  if  it  taught  the  doctrine  of 
fatality,  we  fear  is  not  so  much  the  result  of  a  defect  of  understanding,  as 
of  a  disposition  to  misrepresent.  For  who  could  dream  that  the  doctrine  of 
fatality  was  taught  in  an  instrument,  in  which  it  is  declared  expressly,  that 
the  liberty  of  second  causes  is  not  impaired?  We  do  not  object  to  your 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  confer  with  these  men,  but  we  wish  you  to 
be  careful  not  to  yield  any  principle  either  in  doctrine  or  government.  You 
will  readily  perceive  the  propriety  of  this  advice,  when  you  recollect  that 
our  standards  constitute  our  bond  of  union.  Neither  individuals  nor  judica- 
tories can  alter  them,  for  the  whole  Church  is  interested.  If  you  modify 
any  part  of  our  standards  to  suit  these  men,  you  are  bound  by  the  precedent 
to  modify  another  part  for  another  set  of  men,  if  they  should  make  objec- 
tions. Take  your  stand,  thei'efore,  on  the  ground  of  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  the  Book  of  Discipline.  Keep  that  ground.  If  these  men  wish  to  join 
our  Church,  they  know  the  terms.  Their  Avish  to  alter  these  terms,  is  not 
very  modest;  for  it  is  requesting  the  majority  to  yield  to  the  minority.  As 
we  force  no  one  to  adopt  our  standards,  there  is  no  oppression  exercised  over 
any  by  our  adherence  to  our  own  principles.  The  contrary  practice,  in  fact, 
is  the  intolerance  of  a  few  over  the  many,  and  must  produce  ruinous  eflf'ects. 
The  history  of  your  part  of  our  Church  is  a  warning.  Whilst  we  thus  exhort 
you  to  receive  none  upon  any  modification  of  our  standards,  we  recommend 
to  you  a  conciliatory,  mild,  and  forbearing  conduct  to  those  who  are  out  of 
our  communion.      \V^e  are  your  afl'ectiouate  brethren  in  the  Lord. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  Moderator." 

— Minutes,  1811,  p.  473. 


Part  VIII.]  THE   CUMBERLAND  SCHISM.  633 

§  77.  Intercourse  ivith  the  Cumherland  Presbyterians. 

''  The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  consideration  of  the  manner 
in  which  certain  persons  should  be  treated,  who  formerly  belonged  to  the  late 
Cumberland  Presbytery,  and  who,  since  the  dissolution  of  said  Presbytery, 
continue  to  style  themselves  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  reported,  and  their 
report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  those  persons  were  under  the  censure  of  the  Church  at  the  time  of 
their  constituting  as  a  Presbytery;  that  they  had  neglected  to  take  the 
regular  steps  for  the  removal  of  that  censure,  though  advised  and  urged 
to  this  course;  that  they  erected  themselves  into  a  judicatory  contrary  to 
the  rules  of  our  discipline;  that  the  grounds  of  their  separation  from  us 
were,  that  we  would  not  relax  our  discipline,  and  surrender  some  important 
doctrines  of  our  Confession  of  Faith;  wherefore, 

"  liesolved,  That  the  aforesaid  persons  be  viewed  as  having  derived  no 
authority  from  us  to  exercise  discipline,  or  administer  the  ordinances  of  the 
Church,  and  that  our  regular  members  cannot  treat  with  them  as  a  body,  but 
only  as  individuals." — Minutes,  1814,  p.  551. 

§78. 

"  The  following  question  was  brought  in  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 
and  after  some  discussion  was  dismissed,  viz. 

"  Is  a  Minister  liable  to  censure  for  inviting  a  Minister  of  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  denomination  to  preach  in  his  pulpit,  or  for  communing 
in  a  congregation  of  that  denomination?" 

[A  committee  being  appointed  on  the  question,  "How  are  we  to  regard  the  baptism  of 
Cumberland  Presbyterians  1"  made  report,  which  was  adopted  as  follows:] 

"In  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  Ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
when  regularly  suspended  by  the  competent  judicatories,  have  no  right  to 
exercise  the  functions  of  a  Minister  during  that  suspension. 

"  2.  That  while  those  persons  styling  themselves  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
bytery were  under  suspension,  their  administrations  are  to  be  considered  as 
invalid;  but  after  the  General  Assembly  have  declared  them  as  no  longer 
connected  with  our  Church,  their  administrations  are  to  be  viewed  in  the 
same  light  with  those  of  other  denominations  not  connected  with  our  body. 
This  decision  is  grounded  on  the  opinion,  that  the  act  of  the  Assembly  of 
1814  precluded  the  propriety  of  deposition,  or  any  other  process  in  the  case." 
—Iliimtes,  1825,  pp.  263,  266,  275. 


80 


PAET    IX. 

CASE  OF  THE  REY.  WILLIAM  C.  DAVIS. 

§  79.    Origin  of  the  process. 

[In  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  during  the  sessions  of  1807,  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  represented  that  the  Rev.  W,  C.  Davis  is  permitted  by  the  First  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina  to  pass  without  censure,  although  known  to  teach  erroneous  doc- 
trines on  some  fundamental  points.  The  Synod,  thereupon,  ordered  the  First  Presbytery 
to  attend  to  this  matter.  In  September  1808,  the  Presbytery  held  a  conference  with  Mr. 
Davis,  and  after  hearing  his  explanations,  concluded  to  do  nothing  further  in  the  case,  but 
sent  up  to  Synod  an  inquiry,  "Whether  the  holding  and  propagating  any  and  what  doc- 
trines, apparently  repugnant  to  the  letter  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  will  justify  a  Presby- 
tery in  calling  a  member  to  public  trial?"] 

§  80.   Action  of  the  Synod. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  be  directed  to  meet  immedi- 
ately on  this  ground,  and  if  they  have  any  charges  to  state  against  Mr.  Davis,  that  they 
be  immediately  exhibited,  according  to  the  discipline  of  our  Church,  before  the  First  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Carolina,  together  with  the  names  of  the  witnesses,  should  they  deem  it 
necessary  to  call  witnesses  in  the  case.  And  that  the  foregoing  purposes  may  be  answered, 
the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  is  directed  to  constitute  immediately,  to  receive 
such  charge  as  the  Second  Presbytery  may  think  dutiful  to  lay  before  them;  and  to  fur- 
nish Mr.  Davis  with  a  copy  of  the  charges,  together  with  the  names  of  the  witnesses." 

§  81.    Charges  tabled  hy  the  Second  Presbytery . 

"  1.  That  the  Rev.  William  C.Davis  affirms  and  industriously  propagates — That  what  has 
been  termed  the  passive  obedience  of  Christ,  is  all  that  the  law  of  God  can  or  does  require 
in  order  to  the  justification  of  the  believer,  and  that  his  active  obedience  is  not  imputed. 

2.  He  affirms  and  teaches  that  saving  faith  precedes  regeneration,  and  has  nothing  holy 
in  its  nature  as  to  its  first  act. 

3.  That  the  divine  Being  is  bound  by  his  own  law;  or,  in  other  words,  by  the  moral 
law, 

4.  That  Adam  was  never  bound  to  keep  the  moral  law,  as  the  federal  head  and  repre- 
sentative of  his  posterity  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  the  moral  law  made  no  part  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  covenant  of  works." 

§  82.  Finding  of  the  First  Presbytery. 

[The  Second  Presbytery  did  not  appear  to  prosecute  the  charges.  Mr.  Davis  admitted 
the  truth  of  the  charges,  and  entered  into  a  lengthy  development  and  defence  of  his  views. 
The  Presbytery  decided  that  the  doctrines  held  by  Mr.  Davis  were  contrary  to  our  stand- 
ards and  the  word  of  God,  but  did  not  regard  them  as  dangerous;  and  on  the  ground  of 
liberty  of  opinion,  excused  Mr.  Davis  from  any  formal  censure ;  though  biamable  for 
imprudence  in  rashly  preaching  such  opinions  without  consulting  the  Presbytery.] 


Part  IX.]  w.  c.  DAVis's  CASE.  635 

§  83.  Reference  of  the  case  to  the  General  AssemlJj/. 

[When  the  Synod  again  met,  the  question  was  raised,  "  Whether  the  decision  of  Pres- 
bytery does  preclude  Synod  from  immediate  access  to  Mr.  Davis  1"  Against  this  decision 
Mr.  Davis  appealed.  The  Synod,  after  spending  some  time  in  a  judicial  investigation  ot 
the  case,  finally  referred  it  to  the  General  Assembly,  sending  up  with  it  an  Overture  call- 
ing the  attention  of  that  body  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  "  The  Gospel  Plan,"  a  book 
published  by  Mr.  Davis  shortly  before  the  meeting  of  Synod.] 

§  84.    The  action  of  S//nod  irregular. 

(a)  "An  appeal  by  the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis,  from  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  the  Oarolinas,  in  relation  to  a  decision  in  his  case  by  the  First 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  reference  from  said  Synod  on  the  same 
case,  wliich  had  been  before  overtured,  were  called  up  and  read. 

"  The  parties  were  heard  at  full  length,  and  agreeably  to  the  vote  of  the 
Assembly,  withdrew." 

"The  Assembly  having  maturely  considered  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Davis  from 
the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  in  his  case, 

"Resolved,  That  although  they  highly  approve  of  the  zeal  of  the  Synod 
to  preserve  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church  within  their  bounds ;  yet 
they  cannot  but  decide  that  in  their  proceedings  in  the  above  case,  iu 
deciding  that  they  had  a  right  to  try  Mr.  Davis,  when  there  was  no  refer- 
ence nor  appeal  in  his  case  before  them,  they  have  not  strictly  adhered  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." — Minutes,  1810,  pp.  417, 
448. 

(6)    This  decision  reaffirmed. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  report  on  the  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  relative  to  a  reconsideration  of  a  decision  of  last  Assembly, 
reported,  and  recommended  the  reconsideration.  Their  report  was  rejected, 
and  the  committee  was  discharged.     Whereupon, 

"Resolved,  That  though  the  General  Assembly  regret  the  dissatisfaction 
of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Davis,  yet  they  can- 
not see  it  to  be  expedient  or  proper  to  reconsider  the  judgment  of  the  G-en- 
eral  Assembly  of  last  year  on  the  case  in  question." — Minutes,  1811, 
p.  468. 

§  8.5.    The  Assembly  examines  and  condemns  "The  Gospel  Plan." 

(a)  "The  Overture  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  which  had  been 
laid  on  the  table,  referring  to  the  Assembly  an  Overture  laid  before  that 
Synod,  requesting  their  attention  to  a  late  publication  of  the  liev.  William 
C.  Davis,  denominated  "The  Gospel  Plan,"  was  read;  and  Messrs.  Ptobert 
G.  Wilson,  Calhoun,  and  Anderson,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  examine 
said  book,  and  report  to  this  Assembly  the  doctrines  it  contains,  if  any  such 
they  find,  that  are  contrary  to  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

"The  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  review  Mr.  Davis's  book, 
entitled,  The  Gospel  Flan,  was  again  read,  and  the  vote  being  taken  on  the 
whole,  it  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  The  resolution  laid  on  the  table  in  the  morning  was  also  adopted,  and 
follows  the  report : 

(h)  "  The  committee  presuming  that  a  complete  and  perfect  enumeration 
of  all  the  objectionable  parts  of  said  book  is  not  expected,  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Assembly  only  to  the  following  doctrines,  supposed  to  be  con- 
trary to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  Doctrine  I.  That  the  active  obedience  of  Christ  constitutes  no  part  of 
that  righteousness  by  which  a  sinner  is  justified,  pp.  257,  261,  264,  3d 
corollary. 


636  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

P  "Doctrine  II.  That  obedience  to  the  moral  law  was  not  required  as  the 
condition  of  the  covenant  of  works,  pp.  178,  180. 

"These  pages  being  read,  the  Assembly  resolved  that  they  do  consider 
these  doctrines  as  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  ovir  Church. 

(c)  "Doctrine  III.  God  himself  is  as  firmly  bound  in  duty  (not  obedi- 
ence) to  his  creatures,  as  his  creatures  are  bound  in  obedience  or  duty  to 
him,  pp.  164,  lOG.  Also,  that  God's  will  is  not  the  standard  of  right  and 
wrong.  If  God's  will  is  the  primary  rule  of  his  own  actions,  he  would  be 
1st,  entirely  void  of  holiness;  2d,  there  would  be  no  justice  in  God;  3d,  it 
would  be  impossible  for  God  to  be  unchangeable;  4th,  if  the  will  of  God 
is  the  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  then  it  would  be  no  infringement  on 
the  divine  character  to  be  unfaithful  to  his  word  and  promises,  pp.  168- 
171. 

"These  pages  were  read, 

^^ Resolved,  That  without  deciding  on  the  question  whether  these  senti- 
ments are  contrary  to  our  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Assembly  consider  the 
mode  in  which  they  are  expressed  as  unhappy,  and  calculated  to  mislead 
the  reader. 

((/)  "Doctrine  IV.  God  could  not  make  Adam  or  any  other  creature 
either  holy  or  unholy.     Compare  page  194  with  166. 

"  Doctrine  V.  Regeneration  must  be  a  consequence  of  faith.  Faith  pre- 
cedes regeneration,  p.  352. 

"  Doctrine  VI.    Faith,  in  the  first  act  of  it,  is  not  a  holy  act,  p.  358,  &c. 

"These  pages  being  read, 

'■^  Resolve  J,  That  the  Assembly  do  consider  the  three  last  mentioned  doc- 
trines contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church. 

(e)  "Doctrine  VII.  Christians  may  sin  wilfully  and  habitually,  pp.  532, 
534. 

"These  pages  being  read, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  consider  the  expressions  very  unguarded; 
and  so  far  as  they  intimate  it  to  be  the  author's  opinion  that  a  person  may 
live  in  an  habitual  and  allowed  sin,  and  yet  be  a  Christian,  the  Assembly 
considers  them  contrary  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Confession  of  Faith 
of  our  Church,  and  in  their  tendency  highly  dangerous. 

(/)  "Doctrine  VIII.  If  God  has  to  plant  all  the  principal  parts  of  sal- 
vation in  a  sinner's  heart  to  enable  him  to  believe,  the  gospel  plan  is  quite 
out  of  his  reach,  and  consequently  does  not  suit  his  case;  and  it  must  be 
impossible  for  God  to  condemn  a  man  for  unbelief,  for  no  just  law  condemns 
or  criminates  any  person  for  not  doing  what  he  cannot  do,  p.  413. 

"This  page,  and  several  others  on  the  same  subject,  being  read, 

'"Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  do  consider  this  last  mentioned  doctrine 
as  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church. 

((7)  "  On  the  whole, 

"Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cannot  but  view  with  disapprobation, 
various  parts  of  the  work  entitled  "The  Gospel  Plan,"  of  which  William  C. 
Davis  is  stated  in  the  title-page  to  be  the  author.  In  several  instances  in  this 
work,  modes  of  expression  are  adopted  so  diiferent  from  those  which  are 
sanctioned  by  use  and  by  the  best  orthodox  writers,  that  the  Assembly  con- 
sider them  as  calculated  to  produce  useless  or  mischievous  speculations. 

(7t)  "In  several  other  instances,  there  are  doctrines  asserted  and  advo- 
cated, as  has  been  already  decided,  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
our  Church,  and  the  word  of  God;  which  doctrines  the  Assembly  feel  eon- 
strained  to  pronounce  to  be  of  very  dangerous  tendency;  and  the  Assembly 
do  judge,  and  do  hei-eby  declare  that  the  preaching  or  publishing  of  them, 
ought  to  subject  the  person  or  persons  so  doing  to  be  dealt  with  by  their 


Part  IX.]  w.  c.  DAVIS'S  case.  637 

respective  Presbyteries,  according  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  relative 
to  the  propagation  of  errors." — Minutes,  1810,  pp.  448,  452. 

[Against  this  decision  a  protest  was  tabled  and  placed  on  file.] — Ibid,  p.  456. 

§  86.  3L'.  Davis  suspended  and  dejjosed. 

[At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  the  First  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  was  dissolved  ;  and  Mr.  Davis  was  attached  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord.  A 
jno  re  nata  meeting  was  called  to  enter  on  the  consideration  of  his  case.  When  the 
Presbytery  met,  a  letter  was  received  from  Mr.  Davis  declining  its  jurisdiction.  Charges 
were  however  tabled,  and  Mr.  Davis  cited  to  appear  for  trial.  This  was  answered  by  a 
reassertion  of  independence.  A  second  citation  was  answered  in  a  similar  manner,  where- 
upon the  Presbytery  suspended  him  for  contumacy,  from  the  exercise  of  the  Ministry.  He 
was  again  cited,  with  notice  that  if  he  still  failed  to  appear,  he  would  be  proceeded  against 
with  the  higher  censure.  Accordingly,  with  the  approbation  of  Synod,  the  Presbytery 
proceeded,  in  October  1811,  to  depose  him  from  the  gospel  Ministry.] 


PAET    X. 

CASE  OF  THE  REV.  THOMAS  B.  CRAIGHEAD. 


§  87.    Origin  of  tJie  case. 

['J'he  Commission  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  upon  the  Cumberland  difficulties,  was 
also  directed  to  investigate  the  truth  of  reports  which  imputed  erroneous  doctrines  to  Mr. 
Craighead.  Accordingly,  written  questions  were  proposed  to  him  on  the  topics  involved 
in  the  Pelagian  controversy,  to  which  he  returned  answers,  some  of  them  ambiguous,  but 
upon  the  whole  satisfactory.  At  the  next  meeting  of  Synod,  in  1806,  Mr.  Craighead 
preached  a  sermon  which  created  much  dissatisfaction  on  account  of  the  inconsistency 
between  it  and  his  answers  to  the  Commission.  The  subject  was  taken  up,  and  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  was  adopted,  viz.] 

"  Resolved, 'Thdit  the  Rev,  Thomas  B.C^raighead  be  entreated,  and  he  is  hereby  earnestly 
entreated,  to  be  cautious  in  future,  as  to  the  matter  of  his  sermons,  and  careful  not  to  olfend 
against  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  feelings  of  his  Christian  brethren; 
and  that  the  Moderator  be  directed  to  read  this  minute  to  Mr.  Craighead." — Davidson's 
Kentucky,  p.  266. 

[Three  years  after  this,  Mr.  Craighead  set  at  naught  this  admonition,  by  publishing  the 
objectionable  sermon,  which  from  an  extemporaneous  discourse  of  ordinary  length  was 
amplified  to  a  pamphlet  of  54  pages,  to  which  were  added  an  offensive  Address  to  the 
Synod,  and  an  Appendix  on  the  subject  of  liberty  and  necessity. 

The  Presbytery  took  up  the  subject,  and,  after  an  investigation,  referred  the  case  to 
Synod,  by  whom  Mr.  Craighead  was  suspended  from  the  ministry.  From  this  decision  he 
appealed  to  the  General  Assembly.] 

§  88.   Fails  to  prosecute  his  ap'peal. 

''The  committee  to  whicli  was  referred  the  letter  and  appeal  of  tlic  Rev. 
Thomas  B.  Craighead,  reported,  that  after  having  carefully  attended  to  the 
duty  assigned  them,  they  did  not  discover  any  sufficient  reason  why  he  has 
not  come  forward  to  prosecute  his  appeal  before  the  Assembly,  nor  why  his 
case  should  not  now  be  brought  to  issue;  and  therefore  recomiuended  that 
the  representation  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  be  permitted,  if  so  disposed, 
to  enter  their  protest  in  proper  time  against  a  future  prosecution  of  his  aj^peal, 
and  thus  give  eflect  to  a  standing  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  the 
sentence  of  the  Synod  be  considered  as  final. 

'■^Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  report  be  accepted,  and  that  Mr.  Craig- 
head be  furnished  with  an  attested  copy  of  this  decision  in  his  case. 

"The  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  brought  forward  their  protest, 
which  being  read,  was  accepted,  and  is  as  follows : 

"The  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead  having  appealed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  made  in  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber last,  by  which  decision  the  said  Synod  directed  the  Presbytery  of  Tran- 


Part  X.]  Craighead's  case.  639 

sylvania  to  depose  the  said  Thomas  B.  Craighead  from  the  gospel  ministry, 
which  was  done  accordingly,  and  whereas  the  said  Mr.  Craighead  has  not 
prosecuted  his  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  subscribers,  mem- 
bers of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  have  waited  till  the  last  day  of  the  sessions 
of  the  Assembly,  to  afford  opportunity  for  the  prosecution  of  said  appeal,  we 
do,  therefore,  now  protest,  in  our  own  name,  and  on  behalf  of  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  against  the  future  prosecution  of  said  appeal,  and  declare  the  seil- 
tence  of  the  Synod  to  be  final,  agreeably  to  a  standing  order  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

Signed,  James  Hoge, 

M.  G.  Wallace, 
J.  P.  Campbell." 
— Minutes,  1811,  p.  481. 

§  89.  Memorial  from  Mr.  Craighead. 

"A  letter  from  Mr.  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  late  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Muhlenberg,  containing  a  complaint  of  grievances  relative  to  his 
deposition  from  the  gospel  ministry,  was  received,  and  being  read,  was  com- 
mitted to  Dr.  Hall,  and  Messrs.  Richards  and  Hughes,  who  were  instructed 
to  report  as  soon  as  practicable,  what  order,  if  any,  they  deem  necessary  shall 
be  taken  on  the  letter  by  the  Assembly.'" — Minutes,  1812,  p.  494. 

"  The  committee  to  which  Mr.  Craighead's  letter  had  been  referred, 
reported,  and  their  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  That  in  said  letter  Mr.  Craighead  complains,  that  he  was  suspended  by 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  without  ever  being  cited  before  itj  that  if  he  was 
deposed  by  the  Presbytery,  it  was  done  while  the  power  of  that  Presbytery 
was  suspended  by  his  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly.  He  also  complains, 
that  no  mark  of  brotherly  attention,  conference,  or  admonition  had  been 
administered  him  by  any  of  the  judicatories,  or  any  of  their  members.  But 
inasmuch  as  these  allegations  are  not  in  proof  before  your  committee,  as  the 
truth  of  them  is  disputed  by  a  member  of  that  Synod,  and  no  testimony  can 
be  had  in  the  case  before  this  Assembly,  the  committee  are  of  the  opinion, 
that  for  these  reasons  nothing  can  be  done  in  his  case  by  the  present  Assem- 
bly; and  that  the  regular  course  for  Mr.  Craighead  is  to  bring  his  grievances 
before  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  if  he  there  support  his  allegations  by 
proper  testimony,  that  Synod  is  fully  competent  to  grant  him  such  redress 
as  the  merits  of  his  case  may  demand;  and  that  until  this  step  be  taken,  it 
will  not  be  orderly  for  the  General  Assembly  to  take  any  further  notice  of 
his  case. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  forward  a  copy  of  the  above  minute  to 
Mr.  Craighead." — Ibid.  p.  511. 

§  90.  Mr.  Craighead' s  case  resumed  in  1823. 

(a)  ^'The  business  left  unfinished  in  the  morning,  viz.  the  consideration 
of  the  report  of  the  committee  to  which  had  been  referred  the  Bev.  T.  B. 
Craighead's  letter,  was  resumed,  and  the  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows : 

"In  the  year  1811,  an  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
by  T.  B.  Craighead,  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  the  same,  was  laid  before 
the  General  Assembly.  But  Mr.  Craighead  not  appearing  in  person  to 
prosecute  his  appeal,  permission  was  given  by  the  Assembly  on  the  last  day 
of  their  sessions  to  the  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  who  were  pre- 
sent, to  enter  a  protest  against  the  prosecution  of  the  aforesaid  appeal  at 
any  future  time.     This  was  supposed  to  be  required  by  a  standing  rule  of 


640  HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

the  Assembly.  The  appeal  of  Mr.  Craighead  was  therefore  not  heard,  and 
the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  was  rendered  final. 

(h)  "  It  moreover  appears,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  year  afore- 
said having  adopted  the  protest  of  the  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
as  their  own  act,  did  declare  that  Mr.  Craighead  had  been  deposed,  where- 
as, the  decision  of  the  Synod  was  suspension;  and  although  the  Synod  did 
direct  the  Presbytery  to  which  Mr.  Craighead  belonged,  to  depose  him,  if 
he  did  not,  at  their  next  stated  meeting,  retract  his  errors;  yet  this  sen- 
tence could  not  have  been  constitutionally  inflicted,  because  Mr.  Craighead 
appealed  from  the  decision  of  Synod;  the  efi'ect  of  which  was  to  arrest  all 
further  proceedings  in  the  case  until  the  appeal  should  be  tried;  therefore, 
the  sentence  of  the  Assembly  declaring  Mr.  Craighead  deposed,  does  not 
accord  with  the  sentence  of  the  Synod,  which  was  suspension. 

(<••)  "  From  the  above  history  of  fticts,  your  committee,  while  they  entire- 
ly dissent  from  many  of  the  opinions  contained  in  Mr.  Craighead's  letter,  and 
consider  its  publication  before  it  was  presented  to  the  Assembly  indecorous 
and  improper,  are  of  opinion  that  he  has  just  ground  of  complaint  in  regard 
to  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1811,  in  his  case;  and  that 
the  construction  put  upon  the  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly  was  not  cor- 
rect; for  personal  attendance  on  the  superior  judicatory  is  not  essential 
to  the  regular  prosecution  of  an  appeal.  Moreover,  the  sentence  of  the 
Assembly,  being  founded  in  error,  ought  to  be  considered  null  and  void, 
and  Mr.  Craighead  ought  to  be  considered  as  placed  in  the  same  position  as 
before  the  decision  took  place,  and  as  possessing  the  right  to  prosecute  his 
appeal  before  this  judicatory." — Minutes,  1822,  p.  24. 

§  91.  Again  postjyoned. 

"The  appeal  of  Mr.  Craighead  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
was  taken  up,  and  being  read,  it  appeared  on  inquiry  that  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky  was  not  ready  for  trial,  because  Mr.  Craighead  had  failed  to  give 
them  notice  that  he  intended  to  avail  himself  of  the  privilege  granted  by 
the  last  Assembly,  by  prosecuting  his  appeal,  therefore 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  further  consideration  of  this  appeal  be  postponed; 
and  that  Mr.  Craighead  be  informed,  that  if  he  wishes  to  prosecute  his 
appeal  before  the  next  General  Assembly,  he  must  give  notice  of  his  inten- 
tion to  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  and  the  Presbytery  of  Tran- 
sylvania be  directed,  and  they  hereby  are  directed,  to  send  up  to  the  next 
Assembly  a  copy  of  their  minutes  in  Mr.  Craighead's  case." — 31inuies,  1823, 
p.  150. 

§  92,    The  final  decision. 

"  The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare 
a  minute  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Craighead's  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  suspending  him  from  the  gospel  ministry  on  certain 
charges  of  heresy,  founded  on  a  sermon  preached  before  the  Synod,  was 
resumed,  and  after  some  discussion,  the  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. 

"1.  The  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion,  that  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Craig- 
head in  preaching  such  a  sermon,  and  in  such  circumstances,  before  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  especially  as  he  had  been  suspected  by  his  brethren  of 
holding  erroneous  opinions,  vras  highly  reprehensible. 

"  2.  The  General  Assembly  approve  the  conduct  of  the  Synod  in  rela- 
tion to  this  matter.  While  they  were  firm  and  zealous  in  maintaining  what 
they  believed  to  be'  truth,  they  were,  to  an  uncommon  degree,  respectful 


Part  X.]  Craighead's  case.  641 

a;id  affectionate  in  their  manner  of  dealing  with  Mr.  Craighead.  As  the 
sermon  was  delivered  in  their  hearing,  believing  as  they  did,  that  it  con- 
tained dangerous  error,  they  were  bound  to  take  notice  of  it,  and  express 
their  opinion  to  the  preacher. 

"  3.  But  they  cannot  approve  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Craighead  when  before 
the  Synod.  He  indeed  manifested  a  lofty  and  independent  spirit,  that 
would  not  be  controlled  by  authority,  and  there  was  not  exhibited  a  due 
respect  for  the  Synod,  as  an  acknowledged  judicatory  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
His  conduct  was  not  respectful  and  conciliatory;  which  certainly  was  a 
return  that  their  tenderness  to  him  called  for;  but  it  was  that  of  a  bold  and 
confident  controvertist,  who  sets  his  opponents  at  defiance. 

''  4.  The  publication  of  this  sermon  and  defence  by  Mr.  Craighead,  after 
he  had  been  so  earnestly  entreated  by  the  Synod  '  not  to  offend  against  the 
doctrines  of  the  Confession  and  the  feelings  of  his  Christian  brethren,'  was 
even  more  reprehensible,  as  far  as  evidence  is  before  us,  than  the  first  preach- 
ing of  it. 

''  5.  The  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  to  which  Mr.  Craighead  belonged, 
in  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty,  could  not  have  connived  at  such 
conduct.  They  acted  properly,  therefore,  in  calling  upon  Mr.  Craighead  to 
answer  for  this  publication.  Indeed,  they  deserve  much  commendation  for 
their  watchfulness,  zeal,  and  firmness,  in  promptly  meeting  an  evil  which 
threatened  greatly  to  injure  the  welfare  of  the  Church.  And  when  it  is 
considered,  that  the  man  with  whom  they  had  to  deal  was  distinguished  for 
his  learning  and  eloquence,  reputable  in  his  character  and  standing  in  socie- 
ty, and  venerable  for  his  age,  it  was  a  duty  of  no  small  difliculty  and 
self-denial  which  they  were  called  to  perform.  But  they  did  not  shrink 
from  it.  Therefore,  whatever  may  have  been  their  errors  in  the  manner  of 
conducting  this  business,  or  the  errors  of  the  Synod,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the 
General  Assembly,  that  they  performed  their  duty  in  difficult  circumstances; 
and  that  their  whole  proceedings  were  prompted  by  pure  and  conscientious 
motives. 

"  6.  It  is  not  surprising,  that  in  a  case  so  new  and  difficult,  some  consid- 
erable errors  in  point  of  form  should  have  occurred;  the  principal  of  these, 
the  General  Assembly  will  now  briefly  point  out. 

(a)  "  There  was  a  great  deficiency  in  the  charges  preferred  against  Mr. 
Craighead  as  it  relates  to  precision.  All  charges  for  heresy  should  be  as 
definite  as  possible.  The  article,  or  articles  of  faith  impugned,  should  be 
specified,  and  the  words  supposed  to  be  heretical,  shown  to  be  in  repugnance 
to  these  articles;  whether  the  reference  is  made  directly  to  the  Scriptures, 
as  a  standard  of  orthodoxy,  or  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  which  our  Church 
holds  to  be  a  summary  of  the  doctrines  of  Scripture.  But  in  none  of  the 
charges  against  Mr.  Craighead  is  this  done;  and  in  two  of  thorn,  (third  and 
fourth,)  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  say  what  articles  of  faith  are  supposed 
to  be  contravened  in  the  errors  charged  on  Mr.  Craighead.  And  the  last 
two  charges  appear  to  be  so  vague  and  indefinite  as  to  be  incapable  of  proof. 
In  the  fifth,  Mr.  Craighead  is  charged  with  perverting,  &c.,  the  sentiments 
of  the  preachers  and  writers  in  our  connection.  Now,  in  our  counection, 
there  are  a  multitude  of  preachers  and  writers  differing  by  many  shades  of 
opinion  from  each  other.  How  then  can  this  be  a  just  ground  of  accusa- 
sation?  In  the  sixth,  he  is  charged  with  the  false  colouring  of  fiicts,  &c. 
But  no  facts  are  established  by  evidence;  none  are  specified  in  the  charge; 
and  to  make  it  a  just  ground  of  accusation,  it  ought  to  have  been  a  designed 
and  malicious  discolouring  of  the  fticts,  &c. 

(h)  "In  the  progress  of  this  case,  the  Presbytery  proceeded  regularly  to 
cite  the  accused,  once  and  again,  and  upon   his  not  appearing,  they  pro- 


642  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

ceedcd  to  the  trial,  and  having  gone  through  the  evidence,  they  referred 
the  whole  to  the  Synod  to  adjudicate  upon  it,  with  the  expression  of  their 
own  opinion,  that  Mr.  Craighead  ought  to  be  suspended.  The  Synod  met 
immediately  after  Presbytery,  and  took  up  the  case,  and  in  concurrence 
with  the  opinion  of  the  Presbytery,  suspended  Mr.  Craighead  from  the 
gospel  ministry. 

(f)  "In  this  proceeding,  the  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion,  that  there 
was  too  much  haste.  Mr.  Craighead  was  not  guilty  of  contumacy,  for  he 
wrote  two  letters  to  the  Presbytery,  excusing  himself  for  non-attendance; 
and  if  he  had  been  guilty  of  contumacy,  he  ought  to  have  been  suspended 
on  that  ground.  Perhaps  no  man  ought  to  be  tried  on  charges  preferred, 
and  to  be  supported  by  evidence,  who  is  not  present,  without  his  own  con- 
sent. A  trial,  in  the  nature  of  things,  cannot  be  impartial,  when  there  is 
but  one  party  heard.  And  in  this  case  no  injury  would  have  been  sustained 
by  delay,  for  the  Synod  might  have  proceeded  instantly  to  condemn  the 
eri'ors  of  Mr.  Craighead's  book,  as  the  Greneral  Assembly  did  in  the  case  of 
The  Gospel  Plan  of  W.  C  Davis;  the  process  against  tlae  author,  however, 
did  not  commence  till  some  time  afterwards.  But,  however  this  may  bej 
the  General  Assembly  think  that  the  Synod  were  in  too  much  haste.  It 
was  reasonable  that  Mr.  Craighead  should  have  been  informed  of  this  trans- 
fer of  the  cause  to  a  higher  tribunal. 

(d)  "There  is  only  one  other  thing  in  the  proceedings  on  which  the 
General  Assembly  will  remark,  which  is,  that  statements  were  given  as  evi- 
dence, by  the  members  of  Presbytery,  which  are  not  recorded,  and  which 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  given  under  the  usual  solemnity  of  an  oath. 

§93. 

"  But  from  matters  of  form,  the  General  Assembly  will  now  pass  to  the 
merits  of  the  case ;  and  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  the  first  and  second  charges 
only  shall  be  brought  into  view. 

(a)  "Charge  1.  *  We  charge  him  with  denying  and  vilifying  the  real 
agency  of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration,  and  in  the  production  of  faith  and 
sanctification  in  general.' 

"And  first,  they  would  observe,  that  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the 
denial  of  the  real  agency  of  the  Spirit,  is  a  dangerous  and  fundamental 
error;  and  if  Mr.  Craighead  taught  such  an  error,  he  ought  to  have  been 
suspended. 

"  The  question  then  is,  do  the  passages  of  Mr.  Craighead's  sermon,  refer- 
red to  in  the  charge,  prove  that  he  did  deny  the  reality  of  the  operations  of 
the  Spirit? 

(h)  "  Here  it  will  be  important  to  remark,  that  a  man  cannot  fairly  be 
convicted  of  heresy,  for  using  expressions  which  maybe  so  interpreted  as  to 
involve  heretical  doctrines,  if  they  may  also  admit  of  a  more  favourable  con- 
struction : — Because,  no  one  can  tell  in  what  sense  an  ambiguous  expres- 
sion is  used,  but  the  speaker  or  writer,  and  he  has  a  right  to  explain 
himself;  and  in  such  cases,  candour  requires,  that  a  court  should  favour  the 
accused,  by  putting  on  his  words  the  more  favourable,  rather  than  the  less 
favourable  construction. 

(c)  "Another  principle  is,  that  no  man  can  rightly  be  convicted  of  heresy 
by  inference  or  implication;  that  is,  we  must  not  charge  an  accused  person 
with  holding  those  consequences  which  may  legitimately  flow  from  his  asser- 
tions. Many  men  are  grossly  inconsistent  with  themselves;  and  while  it  is 
right,  in  argument,  to  overthrow  false  opinions,  by  tracing  them  in  their 
connections  and  consequences,  it  is  not  right  to  charge  any  man  with  aa 
opinion  which  he  disavows. 


Part  X.]  ckaighead's  case.  643 

(f/)  '^With  these  principles  in  view,  the  General  Assembly  proceed  to 
observe,  that  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  Mr.  Craighead  did  deny  the 
immediate  agcnci/  of  the  Spirit,  but  no  clear  evidence  that  he  denied  the 
real  agency  of  the  Spirit.  These  are  very  different  things,  and  the  proof 
Of  the  one  does  by  no  means  establish  the  other.  Immediate  agency 
or  operation  is  opposed  to  mediate.  This  is  a  well  known  distinction  in 
theology,  and  a  point  which  has  been  greatly  controverted.  The  Reformed 
Church,  of  which  ours  is  a  part,  in  all  their  purest  times,  maintained  the 
doctrine  of  the  immediate  operation  of  the  Spirit,  not  without  the  word,  but 
distinct  from  it,  and  in  the  order  of  nature  preceding  it.  Other  Protestant 
Churches,  never  charged  with  fundamental  error,  have  as  uniformly  main- 
tained the  doctrine  of  a  mediate  agency ;  and  those  commonly  believe,  that 
this  operation  is  not  occasional,  but  uniform,  and  diversified  in  its  effects, 
by  the  difference  of  resistance  with  which  it  meets.  Neither  the  Presbytery 
nor  the  Synod  appear  to  have  attended  sufiiciently  to  this  distinction.  They 
appear  to  have  thought,  that  a  denial  of  immediate  agcncij,  was  a  denial  of 
all  real  agency.  It  deserves  special  regard  here,  thai  our  Confession  takes 
no  notice  of  these  nice  distinctions,  about  the  mode  in  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  operates.  It  usually  mentions  the  word  and  the  Spirit  together,  and 
the  former  as  the  instrument  of  the  latter.  And  they  who  believe  in  the 
immediate  agency  of  the  Spirit,  do  not  exclude  the  instrumentality  of  the 
word ;  they  however  explain  it  in  a  different  way  from  those  who  hold  that 
there  is  no  agency  of  the  Spirit,  distinct  from  the  word.  But  this  is  the 
more  favourable  construction;  there  is  another,  which  if  not  more  probable, 
is  more  obvious.  Mr.  Craighead  may  be  understood  as  teaching,  that  the 
only  real  agency  of  the  Spirit  was  in  inspiring  the  Scriptures,  and  confirm- 
ing them  by  signs  and  miracles.  There  is  much  in  his  discourse  that  has 
this  bearing;  and  undoubtedly  this  is  the  common  impression  among  the 
people  where  it  is  best  known.  This  was  the  idea  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, when  they  condemned  him ;  and  this  is,  in  fact,  denying  the  reality 
of  the  operation  of  the  Spirit,  in  our  days :  and  whether  his  expressions 
have  been  fairly  interpreted  or  not,  they  are  dangerous,  and  ought  to  be 
condemned.  In  justice  to  Mr.  Craighead,  however,  it  ought  to  be  remem- 
bered, that  he  utterly  disclaims  this  meaning,  in  his  defence  sent  up  to  this 
Assembly.  And  would  it  be  fair  to  continue  to  charge  upon  him  opinions 
which  he  solemnly  disavows?  Of  the  sincerity  of  his  disavowal,  God  is  the 
judge.  The  conclusion  is,  that  the  first  charge,  though  supported  by  strong 
probabilities,  is  not  so  conclusively  established  as  to  remove  all  doubt, 
because  the  words  adduced  in  proof  will  bear  a  different  construction  from 
that  put  on  them  by  the  Presbytery  and  Synod. 

(e)  "  The  evidence  in  support  of  the  second  charge  is  still  less  clear  and 
conclusive.     The  charge  is, 

"  '  We  charge  him  with  denying,  vilifying,  and  misrepresenting  the  doc- 
trine of  divine  foreordination,  and  sovereignty,  and  election.' 

"It  might,  perhaps,  be  shown  by  argument,  that  Mr.  Craighead  uses 
many  expressions  not  consistent  with  these  doctrines;  but  agreeably  to  the 
principle  laid  down  above,  he  must  not  be  charged  with  holding  these  con- 
sequences unless  he  has  avowed  them.  These  passages  of  his  discourse,  it 
is  true,  contain  erroneous  and  offensive  things,  but  they  do  not  establish  the 
charge  of  denying,  vilifying,  &c.  In  one  single  instance,  he  seems  to  deny 
that  everything  should  be  referred  to  the  sovereignty  of  God's  will;  but 
the  words  in  their  connection  may  have  an  innocent  meaning.  Here  again 
it  must  be  observed,  that  Mr.  Craighead  solemnly  declares  his  belief  in  the 
doctrine  of  decrees  and  election,  as  expressed  in  our  standards. 

(/)  "But  whilst  the  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  the  charges 


644  HERESIES   AND    SCHISMS.  [Book  VII. 

against  Mr.  Craighead  are  not  clearly  and  fully  supported  by  the  references, 
they  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  say,  that  the  impression  which  they  have 
received  from  hearing  extracts  from  this  discourse,  are  very  unfavourable; 
and  they  do  believe  that  Mr.  Craighead,  by  preaching  and  printing  this 
sermon,  did  subject  himself  justly  to  censure.  • 

"  Moreover  the  Assembly  are  of  opinion,  that  the  doctrines  of  this  ser- 
mon, in  the  most  favourable  construction,  are  different  from  those  of  the 
Reformed  Churches,  and  of  our  Church,  and  are  erroneous ;  although  the 
error  is  not  of  fundamental  importance.  They  have  observed  also,  that  this 
discourse  contains  many  unjust  and  illiberal  reflections  on  the  doctrine  which 
has  been  the  common  and  uniform  belief  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
preachers  and  writers  of  the  Reformed  Churches.  He  mentions  the  names 
of  a  few  persons  as  favouring  the  doctrine  which  he  opposes ;  but  he  might 
have  put  into  the  list  almost  every  standard  writer  of  our  own  and  sister 
Churches,  since  the  Reformation. 

"  This  sermon  also  contains  much  declamation  which  confounds  fanaticism 
and  piety ;  and  representations  of  opinions  which  are  true  and  important,  so 
associated  with  error  and  absurdity,  as  to  exhibit  them  in  a  ridiculous  and 
odious  light. 

"Finally,  the  General  Assembly  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  evidences 
of  an  improper  spirit,  and  an  evil  tendency  in  this  sermon,  and  are  of  opin- 
ion that  Mr.  Craighead  ought  so  to  retract  or  explain  his  sentiments,  as  to 
afford  reasonable  satisfaction  to  his  brethren.     "Whereupon, 

((/)  "  Resolved,  That  as  the  proceedings  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Craighead, 
have  been,  in  many  respects,  irregular,  and  he  has  suffered  much  injury 
from  the  delay  produced  by  these  irregularities :  And  whereas,  also,  the 
charges  are  not  so  conclusively  established  as  to  remove  all  doubt,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  cannot  see  their  way  clear  finally  to  confirm  the  sentence  of 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  although  they  are  of  opinion,  that  Mr.  Craighead 
has  subjected  himself,  by  preaching  and  printing  this  sermon,  to  just  cen- 
sure. But  as  Mr.  Craighead  has  had  no  fair  opportunity  of  vindicating 
himself,  or  of  making  satisfactory  explanations  or  retractions,  therefore, 

'^Resolved,  That  the  whole  cause  be  transmitted  to  the  Presbytery  of 
West  Tennessee,  in  the  bounds  of  which  Mr.  Craighead  resides;  and  that 
they  be  directed  to  give  him  an  early  opportunity  of  offering  that  satisfac- 
tion which  the  Church  expects,  for  the  offence  received :  and  that  upon 
receiving  such  explanations  or  retractions  as  to  them  shall  be  satisfactory, 
Mr.  Craighead  be  restored  to  the  gospel  ministry  from  which  he  had  been 
suspended."— i/i7z««es,  1824,  pp.  218-222. 

§  94.  3Ir.  Craighead  restored. 

[Mr.  Craighead  was  restored  to  the  ministry  by  the  Presbytery  of  West  Tennessee, 
but  died  before  the  next  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly.] 


PAET  XI. 

THE    NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EARLIER  TRANSACTIONS. 

§  95.  First  minute  in  the  New-school  controversy. 

[The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  had  sent  forth  a  Pastoral  Letter,  of  which  the  following  is 
an  extract.*] 

Pastoral  Letter  of  Synod. 

"  The  Synod  assembled  in  Lancaster  at  the  present  time,  consists  of  a  greater  number 
of  members  than  have  been  convened  at  any  meeting  for  many  years;  and  from  their  free 
conversation  on  the  state  of  religion,  it  appears  that  all  the  Presbyteries  are  more  than 
commonly  alive  to  the  importance  of  contending  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints,  and  of  resisting  the  introduction  of  Arian,  Socinian,  Arminian,  and  Hopkinsian 
heresies,  which  are  some  of  the  means  by  which  the  enemy  of  souls  would,  if  possible, 
deceive  the  very  elect. 

"  The  Synod  desire  to  cherish  a  stronger  regard  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  than  they 
find  at  present  subsisting  among  themselves,  and  because  they  are  not  ignorant  of  the  dis- 
position of  many  good  men  to  cry  '  peace,'  where  there  should  be  no  peace,  and  '  there  is 
no  danger,'  in  cases  in  which  God  commands  us  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil,  they 
would  affectionately  exhort  each  Presbytery  under  their  care,  to  be  strict  in  the  examina- 
tion of  candidates  for  licensure  or  ordination,  upon  the  subject  of  those  delusions  of  the 
present  age,  which  seem  to  be  a  combination  of  most  of  the  innovations  made  upon  Chris- 
tian doctrine  in  former  times. 

''May  the  time  never  come  in  which  our  ecclesiastical  courts  shall  determine  that  Hop- 
kinsianism  and  the  doctrines  of  our  Confession  of  Faith  are  the  same  thing,  or  that  men 
are  less  exposed  now  than  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  to  the  danger  of  perverting  the 
right  ways  of  the  Lord. 

"  The  Synod  would  exhort  particularly  all  the  elders  of  the  Churches  to  beware  of  those 
who  have  made  such  pretended  discoveries  in  Christian  theology  as  require  an  abandon- 
ment of  the  '  form  of  sound  words,'  contained  in  our  excellent  Confession  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

"  In  some  portions  of  our  Synodical  bounds,  exertions  have  been  made,  but  with  little 
effect,  to  propagate  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation.  We  rejoice  that  the  shafts  of 
Satan  should  fall  ineffectual  from  the  shield  of  Jesus,  and  we  desire  all  persons  under  our 
care  to  present  this  shield,  by  maintaining  and  diffusing  assiduously  the  sentiments  of  the 
word  of  God,  in  opposition  to  every  damning  error. 

"  Three  or  four  of  our  Churches  have  experienced  what  is  commonly  called  a  revival 
of  religion,  and  to  them  accessions  of  communicants  have  been  numerous;  but  in  many 
other  Congregations,  a  gradual  but  almost  constant  multiplication  of  the  professed  friends 
of  Zion  reminds  us,  that  if  the  thunder-storm  in  summer  excites  the  most  attention,  it  is 
the  continued  blessing  from  the  clouds  which  replenishes  the  springs,  and  makes  glad  the 
harvest  of  the  husbandman.     For  the  many  who  are  united  in  a  short  lime,  and  for  the 

[*  From  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  E.  S.  Ely,  D.  D.] 


646  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

many  who  are  gradually  gathered  to  Christ,  not  by  the  great  and  strong  wind  that  rends 
the  mountains,  nor  by  the  earthquake,  but  by  the  still  small  voice,  which  cometh  not 
with  observation,  we  would  give  our  Redeemer  thanks,  and  desire  the  Churches  to  bless 
him,  no  less  for  the  daily  dew,  than  the  latter  and  the  early  rain." — Marginal  note  to  Min- 
utes,  1817,  p.  655. 

§  9G.    The  Assemhli/  condemns  this  letter. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Sjnod  of  Pliila- 
delphia,  reported;  and  the  book  was  approved  to  page  499,  excepting  cer- 
tain parts  of  a  pastoral  letter,  commencing  in  page  494,  and  a  resolution  in 
page  493,  which  enjoins  on  the  several  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synod 
to  call  to  an  account  all  such  Ministers  as  may  be  suspected  to  embrace  any 
of  the  opinions  usually  called  Hopkinsian.  On  these  parts  of  the  records, 
the  Assembly  would  remark,  that  while  they  commend  the  zeal  of  the  Synod 
in  endeavouring  to  promote  a  strict  conformity  to  our  public  standards,  a 
conformity  which  cannot  but  be  viewed  as  of  vital  importance  to  the  purity 
and  prosperity  of  the  Church,  the  Assembly  regret  that  zeal  on  this  subject 
should  be  manifested  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  offensive  to  other  denomi- 
nations, and  especially  to  introduce  a  spirit  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  against 
Ministers  in  good  standing,  which  is  calculated  to  disturb  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  our  ecclesiastical  judicatories.  And  whereas,  a  passage  in  the 
pastoral  letter  above  referred  to,  appears  capable  of  being  construed  as 
expressing  an  opinion  unfavourable  to  revivals  of  religion,  the  Assembly 
would  only  observe,  that  they  cannot  believe  that  that  venerable  Synod  could 
have  intended  to  express  such  an  opinion. 

§97.   Protest  first. 

"The  following  protests  against  this  resolution  were  brought  in  and 
read,  and  it  was  directed  by  the  Assembly  that  they  be  recorded  on  the 
Minutes. 

"  The  subscribers  feel  themselves  aggrieved  by  the  resolution  of  the 
General  Assembly,  adopted  on  the  24th  instant,  relative  to  a  pastoral  letter 
and  resolution  entered  on  the  493d  and  494th  pages  of  the  records  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia;  and  therefore  claim  as  a  right,  that  the  following 
protest  be  entered  on  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  1.  We  protest  against  the  above  resolution  of  the  Assembly,  because  it 
highly  commends,  and  at  the  same  time  expresses  regret  at  the  zeal  of  the 
Synod  for  maintaining  purity  of  doctrine  within  their  bounds,  which  incon- 
sistency of  conduct  we  think  derogatory  to  the  honour  of  the  Assembly,  and 
injurious  to  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer. 

"  2.  We  protest  against  the  resolution,  because  it  would  disparage  the 
zeal  of  the  Synod  for  the  truth,  from  the  circumstance  that  it  is  displayed 
in  a  manner  offensive  to  other  denominations  of  Christians  than  our  own; 
which  we  think  an  unworthy  consideration,  unless  those  other  denomina- 
tions of  Christians  are  sound  in  the  faith,  and  free  from  the  crime  of  taking 
offience  from  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

"3.  We  protest  against  the  resolution  of  the  Assembly,  because  it  un- 
justly imputes  to  the  Synodical  resolution  and  letter,  a  tendency  to  excite  a 
spirit  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  against  Ministers  in  good  standing;  which 
we  deny  to  be  their  tendency,  unless  those  Miuistei-s  are  in  good  standing 
whose  orthodoxy  is  publicly  called  in  question. 

"4.  We  protest  against  the  said  resolution  of  the  Assembly,  because  it 
imputes  to  the  Synodical  proceedings  a  tendency  to  distract  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  our  ecclesiastical  judicatories ;  whereas,  in  fact,  the  tendency  of 
the  same  is  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  controversy,  contention^  and 
heresy,  into  any  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  Synod. 


Part  XL]  EARLIER   OCCURRENCES.  647 

"5.  We  protest  against  the  said  resolution,  because  in  pleading  a  need- 
less apology  for  the  expressions  concerning  revivals  of  religion,  it  insinuates 
the  very  insinuation  which  it  pretends  to  counteract,  that  the  Synod  are 
opposed  to  revivals  of  religion ;  whereas,  the  Synod  has  affectionately  called 
upon  the  churches  within  their  bounds  to  acknowledge,  not  less  the  saving 
influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  are  frequent  and  gradual,  than  those 
which  are  uncommon. 

"  6.  We  protest  against  said  resolution  of  the  Assembly,  because  it  was 
due  to  Christian  candour,  and  the  dignity  of  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our 
Church,  when  acting  in  the  name  and  professedly  by  the  authority  of  Christ, 
that  the  Synodical  resolution  and  pastoral  letter  should  either  have  been 
approved  or  disapproved  in  an  unambiguous  manner. 

"7.  We  protest  against  the  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  because 
we  do  not  believe  that  the  doctrines  called  Hopkinsian  are  innocent,  or  that 
they  are  so  trivial  as  not  to  require  the  interference  of  the  Synod  in  the 
manner  adopted  in  their  records  to  prevent  their  propagation;  and  because 
we  believe  that  when  the  enemy  cometh  in  like  a  flood,  the  supreme  judi- 
catory of  the  Church  ought  to  lift  up  a  standard  against  him. 

"  8.  Finally,  we  protest  against  the  resolution  of  the  Assembly,  because 
it  apparently  contradicts  the  decisions  of  the  Assembly  which  condemned 
the  Hopkinsian  errors  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Davis  and  Balch,  as  will  fully 
appear  from  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Samuel  Martin,  John  Hutchison, 

Francis  A.  Latta,         Thomas  Holiday, 
Thomas  Hood,  William  A.  Boyd. 

Robert  McCoy." 

§  98.    Second  Protest. 

''We,  the  subscribers,  members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  America,  feeling  ourselves  aggrieved  by  the  adoption,  on 
the  part  of  the  General  Assembly,  of  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

'^Jiesolved,  That  the  said  records,  i.  e.  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, be  approved  to  page  499,  excepting  certain  parts  of  a  pastoral  let- 
ter, [&c.  see  above,]  do  solemnly  protest  against  said  resolution  for  the 
reasons  following,  viz. 

"1.  Because  the  said  resolution  is  couched  in  terms  so  ambiguous,  that  it  is 
susceptible  of  receiving  various  constructions,  and  of  being  appealed  to  as 
authority  in  support  of  very  diff"erent  opinions ;  thus  some  suppose  that  the 
General  Assembly  have,  in  passing  said  resolution,  supported  in  the  main, 
the  principle  of  the  Synod,  and  censured  only  the  mode  of  expression  adopt- 
ed in  the  pastoral  letter  and  resolution  under  review.  Others  suppose  that 
the  General  Assembly  have,  in  fact,  declared  the  errors,  delusions,  and 
heresy  of  the  Hopkinsian  system  to  be  consonant  with  the  public  standards 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"2.  Because,  after  excepting  to  certain  parts  of  said  pastoral  letter,  which 
parts  speak  of  errors,  delusions,  and  heresies,  the  said  resolution  takes  ex- 
ceptioUvS  to,  and  in  so  far  censures  a  resolution  of  the  Synod,  which  speaks 
of  the  errors  of  that  system  commonly  called  Hopkinsian,  as  if  the  Synod 
designed  to  guard  their  churches  and  Presbyteries  against  merely  opinions 
held  by  Hopkinsians,  even  though  held  in  common  with  the  Synod. 

"3.  Because  the  said  resolution  appears  to  assume  the  fact  that  the  dis- 
tinguishing doctrines  of  the  Hopkinsian  system  are  either  consonant  with 
our  public  standards,  or  are  of  so  trivial  a  nature,  that  their  departure  from 
strict  conformity  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  matter  of  censure;  whereas 
we  suppose  them  to  be  essentially  contradictory  to  sound,  orthodox  doctrines, 


648  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

and  consequently,  the  preaching  of  them  to  be  a  violation  of  ordination 
vows. 

"4.  Because  the  Synod  possessing  the  power,  according  to  our  Form  of 
Government,  <to  make  such  regulations  for  the  benefit  of  their  whole 
body,  and  of  the  Presbyteries  and  churches  under  their  care,  as  shall  be 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  not  contradictory  to  the  decisions  of  the 
General  Assembly,'  have  been  censured  by  the  passage  of  said  resolution 
for  exercising  that  power,  in  taking  measures  to  promote  the  common  advan- 
tage of  those  committed  to  their  care,  in  perfect  consonance  with  the  word 
of  God,  and  with  the  decisions  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  recorded  in 
volume  L,  pages  175,  176,  in  regard  to  the  errors  of  the  Rev.  Hezekiah 
Balch. 

"  5.  Because  in  expressing  the  regret  of  the  Assembly,  that  zeal  on  the 
subject  under  consideration  has  been  manifested  in  such  manner  as  to  be 
offensive  to  other  denominations  of  Christians,  the  said  resolution  does,  in 
effect,  go  to  restrain  our  ecclesiastical  judicatories  from  expressing  the  doc- 
trines of  our  public  standards,  in  so  far  as  those  doctrines  do  not  accord  with 
those  of  other  denominations. 

"  6.  Because  the  resolution  unjustly  charges  the  Synod  with  introducing 
a  spirit  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  against  ministers  in  good  standing,  and 
thus  with  proceeding  in  a  manner  calculated  to  disturb  the  peace  and  har- 
mony of  ecclesiastical  judicatories;  whereas  the  real  design  of  the  Synod 
was  to  repel  the  assaults  of  error,  delusion  and  heresy;  and  the  true  ten- 
dency of  their  proceedings  was,  by  cutting  off  the  occasion  of  collision  of 
sentiment,  to  maintain  the  peace  and  harmony  of  their  churches. 

"7.  Because  the  Synod  in  their  pastoral  letter  does  not  even  seem  to  be 
unfavourable  to  revivals  of  religion;  and  because  the  said  resolution  does 
therefore  seem  to  countenance  an  unfounded  suspicion  on  this  subject,  by 
noticing  an  apparent  capability  of  its  being  construed  as  expressing  au 
opinion  unfavourable  to  revivals  of  religion. 

James  Snodgrass,  Alexander  Boyd, 

John  E.  Latta,  Robert  F.  N.  Smith, 

John  McKissick." 
— Minutes,  1817,  pp.  653,  654. 

§  99.   Complaint  against  doctrinal  errors  discountena7iced. 

"  A  paper,  signed  by  a  number  of  Ministers  and  Elders,  complaining  of 
the  prevalence  of  errors  in  doctrine,  and  requesting  the  opinion  and  advice 
of  the  Assembly,  was  overtured,  and  being  read,  was  committed  to  Drs. 
Rice,  Hill,  and  Coe,  Mr.  Lansing,  and  Dr.  Bates"  [delegate  from  the  Con- 
vention of  Vermont.] — Minutes,  1822,  p.  8. 

"  The  committee  to  which  was  referred  a  paper  purporting  to  be  a  remon- 
strance from  John  M.  Rankin  and  others,  who  allege  that  they  are  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  having  had  the  same  under 
serious  consideration,  submitted  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted, 
viz. 

"The  General  Assembly  can  never  hesitate  on  any  proper  occasion  to 
recommend  to  those  who,  both  at  their  licensure  and  ordination,  professed 
sincerely  to  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church  as  con- 
taining the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  all 
other  members  of  our  Church,  steadfastly  to  adhere  to  that  *  form  of  sound 
words.' 

''  But  while  the  General  Assembly  is  invested  with  the  power  of  deciding 
in  all  controversies  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline,  of  reproving,  warn- 
ing, or  bearing  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine,  in  any  Chuixh,  Presby- 


Part  XI.]  EARLIER   OCCURRENCES.  649 

tery,  or  Synod,  or  of  suppressing  schismatical  contentions  and  disputations; 
all  such  matters  ouglit  to  be  brought  before  the  Assembly  in  a  regular  and 
constitutional  way;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Constitution  ever 
designed  that  the  General  Assembly  should  take  up  abstract  cases  and 
decide  on  them,  especially  when  the  object  appears  to  be  to  bring  those 
decisions  to  bear  on  particular  individuals,  not  judicially  before  the  Assem- 

"Neither  does  it  appear  that  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  intended 
that  any  person  or  persons  should  have  the  privilege  of  presenting  for  deci- 
sion remonstrances  respecting  points  of  doctrine  or  the  conduct  of  individuals 
not  brought  up  from  the  inferior  judicatories  by  appeal,  reference,  or  com- 
plaint, and  this  especially  when  such  remonstrances  contain  no  evidence 
whatsoever  of  the  facts  alleged,  but  mere  statements,  of  the  truth  or  justness 
of  which  the  Assembly  have  no  means  of  judging,  inasmuch  as  a  contrary 
course  would  allow  of  counter  and  contradictory  remonstrances  without  end." 
—Mmutes,  1822,  p.  22. 

§  100.    The  American  Boards  placed  upon  a  level  with  our  own. 

"While  the  Assembly  would  affectionately  solicit  the  co-operation  of  the 
Churches  with  its  own  Board  of  Missions;  yet,  as  many  of  our  churches 
have  already  united  their  efforts  with  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  and  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions; 
therefore 

"Resolved,  as  the  sense  of  the  Assembly,  that  the  Churches  should  be 
left  entirely  to  their  own  imbiassed  and  deliberate  choice  of  the  particular 
channel  through  which  their  charities  may  flow  forth  to  bless  the  perishing." 
—Minutes,  1829,  p.  374. 

"While  the  Assembly  would  thus  commend  its'' own  Board  of  Education 
to  the  Churches  under  their  care,  yet,  as  many  of  our  churches  have  already 
united  their  efforts  with  other  Education  Societies;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Churches  and  Presbyteries  should  be  left  to  their 
own  unbiassed  and  deliberate  choice  of  the  particular  channel  through 
which  their  charities  shall  be  given  in  aid  of  this  great  department  of 
benevolence." — Minutes,  1833,  p.  21. 

§  101.  Propiosed  geographical  division  of  the  General  Assemhli/. 
[The  controversy  in  regard  to  the  management  of  Missions  in  the  West,  is  developed 
in  Book  V.  §§  81 — 83,  85 — 87.  Probably  this  was  the  occasion  of  a  memorial  which 
came  up  in  1830,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  proposing  a  geographical  division 
of  the  Church,  and  the  erection  of  a  General  Assembly  of  the  West. — Minutes,  1830, 
p.  16. 

"The  committee  [on  the  above  proposal,]  recommend  to  this  General 
Assembly,  to  dismiss  the  overture  for  the  organization  of  a  General  Assem- 
bly in  the  western  country  for  the  following  reasons  : 

"1.  In  this  land  of  liberty,  where  religion  depends  on  moral  influences,  it 
appears  to  your  committee  to  be  a  matter  of  very  great  importance,  that  all 
who  agree  in  their  views  of  fundamental  Christian  doctrine,  government  and 
discipline,  should  be  united  in  promoting  their  common  principles  and  sus- 
taining common  interests,  and  one  General  Assembly  is  surely  best  suited  to 
form  a  bond  of  union  for  the  whole  Church. 

"2.  In  the  prevalence  of  local  feelings  and  sectional  jealousies,  there  is 
reason  to  apprehend  that  the  measure  proposed  might  soon  utterly  destroy 
the  unity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  form  into  two  great  rival  and 
contending  bodies  those  who  ought  ever  to  hold  'the  unity  of  the  Spirit,  in 
the  bonds  of  peace.' 

"3.  From  the  geographical  position  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  it  appears 
82 


650  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

to  the  committee,  utterly  impossible  to  form  any  division  •which  would  not 
subject  both  the  eastern  and  western  branches  of  the  Church  to  the  same 
evils  which  arc  now  felt  by  this  body;  and  when  once  the  measure  of 
division  is  resorted  to  as  a  remedy  for  the  evil,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture 
where  such  a  measure  will  terminate."     [iVdopted.] — Minutes,  1830,  p.  30. 


CHAPTER  11. 

BARNES'S  FIRST  TRIAL. 

§  102.  ITis  call  to  PhiladeljjJda. 
[In  the  year  1830,  a  call  was  laid  before  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  from  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  that  city  to  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  then  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Elizabethtown.  The  allowance  of  this  call  was  resisted  in  the  Presbytery,  upon 
the  ground  of  errors  contained  in  a  sermon  recently  published  by  him  on  "  The  Way  of 
Salvation.''  These  objections  were  disregarded,  the  call  was  forwarded  and  accepted  by 
Mr.  Barnes.  On  the  18th  of  June  a  called  meeting  was  had  "  for  the  purpose  of  consid- 
ering the  reception  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes,  and  to  do  what  may  be  deemed  proper  in  his 
installation."] 

§  103.  He  is  received  hy  the  Presbytery. 

"The  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  presented  a  certificate  of  dismission  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown,  to  join  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

''The  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  at  their  last  stated  meeting  in  relation 
to  the  ease  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  were  then  read. 

"It  was  then  moved  and  seconded,  that  Mr.  Barnes  be  received  as  a 
member  of  this  Presbytery,  and  after  some  discussion,  it  was  moved  [by 
Dr.  Ely,]  and  seconded,  that  the  motion  now  under  discussion  be  postponed, 
that  before  deciding  on  it,  any  brother  of  the  Presbytery,  who  may  deem  it 
necessary,  may  ask  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes  such  explanations  of  his  doctrinal 
views  as  said  brethren  may  deem  necessary." 

[This  motion  was  rejected  by  yeas  18,  nays  20,  and  Mr.  Barnes  was  received,  by  yeas 
30;  nays  16.] 

[Charges  were  then  formally  tabled  against  Mr.  Barnes,  for  unsoundness  in  the  faith 
as  a  bar  to  the  installation;  but  the  Moderator  decided  that  they  were  out  of  order  as  new 
business  at  a  prove  nata  meeting,  and  the  Presbytery  sustained  the  decision  and  installed 
Mr.  Barnes.] 

§  104.  Action  of  Synod. 

[The  minority  complained  of  these  proceedings  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which 
after  a  full  hearing  of  the  parties  adopted  the  following  resolutions:] 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  not  allowing  the  examination 
of  Mr.  Barnes,  in  connection  with  his  printed  Sermon,  previously  to  his  reception  as  a 
member  of  Presbytery,  and  especially  before  his  installation  as  Pastor  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  gavfe  just  ground  of  complaint  to  the  minority." 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  complainants  be  referred  back  to  the  Presbytery  of  which  they 
are  members,  with  an  injunction  to  that  Presbytery,  to  hear  and  decide  on  their  objections 
to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  sermon  of  Mr.  Barnes,  and  to  take  such  order  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject, as  is  required  by  a  regard  to  the  purity  of  the  Church,  and  its  acknowledged  doctrines 
and  order."  '' 

§  105.  Examination  of  Mr.  Barneses  Sermon. 

[Under  these  instructions  the  Presbytery  entered  into  an  examination  of  Mr.  Barnes's 
sermon,  and  the  following  minute  offered  by  Dr.  Green  was  read  by  paragraphs, discussed 
and  adopted,  viz.] 


Part  XI.]  BARNES'S   FIRST   TRIAL.  651 

§  106.   Decision  vpon  it. 

"The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  agreeably  to  the  direction  of  the  Synod  at  their 
recent  meeting  in  Lancaster,  having  considered  the  sermon  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes, 
entitled  "  The  Way  of  Salvation,"  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  contains  speculations  of 
dangerous  tendency  on  some  of  the  principal  points  in  Christian  theology,  and  ought 
not  therefore  to  be  sanctioned  as  expressing  that  view  of  the  great  truths  of  God's  word, 
which  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  uniformly  adopted,  and  which  is  exhibited  in  their 
authorized  Confession  of  Faith. 

In  stating  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  the  author  employs  a  phraseology  which  is  cal- 
culated to  mislead,  and  which  appears  evidently  to  conflict  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of 
the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

1.  He  denies  that  the  posterity  of  Adam  are  responsible  or  answerable  for  Adam's  first 
sin,  which  he  committed  as  the  federal  head  of  his  race.  Thus,  p.  6, "  Christianity  does 
not  charge  on  men  crimes  of  which  they  are  not  guilty.  It  does  not  say,  as  I  suppose, 
that  the  sinner  is  held  to  be  personally  answerable  for  the  transgressions  of  Adam,  or  of  any 
other  man." 

Although  the  word  transgressions  is  here  used  plurally,yet  it  is  evident  from  the  whole 
tenor  of  this  division  of  the  discourse,  that  the  prime  sin  of  Adam,  which  constituted  his 
apostacy  from  God,  is  meant.  Again,  he  says,  p.  7,  "Neither  the  facts,  nor  any  proper 
inference  from  the  facts  affirm,  that  I  am  in  either  case  personally  responsible  for  what 
another  man  (referring  to  Adam)  did  before  I  had  an  existence."  And  he  explicitly 
declares  that  if  God  had  charged  upon  mankind  such  a  responsibility,  it  would  have  been 
clearly  unjust,  vide  p.  6.  The  doctrine  of  responsibility  here  impugned  is  clearly 
expressed.  Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  vi.  6 — "Every  sin,  both  original  and  actual,  being  a 
transgression  of  the  righteous  law  of  God  and  contrary  thereunto,  doth  in  its  own  nature 
bring  guilt  upon  the  sinner,  whereby  he  is  bound  over  to  the  wrath  of  God  and  curse  of 
the  law,  and  so  made  subject  to  death,  with  all  miseries  spiritual,  temporal,  and  eternal." 

3.  In  accordance  with  the  above  doctrine,  that  mankind  are  not  responsible  for 
Adam's  sin,  he  affirms,  p.  7,  that  "  Christianity  affirms  the  fact,  that  in  connection  with 
the  sin  of  Adam,  or  as  a  result,  all  moral-ngents  will  sin,  and  sinning  will  die."  And  then 
proceeds  to  explain  the  principle  upon  which  the  universality  of  sin  is  to  be  accounted  for, 
by  representing  it  to  be  the  result  of  Adam's  sin,  in  the  same  sense,  as  the  misery  of  a 
drunkard's  family  is  the  result  of  his  intemperance.  Here  it  would  seem,  the  author 
maintains  that  the  same  relationship  subsists  between  every  man  and  his  family,  as  sub- 
sisted between  Adam  and  his  posterity ;  that  the  same  principle  of  moral  government 
applies  to  both  cases  alike,  or  in  other  words,  that  mankind  hold  no  other  relationship  to 
Adam,  than  that  of  children  to  a  natural  progenitor. 

The  public  federal  or  representative  character  of  Adam  is  thus  denied,  contrary  to  the 
explicit  statement  in  the  answer  to  the  22d  question  of  Larger  Catechism  :  "  The  cove- 
nant being  made  with  Adam  as  a  public  person,  not  for  himself  only,  but  for  his  posterity; 
all  mankind  descending  from  him  by  ordinary  generation  sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with  him 
in  that  first  transgression." 

3.  He  declares,  p.  7,  that  "the  notion  of  imputing  sin  is  an  invention  of  modern  times," 
contrary  to  Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  vi.  3,  "  They  being  the  root  of  all  mankind,  the 
guilt  of  this  sin  was  imputed,  and  the  same  death  in  sin  and  corrupted  nature  conveyed  to 
all  their  posterity,  descending  from  them  by  ordinary  generation." 

4.  In  p.  5,  he  admits  that  his  language  on  the  subject  of  original  sin  differs  from  that 
used  by  the  Confession  of  Faith  on  the  same  subject,  and  then  accounts  for  this  difference 
on  the  ground  of  thc^difficulty  of  affixing  any  clear  and  definite  meaning  to  the  expression 
"  we  sinned  in  him  and  fell  tvith  him."  This  expression  he  considers,  as  far  as  it  ig 
capable  of  interpretation,  as  "  intended  to  convey  the  idea,  not  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is 
imputed  to  us,  or  set  over  to  our  account,  but  that  there  was  a  personal  identity  constitu- 
ted  between  Adam  and  his  posterity,  so  that  it  was  really  our  act,  and  ours  only,  after  all 
that  is  chargeable  on  us  " 

The  whole  of  this  statement  is  exceedingly  incautious  and  improper.  The  language 
of  the  Confession  of  Faith  on  one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  is  held  up  as  obscure  and 
unintelligible,  or,  if  possessing  any  meaning,  as  expressing  an  absurdity.  The  franiers  of 
this  confession  are  charged  with  the  absurdity  of  maintaining  the  personal  identity  between 
Adam  and  his  posterity,  when  their  language  conveys  no  more  than  a  federal  or  represen- 
tative relationship.  This  whole  view  of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  is,  in  the  opinion  of 
Presbytery  obscure,  perplexed,  fruitful  of  dangerous  consequences,  and,  therefore,  censura- 
ble. 


652  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

§  107. 

The  statements  of  this  sermon  on  the  doctrine  of  atonement,  are  also  in  the  opinion  of 
Presbytery,  in  some  important  features,  erroneous,  and  contrary  to  the  orthodox  views. 

1.  At  p.  11,  he  says,  "This  atonement  was  for  all  men.  It  was  an  offering  made 
for  the  race.  It  had  not  respect  so  much  to  individuals,  as  to  the  law  and  perfections  of 
God.  It  was  an  opening  of  the  way  of  pardon,  a  making  forgiveness  consistent,  a  pre- 
serving of  truth,  a  magnifying  of  the  law,  and  had  no  particular  reference  to  any  class  of 
men." 

Here  it  is  denied  that  the  atonement  had  any  special  relation  to  the  elect,  which  it  had 
not  also  to  the  non-elect.  But  if  it  be  true  that  the  atonement  offered  by  Christ,  had  no 
"respect  to  individuals,"  "no  particular  reference  to  any  class  of  men,"  upon  what 
principle  can  it  be  regarded  as  a  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  for  the  sins  of  men  ;  or  in 
what  proper  sense  can  Christ  be  considered  as  a  vicarious  sacrificed  unless  the  atonement 
be  a  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  individuals,  upon  what  principle  can  it  open  the  way  of 
pardon,  make  forgiveness  consistent,  preserve  truth,  or  magnify  the  law"!  The  special 
reference  of  the  atonement  to  a  chosen  people  in  opposition  to  this  view  is  taught,  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  chap.  viii.  5  :  "  The  Lord  Jesus,  by  his  perfect  obedience  and  sacrifice  of 
himself,  which  he,  through  the  Eternal  Spirit,  once  offered  up  unto  God,  hath  fully  satis- 
fied the  justice  of  his  Father,  and  purchased  not  only  reconciliation  but  an  everlasting 
inheritance  in  the-kingdom  of  Heaven,  for  all  those  whom  the  Father  hath  given  unto 
him."  Again,  in  answer  to  question  44  in  Larger  Catechism,  "  Christ  executeth  the 
office  of  a  Priest  in  his  once  offering  himself  a  sacrifice  without  spot  to  God,  to  be  a 
reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  his  people,"  &c. 

2.  At  p.  II,  he  says,  "  The  atonement,  of  itself,  secured  the  salvation  of  no  one  ;"  and 
again,  "  The  atonement  secured  the  salvation  of  no  one,  except  that  God  had  promised 
his  Son  that  he  should  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  except  on  the  condition  of 
repentance  and  faith."  This  language  is  incautious  and  calculated  to  mislead,  as  it  seems 
to  imply  that  the  atonement  of  itself  does  not  secure  its  own  application,  and  therefore 
may  by  possibiUty  fail  in  its  design.  It  is  improper  to  suspend  its  efficacy  upon  condi- 
tions, when  the  conditions  themselves  are  the  results  of  its  elficacy;  see  Confession  of 
Faith,  chap.  viii.  8,  "  To  all  those  for  whom  Christ  hath  purchased  redemption,  he  doth 
certainly  and  effectually  apply  and  communicate  the  same  ;  making  intercession  for  them, 
and  revealing  unto  them  in  and  by  the  word  the  mysteries  of  salvation;  effectually  per- 
suading them  by  his  Spirit  to  believe  and  obey,"  &c. 

3.  At  p.  10,  he  unequivocally  denies  that  Christ  endured  the  penalty  of  the  law.  "  He 
did  not  indeed  endure  the  penalty  of  the  law,  for  his  sufferings  were  not  eternal,  nor  did 
he  endure  remorse  of  conscience  ;  but  he  endured  so  much  suffering,  bore  so  much  agony, 
that  the  Father  was  pleased  to  accept  of  it  in  the  place  of  the  eternal  torments  of  all  that 
should  be  saved."  Here  it  seems  to  be  inculcated  that  Christ  did  not  satisfy  the  precise 
claims  which  a  violated  law  had  upon  the  sinner,  but  that  he  did  what  might  be  consid- 
ered a  substitute  for  such  satisfaction ;  or  it  is  implied  that  God  remitted  or  waived  the 
original  claim  and  accepted  of  something  less.  And  that  this  is  the  sentiment  of  the 
author,  is  evident  from  his  language,  p.  11,  "Christ's  sufferings  were  severe,  more  severe 
than  those  of  any  mortal  before  or  since  ;  but  they  bore,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  only  a  very 
distant  resemblance  to  the  pains  of  hell,  the  proper  penalty  of  the  law.  JVor  is  it  possible 
to  conceive  that  the  sufferings  oi  a  few  hours,  however  severe,  could  equal  pains,  though 
far  less  intense,  eternally  prolonged ;  still  less  that  the  sufferings  of  human  nature  in  a  sin- 
gle  instance,  for  the  divine  nature  could  not  sulYer,  should  be  equal  to  the  eternal  pain  of 
Diany  millions."  Here  it  is  affirmed  that  Christ  was  not  capable  of  enduring  that  penalty 
which  the  justice  of  God  had  exacted  of  the  sinner,  that  his  suHerings  bore  a  very  distant 
resemblance  to  it,  and  by  consequence  that  the  penalty  of  the  law  has  been  either  relaxed 
or  is  yet  unpaid,  and  that  the  justice  of  God  has  waived  its  original  demand  or  is  yet 
unsatisfied. 

The  whole  of  this  language  seems  derogatory  to  Christ  as  an  all-sufficient  Redeemer; 
it  judges  of  the  human  nature  of  Christ  as  if  it  were  a  common  human  nature,  it  leaves 
out  of  view  the  infinite  support  which  the  divine  nature  was  capable  of  imparting  to  the 
human  nature  of  Christ,  and  is  very  different  from  the  view  of  this  subject  given  by  the 
framers  of  our  standards  in  the  answer  to  the  .S8lh  question  of  Larger  Catechism,  "  It  was 
requisite  that  the  Mediator  should  be  God,  that  he  might  sustain  and  keep  the  human 
nature  from  sinking  under  the  wfinite  wrath  of  God  and  the  power  of  death;  give  worth 
and  efficacy  to  his  sufferings,  obedience  and  intercession;  and  to  satisfy  God's  justice, 
&c.,  &c. 


Part  XI.]  Barnes's  first  trial.  653 

In  discoursing  on  human  ability  the  sermon  contains  expressions  which  do  not  seem  to 
be  well  judged.  In  p.  14,  it  is  said,  "  it  is  not  to  any  want  of  physical  strength  that  this 
rejection  is  owing,  for  men  have  power  enough  in  themselves  to  hate  both  God  and  their 
fellow  men,  and  it  requires  less  physical  power  to  love  God  than  to  hate  him  ;"  and  on  the 
same  page  he  represents  man's  inability  as  solely  in  the  will ;  and  on  p.  30,  that  men  are 
not  saved  simply  because  they  will  not  be  saved.  Here  physical  ability  is  represented  as 
competent  to  the  performance  of  a  moral  action,  which  is  an  improper  application  of  terms, 
and  human  inability  as  resulting  merely  from  the  will,  and  not  from  total  depravity,  which 
is  contrary  to  (confession  of  Faith,  chap.  vi.  4  :  "From  this  original  corruption,  whereby 
we  are  totally  indisposed,  disabled,  and  made  opposite  to  all  good,  and  wholly  inclined  to 
all  evil,  do  proceed  all  actual  transgressions;"  and  Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  ix.  3,  "  Man 
by  his  fall  into  a  state  of  sin,  hath  wholly  lost  all  ability  of  will  to  any  spiritual  good 
accompanying  salvation,  so,  as  a  natural  man  being  altogether  averse  from  that  which  is 
good,  and  dead  in  sin,  is  not  able,  by  his  own  strength,  to  convert  himself,  or  prepare  him- 
self thereunto." 

Still  further,  the  language  of  the  sermon,  on  the  subject  of  conformity  to  the  standards 
of  the  Church,  if  sanctioned,  would  give  to  every  individual  after  adopting  these  standards, 
the  liberty  of  dissenting  from  them  as  much,  and  as  often,  as  he  might  desire.  Thus  p.  6, 
he  says,  "  It  is  not  denied  that  this  language  varies  from  the  statements  which  are  often 
made  on  this  subject,  and  from  the  opinion  which  has  been  entertained  by  many.  And, 
it  is  admitted,  that  it  does  not  accord  with  that  used  on  the  same  subject  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  and  other  standards  of  doctrine."  And  again,  p.  12,  "The  great  princi- 
ple on  which  the  author  supposes  the  truths  of  religion  are  to  be  preached,  and  on  which 
he  endeavours  to  act  is,  that  the  Bible  is  to  be  interpreted  by  all  the  honest  helfis  within 
the  reach  of  the  preacher,  and  then  proclaimed  as  it  is,  let  it  lead  where  it  will,  within,  or 
without  the  circumference  of  any  arrangement  of  doctrines.  He  is  supposed  to  be  respon- 
sible not  at  all  for  its  impinging  on  any  theological  system ;  nor  is  he  to  be  cramped  by 
any  frame-work  of  faith  that  has  been  reared  around  the  Bible."  This  language  would 
seem  to  imply,  that  an  individual  may  enter  the  bosom  of  a  Church  by  a  public  reception 
of  its  creed,  and  continue  in  the  communion  of  that  Church,  although  he  should  subse- 
quently discover  that  its  creed  was  not  founded  on  the  word  of  God.  Whilst  the  liberty 
of  every  man  to  accept  or  reject  any  particular  creed,  is  fully  acknowledged  by  this  Pres- 
bytery, yet,  they  do  deny,  that  any  Minister,  whilst  he  remains  in  the  communion  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  has  a  right  to  impugn  its  creed,  or  to  make  a  public  declaration 
that  he  is  not  bound  by  its  authority. 

In  fine,  a  whole  view  of  this  discourse  seems  to  warrant  the  belief,  that  the  grand  and 
fundamental  doctrine  of  justification,  as  held  by  the  Protestant  Reformers,  and  taught 
clearly  and  abundantly  in  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  really  not  held, 
but  denied  in  this  sermon.  For  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  is  denied;  and  the  endur- 
ance of  the  penalty  of  the  law  by  Christ,  is  denied;  and  any  special  reference  of  the 
atonement  to  the  elect  of  God,  is  denied,  and  the  righteousness  of  Christ  as  the  meritorious 
ground  of  our  acquittal  and  acceptance  with  God,  is  not  once  mentioned,  although  the 
text  of  the  discourse  naturally  points  to  the  doctrine  ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
imputation  of  Adam's  first  sin  to  his  posterity,  and  the  imputation  of  the  sins  of  God's 
people  to  their  surety  Saviour,  and  the  imputation  of  his  finished  righteousness  to  them, 
do  all  rest  upon  the  same  ground,  and  must  all  stand  or  fall  together,  and  that  it  has  been 
found  in  fact,  that  those  who  deny  one  of  these,  do  generally  deny  the  whole,  and  to  be 
consistent,  must  necessarily  do  so,  it  is  no  forced  conclusion,  but  one  which  seems  inevita- 
ble, that  the  sermon  does  really  reject  the  doctrine  of  justification  as  held  by  the  Reform- 
ers, and  as  taught  in  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  ;  that  it  does  not  teach  as 
the  answer  to  the  question  on  justification  in  our  Shorter  Catechism  asserts,  that  "  Justifi- 
cation is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace,  wherein  he  pardoneth  all  our  sins,  and  acceptetli  us 
as  righteous  in  his  sight  only  for  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by 
faith  alone." 

It  is  not  satisfactory,  that  the  sermon  says,  that  "  Christ  died  in  the  place  of  sinners ;" 
that  it  speaks  of  "  the  merits  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ" — of  "the  love  of 
Christ,"  of  "putting  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  of  "being  willing  to  drop  into  the  hands 
of  Jesus,  and  to  be  saved  by  his  merit  alone,"  of  God  "sprinkling  on  the  soul  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  and  freely  pardoning  all  its  sins;"  since  this  language  may  be  used,  and  is  actually 
used  by  some  who  explicitly  deny  that  Christ  took  the  law  place  of  sinners,  bore  the 
curse  of  God's  law  in  their  room  and  stead,  and  that  they  are  saved  only  by  the  imputa- 
tion to  them  of  his  perfect  righteousness. 


G54  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

On  the  whole,  the  Presbytery  express  their  deep  regret,  that  Mr.  Barnes  should  have 
preached  and  published  a  discourse  so  highly  objectionable,  and  so  manifestly,  in  some  of 
its  leading  points,  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church;  they  earnestly  recommend  to  Mr.  Barnes,  to  reconsider  and 
renounce  the  erroneous  matter  contained  in  his  printed  sermon,  as  specified  in  the  fore- 
going decisions  of  Presbytery  ;  and  with  a  view  to  afford  lime  to  Mr.  Barnes  for  reflection 
and  reconsideration,  in  reference  to  the  errors  of  his  sermon,  and  for  opportunity  for  such 
of  the  brethren  as  may  choose  to  converse  freely  with  him  on  the  subject,  the  Presbytery 
do  suspend  their  final  decision  on  the  case,  until  the  next  stated  meeting." 

"  Resolvc(},  That  Dr.  Green,  Mr.  McCalla,  and  Mr.  Latta,  be  a  committee  to  wait  on 
Mr.  Barnes,  to  communicate  to  him  the  result  of  tiie  deliberations  of  this  Presbytery  in 
the  examination  of  his  sermon,  and  to  converse  with  him  freely  and  affectionately  on  the 
points  excepttd  to  in  that  sermon;  in  the  hope  and  expectation,  that  the  interview  will 
result  in  removing  or  diminishing  the  difficulties  which  have  arisen  in  his  case ;  and  that 
they  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  Presbytery." — Minutes  of  Presbytery. 

[When  this  committee  waited  on  Mr.  Barnes  he  informed  them  that  he  considered  the 
whole  proceeding  unconstitutional,  and  therefore  refused  to  hear  them  in  performance  of 
their  appointment.] 

§  108.  Reference  of  the  case  to  the  General  Assemhly. 

[Under  these  circumstances  the  Presbytery  adopted  the  following  Minute :] 
«'  Resolved,  That  the  whole  of  the  proceedings,  from  first  to  last,  of  this  Presbytery,  in 
the  case  of  the  Rev  Albert  Barnes,  be  carried  by  reference  to  the  next  General  Assembly; 
and  that  that  judicatory  be,  and  it  hereby  is  respectfully  and  earnestly  requested  to  adju- 
dicate upon,  and  finally  to  issue  the  same,  in  such  manner  as,  in  its  wisdom,  it  shall 
judge  to  be  most  conducive  to  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  promotion 
of  the  glory  of  God. 

(a)  .ind  whereas,  in  considering  and  acting  on  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  in  this  Presbytery, 
a  serious  and  unhappy  difference  of  opinion  has  arisen,  as  well  in  regard  to  various  ques- 
tions of  constitutional  order,  as  in  relation  to  doctrinal  orthodoxy;  and  considering,  more- 
over, that  the  subjects  which  have  occasioned  controversy  and  division  in  this  Presbytery, 
may  and  do  produce  the  like  lamentable  effects  in  other  Presbyteries,  so  that  it  has  become 
a  concern  of  deep  interest  to  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church,  that  a  correct  course  of  pro- 
cedure in  relation  to  these  subjects  should  be  clearly  ascertained,  and  distinctly  dehneated; 
therefore  it  is  further, 

(b)  Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery,  agreeably  to  a  constitutional  privilege,  do  hereby 
most  respectfully  and  earnestly  entreat  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  Church,  however  it 
may  be  thought  that  some  of  the  points,  hereafter  specified,  have  already  been  settled  by 
the  constitution  of  the  Church  and  the  decisions  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  express  an 
unequivocal  opinion  on  the  subjects  embraced  by  the  following  inquiries,  viz. 

1.  Whether  it  follows  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  of  constitutional  right,  when  any 
member  in  good  and  regular  standing  with  one  Presbytery,  presents  to  another  Presbytery 
unquestionable  evidence  of  such  standing,  and  requests  to  be  admitted  as  a  member  of 
this  latter  Presbytery,  that  he  must  be  received  without  further  question  or  inquiry]  Or 
whether  on  the  contrary,  it  is  not  the  privilege  of  every  Presbytery  to  judge  primarily,  of 
the  qualifications  of  each  and  all  of  its  own  members;  and  to  inquire  and  examine,  if  it 
be  deemed  proper  so  to  do,  not  only  into  their  moral  character,  but  into  their  soundness 
in  the  faith,  and  other  ministerial  qualifications;  and  receive  ap|)licants,  or  refuse  to 
receive  them,  according  as  reception  or  rejection  may  appear  to  the  Presbytery  to  be 
demanded,  by  a  regard  to  its  own  welfare,  and  to  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church  ; 
it  being  understood  that  every  decision  of  a  Presbytery  in  such  cases,  is  subject  to  be 
appealed  from  or  complained  of,  to  a  higher  judicatory,  by  any  individual  who  may  con- 
sider himself  to  have  been  aggrieved  or  injured  ;  and  the  Presbytery  to  be  liable  to  have 
its  doings  in  such  cases  reversed  and  censured,  provided  that  an  appeal  or  complaint,  or 
any  other  review  of  its  proceedings  by  a  higher  judicatory,  such  Presbytery  shall  be  found 
to  have  acted  oppressively,  capriciously,  partially,  or  erroneously. 

2.  Whether  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  it  is  not  competent  to  any 
Presbytery,  to  take  up  and  examine  any  printed  publication,  and  to  pronounce  it  to  be 
erroneous  or  dangerous,  if  so  they  find  it,  without  in  the  first  place  commencing  a  formal 
prosecution  of  the  author,  even  supposing  it  to  be  known  and  admitted  that  the  author  is 
a  member  of  its  own  body  ;  or  whether  a  Presbytery  in  every  such  case,  must,  when  dis- 


Part  XI.]  BARNES'S   FIRST   TRIAL.  655 

posed  to  act  on  the  same,  forthwith  commence  a  formal  prosecution  of  the  author  of  the 
publication  which  is  believed  to  contain  erroneous  and  dangerous  opinions,  or  doctrines. 

3.  Whether  when  a  case  is  in  process  before  a  Presbytery,  a  party  implicated,  or  his 
friends  in  his  behalf,  can  by  objecting  to  the  process  as  unconstitutional,  or  to  the  manner 
in  which  it  is  conducted  as  irregular,  and  by  taking  an  appeal,  on  both  or  either  of  these 
grounds,  to  a  higher  judicatory,  stay  the  process  of  the  Presbytery,  till  the  constitutional 
question  or  that  of  order  shall  have  been  decided  by  the  higher  judicatory:  or  whether  a 
Presbytery  fully  satisfied  that  both  the  process  commenced,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
conducted,  are  clearly  constitutional  and  orderly,  may  not  proceed  with  the  party  to  whom 
the  process  relates,  although  such  party  or  his  friends,  may  object  to  the  measure  as  uncon- 
stitutional and  disorderly,  and  express  a  desire  to  appeal  from  it  to  a  higher  judicatory;  it 
being  understood  and  admitted,  that  when  the  process  is  terminated,  it  is  the  unquestion- 
able right  of  any  party  to  take  an  appeal,  or  make  a  complaint  to  a  higher  judicatory,  and 
seek  a  reversal  of  the  whole  proceedings  believed  by  the  appealing  or  complaining  party 
to  be  unconstitutional  or  disorderly. 

4.  Do  the  doctrinal  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  embrace  the  Larger  and 
Shorter  Catechisms,  as  integral  and  essential  parts  of  the  same ;  or  is  that  which  is 
entitled  "The  Confession  of  Faith,"  in  the  book  containing  our  standards,  to  be  consid- 
ered as  alone  obligatory;  so  that  in  taking  his  ordination  vows,  a  Minister  in  the  Presby- 
frerian  Church,  after  solemnly  professing  "sincerely  to  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession 
of  Faith  of  this  Church,"  is  still  at  liberty  to  object  to,  and  reject  certain  parts  of  the 
Uatechisms,  without  any  implication  of  his  sincerity  or  orthodoxy? 

5.  Whether,  in  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  objectionable  points  of 
doctrine,  found  by  this  Presbytery  in  the  printed  sermon  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes, 
entitled  "  The  Way  of  Salvation,"  as  expressed  in  their  Minutes,  of  December  last,  have 
been  truly  and  justly  found.  If  the  finding  of  the  Presbytery  has  been  erroneous,  it  is 
humbly  requested  that  the  errors  may  be  pointed  out ;  and  if  the  Assembly  decide  that 
the  Presbytery  are  to  act  further  in  this  important  case,  that  the  manner  in  which  their 
proceedings  ought  to  be  conducted  and  issued  may  be  distinctly  indicated.'  — Minutes  of 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

(c)  [The  reference  was  accompanied  with  complaints  on  the  part  of  the  minority 
against  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  in  all  its  stages.] 

§  109.  Action  of  the  General  Assemhli/. 

"The  judicial  committee  reported  the  complaint  of  the  minority  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia   in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes." 

"The  whole  proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case  complained  of, 
and  the  printed  sermon  of  Mr.  Barnes,  entitled  'The  Way  of  Salvation/ 
which  led  to  these  proceedings,  were  read." 

"  The  consideration  of  the  complaint  of  the  minority  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  was  resumed,  and  the  complaint  was  read.  The  parties  then 
agreed  to  submit  the  case  to  the  Assembly  without  argument,  when  it  was 

"  Resolved,  to  refer  the  whole  case  to  a  select  committee.  Dr.  3Iiller, 
Dr.  Matthews,  Dr.  Lansing,  Dr.  Fisk,  Dr.  Spring,  Dr.  John  McDowell,  Mr. 
Bacon,  [Delegate  from  Connecticut  Association,]  Mr.  Boss,  Mr.  E.  White, 
Mr.  Jessup,  and  Mr.  Napier,  were  appointed  this  committee." 

[Their  report  was  adopted,  as  follows  :] 

"That  after  bestowing  on  the  case  the  most  deliberate  and  serious  con- 
sideration, the  committee  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  neither  necessary  nor  for 
edification,  to  go  into  discussion  of  all  the  various  and  minute  details  which 
are  comprehended  in  the  documents  relating  to  this  case.  For  the  purpose, 
however,  of  bringing  the  matter  in  controversy,  as  far  as  possible,  to  a 
regular  and  satisfactory  issue,  they  would  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions : 

"1.  Resolccd,  That  the  General  Assembly,  while  it  appreciates  the  con- 
scientious zeal  for  the  purity  of  the  Church,  by  which  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  is  believed  to  have  been  actuated  in  its  proceedings  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Barnes;  and  while  it  judges  that  the  sermon  by  Mr.  Barnes, 


656  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.       "  [BoOk  VII. 

entitled  "The  Way  of  Salvation,"  contains  a  number  of  unguarded  and  objec- 
tionable passages;  yet  it  is  of  the  opinion  that,  especially  after  the  explana- 
tions which  were  given  by  him  of  those  passages,  the  Presbytery  ought  to 
have  suffered  the  whole  to  pass  without  further  notice. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  ought  to  suspend  all  further  proceedings  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Barnes. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  it  will  be  expedient,  as  soon  as  the  regular  steps  can 
be  taken,  to  divide  the  Presbytery  in  such  way  as  will  be  best  calculated  to 
promote  the  peace  of  the  Ministers  and  Churches  belonging  to  the  Pres- 
bytery. 

With  respect  to  the  abstract  points  proposed  to  the  Assembly  for  their 
decision,  in  the  reference  of  the  Presbytery,  the  committee  are  of  the 
opinion  that  if  they  be  answered,  they  had  better  be  discussed  and  decided 
in  thesi,  separate  from  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes." — Minutes,  1831,  pp. 
176,  180. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"ELECTIVE  AFFINITY"  COURTS  ERECTED. 

§  110.  Erection  of  the  Elective  Affinity  Presbytery. 

(n)  [The  third  resolution  upon  the  issue  of  the  trial  of  Mr.  Barnes,  declared  the  mind  of 
the  Assembly  that  a  new  Presbytery  should  be  erected  in  which  the  doctrines  held  by 
Mr.  Barnes  might  be  unmolested. 

In  accordance  with  this  suggestion  a  memorial  was  laid  before  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia, requesting  that  a  Second  Presbytery  should  be  constituted  so  as  to  contain  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  McAuley,  Ely,  Barnes,  Hoover,  Eustace,  Scott,  Dashiel,  John  Smith,  Bacon, 
Skinner,  Patterson,  Sanford,  Belville,  Boyd,  Steel,  Chandler,  Judson,  Hotchkiss,  Neill, 
Grant,  Bertron,  Nassau,  and  Moore. 

The  Synod  declined  granting  the  petition,  whereupon  a  complaint  was  carried  up  to  the 
Assembly.  The  complaint  was  accompanied  by  a  petition  from  the  same  parties  praying 
for  an  entirely  different  division,  based  on  an  enumeration  of  thirteen  names,  instead  of 
the  twenty-three  above  stated.     The  complaint  was  sustained. 

Mr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  then  moved  that  "  Whereas  the  complaint  had  been  sustained, 
and  the  pttition  before  the  House  was  not  the  petition  which  had  been  before  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  therefore  the  Synod  should  take  their  seats,  and  vote  on  the  remaining 
clause  of  the  motion  before  the  house." 

This  and  similar  motions  which  were  made  at  different  stages  of  the  proceedings,  were 
rejected,  and  the  following  minute  adopted:] 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  complaint  be  sustained,  without  casting  censure  on 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia;  and  that  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  be  granted. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  hereby 
erected,  shall  consist  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  D.  D.,  Thomas 
McAtdey,  D.  D.,  James  Patterson,  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  Albert 
Barnes,  John  L.  Grant,  Alfred  H.  ]>ashiell,  John  W.  Scott,  Thomas 
Eustace,  George  Chandler,  William  Bacon,  Albert  Judson,  Samuel  R. 
Bertron,  and  John  Smith  ;  with  one  Ruling  Elder,  from  each  of  the  follow- 
ing Churches,  viz.  the  First,  Third,  Fifth,  Tenth,  Eleventh  and  Twelfth 
Churches  in  Philadelphia;  the  First  Church  in  the  Northern  Liberties; 
the  First  Church  in  Southwark ;  the  Churches  of  Ashton  and  Rockland ; 
the  Church  in  Kensington;  the  Church  in  Reading,  the  First  African 
Church  in  Reading,  and  the  second  African  Church  in  Philadelphia;  which 


Part  XL]  ELECTIVE  AFFINITY.  657 

Churches  are  hereby  declared  to  be  under  the  watch  and  care  of  said 
Second  Presbytery ;  but  if  the  Sessions  of  any  of  these  Churches  prefer  to 
continue  their  present  connection  with  the  existing  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, they  may  be  allowed  to  do  so;  and  shall  not  be  compelled  against  their 
wishes  to  be  attached  to  the  new  Presbytery :  and  that  said  Presbytery  is 
hereby  directed  to  meet  in  the  Fifth  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city, 
[Philadelphia,]  on  the  Wednesday  immediately  following  the  rising  of  this 
Assembly,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  then  and  there  to  be  constituted  with  prayer 
by  the  oldest  Minister  present,  who  shall  preside  until  a  new  Moderator  is 
chosen. 

^'3.  Resolved,  That  said  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  is  hereby 
declared  to  belong  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  is  attached  to  the 
same  as  an  integral  part  thereof.  Ayes,  158,  Nays,  83." — Minutes,  1832, 
pp.  320,  321. 

§  111.    Tilts  Presbytery  restored. 

[The  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  having  in  1833  reunited  the  two  Presbyteries  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  divided  them  in  two  by  geographical  lines,  an  appeal  was  taken,  and  the 
Assembly] 

^'Resolved,  1.  That  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby  sustained;  and  the  act  of  said  Synod,  so  far  as  it  was  intended  to 
unite  the  said  Second  Presbytery  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  is 
hereby  declared  void. 

<'2.  That  this  resolution  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  inte- 
grity of  the  Presbytery  which  was  constituted  under  the  order  of  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  in  November  last;  but  the  same  is  hereby  recognized  as  a 
constituent  part  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  The  Assembly  however 
recommend  to  the  Synod  to  change  the  name  of  said  Presbytery." — Minutes. 
1834,  p.  17. 

§  112.  Protest  against  this  decision. 

"The  subscribers  dissenting  from  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  in  the 
case  of  the  complaint  and  appeal  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
hereby  embrace  their  constitutional  right  to  protest,  and  to  assign  their 
reasons  on  the  Minutes  of  the  House. 

"  1.  We  believe  the  power  exercised  by  the  Greneral  Assembly  of  1832, 
and  now  re-exercised  by  this  Assembly,  to  form  a  Presbytery  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod,  and  against  her  decision,  is  without  foundation  in  our 
Form  of  Church  Government. 

"In  the  constitutional  distribution  of  powers  and  checks,  and  designation 
of  rights  and  duties,  among  the  several  judicatories  of  the  Church,  the 
power  to  'erect  new  Presbyteries,  and  unite  or  divide  those  which  were 
before  erected,'  (Form  of  Grovernment,  Chap.  xi.  Sec.  4.,)  is  distinctly  and 
exclusively  secured  to  Synods.  And  the  practice  of  the  General  Assembly 
from  the  establishment  of  this  body,  till  the  present,  has  been  we  believe, 
in  accordance  with  these  views.  The  principle  assumed  by  the  majority  in 
this  body,  and  recognized  by  the  Assembly  in  the  above  decision,  and  on 
which  the  appellants  rest  their  plea,  that  the  duty  '■  of  superintending  the 
concerns  of  the  whole  Church,'  (Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xii.  Sec.  5,) 
invests  the  Assembly  with  all  powers  necessary  to  accomplish  that  object,  at 
her  own  discretion,  tends  to  abolish  the  constitutional  rights  of  Synods, 
Presbyteries,  and  Church  Sessions;  to  confound  and  contravene  those  ori- 
ginal and  essential  principles  of  ecclesiastical  government  and  order,  which 
constitute  and  characterize  the  Presbvterian  Church. 
83 


658  THE  NEW-scnooL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

"2.  While  we  disapprove  the  act  performed  by  the  Assembly  as  being 
unconstitutional,  we  solemnly  protest  against  the  practice,  whether  by  the 
Assembly  or  Synods,  of  forming  Presbyteries  on  the  principle  of  elective 
ajjinity,  distinctly  avowed,  and  recognized  as  the  basis  of  this  act,  being 
fully  persuaded  that  the  tendency  of  this  principle  will  be  to  impair  the 
standards  of  our  Church,  to  open  a  door  to  error^  and  to  violate  the  purity, 
good  order  and  peace  of  the  ('hureh. 

Loyal  Young,  J.  P.  Vandyke,  Alexander  IMcFarlane,  Jacob  Coon, 
Wm.  Wylie,  James  Scott,  Daniel  L.  Russell,  Simeon  H.  Crane, 
William  Wallace,  Cyrenius  Beers,  A.  D.  Hepburn,  S.  McFerren, 
B.  F.  Spilman,  W.  A.  Gr.  Posey,  Isaac  V.  Brown,  Samuel  Boyd, 
William  L.  Breckinridge,  Francis  McFarland,  William  Sickles, 
E.  H.  Snowden,  H.  Campbell,  A.  Bayless,  J.  W.  Scott,  Robert 
Love,  William  McCombs,  1).  R.  Preston,  J.  N.  Candee,  Benjamin 
McDowell,  Alexander  A.  Campbell,  George  Marshall,  Oscar  Har- 
ris, James  McFerren,  William  Craig,  James  Remington,  George 
Morris,  James  Carnahan,  James  Blake,  Williamson  Dunn. 
I  approve  and  assent  to  the  protest  as  set  forth  in  the  first  part, 

J.  Clark." 
— Minutes,  1834,  p.  32. 

§  113.  Answer  to  the  protest. 

"In  answer  to  the  first  specification  of  the  protest  the  Assembly  reply: — 

"1.  That  the  Form  of  Government  vests  in  the  General  Assembly  the 
power  of  '  deciding  in  all  controversies  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline;' 
and  to  *  issue  all  appeals  and  references  brought  before  them  from  the  infe- 
rior judicatories.'  See  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xii.  Sec.  5.  Now  as 
the  question,  as  to  the  erection  and  existence  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia,  came  regularly  before  the  Assemblies  of  1832,  and  1834,  by 
appeal  and  complaint,  from  the  lower  judicatories,  the  said  Assemblies  not 
only  had  a  right  to  'decide'  finally,  but  were  imperiously  called  upon  to 
'issue'  the  case. 

"  2.  The  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1794,  1802,  1805,  and 
1826,  show  that  the  Assembly  has  in  extraordinary  cases  claimed  and 
exercised  the  right  of  organizing  new  Presbyteries,  and  such  Presbyteries 
have  always  been  regarded  as  regularly  and  constitutionally  organized. 

"  3.  The  Form  of  Government  vests  the  right  of  deciding  questions  of 
constitutional  law,  not  in  the  Synods,  but  in  the  General  Assembly;  conse- 
quently if  it  be  proved,  which  is  not  the  fact  that  the  General  Assembly 
had  exceeded  their  powers  in  organizing  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, it  would  by  no  means  follow  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  had 
authority  to  rejudge  and  disannul  the  solemn  acts  of  the  highest  judicatory 
of  the  Church.  In  this  view  of  the  subject  the  General  Assembly  were 
bound  to  sustain  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery,  from 
respect  to  the  grave  decision  of  former  Assemblies,  as  well  as  from  regard 
to  the  rights  of  the  complainants. 

"4.  In  regard  to  the  existence  of  two  or  more  Presbyteries  on  the  same 
ground,  the  Assembly  have  already  expressed  their  opinion.  For  sixteen 
years,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Presbyteries  have  existed  on  this  principle 
without  those  evil  results  anticipated  by  the  protestants;  yet  here  the 
Assembly  would  repeat  what  they  have  elsewhere  said  with  more  solemnity, 
that  '  except  in  extraordinary  cases,  Presbyteries  should  be  formed  with 
geographical  limits.'  " — Ibid.  p.  38. 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834.  ■  659 

§  114.  Erection  of  the  Synod  of  Delaware. 

[By  the  same  Assembly  it  was] 

"Resolved,  That  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Pres- 
byteries of  Wilmington  and  Lewes  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  erected  into 
a  new  Synod,  to  be  called  the  Synod  of  Delaware." — Ihid.  p.  37. 

[The  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  had  22  Ministers,  Wilmington  10,  and 
Lewes  6 ;  so  that  a  controlling  majority  of  the  whole  Synod  was  in  the  elective  aiBnity 
Presbytery.] 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834. 

§  115.   The  Western  Memorial. 

«  To  the  Moderator  and  Members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 

United  States,  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  I5th  of  May,  1834 

"Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren — We,  the  subscribers,  Ministers  and  Elders  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  respectfully  present  to  you  this  our  memorial,  praying  you  to 
take  into  your  most  serious  consideration,  the  subjects  to  which  it  asks  your  attention. 

"  It  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  opinion  which  we  entertain  of  the  intelligence  of 
your  reverend  body,  to  offer  any  proof  of  what  is  too  lamentably  notorious,  that  from  sun- 
dry causes,  our  once  united  and  harmonious  Church,  for  some  time  past,  has  been  afflicted 
with  alienations,  strifes,  and  divisions.  These  evils  have  greatly  disturbed  the  peace  of 
our  Zion,  paralyzed  its  strength,  and  exposed  it  to  reproach ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  which  have  been  made  to  arrest  their  progress,  nothing  satisfactory  has  been  accom- 
plished. It  is  the  deliberate  opinion  of  your  memorialists,  that  these  evils  and  their 
causes,  are  so  deeply  rooted  and  so  widely  spread,  that  unless  speedy  and  decisive  measures 
are  adopted  for  their  removal,  divisions  and  separations  of  a  more  distressing  and  perma- 
nent character  must  inevitably  ensue.  To  prevent,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God,  an  issue  so 
much  to  be  deprecated,  your  memorialists  call  upon  your  reverend  body,  as  the  supreme 
judicatory  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  exercise  your  constitutional  powers  of '  deciding 
in  all  controversies  in  doctrine  and  discipline — of  reproving,  warning,  or  bearing  testimony 
against  error  in  doctrine,  or  immorality  in  practice,  in  any  Church,  Presbytery  or  Synod — 
and  of  suppressing  schismatical  contentions  and  disputations.' 

"  Plainly  as  the  path  is  marked  out  in  our  excellent  Constitution,  it  is  with  grief  that 
we  feel  constrained  to  say,  that  for  some  years  past  a  policy  of  an  evasive  character  has 
distinguished  many  of  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assemblies,  as  also  a  number  of 
inferior  judicatories,  wherein  they  have,  apparently  at  least,  sought  to  avoid  a  prompt  dis- 
charge of  their  constitutional  duties,  and  have  substituted  a  course  of  procedure  unknown 
and  repugnant  to  the  prescribed  order  of  our  form  of  government.  Although  this  has 
been  applauded  as  a  policy  wisely  calculated  to  prevent  evils  and  preserve  peace,  yet  we 
are  compelled  to  view  it  in  a  different  light,  and  as  indicating  that  there  is  a  widely  spread 
principle  of  evil  operating  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  the  general  change  of  its  form  of 
government,  and  the  character  of  its  creed. 

«  We  feel  alarmed  at  the  evidences  which  press  upon  us,  of  the  prevalence  of  unsound- 
ness in  doctrine, and  laxity  in  discipline;  and  we  view  it  as  an  aggravating  consideration, 
that  the  General  Assembly,  the  constitutional  guardian  of  the  Church's  purity,  even  when 
a  knowledge  of  such  evils  has  been  brought  before  it,  in  an  orderly  manner,  has,  within  a 
few  years  past,  either  directly  or  indirectly  refused  to  apply  the  constitutional  remedy. 
Appeals,  references,  complaints  and  memorials,  from  individuals.  Presbyteries  and  Synods, 
have  been  dismissed  on  some  slight  grounds,  perhaps  not  noticed  at  all,  or  merged  in  some 
compromise  which  aggravated  the  evils  intended  to  be  removed.  But  that  your  reverend 
body  may  be  convinced  of  the  justice  of  our  complaints  on  these  subjects,  we  shall  corne 
to  particulars,  and  present  distinctly  to  your  consideration  certain  acts  and  proceedings,  in 


660  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book   VII. 

our  opinion,  unsound  and  unconstitutional  in  themselves;  some  of  which  have  been  the 
precursors  and  inlets  of  other  evils. 

"  That  we  may  not  be  misunderstood,  we  premise  here  our  free  admission,  that  some  of 
the  measures  about  to  be  complained  of,  were  adopted  at  the  time  with  the  best  intentions, 
and  if  the  results  could  have  been  foreseen  by  the  authors  of  those  measures,  they  would 
never  have  been  carried  into  effect. 

"  I.  We  believe  this  to  have  been  particularly  the  case  with  regard  to  the  '  Plan  of 
Union'  with  Congregational  churches,  adopted  in  1801.  A  careful  comparison  of  that 
Plan,  (see  Digest,  p.  297,)  with  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  will  make  it  evident, 
that  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  in  adopting  it,  assumed  power  nowhere  assigned  to 
them  in  the  constitution.  They  established  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  for  the  government 
of  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  such  as  is  not  acknowledged  by  the  constitution,  and 
is  plainly  repugnant  to  it.  We  allude  to  the  <  Mutual  Council'  recognized  in  that  Plan. 
In  the  same  act  the  Assembly  also  granted  the  powers  and  privileges  of  Ruling  Elders  to 
'  Committee-men,'  which  was  contrary  both  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  constitution,  as 
is  now  generally  conceded.  But  a  '  mutual  council'  as  an  ecclesiastical  court  for  Presby- 
terians, is,  if  possible,  more  evidently  unconstitutional  than  the  powers  of  committee-men. 
Without  dwelling  on  the  details  of  the  'plan,'  we  merely  place  in  opposition  to  the  whole 
of  it,  chap.  xii.  sec.  6,  of  our  Form  of  Government,  viz.  <  Before  any  overtures  or  regulations 
proposed  by  the  Assembly  to  be  established  as  constitutional  rules,  shall  be  obligatory  on 
the  churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Presbyteries,  and  to  receive 
the  returns  of,  at  least,  a  majority  of  them  in  writing,  approving  thereof.'  This  provision 
of  our  constitution  was  not  attended  to  then,  nor  at  any  subsequent  preriod;  and  still  the 
'  plan'  is  in  force,  and  acted  upon,  to  the  annoyance  and  injury,  both  of  the  purity  and 
of  the  peace  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  In  the  original  adoption  of  this  measure,  it  was  intended  for  application  in  those  '  new 
settlements,'  the  inhabitants  of  which  literally  consisted  of  Presbyterians  and  Congrega- 
tionalists:  and  had  the  'plan'  been  strictly  confined  in  its  operations  to  its  first  and  only 
object,  the  evils  resulting  from  it  would  have  been  less,  although  its  unconstitutional  charac- 
ter would  not  have  been  changed.  For  a  short  period,  it  was  probably  thus  limited  to  its  pri- 
mary object;  but  as  the  whole  plan  was  a  real  departure  from  Presbyterian  principles,  it 
was  soon  found  convenient  to  apply  it  to  congregations  where  there  was  not  a  single 
Presbyterian,  and  to  others  where  there  was  but  a  solitary  individual  or  two,  of  that  deno- 
mination. A  little  further  extension  of  the  plan  led  to  the  formation  of  entire  Presby- 
teries, consisting  of  Congregationalists,  in  which  neither  the  Ministers  adopted  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  nor  the  Congregations  our  Form  of  Government.  Although  remaining 
strictly  Congregational,  yet  they  appointed  committee-men  to  represent  them,  and  to 
deliberate  and  vote  in  Presbyteries,  Synods,  and  General  Assemblies.  The  Western 
Reserve  Synod,  with  its  Presbyteries  and  churches,  strongly  testified  to  the  truth  of  these 
statements.  A  larger  proportion  of  the  churches  in  that  Synod  are,  or  very  recently  were, 
really  and  truly  Congregational,  in  principle  and  practice ;  and  we  fear  that  the  same  is 
true,  of  nearly  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  Ministers.  We  could  refer  to  other  Presbyte- 
ries in  the  East,  North  and  West,  almost  in  the  same  circumstances,  exhibiting  the  same 
practical  results.  This  want  of  conformity  to  Prcsbyterianism,  is  defended  and  justified 
by  an  appeal  to  the  terms  of  the  '  Plan  of  Union.'  This  course  of  things  was,  at  first  over- 
looked, and  then  connived  at,  until  the  leaven  so  fermented  the  whole  mass,  as  in  a  great 
degree  to  change  the  tone  and  character  of  Prcsbyterianism. 

"II.  Closely  connected  with  the  influence  of  Congregational  prepossessions  and  prin- 
ciples introduced  gradually  into  our  Church,  we  regard  the  existence  of  a  sentiment  now 
avowed  by  numbers  who  bear  the  Presbyterian  name,  that  every  man  in  professing  to 
receive  and  adopt  our  ecclesiastical  formularies,  has  a  right  to  put  thereon  his  own  con. 
struction,  without  being  responsible  for  the  construction,  or  the  character  of  his  explana- 
tions. They  who  hold  this  principle,  practise  accordingly  ;  and  thus  an  unnatural  mixture 
of  conflicting^  elements  is  brought  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  unfavourable  alike  to  its 
purity  and  peace. 

"  III.  We  next  notice  another  course  of  unconstitutional  proceedings,  which  adds  to  the 
evils  that  now  afllict  us.  We  refer  to  the  practice  of  Presbyteries  in  ordaining  men,  sine 
tilulo,  to  preach  and  administer  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  in  other  parts  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  where  Presbyteries  already  exist,  and  arc  ready  to  perform  their  constitu- 
tional functions,  as  the  necessities  of  the  churches  under  their  care  require.  There  is  also 
just  ground  to  suspect,  that  in  many  cases  of  such  ordination,  it  is  done  to  suit  the  con- 
venience of  men  who  are  not  prepared  to  pass  through  the  constitutional  ordeal  when 


Part  XI.]  THE   ASSEMBLY   OF    1834.  661 

applied  by  those  Presbyteries,  within  whose  bounds  they  expect  to  labour,  either  on 
account  of  their  lack  of  ministerial  furniture,  or  because  they  do  not  cordially  receive, 
either  our  Creed,  or  Form  of  Government:  hence,  they  prefer  to  receive  licensure  and 
ordination  in  such  Presbyteries  as  are  known,  or  supposed  to  be,  not  particular  on  these 
points. 

"  Especially  do  we  complain  of,  and  testify  against,  what  has  more  than  once  occurred 
during  the  last  few  years,  viz.  the  ordaining  of  six,  eight,  or  ten  young  men  at  a  time, 
most  of  them  just  licensed,  who  have  been  reared  up  from  infancy  to  manhood,  in  Con- 
gregational views,  feelings,  and  habits,  and  who  are  thus  suddenly  nominally,  and  geogra- 
phically converted  into  Presbyterian  Ministers,  before  it  was  possible,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  that  they  could  have  clear  and  just  views  of  Presbyterianism.  For  where  could 
they  acquire  themi  Certainly,  not  in  the  Congregational  churches,  in  which  they  were 
trained  up;  and  not  in  Congregational  Theological  Schools;  for  in  them,  no  provision  is 
made  for  expounding  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of 
Government.  The  fact  is,  that,  every  year,  numbers  of  these  Congregationalists  come 
directly  into  Presbyteries  and  Presbyterian  Churches,  in  the  West,  with  certificates  of 
their  standing  as  Ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  while  in  many  instances,  it  is 
evident  that  they  are  almost  entire  strangers  to  that  Confession  of  Faith,  which,  unless 
their  certificates  be  an  imposition,  they  must  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  have  '  received 
and  adopted'  as  their  confession  of  faith.  Among  the  many  references  which  might  be 
made  in  illustration  of  the  justice  of  our  representations  under  this  head,  we  point  only  to 
the  instances  afforded  by  the  Newburyport  Presbytery,  and  the  Third  Presbytery  of  New 
York:  the  former  of  which,  a  few  years  ago,  ordained  nine  young  men  at  one  time  as 
evangelists,  for  the  A.  Home  Missionary  Society,  six  or  seven  of  whom  were  in  a  short 
time  located  in  Ohio,  in  which  State  there  were,  at  that  time,  fourteen  Presbyteries  exer- 
cising ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  The  latter  Presbytery,  in  the  fall  of  1831,  ordained  ten 
young  men  at  one  time,  for  the  A.  H.  Missionary  Society,  most  of  whom  were  sent 
directly  into  the  bounds  of  Presbyteries  in  the  West.  The  same  Presbytery,  in  1832, 
received  the  Rev.  L.  Beecher,  D.  D.,  from  a  Congregational  Association,  and  forthwith, 
at  the  same  meeting,  dismissed  him  to  join  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  to  which  place 
he  was  journeying  to  take  charge  of  the  Lane  Seminary,  upon  condition  that  he  should 
be  acknowledged  as  a  Minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Third  Presbytery  ofNew 
York,  moreover,  did  this  without  his  personally  appearing  before  them,  and  upon  his  written 
request  simply  ;  although  they  knew  at  the  time  they  received  him  in  this  manner  that  he 
was  not  to  be  a  day  related  to  them  as  a  co-presbyter ;  and  although  they  were  well  aware 
of  the  existence  of  the  Cincinnati  Presbytery,  in  connection  with  which  Dr.  Beecher 
intended  to  labour,  and  to  which,  of  right,  and  according  to  all  propriety,  his  credentials 
should  have  been  primarily  submitted. 

"  These  and  similar  abuses  of  the  power  of  Presbyteries,  are  great  evils,  and  a  gross 
infringement  of  the  rights  of  those  Presbyteries  to  which,  and  into  whose  churches,  these 
men  are  immediately  sent.  Such  a  practice  occasions  just  offence,  and  inevitably  creates 
jealousies,  suspicions  and  divisions,  where  otherwise  they  might  never  have  existed. 

"  IV.  We  also  ascribe  to  the  principles  of  Independency,  introduced  through  the  medium 
of  the  compact  already  noticed,  another  departure  of  the  General  Assembly,  from  the  due 
discharge  of  its  own  constitutional  duties,  first,  in  conniving  at  an  irresponsible,  voluntary 
association  in  assuming  to  a  great  extent,  the  management  of  domestic  missions  within 
the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  secondly,  in  that  when  the  General  Assembly  had  become 
convinced  of  the  duty  of  giving  increased  energy  to  the  exercise  of  their  appropriate  func- 
tions, in  this  matter,  they  nevertheless  not  merely  connived  at  the  continued  exercise  of 
the  powers  which  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  had  usurped,  but  actually 
encouraged  them  hy  a  recommendation,  in  1829 — a  measure  which,  at  the  time,  deceived 
many  Presbyterians,  as  to  the  nature  of  that  institution,  inducing  a  belief  that  its  opera- 
tions and  influence  were  compatible  both  with  the  constitution  and  interests  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

"  By  these  means,  distractions  and  divisions  within  the  Church  were  greatly  increased: 
and  in  1831,  instead  of  putting  an  end  to  the  divisions  from  this  source,  by  causing  the 
operations  of  that  institution  to  cease  in  all  the  Churches,  under  their  care,  the  General 
Assembly  almost  forced  upon  the  Western  Churches,  by  their  compromising  resolution  of 
that  year,  the  measure  of  consulting  and  determining  upon  the  best  mode  of  carrying  on 
Domestic  Missions  in  our  destitute  and  feeble  Churches.  This  did  not  produce  the  requi- 
site remedy  ;  for  although  the  implied  pledge  was  given,  that  the  determination  to  which 
the  Western  Churches  should  come,  would  be  confirmed ;  when,  with  this  understanding,  the 


THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

said  Churches  decided  by  a  larpe  majority,  that  the  best  and  only  way  to  be  pursued  by 
the  General  Assembly,  was  to  get  the  Church  to  do  her  own  work,  by  her  own  responsible 
functionaries ;  yet  this  decision,  made  almost  under  the  injunction  of  the  Assembly, 
was  wholly  disregarded,  and  the  former  divisive  courses  were  permitted  to  proceed. 

"We  sincerely  lament  the  indecisive  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  upon  this  subject ;  and 
we  are  constrained  by  a  sense  of  duty,  to  declare  our  solemn  conviction,  that  the  General 
Assembly,  by  recommending  an  irresponsible  association  to  the  Churches,  and  encour- 
aging it  to  conduct  missionary  operations  in  Presbyterian  Congregations,  and  in  its  own 
name  to  commission  Missionaries  to  labour  in  these  Congregations,  whose  offical  reports  of 
labours  performed  are  returned  to  this  association,  and  not  to  the  supreme  judicatory  of 
the  Church  itself,  or  to  an  organ  under  the  control  and  oversight  of  the  supreme  judi- 
catory— is  a  relinquishment  by  the  Assembly,  of  a  solemn  trust,  specially  and  unalienably 
committed  to  them  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the  express  terms  of  that  constitution, 
under  which  the  Assembly  exists  and  acts.  (See  Form  of  Gov,  chap.  xii.  sect.  5;  also 
chap,  xviii.)  We  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  it  as  our  decided  opinion,  that  every  Minister,  or 
licentiate,  labouring  as  a  Missionary,  in  any  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  ought  to  be 
there  only  as  commissioned  by  the  General  Assembly,  or  by  some  of  its  constitutional 
organs,  directly  amenable  thereto,  and  to  which  alone  he  should  report  his  labours,  let  his 
compensation  come  from  what  quarter  it  may.  The  Church  ought  to  do  her  own  work, 
and  by  her  own  functionaries:  otherwise,  she  puts  herself  under,  at  least,  the  indirect 
influence  of  those  who  do  her  work,  by  stepping  into  her  place. 

"  It  is  in  the  very  nature  of  things  that  the  missionaries  commissioned  and  compensated  by, 
and  amenable  and  reporting  to,  a  society  independent  of  the  Church,  should  be  under  an 
influence  from  that  society  paramount  to  that  of  the  Church,  whose  Ministers  they  profess 
to  be:  and  this  influence  will  extend  to  the  particular  Churches  aided,  and  even  to  the 
Presbytery  within  whose  limits  this  irresponsible  society  thus  operates.  The  influence  is 
not  the  less  powerful  or  real,  because  it  may  not  be  seen:  it  is  felt,  and  is  effective,  and 
probably  the  more  so,  because  it  operates  unseen.  Any  person  who  has  attentively 
noticed  the  course  of  things  within  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  last  five  years,  can 
be  under  no  mistake  as  to  the  fact,  that  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  exercises  a 
•  patronage'  within  that  Church,  detrimental  to  her  true  interests,  and  subversive  of  her 
whole  system.  Without  detailing  all  the  facts  and  arguments  which  might  be  produced 
in  support  of  this  view  of  the  effects  arising  from  the  influence  of  that  society,  we  urge 
any  one  who  has  doubts,  to  examine  the  matter  candidly ;  and  he  will  perceive  that,  on 
almost  all  questions,  involving  departures  from  the  doctrines,  or  violations  of  the  order  of 
our  Church,  which  have  been  discussed  and  acted  upon  in  the  General  .Assembly  for  these 
four  or  five  years  past,  the  Missionaries  and  Agents  of  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society,  and  those  known  to  be  the  exclusive  adherents  of  that  institution,  have,  with  a 
very  few  exceptions,  voted  and  acted  in  a  way  to  favour  these  departures  and  innovations. 
Witness  the  arguments  and  votes,  in  1828,  against  reorganizing  the  Assembly's  Board  of 
Missions,  upon  a  more  efficient  plan;  the  bitter  and  vehement  attack  upon  the  report  of 
the  Assembly's  Board,  in  1829;  the  arguments  and  votes  for  several  consecutive  years, 
on  the  subject  of  committee-men;  the  discussions  and  votes,  in  18.31,  on  the  Barnes' 
case;  on  the  report  of  the  Assembly's  Board,  for  that  year;  and  on  the  election  of  a  new 
Board.  Witness  moreover,  the  discussions  and  votes  in  1832,  respecting  the  unconstitu- 
tional division  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  In  some  of  the  cases  referred  to,  the 
votes  are  on  record,  an  examination  of  which  will  show,  that  our  statement  is  correct; 
and  it  may  be  added,  that  the  same  men,  or  men  of  similar  character,  in  about  the  same 
proportions,  took  a  similar  course  on  all  other  questions  of  a  nature  involving  the  purity 
and  order  of  the  Church. 

"Again ;  let  it  be  well  observed,  that  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  commis- 
sions in  its  own  name,  and  by  its  own  authority,  men,  nominally  Presbyterian,  it  is  true, 
to  officiate  in  various  parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  under  responsibility  to  that  insti- 
tution; and  in  a  number  of  instances,  these  men  are  found  labouring  for  months,  within 
the  limits  of  some  Presbytery,  without  having  put  themselves  under  its  care.  Now,  if 
any  Presbytery  should  act  in  this  manner  towards  a  co-ordinate  Presbytery,  it  would  be 
unconstitutional,  and  that  Presbytery  would  be  justly  liable  to  censure.  [See  Form  of 
Gov.  c.  xviii.  and  Digest,  p.  60.  sect,  vi.]  And  shall  a  voluntary  association  be  counte- 
nanced in  doing  what  would  subject  any  Presbytery,  in  our  connection,  to  merited  rebuke? 
The  conduct  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  it  respects  this  point,  presents  a  singular 
anomaly  among  Christian  denominations.  All  others,  consistently  and  honourably,  claim 
and  exercise  the  right  of  managing  the  internal  concerns  of  their  own  Churches,  without 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834.  663 

the  intervention  of  foreign  and  irresponsible  hands,  whom  they  will  not  trust  for  an  hour 
with  what  they  feel  to  be  a  most  important  duty,  and  a  vital  interest.  Against  the 
conduct  that  consigns  the  duties  and  interests  of  the  Church,  to  a  foreign  and  irresponsible 
institution,  to  the  evident  injury  of  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church,  we  solemnly  pro- 
test and  remonstrate. 

'•  V.  We  now  proceed  to  show,  that  these  relaxing  principles,  which  are  undermining 
the  beauty  and  order  of  our  Zion,  have  developed  themselves  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  we  may  add,  of  inferior  courts  also,  when  called  upon  to  decide 
on  points  of  doctrine.  That  we  may  not  be  tedious,  we  shall  confine  ourselves  to  one 
case,  which  occurred  in  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  In  order  to  understand  the  real  nature  and  influence  of  these  relaxing  principles,  the 
operations  of  which  we  are  attempting  to  illustrate,  let  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly, 
in  1831,  in  the  Barnes'  case,  be  contrasted  with  the  proceedings  of  former  Assemblies,  in 
the  cases  of  Mr.  Balch,  in  1798,  and  of  Mr.  Davis,  in  1810.  For  a  full  account  of  these 
cases,  see  Digest,  pp.  129—134,  144—148,  and  the  Minutes  of  1831,  for  that  of  Mr. 
Barnes.  In  Mr.  Balch's  case,  two  of  the  most  prominent  errors  charged  upon  him  were, 
1st.  His  'setting  aside,  in  effect,  the  idea  of  Adam's  being  the  federal  head,  or  representa- 
tive of  his  descendants,  and  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  covenant  of  works.'  2d.  His 
'asserting  that  the  formal  cause  of  a  believer's  justification  is  the  imputation  of  the  fruits 
and  effects  of  Christ's  righteousness,  and  not  that  righteousness  itself.'  In  the  issue,  he  was 
required  to  acknowledge,  before  the  Assembly,  that  he  was  wrong  in  publishing  these 
sentiments,  and  to  renounce  the  errors  charged  upon  him ;  which  he  did  accordingly. 
Some  of  the  errors  held  by  Davis  and  condemned  by  the  Assembly,  were  that  'God  could 
not  make  Adam,  or  any  other  creature,  either  holy  or  unholy ;' that « Regeneration  must 
be  a  consequence  of  faith — faith  precedes  regeneration ;'  and  that '  if  God  has  to  plant  all 
the  principal  parts  of  salvation  in  a  sinner's  heart,  to  enable  him  to  believe,  the  gospel  plan  is 
quite  out  of  his  reach,  and  consequently  does  not  suit  his  case,  and  it  must  be  impossible 
for  God  to  condemn  a  man  for  unbelief;  for  no  just  law  condemns  or  criminates  any  person 
for  not  doing  what  he  cannot  do.'  The  Assembly,  on  the  whole,  resolved,  'That  this 
Assembly  cannot  but  view  with  disapprobation,  various  parts  of  the  work  entitled  '  The 
Gospel  Plan,'  of  which  William  C.  Davis  is  stated  in  the  title  page  to  be  the  author.  In 
several  instances,  in  this  work,  modes  of  expression  are  adopted,  so  different  from  those 
which  are  sanctioned  by  use,  and  by  the  best  orthodox  writers,  that  the  Assembly  consider 
them  as  calculated  to  produce  useless  or  mischievous  speculations.  In  several  other 
instances  there  are  doctrines  asserted  and  advocated,  as  have  been  already  decided,  con- 
trary to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church,  and  the  word  of  God ;  which  doctrines 
the  Assembly  feel  constrained  to  pronounce  to  be  of  very  dangerous  tendency;  and  the 
Assembly  do  judge,  and  hereby  do  declare,  that  the  preaching  or  publishing  them  ought 
to  subject  the  person,  or  persons,  so  doing,  to  be  dealt  with  by  their  respective  Presbyte- 
ries, according  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church  relative  to  the  propagation  of  errors.'  In 
the  result,  Davis  was  deposed.  In  these  two  cases,  we  perceive  what,  in  those  days,  were 
the  regard  for  truth  as  exhibited  in  our  standards,  and  the  deep  sense  of  obligation  to  dis- 
charge constitutional  duty,  so  as  to  suppress  error,  and  preserve  doctrinal  purity. 

"  IJut,  what  a  marked  declension  is  observable  in  1831 !  The  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia had  found,  in  Barnes's  sermon  on  the  '  Way  of  Salvation,'  the  following  erroneous 
sentiments,  viz.  A  denial  of  the  federal  and  representative  character  of  Adam — an  asser- 
tion that '  the  notion  of  imputing  sin  is  an  invention  of  modern  times' — that  '  Christ  did 
not  endure  the  penalty  of  the  law' — that  'the  atonement  secured  the  salvation  of  no  one' 
— that  it  was  made  equally  for  all — and  that  'if  God  requires  more  of  men,  in  any  sense, 
than  they  are  able  to  perform,  then  in  the  practical  judgment  of  all  men,  he  is  unjust.' 
These  sentiments,  on  the  whole,  appear  to  be  quite  as  exceptionable  as  those  for  which 
Balch  and  Davis  was  censured.  Yet,  when  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes  was  referred  by  the 
Presbytery  to  the  General  Assembly,  they  evaded  a  decision  of  the  question  upon  its  doc- 
trinal merits,  and  smothered  the  claims  of  the  truth  in  their  well  known  compromise. 
Instead  of  judging,  as  the  Assembly  in  1810  had  done,  that  the  preaching  or  publishing 
of  such  sentiments  'ought  to  subject  the  person,  or  persons,  so  doing,  to  be  dealt  with  by 
their  respective  Presbyteries,  according  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church  relative  to  the  pro- 
pagation of  errors,'  they  expressed  their  opinion  that  'the  Presbytery  ought  to  have  suf- 
fered the  whole  to  pass  without  further  notice,'  and  judged  that  the  Presbytery  'ought 
to  suspend  all  further  proceedings  in  the  case.'  The  Assembly  proceeded  even  a  step 
farther  in  favour  of  error  and  innovation,  by  resolving,  'That  it  will  be  expedient,  as  soon 
as  the  regular  steps  can  be  taken,  to  divide  the  Presbytery  in  such  a  way  as  will  be  best 


664  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

calculated  to  promote  the  peace  of  the  Ministers  and  Churches  belonging  to  the  Presby. 
tery.'  Here,  the  Assembly  broached  the  principle  of  'elective  affinity,'  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  unsound,  or  the  factious,  as  the  case  might  be ;  than  which,  a  principle 
more  subversive  of  order  and  good  government  was  scarcely  ever  advanced. 

"  We  could  easily  add  other  cases,  recently  decided  in  a  manner  something  similar  to 
that  now  adduced,  by  Synods  and  Presbyteries;  all  showing  most  undeniably,  that  the 
duty  of  'judging  Ministers'  for  their  errors  is  little  regarded,  however  flagrant  may  be 
their  departures  from  the  truth;  and  that  to '  reprove,  warn,  and  bear  testimony  against  errors 
in  doctrine,'  which  was  formerly  considered  a  special  constitutional  obligation  upon 
church  courts,  has  become  a  strange  thing  among  us. 

"  VI.  In  connection  with  these  tokens  of  the  prevalence  of  a  relaxing  and  corrupting 
influence  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  complain  of  a  course  of  procedure,  in  church 
courts,  commenced  and  sanctioned  by  the  General  Assembly,  which  has  a  tendency  to 
render  all  the  principles  of  our  constitution  nugatory,  and  the  government  of  the  Church 
no  better  than  a  spiritual  anarchy.  We  refer  to  the  '  compromising  plan,'  brought  into 
signal  operation,  in  1831,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  and  on  the  question  of  the  election  of 
the  Board  of  Missions  for  that  year.  In  both  cases,  this  plan  was  evidently  resorted  to, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  direct  and  decided  course,  which  would  have  been  agreeable  to  the 
spirit  of  pure  Presbyterianism.  A  committee  of  compromise,  in  such  cases,  is  of  the  same 
nature  as  a  council  among  the  Congregationalists,  with  this  peculiar  disadvantage  attend- 
ing it,  that  by  the  aid  of  the  Assembly  adopting  the  report  of  the  committee,  it  becomes 
authoritative,  precluding  all  appeal  except  to  first  principles :  whereas,  among  the 
Congregationalists,  after  such  a  committee  or  a  council  has  decided,  it  is  optional  with 
the  parties  at  issue,  to  acquiesce  in  the  decision,  or  not.  We  testify  against  this  innova- 
tion, as  a  perversion  of  the  constitution,  a  violation  of  ordination  engagements,  and  a 
virtual  denial  of  the  rights  of  individual  Church  members,  and  of  the  subordinate  judica- 
tories. By  showing  that  the  latter  is  true,  the  truth  of  the  allegations  will  be  established. 
Suffer  us  therefore,  to  take  a  brief  view  of  the  rights  secured  by  the  constitution  to 
members  and  inferior  judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"In  the  form  of  Government,  c.  viii.  sect.  1,  it  is  declared  'absolutely  necessary  that  the 
government  of  the  Church  be  exercised  under  some  certain  and  definite  form.'  This  is 
just  and  reasonable.  An  uncertain,  undefined  exercise  of  governmental  powers  will 
inevitably  result  in  tyranny,  and  gross  injustice.  Therefore  to  relinquish  our  clear  and 
well  defined  rules,  for  adjudications  upon  the  shifting  principles  of  temporary  expediency; 
and  to  substitute  the  action  and  reports  of  committees  of  compromise,  for  the  regular 
action  and  decisions  of  the  judicatory,  is  to  leave  the  certain  for  the  uncertain  mode  of 
government,  which,  as  we  see,  is  most  unequivocally  unconstitutional.  Again ;  in  the 
Book  of  Discipline,  c.  iv.  sect.  15,  it  is  said,  that  'trials  shall  be  fair  and  impartial.'  But 
on  the  compromising  plan,  this  is  impossible.'  Very  generally,  on  this  plan,  the  really 
guilty  escape  either  with  impunity,  or  under  a  censure  by  no  means  proportionate  to  the 
degree  of  their  offence;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  innocent  are  unjustly  implicated, 
and  subjected  to  evils  of  a  vexatious  nature,  from  which  a  proper  administration  of  gov- 
ernment would  have  protected  them.  Again  ;  Form  of  Government,  c.  xxii.  sec.  2,  it  is 
made  the  duty  of  each  commissioner  to  the  General  Assembly,  'to  consult,  vote,  and 
determine  on  all  things  that  may  come  before  that  body,  according  to  the  principles  and 
constitution  of  this  Church  and  the  word  of  God/'  Now,  to  substitute  compromise  for  the 
regular  action  of  our  judicatories,  in  the  legitimate  application  of  the  laws  of  our  constitu- 
tion, is  no  principle  of  Presbyterianism,  or  article  of  our  Form  of  Government.  It  is 
something  approximating  to,  but  worse  than  Congregationalism,  being  destitute  of  its 
redeeming  qualities. 

"VII.  We  solemnly  remonstrate  against  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  1832,  for 
dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  Aside  from  the  principle  upon  which  they 
separated  the  Ministers  and  Churches,  we  consider  that  act,  under  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  was  passed,  as  a  gross  violation  of  the  constitution,  being  an  evident  usurpation 
of  a  power  vested  exclusively  in  the  Synod.  See  Form  of  Government,  c.  xi.  sect.  4. 
No  such  power  is  given  to  the  Assembly  co-ordinately  with  Synods.  In  the  act  of  the 
Assembly  of  1833,  confirmatory  of  the  act  of  the  preceding  year,  we  perceive  the  same 
principle  of  disregard  to  the  constitution,  aggravated  by  the  refusal  to  consider  the  remon 
strances  from  distant  Synods  against  the  said  act.  Against  these  unconstitutional  pro- 
ceedings we  complain  and  testify  ;  and  call  upon  your  reverend  body  to  apply  the  proper 
remedy,  and  rectify  what  has  been  done  amiss. 

"  VIII.  In  the  last  place,  we  remonstrate  and  testify  against  the  following  errors,  which 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1834.  665 

are  held  and  taught  within  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  which  the  General  Assembly 
are  constitutionally  competent  to  suppress,  by  warnings,  recommendations  and  injunctions 
to  the  Churches,  Presbyteries  and  Synods  under  their  care,  and  by  faithfully  and  con- 
stitutionally deciding  on  cases  brought  before  them  by  reference,  complaint  or  appeal. 

"  1.  That  Adam  was  not  the  covenant  head,  or  federal  representative  of  his  posterity,  and 
sustained  no  other  relation  to  them  than  that  which  subsists  between  every  parent  and  his 
oflspring.  For  proof  that  this  error  is  held  and  taught  within  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
see  Barnes's  Sermon  on  the  Way  of  Salvation,  p.  7.  Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp.  288, 
291,  292,  301,  302,  369,  374,  387,  391,  392. 

"2.  That  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam  more  than  with  the  sin  of 
any  other  parent;  and  that  it  is  not  imputed  to  his  posterity.  See  Barnes's  Sermon  on 
the  Way  of  Salvation,  pp.  6,  7.  Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp.  287,  288,  371,  373,  389, 
390,  391,  393. 

"  3.  That  infants  have  no  moral  character — that  they  are  neither  sinful  nor  holy.  See 
Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp.  378,  379,397. 

"  4.  That  all  sin  consists  exclusively  in  voluntary  acts  or  exercises,  and  consequently 
that  there  is  no  innate,  inherent  or  derived  corruption  in  the  souls  of  fallen  men.  See 
Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp.  277,  278,  283,  284,  302,  310,  379,  380.  Dr.  Beecher's 
Sermon,  National  Preacher,  Vol.  II.,  p.  12. 

"  5.  That  man  in  his  fallen  state,  is  possessed  of  entire  ability  to  do  whatever  God  requires 
him  to  do,  independently  of  any  new  power  or  ability  imparted  to  him  by  the  gracious 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  See  Barnes's  Sermon  on  the  Way  of  Salvation,  p.  14.  Dr. 
Beman's  Sermons,  pp.  119,  120.  Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp.  318,  319,  322,  542.  Dr. 
Beecher's  Sermon  on  Dependence  and  Free  Agency,  pp.  9,  10,  12,  11,  14,  26,  27,  29, 
34.  37. 

"  6.  That  regeneration  is  essentially  a  voluntary  change,  which  the  soul  is  active  in 
producing;  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit  acts  only  mediately  in  the  way  of  moral  suasion,  by 
the  presentation  of  motives.  See  Duffield  on  Regeneration,  pp.  200,  202,  204,  206,  210, 
211,212,  215,  227,  230,  231,  440,484,492,493,  510,  511,  512,  51.'S. 

"  7.  That  Christ  did  not  become  the  legal  substitute  of  sinners — did  not  pay  the  debt 
of  his  people,  or  endure  the  penalty  of  the  law  in  their  behalf.  See  Dr.  Beman's  Four 
Sermons  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  pp.  34,  36,  38,  42,  45,  46,  47,  53,  54,  70,  71, 
72,  73.     Barnes's  Sermon  on  the  Way  of  Salvation,  pp.  10,  11. 

"  8.  That  the  Atonement  is  merely  an  exhibition  of  the  wrath  of  God  against  sin — an 
expedient  for  enabling  God  to  forgive  sin,  consistently  with  the  welfare  of  the  universe^ 
of  itself,  not  securing  the  salvation  of  any  one,  and  not  satisfying  divine  justice.  See  Dr. 
Beman's  Four  Sermons  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  pp.  36,  62,  63,  65,  78,  86. 
Barnes's  Sermon  on  the  Way  of  Salvation,  p.  1 1. 

"  9.  That  the  Atonement  is  general,  made  for  all  men  alike,  as  much  for  the  non-elect 
as  for  the  elect.  See  Dr.  Beman's  Four  Sermons,  &c.  pp.  74,  94.  Barnes's  Sermon  on 
the  Way  of  Salvation,  p.  11. 

"  The  spirit  manifested,  and  the  acts  passed,  in  former  days,  by  the  superior  judicatory 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  not  only  warrant  us  to  believe  that  your  reverend  body  has 
the  requisite  power,  but  also  to  call  upon  you  for  the  exercise  of  that  power,  for  the  sup- 
pression of  these,  and  other  errors,  that  are  held,  preached  and  published  by  Ministers  of 
our  denomination.  In  1758,  when  the  two  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  which 
had  been  separated  for  seventeen  years,  mainly  in  consequence  of  the  operation  of  Con- 
gregational principles,  were  once  more  about  to  be  united,  they  took  special  care  to  guard 
against  any  loose,  or  indefinite  mode  of  adopting  the  standards  of  the  Church;  so  that  no 
apology  might  be  furnished  for  holding  errors,  such  as  we  have  enumerated,  while  the 
connection  between  the  Church  and  the  person  holding  them,  remained  unbroken.  In  an 
article,  lying  at  the  basis  of  their  re-union,  they  declared,  with  a  reference  to  the  Westmin- 
ster Confession  of  Faith,  and  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms,  as  follows  :  '  We  do  still 
receive  the  same  as  the  confession  of  ovn  fuilh,  and  also  the  plan  of  worship,  government, 
and  discipline,  contained  in  the  Westminster  Directory  ;  strictly  enjoining  it  on  all  our  mem- 
bers, and  piobationers  for  the  ministry,  that  they  preach  and  teach  according  to  the  'form 
of  sound  words'  in  said  Confession  and  Catechisms,  and  avoid  and  oppose  all  errors  con- 
trary thereto.'  In  another  article  of  the  same  instrument,  they  say  further,  'That  no 
Presbytery  shall  license  or  ordain  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  any  candidate,  until  he  give 
them  competent  satisfaction  as  to  his  learning  and  experimental  acquaintance  with  reli- 
gion, and  skill  in  divinity  and  cases  of  conscience,  and  declare  his  acceptance  of  the  West- 
84 


666  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

minster  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  as  the  confession  of  bts  faith,  and  promise 
subjection  to  the  Presbyterian  plan  of  government  in  the  Westminster  Directory.'  Digest, 
pp.  118,  119. 

"  The  same  united  Synod,  twenty-eight  years  afterwards,  having  occasion  to  declare 
their  doctrinal  views,  observe,  that  'The  Synod  of  JNew  York  and  Philadelphia  adopt, 
according  to  the  known  and  established  meaning  op  the  tekms,  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith,  as  the  confession  of  their  faith;  save  that  every  candidate  for  the 
gospel  ministry  is  permitted  to  except  against  so  jnuch  of  the  x  viii.  chapter  as  gives  authority 
to  the  civil  magistrate  in  matters  of  religion.'  Digest,  p.  119.  Called  by  some  circum- 
stances in  the  Presbytery  of  Abington,  in  1798,  to  address  the  Ministers  and  Churches 
therein,  the  General  Assembly,  among  other  things,  make  the  following  declaration  :  '  We 
take  the  present  occasion  of  declaring  our  uniform  adherence  to  the  doctrines  contained  in 
our  Confession  of  Faith,  in  l\\e\x  present  plain  and  intelligible  form ;  and  our  fixed  deter- 
mination to  maintain  them  against  all  innovations.  We  earnestly  wish  that  nothing  sub- 
versive of  these  doctrines  may  be  suffered  to  exist,  or  to  be  circulated  amongst  the  Churches; 
we  hope  that  even  neio  explanations  of  our  known  principles,  by  unsound  and  offensive 
phrases,  will  be  cautiously  guarded  against,  lest  the  feelings  of  Christians  should  be 
wounded,  the  cause  of  religion  injured,  and  the  enemy  fake  occasion  to  triumph  and  blas- 
pheme.' Digest,  p.  134.  How  happy  it  would  have  been  for  the  Church,  at  the  present 
day,  if  all  our  General  Assemblies  had  been  animated  with  the  same  sentiments,  and  held 
the  same  language  as  that  of  1798  !  See  other  instances  of  the  spirit  and  views  of  former 
Assemblies,  in  relation  to  the  same  general  subject,  in  their  correspondence  relative  to  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  in  1807  and  181],  Digest,  pp.  137,  139. 

"In  the  pastoral  letter  of  the  Assembly  to  the  Churches,  1817,  we  find  the  following 
noble  declaration  and  affectionate  advice:  '  Besides  the  common  bond  of  Christian  affec- 
tion which  unites  the  great  family  of  believers,  the  Ministers  and  members  of  the  Presby- 
teriain  Church  are  cemented  by  a  compact  which  every  honest  man  cannot  fail  to  appre- 
ciate. We  mean  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church.  While  we  believe  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
we  do  also,  if  we  deal  faithfully  with  God  and  man,  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  this  Confes- 
sion, as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Let  us  adhere 
to  this  standard  with  fidelity,  and  endeavour  to  transmit  to  our  children,  pure  and  unde- 
filed,  a  treasure  which  our  fathers  at  great  expense,  have  under  God  bequeathed  to  us.' 

"  If  the  foregoing  views  and  sentiments  of  former  Synods  and  Assemblies  possessed  that 
influence  over  all  the  members  and  judicatories  of  our  Church, -which  they  ought  to  pos- 
sess, we  should  be  a  happy,  pure  and  peaceful  people.  But  so  great  a  declension  appears 
in  the  spirit  and  views  of  many  of  our  judicatories  and  members  now,  that  although  we 
still  bear  the  same  name,  and  use  the  same  forms,  it  might  sometimes  be  a  question  as  to 
our  denominational  identity.  We  lament  the  existence  of  the  evils  which  we  have  pre- 
sented to  your  notice,  and  which  have  become  so  manifest,  that  all  the  other  denominations 
of  Christians  perceive  it,  and  while  some  mourn  over  us,  others  reproach  and  triumph. 
Yet  such  is  the  strange  indifference,  or  infatuation,  of  many  among  ourselves,  that  they 
are  ready  to  characterize  as  '  slanderers  and  disturbers  of  the  peace,'  those  who  perceive, 
oppose,  and  endeavour  to  correct  those  innovations  in  principle  and  practice,  which  defile 
and  trouble  the  Church. 

"  We  also  feel  in  some  degree  mortified,  to  think  that,  when  in  various  places,  vigorous 
efforts  are  successfully  put  forth  for  the  restoration  of  corrupt  Protestant  churches,  to  their 
first  purity,  it  should  be  the  unhappy  lot  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country,  to 
be  retrograde.  Still,  although  not  at  present  permitted  to  rejoice  in  the  onward  course  of 
our  Church,  as  a  body,  towards  purity  and  perfection,  we  are  nevertheless  encouraaed  by 
the  example  and  the  success  of  other  Churches,  and  more  especially  by  the  predictions 
and  promises  of  God,  respecting  the  future  state  of  his  Church,  to  exert  ourselves  to  what 
extent  we  can,  in  recalling  the  attention  and  the  steps  of  our  brethren  to  the  '  old  paths.' 
It  is  with  this  view,  and  in  this  hope,  that  we  urge  your  reverend  body,  by  all  the  consid- 
erations arising  from  a  view  of  the  facts  pret^cnted,  and  the  consequences  which  must 
inevitably  follow,  if  an  effectual  remedy  be  not  speedily  applied,  to  adopt  at  once  such 
measures,  as  in  your  wisdom,  may  be  the  best  calculated  to  afford  the  necessary  relief. 
Let  the  members  and  judicatories  of  our  beloved  Church  act  with  sincerity,  fidelity,  and 
decision,  upon  their  own  publicly  acknowledged  principles,  and  all  will  yet  be  well.  This, 
we  repeat  it,  is  our  object,  desire  and  prayer,  in  this  memorial;  and  should  your  respected 
body,  taking  the  foregoing  statements  into  solemn  consideration,  and  being  convinced  of  the 
duty   and   necessity  of  a   reform,  proceed  with  promptness  and   energy,  in  a  system  of 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834.  667 

action,  which  would  afford  good  grounds  for  believing  that  the  evils  complained  of  will  be 
corrected,  as  soon  as  in  the  nature  of  things  they  can  be  done,  then  would  our  heart 
rejoice. 

"  In  hope  of  this  we  present  a  condensed  view  of  the  matters  of  grievance,  and  the 
nature  of  the  redress  which  we  ask;  and  while  we  ask  it  with  all  due  deference  and 
respect,  we  claim  it  as  a  restoration  of  those  rights  and  privileges,  secured  to  us  by  the 
constitution  of  our  Church,  which  rights  and  privileges  have  been  so  impaired  by  the 
courses  pursued,  that  we  have  no  longer  that  free  enjoyment  of  them,  that  profit  from 
them,  and  that  comfort  in  them,  to  which  in  justice  we  are  entitled.  To  you,  therefore, 
fathers  and  brethren  of  this  Assembly,  as  the  supreme  constitutional  organ  for  restoring 
the  disjointed  concerns  of  the  Church  to  their  original  symmetry  and  order,  we  apply,  and 
of  you  we  earnestly  request, 

"  I.  That  the  'Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  in  the  new 
settlements,'  adopted  in  1801,  be  wholly  abrogated,  and  nothing  similar  be  substituted  in 
its  place;  also,  that  so  much  of  the  'Plan  of  Union  and  correspondence"  between  the 
General  Assembly  and  the  several  Associations,  or  Conventions,  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  in  the  New  England  States,  as  regards  the  reception  of  Ucentiatesand  Minis- 
ters, on  certificate,  from  the  said  churches,  be  repealed  ;  and  that  the  same  order  be  observed 
in  receiving  Ministers  and  licentiates  from  thfm,  and  all  other  denominations  in  the  Uni- 
ted States,  as  is  required  in  the  case  of  foreign  Ministers  and  licentiates.  See  Digest, 
pp.  280—285. 

"11.  We  call  upon  the  Assembly  to  take  some  decided  measures  for  restraining  Presby- 
teries that  abuse  their  own  privileges,  and  interfere  with  the  rights  of  others,  by  licensing 
and  ordaining  Ministers,  and  receiving  and  dismissing  members,  not  for  the  service  of  their 
own  Churches,  or  the  watering  of  their  ovvn  waste  places ;  not  for  the  purpose  of  labour- 
ing within  their  own  bounds,  but  in  order  to  send  them  into  the  bounds  of  other  Presby- 
teries, to  the  great  annoyance,  in  many  instances,  of  said  Presbyteries,  and  affording  strong 
ground  to  suspect  that  they  were  sent  to  serve  party  purposes. 

"III.  We  call  upon  the  General  Assembly  to  resume  the  full  exercise  of  their  own  func- 
tions, in  conducting  missionary  operations  within  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  to  take 
some  effectual  measures  for  having  it  so  arranged,  that  every  missionary,  labouring  any 
where  within  the  said  church,  be  there  as  commissioned  and  directed  by  the  Assembly,  or 
some  of  its  constitutional  organs,  and  bound  to  render  to  them  a  regular  report  ot  his 
labours.  The  Presbyterian  Church  will  never  be  safe  from  the  inroads  of  error,  and  will 
always  lie  open  to  the  aggressions  of  ambitious  or  designing  men,  so  long  as  a  non  eccle- 
siastical, irresponsible  association  is  permitted  to  select,  and  introduce,  and  control  a  large 
number  of  her  officiating  Ministers. 

"  IV.  We  call  upon  the  General  Assembly  to  bear  full  and  solemn  testimony  against  the 
many  errors,  preached,  published,  and  circulated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  contra- 
diction to  the  doctrines  contained  in  our  standards,  such  as  we  have  already  mentioned; 
and  strictly  to  enjoin  it  upon  the  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  to  attend  promptly  and  faith, 
fully  to  all  cases  of  this  kind,  within  their  several  limits,  and  under  their  jurisdiction. 

"V.  We  insist  upon  it  as  a  matter  of  constitutional  right  to  your  memorialists,  as  well 
as  of  obligation  on  the  part  of  your  reverend  body,  and  of  duty  to  the  whole  Church,  that 
the  Assembly  express  an  unequivocal  opinion  upon  the  following  points,  concerning 
which  conflicting  sentiments  exist,  creating  difficulties,  perplexities,  and  tendencies  to  divi- 
sion. 

"  1.  Whether  it  follows  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  of  constitutional  right,  when  any 
member  in  good  and  regular  standing  with  one  Presbytery,  presents  to  another  Presbytery 
unquestionable  evidence  of  such  standing,  and  requests  to  be  admitted  as  a  member  of 
this  latter  Presbytery,  that  he  must  be  received  without  further  question  or  inquiry :  or 
whether,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  not  the  privilege  of  every  Presbytery  to  judge,  primarily,  of 
the  qualifications  of  each,  and  all,  of  its  own  members;  and  to  inquire  and  examine,  (if 
it  be  deemed  proper  so  to  do,)  not  only  into  their  moral  character,  but  into  their  soundness 
in  the  faith,  and  other  ministerial  qualifications;  and  receive  applicants,  or  refuse  to 
receive  them,  according  as  reception  or  rejection  may  appear  to  the  Presbytery  to  be 
demanded  by  a  regard  to  its  own  welfare  and  to  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church :  it 
being  understood,  that  every  decision  of  a  Presbytery  in  such  cases,  is  subject  to  be 
appealed  from,  or  complained  of,  to  a  higher  judicatory,  by  any  individual  who  may  con- 
sider himself  to  have  been  aggrieved  or  injured;  and  the  Presbytery  be  liable  to  have  its 
doings,  in  such  cases,  reversed  and  censured ;  provided,  that  on  an  appeal,  or  complaint, 


668  THE   NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

or  any  other  review  of  its  proceedings,  by  a  higher  judicatory,  such  Presbytery  shall  be 
found  to  have  acted  oppressively,  capriciously,  partially,  or  erroneously. 

"2.  Whether,  by  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  it  is  not  competent  to 
any  Presbytery,  to  take  up  and  examine  any  printed  publication,  and  to  pronounce  it  to  be 
erroneous  and  dangerous,  if  so  they  find  it,  without  in  the  first  place,  commencing  a  for- 
mal prosecution  of  the  author,  even  supposing  it  to  be  known  and  admitted,  that  the  author 
is  a  member  of  its  own  body:  or  whether  a  Presbytery,  in  every  such  case,  must,  when 
disposed  to  act  on  the  same,  forthwith  commence  a  formal  prosecution  of  the  author  of 
the  publication,  which  is  believed  to  contain  erroneous  and  dangerous  opinions,  or 
doctrines  1 

"  3.  Whether,  in  receiving  and  adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  the 
candidate  for  licensure,  ordination,  or  admission  from  a  foreign  body,  is  at  liberty  to 
receive  and  adopt  them  according  to  his  own  private  construction  of  their  meaning,  while 
that  construction  may  be  unusual  as  well  as  different  from  the  most  obvious  sense — or 
while  he  adopts  them  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures 
generally,  he  is  at  liberty  to  reject  as  many  particular  propositions  as  he  pleases  to  con- 
sider contrary  to  the  said  'system,'  without  stating  what  those  propositions  are,  to  the 
Presbytery,  at  or  before  the  time  of  his  being  licensed,  ordained,  or  admitted  :  or,  whether 
every  such  person  is  not  bound  to  receive  and  adopt  the  said  formularies,  according  to  the 
obvious  known  and  established  meaning  of  the  terms,  as  the  confession  of  his  faith ;  and 
if  any  proposition  appear  to  him  objectionable,  to  state  freely  and  candidly  his  scruples, 
leaving  it  for  the  Presbytery  to  decide  upon  the  propriety  of  licensing,  ordaining,  or  ad- 
mitting him,  as  his  objections  may  be  judged  consistent  with  soundness  in  the  faith,  or 
otherwise. 

"  VI.  We  request  the  General  Assembly  to  disannul  the  act  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly,  in  1832,  dividing  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  unequivocally  to  dis- 
avow the  principles  which  that  act  goes  to  establish,  viz.  that  Presbyteries  may  be  formed 
without  regard  to  district,  upon  the  principle  of  elective  affinity ,  and  that  the  General  Assem- 
bly possesses  co-ordinate  power  with  Synods,  to  divide  Presbyteries. 

"  Your  memorialists  respectfully  and  earnestly  insist  that  the  needful  work  of  reform  be 
commenced  without  unnecessary  delay,  and  that  measures  be  adopted,  such  as  the  wisdom 
of  your  reverend  body,  acting  with  the  fear  of  God,  and  with  a  view  to  Divine  direction 
and  assistance,  may  suggest,  which  will  in  the  shortest  and  safest  manner  regulate  and 
restore  the  afl'airs  of  the  Church,  and  remove  the  evils  of  which  we  complain.  If  need- 
less delay  or  temporizing  measures  are  resorted  to,  we  shall  reluctantly  feel  compelled  to 
look  upon  them  as  evasive,  and  amounting  to  a  denial  to  the  Church,  and  to  us,  of  our 
right  to  a  redress  of  grievances  from  the  supreme  judicatory  of  that  body,  of  which  we  form 
a  part.  With  the  state  of  things  which  has  been  presented  in  this  memorial,  your  memo- 
rialists have  borne  long.  They  have  witnessed,  with  the  keenest  sorrow,  the  progress  of 
corruption,  and  that  the  means  employed  for  arresting  it,  through  the  indecision  of  our 
judicatories,  have  been  inadequate  in  their  nature,  and  impotent  in  their  application  and 
operation.  Perceiving  matters  to  grow  worse,  from  year  to  year,  it  is  their  belief  that  the 
time  has  come,  when  fidelity  to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  imperiously  demands  that 
something  should  be  done,  for  the  removal  of  the  evils,  so  long  borne,  and  now  pressed 
upon  your  attention.  Your  memorialists  feel  it  to  be  their  duty,  and  they  have  formed 
the  determination,  to  persist  in  the  use  of  every  lawful  measure,  to  obtain  that  redress  of 
grievances,  which  they  are  solemnly  convinced  is  necessary  to  the  purity,  peace,  and  pros- 
perity of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Should  these  measures  fail,  and  the  supreme  judica- 
tory of  our  Church  refuse,  or  needlessly  delay  to  adopt  those  prompt  and  practicable 
means  of  providing  for  the  safety  of  the  Church,  which  duty  to  God  and  to  the  souls  of 
men  requires,  your  memorialists  tremble  for  the  consequences,  and  in  subscribing  this  docu- 
ment, would  leave  it  on  record,  that  however  imperfectly,  they  nevertheless  sincerely  endea- 
voured to  avert  the  evils  of  error,  disorder,  and  division  from  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

§  116.  Action  of  the  Assembly  on  the  Memorial. 

"  The  committee  to  which,  was  referred  the  memorial  complaining  of  sun- 
dry grievances  abroad  in  the  Church,  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  find  said 
memorial  adopted,  either  in  whole  or  in  part  by  about  nine  Presbyteries, 
and  eight  Sessions;  it  is  also  signed  by  about  eighteen  Ministers,  and  ninety- 
nine  Elders,  asking  of  this  Assembly  to  apply  such  remedies  as  may  be 
necessary  to  correct  the  evils  of  which  they  complain. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834.  669 

"Your  committee,  after  the  most  careful  investigation,  and  mature  deli- 
beration that  they  could  bestow  on  the  subject,  have  concurred  in  the 
following  resolutions,  which  they  recommend  to  the  adoption  of  this 
Assembly,  viz. 

'^  Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  cannot  sanction  the  censure  contained 
in  the  memorial,  against  the  proceedings  and  measures  of  former  General 
Assemblies. 

«2.  That  it  is  deemed  inexpedient  and  undesirable  to  abrogate,  or  inter- 
fere with  the  plan  of  union  between  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  in 
the  new  settlements,  adopted  in  1801. 

"3.  That  the  previous  action  of  the  present  Assembly  on  the  subject  of 
ordaining  men  is  deemed  sufficient. 

'<4.  That  the  duty  of  licensing  and  ordaining  men  to  the  office  of  the 
gospel  ministry,  and  of  guarding  that  office  against  the  intrusion  of  men 
who  are  unqualified  to  discharge  its  solemn  and  responsible  duties,  or  who 
are  unsound  in  the  faith,  is  committed  to  the  Presbyteries.  And  should 
any  already  in  that  office  be  known  to  be  fundamentally  erroneous  in  doc- 
trine, it  is  not  only  the  privilege,  but  the  duty  of  Presbyteries  constitution- 
ally to  arraign,  condemn,  and  depose  them. 

"5.  That  this  Assembly  bears  solemn  testimony  against  publishing  to  the 
world.  Ministers  in  good  and  regular  standing,  as  heretical  or  dangerous, 
without  having  been  constitutionally  tried  and  condemned ;  thereby  greatly 
hindering  their  usefulness  as  Ministers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  excellent 
constitution  makes  ample  provision  for  redressing  all  such  grievances;  and 
this  Assembly  enjoins,  in  all  cases,  a  faithful  compliance,  in  meekness  and 
brotherly  love,  with  its  requisitions;  having  at  all  times  a  sound  regard  to 
the  purity  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Church. 

"  6.  That  this  Assembly  have  no  authority  to  establish  any  exclusive 
mode  of  conducting  missions;  but  while  this  matter  is  left  to  the  discretion 
of  individuals  and  inferior  judicatories,  we  would  recommend  and  solicit 
their  willing  and  efficient  co-operation  with  the  Assembly's  Board. 

"  7.  That  a  due  regard  to  the  order  of  the  Church,  and  the  bonds  of 
brotherhood,  require,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  that  Ministers  dis- 
missed in  good  standing  by  sister  Presbyteries,  should  be  received  by  the 
Presbyteries  which  they  are  dismissed  to  join,  upon  the  credit  of  their  con- 
stitutional testimonials,  unless  they  shall  have  forfeited  their  good  standing 
subsequently  to  their  dismissal. 

"8.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  to  take  up,  and  try,  and  con- 
demn any  printed  publications  as  heretical  and  dangerous,  is  equivalent  to 
condemning  the  author  as  heretical;  that  to  condemn  heresy  in  the  abstract, 
cannot  be  understood  as  the  purpose  of  such  trial ;  that  the  results  of  such 
trial  are  to  bear  upon,  and  seriously  to  affect  the  standing  of  the  author; 
and  that  the  fair  and  unquestionable  mode  of  procedure  is,  if  the  author  be 
alive,  and  known  to  be  of  our  communion,  to  institute  process  against  him, 
and  give  him  a  fair  and  constitutional  trial. 

"9.  That,  in  receiving  and  adopting  the  formularies  of  our  Church, 
every  person  ought  to  be  supposed,  without  evidence  to  the  contrary,  to 
receive  and  adopt  them  according  to  the  obvious,  known  and  established 
meaning  of  the  terms,  as  the  Confession  of  his  Faith;  and  that  if  objections 
be  made,  the  Presbytery,  unless  he  withdraw  such  objections,  should  not 
license,  ordain,  or  admit  him. 

"  10.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  it  is  expedient  that  Pres- 
byteries, and  Synods,  in  the  spirit  of  charity  and  forbearance,  adjust,  and 
settle  as  far  as  practicable,  all  their  matters  of  grievance  and  disquietude, 
without  bringing  them  before  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  world;  as,  in 


670  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

many  cases  this  tends  to  aggravate  and  continue  them,  and  to  spread  them 
over  the  whole  Church,  to  the  great  grief  of  its  members,  and  injury  of  the 
cause  of  religion." — Mimites,  1834,  pp.  25,  26. 

§  117.   Protest  against  this  action. 

"The  undersigned  protest  against  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, relative  to  the  memorial  complaining  of  sundry  grievances  abroad  in 
the  Church : 

"1.  On  account  of  the  manner  in  which  said  memorial  was  treated,  in 
bringing  it  before  the  Assembly.  It  was  committed  to  a  committee  who 
brought  in  a  report  in  nearly  all  respects  adverse  to  the  memorial  before  it 
was  read  in  the  House ;  so  that  when  it  was  read,  it  was  heard  under  the 
influence  of  all  the  prejudice  created  against  it  by  the  adverse  report  and 
prejudgment  of  the  committee.  It  is  believed  that  this  method  of  proceed- 
ing is  without  precedent  or  parallel,  in  the  proceedings  of  any  of  the  eccle- 
siastical judicatories  of  our  Church,  or  of  any  well-ordered  deliberative 
body,  of  whatever  kind. 

"2.  On  account  of  the  adoption  by  the  Assembly  of  the  first  resolution, 
submitted  by  the  committee  aforesaid,  viz.  'Resolved,  That  this  Assembly 
cannot  sanction  the  censure  contained  in  the  memorial,  against  the  proceed- 
ings and  measures  of  former  General  Assemblies.'  If  the  proceedings  and 
measures  of  the  General  Assemblies  of  our  Church  are  not  to  be  regarded 
as  infallible  and  immutable,  then  their  equity  and  expediency  are  fairly 
open  to  the  investigation  and  remarks  of  the  members  of  the  Church;  nor 
is  it  perceived  how  the  redress  of  grievances  arising  from  acts  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  can  be  obtained  by  an  aggrieved  party,  if  such  a  party  may 
not  state  freely  and  fearlessly,  the  ground  of  complaint,  although  this  should 
imply,  as  indeed  it  must,  in  most  cases  necessarily  imply  a  censure  of  the 
proceedings  which  are  a  subject  of  complaint.  We  fully  recognize  the  obli- 
gation of  memorialists  and  petitioners  to  address  the  General  Assembly  in 
respectful  language;  and  such  language  we  do  conscientiously  think  was 
used  in  an  exemplary  manner  by  the  memorialists,  and  that  they  could  not 
have  laid  open  their  grievances  fairly  and  fully,  with  a  greater  reserve  than 
that  which  they  maintained;  and  therefore  that  this  decision  of  the  Assem- 
bly goes  to  abridge  the  liberty  which  every  member  of  our  Church,  and 
every  freeman  and  Christian  in  our  country  ought  to  enjoy  and  maintain. 

"3.  We  protest  against  the  second  resolution,  as  going  to  render  perma- 
nent '  the  Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  in 
the  new  settlements,'  which  we  consider  as  plainly  and  palpably  unconstitu- 
tional. We  do  not  wish  for  an  abrupt  violation  of  this  plan,  on  the  part  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church;  but  for  the  commencement  of  measures  which 
shall  result  in  a  return  to  the  ground  of  the  Constitution ;  and  this  without 
injury  to,  perhaps  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  both  the  parties 
concerned.  But  regarding  the  second  resolution  as  calculated,  and  probably 
intended  to  perpetuate  an  unconstitutional  transaction,  we  decidedly  protest 
against  it. 

"4.  We  protest  against  the  fifth  resolution,  because  we  view  it  as  inter- 
fering with  the  liberty  of  speech,  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  with  Chris- 
tian duty.  For  any  abuse  of  this  liberty,  we  are  not  advocates.  But  to 
prohibit  in  all  cases  the  censuring  of  authors  in  connection  with  their  hereti- 
cal publications,  is  in  our  best  judgments,  to  throw  a  shield  over  both. 
For  if  the  public  are  not  pointed  to  a  particular  book  or  pamphlet,  it  will 
often  not  be  known  what  publication  is  intended,  and  its  very  existence  may 
be  denied;  and  if  the  publication  be  distinctly  referred  to,  and  it  bears  the 
name  of  the  author  in  the  title  page,  (which  was  the  case  in  all  the  instances 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834.  671 

reftirred  to  in  the  memorial,)  then  those  who  simply  made  this  reference, 
fall  under  the  heavy  denunciation  of  this  resolution.  We  profess  to  admire 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  which  this  resolution  eulogizes,  as  much 
as  they  do  who  framed  and  sanctioned  it,  and  we  protest  against  the  reso- 
lution itself,  because  its  tendency  is  to  render  difficult,  and  in  some  cases, 
absolutely  impracticable,  the  duty  which  the  Constitution  enjoins;  and  thus 
may  prove,  as  we  have  said,  a  shield  both  to  the  heretic  and  to  his  work. 

"  5.  We  do  earnestly  and  solemnly  protest  against  the  seventh  resolution, 
in  which  it  is  asserted  that  Ministers  dismissed  in  good  standing  by  sister 
Presbyteries,  should  be  received  by  the  Presbyteries  which  they  are  dis- 
missed to  join,  upon  the  credit  of  their  constitutional  testimonials;  unless 
they  shall  have  forfeited  their  good  standing  subsequent  to  their  dismissal. 
This  resolution  is  in  conflict  with  the  right  of  a  Presbytery  to  judge 
of  the  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  which  we  verily  believe  has  never 
before  been  authoritatively  attacked  and  impaired,  from  the  time  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Assembly  of  divines  at  Westminster,  in  which  it  was  recognized, 
till  the  meeting  of  the  present  General  Assembly.  It  is  indeed  in  conflict 
with  the  acknowledged  right  inherent  in  the  members  of  every  society,  civil 
as  well  as  ecclesiastical,  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those  with  whom 
they  shall  be  associated.  But  it  not  only  contravenes  a  right;  it  also 
exposes  the  entire  Church  to  the  most  serious  evils.  It  puts  it  in  the  power 
of  a  few  corrupt  Presbyteries  to  corrupt  the  whole  Church,  by  throwing 
their  members  into  sound^  Presbyteries,  one  after  another,  till  they  become 
dominant  in  all.  We  view  it  as  a  virtual  relinquishment  and  denial  of  one 
of  the  essential  principles  of  all  Presbyterial  order  and  government,  and  as 
such,  we  most  solemnly  protest  against  it.  We  do  and  must  maintain,  that 
every  Presbytery  has  an  inherent  and  indefeasible  right,  to  determine  whether 
it  will  receive  into  its  bosom,  any  and  every  member  who  applies  for  such 
reception.  Circumstances  may  render  it  unnecessary  to  call  tliis  right  into 
exercise,  in  certain  instances ;  but  the  right  always  exists,  and  circum- 
stances may  require  its  exercise,  at  least  for  a  time,  in  every  instance  in  which 
application  is  made  for  admission  to  a  Presbytery.  The  denial  of  this  right, 
we  repeat  and  insist,  is  the  denial  of  a  fundamental  principle  of  Presbyteri- 
anism. 

"  6.  We  protest  against  the  eighth  resolution,  because  in  our  judgment 
it  not  only  establishes  a  principle  erroneous  in  itself,  but  does,  in  lact,  the 
very  thing  which  it  imputes  to  the  memorialists;  it  casts  censure  on  a 
former  General  Assembly  for  examining  and  condemning  a  heretical  book, 
before  the  author  was  tried  and  condemned  by  his  Presbytery.  We  here  refer 
to  the  case  of  W.  C.  Davis.  It  is  our  firm  belief  that  it  is  often  an  impe- 
rious duty  incumbent  on  the  judicatures  of  the  Church,  to  examine  erroneous 
opinions,  in  thesi;  and  having  carefully  compared  them  with  the  standards 
of  the  Church,  and  the  word  of  God,  to  condemn  them  in  the  abstract; 
and  then  if  it  be  thought  expedient  and  be  found  practicable,  (which  it 
may  not  always  be,)  to  subject  those  who  have  promulgated  these  opinions 
to  the  proper  discipline.  To  invert  this  order  is,  in  our  firm  conviction, 
to  render  discipline  in  many  cases  difficutlt,  and  in  some  impacticable,  and 
thus  to  prove  a  protection  to  those  who  are  unsound  in  the  faith. 

'^We  might  specify  some  additional  points  in  the  resolutions  against 
which  we  protest ;  but  those  to  which  we  have  adverted  we  regard  as  the 
most  objectionable.  Still  we  feel  ourselves  constrained  to  add,  that  the 
doings  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  regard  to  the  memorial  adopted  by 
eleven  Presbyteries,  or  parts  of  Presbyteries,  as  well  as  by  several  Sessions, 
and  numerous  individuals — a  support  greater  than  any  other  memorial  has 
received  that  has  been  presented  to  a  General  Assembly  in  this  country — is 


672  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

calculated  deeply  to  grieve  and  wound  the  feelings  of  a  large  part,  and  we 
must  think  not  an  unsound  and  undeserving  part,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Their  pious,  and  as  we  think,  their  just  and  reasonable  expecta- 
tions of  some  redress  from  the  General  Assembly,  will  be  utterly  and  hope- 
lessly disappointed. 

"We  do  thei-efure  by  the  offering  of  this  protest,  most  solemnly  and 
earnestly  beseech  the  Assembly  to  pause;  to  consider  the  probable  conse- 
quences of  their  action  on  this  memorial,  and  yet  to  retrace  their  steps;  lest 
the  adherents  to  the  standards  of  our  Church  in  their  plain  and  obvious 
meaning,  should  find  themselves  constrained,  however  reluctantly,  to  resort 
to  first  principles,  and  to  make  their  final  appeal  to  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church. 

Ashbel  Green,  E.  H.  Snowden,  J.  N.  Candee,  Robert  Love, 
Charles  Davis,  Benj.  F.  Spilnian,  Carver  Hotchkiss,  David  McKin- 
ney,  Jacob  Coon,  George  Morris,  Simeon  H.  Crane,  James  W. 
McKennan,  A.  Bayles,  C.  Beers,  James  Magraw,  W.  L.  Breck- 
inridge, Charles  Woodward,  D.  R.  Preston,  Samuel  Boyd,  Isaac 
V.  Brown,  George  Marshall,  James  Agnew,  S.  McFerren,  Jacob 
Green,  W.  A.  G.  Posey,  William  Craig,  Loyal  Young,  James 
Scott,  William  McCombs,  Wm.  Wylie,  Alexander  McFarlane, 
James  Blake,  James  C.  Watson,  Edward  Vanhorn,  William  Sickels, 
James  Remington." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  33. 

§  118.   Reply  to  tJiis  j:)rotesf. 
[A  committee  appointed  to  reply  to  tiie  above  protest,  made  the  following  report,  whic  h 
was  adopted.] 

"That  after  due  consideration  of  the  whole  subject,  and  believing  the  protest 
to  be  founded  on  assumptions  which  were  fully  refuted  and  proved  unten- 
able in  the  course  of  a  long  and  thorough  discussion  of  the  several  resolu- 
tions adopted,  they  deem  it  inexpedient  for  the  Assembly  to  assign  any 
further  reasons  for  the  course  pursued  in  relation  to  the  above  memorial." 
— Ihid.  pp.  35,  37. 

§  119.  Resolution  of  attachment  to  the  doctrines  of  the  standards, 

[On  the  same  day  on  which  the  above  action  was  had  on  the  Western  Memorial,  a 
resolution  was  offered  bearing  testimony  against  certain  errors  in  doctrine.  This  resolu- 
tion was  indefinitely  postponed,  and  it  was] 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cherish  an  unabated  attachment  to  the 
system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  standards  of  their  faith,  and  would 
guard  with  vigilance  against  any  departures  from  it;  and  they  enjoin  the 
careful  study  of  it  upon  all  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
their  firm  support  by  all  scriptural  and  constitutional  methods." — Minutes, 
1834,  p.  27. 

§  120.  Protest  rejected. 

[The  yeas  and  nays  were  called  for  on  the  above  postponement,  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  the  original  motion  on  record.  This  call  was  however  withdrawn,  upon  the  un- 
derstanding that  a  protest  would  be  admitted.     The  following  was  tendered:] 

THE    PHOTEST. 

"  The  undersigned  would  respectfully  ask  leave  to  record  their  solemn  protest  against 
the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly,  by  which  the  following  resolution  was  rejected,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly,  in  accordance  with  a  previous  resolution,  which  allows 
this  body  to  condemn  error  in  the  abstract;  and  in  accordance  with  our  form  of  govern- 
ment which  gives  the  General  Assembly  the  privilege  of  warning  and  bearing  testimony 
against  error  in  doctrine ;  does  hereby  bear  solemn  testimony  against  the  following  errors, 
whether  such  errors  be  held  in  or  out  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  viz. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1834.  673 

"That  Adam  was  not  the  covenant  head,  or  federal  representative  of  his  posterity — 
That  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam — 'J'hat  it  is  not  imputed  to  his  pos- 
terity— That  infants  have  no  moral  character — That  all  sin  consists  in  voluntary  acts  or 
exercises — That  man,  in  his  fallen  state,  is  possessed  of  entire  ability  to  do  whatever  God 
requires  him  to  do,  independently  of  any  new  power  or  ability  imparted  to  him  by  the 
gracious  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit — That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner — That 
Christ  did  not  become  the  legal  substitute  and  surety  of  sinners — That  the  Atonement  of 
Christ  was  not  strictly  vicarious — That  the  Atonement  is  made  as  much  for  the  non-elect 
as  for  the  elect. 

"  We  protest  against  the  refusal  to  consider  and  act  definitely  upon  the  above  reso- 
lution : 

"  1.  Because  the  errors  alluded  to  are  contrary  to  the  Scriptures  and  to  our  Confession 
of  Faith,  and  are  of  a  very  pernicious  tendency. 

"  2.  Because  the  Assembly  was  informed  that  such  errors,  to  a  great  extent,  pervade  our 
land,  and  are  constantly  circulating  through  our  Church,  in  books,  pamphlets,  and  peri- 
odicals. ^ 

"3.  Because  in  the  refusal  to  consider,  and  amend,  if  necessary,  and  adopt  the  above 
resolution,  this  Assembly  has,  in  our  opinion,  refused  to  discharge  a  solemn  duty  enjoined 
by  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  loudly  and  imperiously  called  for  by  the  circumstances  of 
the  Church. 

"David  M'Kinney,  James  Magraw,  Ashbel  Green,  Samuel  Boyd,  E.  H.  Snowden, 
Simeon  H.  Crane,  George  Morris,  A.  Bayless,  Robert  Love,  H.  Campbell,  Alex.  M'Far- 
lane,  Wm.  L.  Breckinridge,  Isaac  V.  Brown,  James  Scott,  I.  N.  Candee,  D.  R.  Preston, 
Loyal  Young,  William  Sickles,  William  Wylie,  Benjamin  F.  Spillman,  James  Blake,  W. 
A.  G.  Posey,  Cyrus  Johnston,  Benjamin  M'Dowell,  Edward  Vanhorn,  Wm.  M'Comb, 
George  Marshall,  James  M'Farren,  S.  M'Farren,  Wm.  Craig,  James  Remington,  Jacob 
Green,  C.  Beers,  Charles  Woodward,  J.  Clark,  Jacob  Coon,  John  P.  Vandyke,  John  W. 
Scott,  James  W.  M'Kennan." 

[By  a  vote  of  56  to  42,  this  protest  was  excluded  from  the  minutes,  A  motion  was 
made  to  record  the  Yeas  and  Nays,  so  as  thus  to  bring  the  paper  upon  the  record.  This 
motion  the  Moderator  pronounced  out  of  order,  in  which  he  was  sustained  by  the  house.] 

§  121.   An  appeal  to  the  Cliurch  at  large — The  Act  and  Testimony. 

[The  following  is  from  the  minutes  of  the  Conference  that  issued  the  Act  and  Tes- 
timony.] 

Philadelphia,  ilfay  26th,  18.34. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  a  number  of  Ministers  and  Elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  con- 
vened for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  on  the  best  method  of  promoting  the  interests  of 
said  Church  in  the  present  crisis,  the  house  was  called  to  order,  and  the  Rev.  William 
Wylie  appointed  Chairman,  who  addressed  the  throne  of  grace  for  the  blessing  and  direc- 
tion of  God.     The  Rev.  D.  R.  Preston  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  meeting. 

After  a  free  interchange  of  views  on  the  objects  of  the  meeting.  Rev.  Messrs.  J.  V. 
Brown,  Alexander  A.  Campbell,  W.  D.  Snodgrass,  and  A.  B.  Dodd,  and  Messrs. 
[Williamson]  Dunn  and  [Samuel]  Boyd,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  protest* 
against  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly  this  day  rendered  in  the  case  of  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  for  adoption  and  signature 
by  members  of  the  present  General  Assembly. 

A  committee  of  nine  was  appointed  |  to  prepare  an  Act  and  Testimony  to  the  Churches, 
on  the  present  crisis  of  the  Church,  consisting  of  the  following  persons,  viz.  Rev.  R.  J. 
Breckinridge,  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  Snodgrass,  and  Messrs.  Gray,  Alexander  M'Farlane,  Boyd, 
Winchester,  Dr.  H.  Campbell  and  William  Wylie. 

The  meeting  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  Seventh  Presbyterian  Church  on  Wednesday 
evening  at  half-past  seven  o'clock.     Concluded  with  prayer. 

Wednesday  evening,  3Iaij  28th,  7i  o^ clock. 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  an  Act  and  Testimony  to  the  Churches  reported. 
Dr.  Green,  Dr.   H.  Campbell,   and  Messrs.   Engles,  Wm.    Latta,  Steel,  and  Gray,  were 

*  See  this  protest  alwve,  g  117.  t  [Upon  motion  of  Dr.  Snodgrass.] 

85 


674  THE    NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

appointed  a  committee  to  take  into  consideration  the  report,  with  power  to  offer  such 
amendments  as  may  be  necessary,  and  to  report  to  the  next  meeting. 

Adjourned  to  meet  on  Friday  morning  at  six  o'clock.     Concluded  with  prayer. 

Friday  May  30th,  6  o'clock  A.  M. 
******  * 

The  committee  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  Act  and  Testimony,  reported 
several  amendments.     The  Act  and  Testimony  was  then  adopted. 

Rev,  Messrs.  Engles,  Winchester,  H.  M'Keen,  and  Dr.  Mitchell  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  superintend  the  publication  and  circulation  of  the  Act  and  Testimony. 

Adjourned  to  meet  at  eight  o'clock  this  evening.     Concluded  with  prayer.* 

D.  R.  Preston,  Secretary." 

— Baltimore  Magazine,  1839,  p.  4.54. 

[The  names  subscribed  to  the  following  copy  of  the  Act  and  Testimony  are  those  of  the 

original   signers.     It   was   ultimately    adopted   in   terms   by    about   .^74    Ministers,   1789 

Elders,  and  14  Licentiates;   and  either  entire  or  substantially  by  five  Synods  and   thirty 

Presbyteries.]  * 

§  122.  Act  and  Testimony. 

"Brethren  beloved  in  the  Lord: — In  the  solemn  ciisis,  to  which  our  Church  has 
arrived,  we  are  constrained  to  appeal  to  you  in  relation  to  the  alarming  errors  which  have 
hitherto  been  connived  at,  and  now  at  length  have  been  countenanced  and  sustained  by  the 
a:ts  of  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  Church. 

"Constituting,  as  we  all  do,  a  portion  of  yourselves,  and  deeply  concerned,  as  every 
portion  of  the  system  must  be,  in  all  that  affects  the  body  itself,  we  earnestly  address  our- 
selves to  you,  in  the  full  belief,  that  the  dissolution  of  our  Church,  or  what  is  worse,  its 
corruption  in  all  that  once  distinguished  its  peculiar  testimony,  can,  under  God,  be  pre- 
vented only  by  you. 

"From  the  highest  judicatory  of  our  Church,  we  have  for  several  years  in  succession 
sought  the  redress  of  our  grievances,  and  have  not  only  sought  in  vain,  but  with  an  aggra- 
vation of  the  evils  of  which  we  have  complained.  Whither  then  can  we  look  for  relief 
but  first  to  Him  who  is  made  Head  over  all  things,  to  the  Church  which  is  his  body,  and 
then  to  you,  as  constituting  a  part  of  that  body,  and  as  instruments  in  his  hand  to  deliver 
the  Church  from  the  oppression  which  she  sorely  feels'? 

"  We  love  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  look  back  with  sacred  joy  to  her  instrumentality 
in  promoting  every  good  and  every  noble  cause  among  men ;  to  her  unwavering  love  of 
human  rights;  to  her  glorious  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  human  happiness;  to  her 
clear  testimonies  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  her  great  and  blessed  efforts  to  enlarge  and 
establish  the  kingdom  of  Christ  our  Lord.  We  delight  to  dwell  on  the  things  which  our  God 
has  wrought  by  our  beloved  Church;  and  by  his  grace  enabling  us,  we  are  resolved  that 
our  children  shall  not  have  occasion  to  weep  over  an  unfaithfulness  which  permitted  us  to 
stand  idly  by,  and  behold  the  ruin  of  this  glorious  structure. 

"'Brethren,'  says  the  Apostle, 'I  beseech  you  by  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  divisions  among  you,  but  that  ye 
be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind,  and  in  the  same  judgment.'  In  the  pre- 
sence of  that  Redeemer  by  whom  Paul  adjures  us,  we  avow  our  fixed  adherence  to  those 
standards  of  doctrine  and  order  in  their  obvious  and  intended  sense,  which  we  have  here- 
tofore subscribed  under  circumstances  the  most  impressive.  In  the  same  spirit  we  do 
therefore  solemnly  acquit  ourselves  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  all  responsibility  arising  from 
the  existence  of  those  divisions  and  disorders  in  our  Church,  which  spring  from  a  disre- 
gard of  assumed  obligations,  a  departure  from  doctrines  deliberately  professed,  and  a 
subversion  of  forms  publicly  and  repeatedly  approved.  By  the  same  high  authority,  and 
under  the  same  weighty  sanctions,  we  do  avow  our  fixed  purpose  to  strive  for  the  restora- 
tion of  purity,  peace,  and  scriptural  order  to  our  Church;  and  to  endeavour  to  exclude 
from  her  communion  those  who  disturb  her  peace,  corrupt  her  testimony,  and  subvert  her 
established  forms.  And  to  the  end  that  the  doctrinal  errors  of  which  we  complain  may 
be  fully  known,  and  the  practical  evils  under  which  the  body  suffers  be  clearly  sefforth, 
and  our  purposes  in  regard  to  both  be  distinctly  understood,  we  adopt  this  Act  and 
Testimony. 

as  regards  doctrine. 

"  1.  We  do  bear  our  solemn  testimony  against  the  right  claimed  by  many,  of  interpreting 

*The  subseciuent  meetings  were  mere  conferences. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1834.  675 

the  doctrines  of  our  standards  in  a  sense  different  from  the  general  sense  of  the  Church 
for  years  past,  whilst  they  still  continue  in  our  communion  :  on  the  contrary,  we  aver,  that 
they  who  adopt  our  standards,  are  bound  by  candour  and  the  simplest  integrity,  to  hold 
them  in  their  obvious,  accepted  sense. 

"  2.  We  testify  against  the  unchristian  subterfuge  to  which  some  have  recourse,  when 
they  avow  a  general  adherence  to  our  standards  as  a  system,  while  they  deny  doctrines 
essential  to  the  system,  or  hold  doctrines  at  complete  variance  with  the  system. 

"  3.  We  testify  against  the  reprehensible  conduct  of  those  in  our  communion,  who  hold, 
and  preach,  and  publish  Arminian  and  Pelagian  heresies,  professing  at  the  same  time  to 
embrace  our  creed,  and  pretending  that  these  errors  do  consist  therewith. 

"4.  We  testify  against  the  conduct  of  those,  who,  while  they  profess  to  approve  and 
adopt  our  doctrine  and  order,  do,  nevertheless,  speak  and  publish,  in  terms,  or  by  neces- 
sary implication,  that  which  is  derogatory  to  both,  and  which  tends  to  bring  both  into 
disrepute. 

"  5.  We  testify  against  the  following  as  a  part  of  the  errors,  which  are  held  and  taught 
by  many  persons  in  our  Church. 

ERRORS. 

"  1.  Our  relation  to  Adam. — That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam 
than  with  the  sins  of  any  other  parent. 

"  2.  Native  Depratitt. — That  there  is  no  such  thing  as  original  sin:  that  infants  come 
into  the  world  as  perfectly  free  from  corruption  of  nature  as  Adam  was  when  he  was  cre- 
ated ;  that  by  original  sin  nothing  more  is  meant  than  the  fact  that  all  the  posterity  of 
Adam,  though  born  entirely  free  from  moral  defilement,  will  always  begin  to  sin  when 
they  begin  to  exercise  moral  agency,  and  that  this  fact  is  somehow  connected  with  the 
fall  of  Adam. 

"  3.  Imputation. — That  the  doctrine  of  imputed  sin  and  imputed  righteousness  is  a 
novelty,  and  is  nonsense. 

"  4.  Ability. — That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently  of  the  aid 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  full  possession  of  all  the  powers  necessary  to  a  compliance  with  the 
commands  of  God  :  and  that  if  he  laboured  under  any  kind  of  inability,  natural  or  moral, 
which  he  could  not  remove  himself,  he  would  be  excusable  for  not  complying  with  God's 
will. 

"  5.  Regeneration. — That  man's  regeneration  is  his  own  act;  that  it  consists  merely 
in  the  change  of  our  governing  purpose,  which  change  we  must  ourselves  produce. 

"6.  Divine  Influence. — That  God  cannot  exert  such  an  influence  on  the  minds  of 
men  as  shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a  particular  manner  without 
destroying  their  moral  agency  ;  and  that,  in  a  moral  system,  God  could  not  prevent  the 
existence  of  sin,  or  the  present  amount  of  sin,  however  much  he  might  desire  it. 

"  7.  Atonement. — That  Christ's  sufferings  were  not  truly  and  properly  vicarious. 

"  Which  doctrines  and  statements,  are  dangerous  and  heretical,  contrary  to  the  gospel  of 
God,  and  inconsistent  with  our  Confession  of  Faith.  We  are  painfully  alive  also  to  the 
conviction  that  unless  a  speedy  remedy  be  applied  to  the  abuses  which  have  called  forth 
this  Act  and  Testimony,  our  Theological  Seminaries  will  soon  be  converted  into  nurse, 
lies  to  foster  the  noxious  errors  which  are  already  so  widely  prevalent,  and  our  Church 
funds  will  be  perverted  from  the  design  for  which  they  were  originally  contribuied. 

AS    REGARDS    mSCIFLINE. 

"The  necessary  consequence  of  the  propagation  of  these  and  Wmilar  errors  amongst  us 
has  been  the  agitation  and  division  of  our  Churches,  and  ecclesiastical  bodies :  the  sepa- 
ration of  our  Ministers,  Elders  and  people  into  distinct  parties ;  and  the  great  increase  of 
causes  of  mutual  alienation. 

"Our  people  are  no  longer  as  one  body  of  Christians;  many  of  our  Church  Sessions  are 
agitated  by  the  tumultuous  spirit  of  party;  our  Presbyteries  are  convulsed  by  collisions 
growing  out  of  the  heresies  detailed  above,  and  our  Synods  and  our  Assembly  are  made 
theatres  for  the  open  display  of  humiliating  scenes  of  human  passion,  and  weakness. 
Mutual  confidence  is  weakened;  respect  for  the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  Church  is 
impaired;  our  hope  that  the  dignified  and  impartial  course  of  justice  would  flow  steadily 
onward,  has  expired;  and  a  large  portion  of  the  religious  press  is  made  subservient  to 
error.  The  ordinary  coarse  of  discipline,  arrested  by  compromises,  in  which  the  truth  is 
always  loser,  and  perverted,  by  organized  combinations,  to  personal,  selfish  and  party 
ends,  ceases  altogether,  and  leaves  every  one  to  do  what  seems  good  in  his  own  eyes. 


676  THE   NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

The  discipline  of  the  Church  rendered  more  needful  than  ever  before,  by  the  existence  of 
numberless  cases,  in  which  Christian  love  to  erring  brethren,  as  well  as  a  just  regard  to 
the  interests  of  Zion,  imperiously  call  for  its  prompt,  firm,  and  temperate  exercise,  is  abso- 
lutely prevented  by  (he  operation  of  the  very  causes  which  demand  its  employment.  At 
the  last  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  a  respectful  memorial  presented  in  behalf  of 
eleven  Presbyteries,  and  many  Sessions  and  individual  members  of  our  Church,  was  treated 
without  one  indication  of  kmdness,  or  manifestation  of  any  disposition  to  concede  a 
single  request  that  was  made.  It  was  sternly  frowned  upon,  and  the  memorialists  were 
left  to  mourn  under  their  grievances,  with  no  hope  of  alleviation  from  those  who  ought  to 
have  at  least  shown  tenderness  and  sympathy,  as  the  nursing  fathers  of  the  Church,  even 
when  that  which  was  asked  was  refused  to  the  petitioners.  At  the  same  time  they,  who 
have  first  corrupted  our  doctrines,  and  then  deprived  us  of  the  ordinary  means  of  correct, 
ing  the  evils  they  have  produced,  seek  to  give  permanent  security  to  their  errors  and  to 
themselves,  by  raising  an  outcry  in  the  churches,  against  all  who  love  the  truth  well 
enough  to  contend  for  it. 

"  Against  this  unusual,  unhappy,  and  ruinous  condition  we  do  bear  our  clear  and  decided 
testimony  in  the  presence  of  the  God  of  ail  living;  we  do  declare  our  firm  belief  that  it 
springs  primarily  from  the  fatal  heresies  countenanced  in  our  body;  and  we  do  avow  our 
deliberate  purpose,  with  the  help  of  God,  to  give  our  best  endeavours  to  correct  it. 

AS  REGARDS  CHURCH  ORDER. 

«'  We  believe  that  the  form  of  government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  is,  in  all  essential  features,  in  full  accordance  with  the  revealed  will  of  God ;  and 
therefore  whatever  impairs  its  purity,  or  changes  its  essential  character,  is  repugnant  to 
the  will  of  our  Master.  In  what  light  then  shall  we  be  considered,  if  professing  to  revere 
this  system,  we  calmly  behold  its  destruction,  or  connive  at  the  conduct  of  those  engaged 
in  tearing  up  its  deep  foundations'! 

"  Some  of  us  have  long  dreaded  the  spirit  of  indifference  to  the  peculiarities  of  our 
Church  order,  which  we  supposed  was  gradually  spreading  amongst  us.  And  the  devel- 
opments of  later  years  have  rendered  it  most  certain,  that  as  the  perversion  of  our  doc- 
trinal formularies,  and  the  engrafting  of  new  principles  and  practices  upon  our  Church 
constitution,  have  gone  hand  in  hand,  so  the  original  purity  of  the  one  cannot  be  restored 
without  a  strict  and  faithful  adherence  to  the  other.  Not  only  then  for  its  own  sake,  do  we 
love  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  as  a  model  of  all  free  institutions,  and  as  a  clear  and 
noble  exhibition  of  the  soundest  principles  of 'civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  not  only  do  we 
venerate  its  peculiarities,  because  they  exhibit  the  rules  by  which  God  intends  the  affairs 
of  his  Church  on  earth  to  be  conducted ;  but  we  cling  to  its  venerable  ramparts,  because 
they  afford  a  sure  defence  for  those  precious,  though  despised  doctrines  of  grace,  the  pure 
transmission  of  which  has  been  entrusted  as  a  sacred  duty  to  the  Church. 

"  It  is  therefore  with  the  deepest  sorrow  that  we  behold  our  Church  tribunals,  in  various 
instances,  imbued  with  a  different  spirit,  and  fleeing  on  every  emergency  to  expedients 
unknown  to  the  Christian  simplicity  and  uprig\itness  of  our  forms,  and  repugnant  to  all 
our  previous  habits.  It  is  with  pain  and  distrust  that  we  see,  sometimes,  the  helpless 
inefficiency  of  mere  advisory  bodies  contended  for  and  practised,  when  the  occasion  called 
for  the  free  action  of  our  laws;  and  sometimes  the  full  and  peremptory  exercise  of  power, 
almost  despotic,  practised  in  cases  where  no  authority  existed  to  act  at  all.  It  is  with 
increasing  alarm  that  we  behold  a  fixed  design  to  organize  new  tribunals  upon  principles 
repugnant  to  our  system,  and  directly  subversive  of  it,  for  the  obvious  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing and  propagating  the  heresies  already  recounted,  of  shielding  from  just  process  the 
individuals  who  held  them,  and  of  arresting  the  wholesome  discipline  of  the  Church.  We 
do  therefore  testify  against  all  those  departures  from  the  true  principles  of  our  Constitution; 
against  the  formation  of  new  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  otherwise  than  upon  the  established 
rules  of  our  Church;  or  for  other  purposes  than  the  edification  and  enlargement  of  the 
Church  of  Christ;  and  we  most  particularly  testify  against  the  formation  of  any  tribunal, 
in  our  Church,  upon  what  some  call  principles  of  elective  affmity;  against  the  exercise 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  any  power  not  clearly  delegated  to  it ;  and  the  exercise  even 
of  its  delegated  powers  for  purposes  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  its  creation. 

RECOMMEXnATlON    TO    THE    CHURCHES. 

"  Dear  Christian  Brethren,  you  who  love  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  and  truth,  and  adhere 
to  the  plain  doctrines  of  the  cross  as  taught  in  the  standards  prepared  by  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  and  constantly  held  by  the  true  Presbyterian  Church;  to  all  of  you  who  love 


Part  XL]  THE   ASSEMBLY   OF   1834.  677 

your  ancient  anJ  pure  Constitution,  and  desire  to  restore  our  abused  and  corrupted 
Church  to  her  simplicity,  purity,  and  truth,  we,  a  portion  of  yourselves.  Ministers  and 
Elders  of  your  churches,  and  servants  of  one  common  Lord,  would  propose,  most  respect- 
fully and  kindly,  and  yet  most  earnestly, 

"  1.  That  we  refuse  to  give  countenance  to  Ministers,  Elders,  agents,  editors,  teachers, 
or  to  those  who  are  in  any  other  capacity  engaged  in  religious  instruction  and  efibrt,  who 
hold  the  preceding  or  similar  heresies. 

"  2.  That  we  make  every  lawful  effort  to  subject  all  such  persons,  especially  if  they  be 
Ministers,  to  the  just  exercise  of  discipline  by  the  proper  tribunal. 

"  3.  'I'hat  we  use  all  proper  means  to  restore  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  in  all  its  courts, 
to  a  sound,  just.  Christian  state. 

"  4.  That  we  use  our  endeavours  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  new  principles  into  our 
system,  and  to  restore  our  tribunals  to  their  ancient  purity. 

"5.  That  we  consider  the  Presbyterial  existence  or  acts  of  any  Presbytery  or  Synod 
formed  upon  the  principles  of  elective  affinity,  as  unconstitutional,  and  all  Ministers  and 
churches,  voluntarily  included  in  such  bodies,  as  having  virtually  departed  from  the  stand- 
ards of  our  Church. 

"  6.  We  recommend  that  all  Ministers,  Elders,  Church  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  and 
Synods,  who  approve  of  this  Act  and  Testimony,  give  their  public  adherence  thereto,  in 
such  manner  as  they  shall  prefer,  and  communicate  their  names,  and  when  a  Church 
court,  a  copy  of  their  adhering  act. 

"  7.  That  inasmuch,  as  our  only  hope  of  improvement  and  reformation  in  the  affairs  of 
our  Church  depends  on  the  interposition  of  Him,  who  is  King  in  Zion,  that  we  will 
unceasingly  and  importunately  supplicate  a  Throne  of  Grace,  for  the  return  of  that  purity 
and  peace,  the  absence  of  which  we  now  sorrowfully  deplore. 

"  8.  We  do  earnestly  recommend  that  on  the  second  Thursday  of  May,  1835,  a  Conven- 
tion be  held  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  to  be  composed  of  two  delegates,  a  Minister  and 
Ruling  Elder  from  each  Presbytery,  or  from  the  minority  of  any  Presbytery,  who  may 
concur  in  the  sentiments  of  this  Act  and  Testimony,  to  deliberate  and  consult  on  the 
present  state  of  our  Church,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  best  suited  to  restore 
her  prostrated  standards. 

"And  now,  brethren,  our  whole  heart  is  laid  open  to  you,  and  to  the  world.  If  the 
majority  of  our  Church  are  against  us,  they  will,  we  suppose,  in  the  end,  either  see  the 
infatuation  of  their  course,  and  retrace  their  steps,  or  they  will,  at  last,  attempt  to  cut  us 
off.  If  the  former,  we  shall  bless  the  God  of  Jacob;  if  the  latter,  we  are  ready  for  the  sake 
of  Christ,  and  in  support  of  the  Testimon}'  now  made,  not  only  to  be  cut  off,  but  if  need  be, 
to  die  also.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  body  be  yet  in  the  main,  sound,  as  we  would  fondly 
hope,  we  have  here,  frankly,  openly,  and  candidly,  laid  before  our  erring  brethren  the 
course  we  are,  by  the  grace  of  God,  irrevocably  determined  to  pursue.  It  is  our  steadfast 
aim  to  reform  the  Church,  or  to  testify  against  its  errors  and  defections,  until  testimony 
will  be  no  longer  heard.  And  we  commit  the  issue  into  the  hands  of  Him  who  is  over 
all,  God  blessed  for  ever.     Amen. 

"  Ministers. — James  Magraw,  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  Jamfi^s  I<atta,  Ashbel  Green, 
Samuel  D.  Blythe,  S.  H.  Crane,  J.  W.  Scott,  William  Latta,  Robert  Steel,  Alexander  A. 
Campbell,  John  Gray,  James  Scott,  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  Alexander  McFarlane,  Jacob 
Coon,  Isaac  N.  Candee,  Robert  Love,  James  W.  McKennan,  David  R.  Preston,  William 
Wylie,  William  M.  Engles,  Cornelius  H.  Mustard,*  .James  C.Watson,  William  L. 
Breckinridge,  John  A.  Symmes,  J.  V.  Brown,  David  McKinney,  George  Marshall,  Ebe- 
nezer  H.  Snowden,  Oscar  Harris,  William  J.  Gibson,  William  Sickles,  Benjamin  F.  Spill- 
man,  George  D.  McCueiin,  George  W.  Janvier,  Samuel  G.  Winchester,  George  Junkin. 

«  Elders. — Samuel  Boyd,  Edward  Vanhorn,  Williamson  Dunn,  James  Algeo,  James 
Agnew,  Henry  McKeen,  Charles  Davis,  William  Wallace,  A.  D.  Hepburn,  Joseph  P. 
Engles,  James  McFarren,  A.  Symington,  A.  Bayless,  Wm.  Agnew,  George  Morris,  Hugh 
Campbell,  Thomas  McKeen,  James  Wilson,  Daniel  B.  Price,  Carver  Hotchkiss,  Charles 
Woodward,  W.  A.  G.  Posey,  James  Carnahan,  Moses  Reed,  James  Steel,  George  Durfor, 
John  Sharp." 

*  Mr.  Mustard  subsequently  revoked  his  signature. 


678  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  1835. 

§  123.    The  Act  and  Testimony  Convention. 

[The  Convention  called  by  the  signers  of  the  Act  and  Testimony,  met  in  Pittsburgh, 
on  Thursday,  a  week  before  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  The  members  represented 
forty-one  Presbyteries  and  thirteen  minorities  of  Presbyteries.  By  this  body,  a  memorial 
was  prepared  and  sent  into  the  General  Assembly,  presenting  a  list  of  grievances,  and 
earnestly  demanding  redress.] 

§  124.    Its  Memo7-ial. 

I.  [The  first  grievance  stated,  is  the  denial  to  the  Presbyteries  of  the  right  of  examining 
suspedted  Ministers  who  come  to  them  as  applicants  for  membership.] 

"  The  last  (ifeneral  Assembly,  by  an  act  recorded  in  page  26  of  their  printed  Minutes, 
has  denied  this  right  to  the  Presbyteries,  and  by  that  denial  has  opened  the  flood-gates  of 
error,  which,  if  not  soon  stopped,  must  sweep  away  the  fair  fabric  of  our  Church's  purity, 
and  leave  us  to  sorrow  over  the  melancholy  wreck  of  our  Zion,  without  a  willow  on  which 
to  hang  our  harps.  In  behalf  of  the  Presbyteries  to  which  we  respectively  belong,  and  of 
all  other  true  Presbyteries  of  our  beloved  Church,  we  invoke  a  return  to  the  genius  of  the 
Constitution;  a  restoration  of  the  right  and  power  of  self-preservation;  a  repeal  of  the 
obnoxious  act,  and  a  distinct  recognition,  by  this  Assembly,  of  the  inalienable  right  in 
every  Presbytery,  of  examining  every  applicant  for  admission  into  their  number,  be  his 
credentials  what  they  may,  and  of  rejecting  him,  provided  they  think  his  admission  would 
endanger  their  own  purity  and  peace. 

"II.  Intimately  connected  with,  and  nearly  allied  to  this,  is  our  Second  grievance ;  viz. 
an  act  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  recorded  in  their  Minutes,  page  26  ;  whereby  the 
right  and  propriety  of  a  Presbytery's  taking  up  and  censuring  a  printed  pubhcation,  irre- 
spective of  its  author,  is  denied."  ***** 

"III.  The  Third  item  of  grievance  and  petition,  which  we  beg  leave  to  present,  is  at 
the  same  time  an  aggravation  of  the  second  ;  viz.  The  erection  of  Church  Courts,  espe- 
cially of  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  upon  the  principle  of  'elective  affinity,'  so  called  by 
its  primitive  advocates;  that  is,  having  regard,  not  to  geographical  limits;  not  to  conve- 
nience for  attendance  of  the  members;  not  to  the  expedition  of  business;  but  to  diversi- 
ties of  doctrinal  views  and  Church  policy  in  those  elected  to  such  bodies,  from  their 
brethren  and  from  the  standards  of  the  Church;  to  personal  animosities  and  antipathies 
growing  out  of  such  diversities;  and  to  the  consequent  enlargement  of  this  alienated  inte- 
rest of  sentiment  and  feeling."  *  .  *  *  *  * 

"  IV.  Nearly  allied  to*  this  is  our  Fourth  item  of  grievance,  viz.  The  existence  and 
operation  within  our  Church  of  a  Missionary  Society  in  no  sense  amenable  to  her  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction.  And  here  you  will  bear  with  us,  first,  in  pointing  out  the  connection 
with  the  preceding.  If  Presl)yteries  do  exist,  on  the  avowed  principle  of  diversity  in 
doctrinal  opinion  and  feeling,  and  have  the  power  of  licensing  and  ordaining  (in  many 
instances  sine  tUulo)  men  of  their  own  creeds,  then  a  Missionary  institution  seems  requi- 
site to  send  such  Licentiates  and  Ministers  into  the  field.  Such  an  institution  does  exist, 
bound  by  its  own  rules  to  sustain  missionaries,  irrespective  of  their  adherence  to  or  rejec- 
tion of  the  doctrinal  standards  of  our  Church.  This  institution  operates  largely  in  our 
congregiitions ;yi)s^,  by  sweeping  away  from  our  own  Board  the  funds  which,  by  the  laws 
of  all  social  order,  ought  to  come  into  the  treasury  of  the  body,  to  which  its  possessors 
belong;  and  secondly,  by  throwing  into  our  Presbyteries,  brethren  who,  in  many  instances, 
have  never  adopted  the  standards  of  our  Church  at  all,  and  in  more,  who  have  only 
adopted  them  'for  substance  of  doctrine ;'  that  is,  just  as  much  of  them  as  suits  their  own 
views.  Thus  a  separate  moneyed  interest  is  created  and  kept  up  in  the  bosom  of  the 
same  Christian  community.  The  Assembly's  own  Board  of  Missions,  created  by  herself, 
governed  by  herself,  and  amenable  to  herself,  finds  a  great  and  powerful  rival  in  her  own 
house,  with  whom  she  comes  in  perpetual  collision.  And  rival  agents  meet  on  the  same 
field,  and  frequently  those  of  our  own  Church  are  foiled  in  their  efforts  by  the  improper 
interference  and  influence  of  an  institution  which  owns  no  allegiance  to  us,  and  feels  no 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1835.  679 

obligation  to  our  Courts.  So  violent  were  these  contentions,  that  the  Assembly  of  1831 
recommended  a  Coiivention  to  be  held  in  Cincinnati,  to  adjust  the  dilTiculties.  This  Con- 
vention was  held.  It  decided  in  favour  of  the  Church's  carrying  on  her  own  missions  by 
her  own  Board.  Still,  however,  the  foreign  society  kept  the  field,  and  continues  to  this 
hour  to  conflict  with  your  Board."  *  *  *  * 

"V.  Your  attention  is  now  invited  to  another  part  of  the  same  system.  Before  youth 
looking  forward  to  the  gospel  ministry  can  be  properly  licensed  and  sent  forth,  they  must 
be  educated;  and  efforts  have  been  already  made  in  this  cause  worthy  of  high  commen- 
dation. Nor  have  we  anything  to  object  against  efforts  either  to  prepare  or  to  send  men 
.to  preach  to  the  destitute  at  home  or  abroad.  Both  these  causes  we  desire  to  see  prosper- 
ing. For  both  we  have  laboured  and  prayed,  and  for  both  we  will  continue  to  labour  and 
pray.  But  then  we  desire  to  see  them  prospering  consistently  with  regard  to  the  truth 
and  purity  and  integrity  of  our  own  Church.  The  great  burden  of  ministerial  duty  is  to 
enlighten  and  save  the  world.  And  no  obligation  more  sacred  and  solemn  lies  upon  them, 
than  that  of  training  the  heralds  of  the  cross  who  are  to  bear  the  banner  of  her  faith  in 
triumph  round  the  world.  Let  the  Church  give  good  heed  to  this  great  concern,  and  the 
work  of  salvation  will  go  on ;  let  her  neglect  this,  or  do  it  in  a  careless  manner,  and  the 
wheels  of  the  gospel  chariot  must  move  heavily,  stop,  perhaps  retrograde. 

"Now  the  question  before  us  is,  to  whom  shall  this  most  sacred  and  solemn  duty  be 
entrusted  by  the  Church  ]  Shall  she  do  it  herself,  with  her  own  hands'?  or  shall  she 
throw  it  into  the  hands  of  a  body,  self-created,  and  in  no  sense  amenable  to  her  ecclesi- 
astical tribunals'?  a  body  which  may  change  in  half  a  generation,  and  train  her  sons  to 
her  own  destruction'?  This  is  the  question  we  would  press  upon  your  consideration: 
and  we  would  most  respectfully  suggest,  that  no  church  can  be  safe — safe  in  her  doctrinal 
standards — safe  in  her  ecclesiastical  polity — safe  in  her  financial  operations — safe  in  the 
independence  of  her  ministry,  if  that  ministry  are  dependent  upon  an  independent  foreign 
body;  and  especially,  if  their  houses  and  lands,  their  libraries  and  furniture,  are  under 
bonds.  Without  any  impeachment  of  motives,  or  imputation  of  extraordinary  weakness, 
we  beg  leave  to  repeat,  'a  gift  blindeth  the  eyes,'  and  to  refer  to  the  course  of  remark 
under  the  preceding  item,    ^ 

"  Similar  collisions  occur  here  also.  Your  agents  are  met  in  the  field  by  the  agents  of 
a  society  beyond  your  control.  They  are  often  beaten  off  the  ground,  and  the  six  or 
seven  hundred  young  men  under  the  care  of  your  Board  of  Education  are  reduced  to  a 
precarious  dependence:  whereas,  did  the  Church,  in  her  highest  ecclesiastical  court,  stand 
forth  in  her  own  defence,  her  treasury  would  overflow,  and  all  these  collisions  and  con- 
flicts of  varied  interests  would  cease;  whilst  her  own  funds  would  go  to  her  own  sons, 
and  not,  to  their  prejudice,  for  the  maintenance  of  those  in  other  churches,  who  are  never 
expected  to  aid  in  building  up  the  walls  of  our  Zion.  We  pray  and  beseech  this  reverend 
body  to  sustain,  by  all  the  weight  of  its  influence,  the  education  cause  of  our  own  Church. 

"  VI.  In  the  apprehension  of  your  memorialists,  not  a  small  proportion  of  the  evils 
which  distract  our  Zion  have  grown  and  do  still  grow  out  of  'the  Plan  of  Union'  adopted 
in  1801.  We  say  nothing  here  of  the  wisdom  of  that  measure  at  the  time,  nor  of  its 
constitutionality.  We  know  it  was  the  work  of  wise  and  good  men.  But  we  must  be 
allowed  to  express  the  opinion,  that  now  it  leads  to  alienation,  contentions  and  disorders. 
For  proof  of  this  we  have  only  to  refer  to  the  Minutes  of  preceding  General  Assemblies. 
It  is  notorious  that  very  painful  conflicts  have  occurred  in  the  Assembly  on  this  very 
subject.  Brethren  had  long  occupied  seats  in  this  body,  who  were  not  Ruling  Elders,  and 
never  had  been  Presbyterians,  and,  it  is  believed,  never  intended  to  become  Presbyterians. 
Nor  was  this  evil  remedied  without  a  long  and  arduous  and  painful  struggle.  Under  the 
perfect  conviction  that  peace  will  never  dwell  with  us  whilst  the  jarring  elements  of  this 
discord  exist  together,  we  beseech  this  Assembly  to  annul  that  act;  and  for  the  simple 
additional  reason  that  the  terms  of  compact  are  not  complied  with  by  our  Congregational 
brethren."  *  *  *  * 

"VII.  Our  next  grievance  is  of  similar  character,  viz.  'The  Plan  of  Union  and  Cor- 
respondence with  the  Congregational  Associations  of  New  England,  and  with  other 
churches.'  It  is  true,  that  the  relinquishment  of  the  right  of  voting  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly has  removed  part  of  the  evil.  No  longer  now  can  our  constitutional  order  be  voted 
down  by  brethren  opposed  to  it  in  profession  an<l  principle.  Still,  however,  against  this 
union  there  are  serious  objections. 

"It  gives  weight  in  counsel  and  debate,  which  may  command  votes,  to  persons  who 
belong  not  to  our  society,  and  who  may  have  a  sectarian  purpose  to  answer  by  taking  a 
particular  side.     Such  things  some  of  us  have  seen  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly. 


G80  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

"  Besides  the  whole  matter  is  unconstitutional.  The  General  Assembly  never  had  the 
power  of  granting  a  seat  in  this  house  to  any  person. —  (Form  of  Government,  Chap  XII., 
ii.)  'The  General  Assembly  shall  consist  of  an  equal  delegation  of  Bishops  and  Elders 
from  each  Presbytery.'  Nor  does  our  Constitution  recognize  any  other  mode  of  acquiring 
a  right  to  a  seat  here.  This  is  a  delegated — it  is  a  representative  body,  and  in  the  very 
nature  of  delegation,  unless  the  delegates  are  expressly  empowered  to  delegate  others,  they 
have  no  such  power.  Our  Constitution  knows  no  such  anomaly  as  representatives  trans- 
ferring the  power  of  representation  to  others. 

"We  humbly  conceive  that  our  Book  (Chap.  XII.,  v.)  in  conceding  to  the  Assembly 
the  power  of  '  corresponding  with  foreign  Churches  on  such  terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon- 
by  the  Assembly  and  the  corresponding  body,'  does  not  contemplate  the  violation  of  the 
fundamental  principle  quoted  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  by  granting  seats  in  this  house 
to  persons  not  delegated  by  any  Presbytery.  For  if  the  Assembly  have  the  power  of  con- 
ferring a  right  to  deliberate  and  vote,  it  may  be  so  exercised  as  to  bring  the  Church  under 
foreign  dominion.  Against  all  this  the  Constitution  presents  an  insuperable  barrier  in 
the  6th  section  of  this  chapter, where  the  Presbyteries  reserve  to  themselves  the  exclusive 
power  of  establishing  any  constitutional  rule.  Every  regulation  affecting  constitutional 
principles  must  be  referred  to  the  Presbyteries,  and  be  by  a  majority  of  them  adopted, 
before  they  can  be  admitted  as  binding.  This  in  reference  to  '  the  Plan  of  Union'  has 
never  been  done.  Now,  clearly,  this  power  of  granting  seats  in  the  Assembly  vitally 
affects  the  Constitution,  which  ought  not  to  be  sacrificed  either  to  expediency  or  courtesy. 

"Hence,  with  all  due  respect  and  affection  to  the  good  brethren  of  other  denominations, 
we  pray  this  General  Assembly  to  restore  the  Constitution,  by  repealing  the  act  which 
assumes  this  stretch  of  power. 

"VIII.  Finally,  as  the  object  of  all  ecclesiastical  order  is  Truth,  in  the  belief,  love  and 
practice  of  it;  and  as  'to  the  General  Assembly  also  belongs  the  power  of  bearing  testi- 
mony against  error  in  doctrine,'  your  memorialists  would  humbly  call  your  attention  to 
the  present  state  of  the  Church  in  this  behalf.  There  is  nothing  worth  contending  for 
but  Trul.li :  and,  if  we  are  not  greatly  mistaken,  great  and  fearful  inroads  are  made  on  the 
doctrinal  standards  of  our  Church:  and  that  too  not  in  reference  to  matters  of  minor  con- 
sequence, but  in  the  very  fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel.  One  alarming  feature  of 
the  errors  against  which  we  would  earnestly  entreat  this  General  Assembly  to  lift  up  a 
strong  testimony,  we  beg  leave  to  present.  It  is  their  systematic  arrangement.  Did  a 
solitary  individual  here  and  there,  in  cases  few  and  far  between,  touch  upon  a  single  insu- 
lated position  that  is  false,  and  maintain  it  even  with  pertinacity,  it  would  not  afford 
ground  of  serious  alarm.  But  the  case  is  fiir  otherwise.  The  errors  abroad  in  the  Church 
are  fundamental,  vital  and  systematic.  The  maintenance  of  one  involves  the  whole,  and 
must  lead  a  logical  mind  to  embrace  the  system.  Now  the  system  appears  to  your 
memorialists  to  lead  directly  toward  Socinianism.  This  language  may  seem  harsh  and 
severe.  Alas!  dear  brethren!  it  is  the  harshness  of  love,  and  the  severity  of  truth.  It  is 
not  pleasant  for  us  to  entertain  such  an  opinion;  but  with  our  eyes  and  our  ears  open,  it 
is  impossible  to  avoid  it.  The  evidence  rushes  upon  us  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  and 
we  have  no  power  of  resistance.  That  which  the  understanding  clearly  perceives,  the 
mind,  with  its  fondest  desires  to  the  contrary,  must  believe.  It  is  painful  for  the  convicted 
sinner  to  believe  that  his  soul  is  exposed  to  the  wrath  divine:  it  is  painful  for  us  to  believe 
that  our  brethren  are  departing  from  the  foundations  of  gospel  truth.  But  a  dark  hour 
there  often  is  before  the  bright  dawn  of  heaven's  cheering  light  upon  the  soul  benighted  ; 
may  we  hope  from  the  action  of  this  venerable  body  a  return  to  the  pure  light  of  Scripture 
truth,  and  a  strong  testimony  against  the  errors  that  overturn  our  constitutional  standards'? 

"  Another  alarming  feature  is  the  boldness  and  pertinacity  with  which  the  very  exist- 
ence of  these  errors  is  denied.  To  this  General  Assembly  it  would  not  be  information, 
were  we  to  state  that  the  same  system  of  error  has  been  characterized  by  the  same  wily 
policy  in  every  age  of  its  appearance  in  the  Church.  It  has  ever  been  its  course  at  first 
to  deny  its  own  existence,  and  when  that  was  no  longer  practicable,  to  assume  a  mask 
and  clothe  itself  with  zeal  as  a  cloak.  This  strong  feature  of  the  modern  singularly  iden- 
tifies it  with  the  ancient  heresy." 

[A  list  of  errors  is  here  given,  corresponding  with  those  enumerated  in  the  Act  and 
Testimony.     The  memorial  concludes  as  follows:] 

"In  pressing  our  petition  for  redress  of  all  the  grievances  we  have  enumerated,  and 
such  others  in  regard  to  measures  as  the  wisdom  of  this  General  Assembly  may  select,  we 
entreat  you  to  turn  your  eye  upon  the  aspect  of  the  world.  Lo!  what  an  inviting 
field  for  benevolent  enterprise.     And  is  there  a  body  of  believers  in  the  whole   Church 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1835.  681 

militant,  invested  with  so  many  of  the  qualifications  to  enter  it,  and  gather  the  rich  har. 
vest  of  glory  to  our  divine  Redeemer,  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  1  1'he  position  of  our 
country  points  us  out — the  position  of  our  Church  points  us  out — the  position  of  the 
world  points  us  out — the  voice  of  unborn  and  unsanctified  millions  calls  us  to  the  conflict 
— the  Lord  of  Hosts  himself  has  gone  down  into  the  plain  before  us,  and  chi<les  our  long 
delay.  Now  we  ask,  brethren,  what  causes  this  delay  1  Why,  when  the  armies  of  the 
living  God  begin  to  consolidate,  and  himself  gives  the  watchword,  '  Truth  and  Victory,' — 
O!  why  this  delay  ?  Ah!  there  is  division  in  the  camp!  'There  be  some  that  trouble 
us.'  Innovation  distracts  our  counsels,  alienates  our  affections,  turns  the  sword  of  brother 
in  upon  brother,  and  the  Master's  work  remains  undone.  Do  you  ask,  '  how  shall  the 
evil  be  remedied  1'  We  reply,  'Let  this  Assembly  come  up  to  the  work  of  reform.  Let 
them  establish  the  ancient  landmarks  of  truth.  Let  them  unfurl  the  banner  of  the  Con- 
stitution. Let  all  who  cannot  fight  under  this,  grasp  the  standard  that  suits  their  own 
views;  put  on  their  own  approved  armour;  descend  into  the  plain,  and  stand  or  fall  to  their 
own  Master.  We  pledge  ourselves  in  the  face  of  High  Heaven,  the  real  Presbyterian 
Church  will  not  shrink  from  the  conflict;  and  though  our  earthen  pitchers  maybe  broken, 
our  lights  shall  shine  and  'the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon'  shall  turn  the  eye  of  a 
gazing  world  to  that  point  of  the  field  where  victory  perches  on  the  'Banneh  or  Truth.' 
"Venerable  flithers  and  brethren,  we  are  done.  With  you  and  God  and  Christ  and  his 
Spirit  we  leave  our  cause.  That  He  may  direct  all  your  counsels  in  this  behalf  to  his 
own  glory  and  the  Church's  good,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of  your  humble  memorialists." 

§  125.  Action  of  the  Assembly  on  the  memorial  of  the  Convention. 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  and  petition  of  a 
number  of  Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
certain  other  papers  relating  to  the  same  or  allied  subjects,  beg  leave  to 
report,  that  they  have  endeavoured  to  deliberate  on  the  said  memorial  and 
petition,  and  other  papers  committed  to  them,  with  all  that  respect  which 
the  character  of  those  from  whom  they  come,  could  not  fail  to  inspire ;  and 
with  all  the  calmness,  impartiality  and  solemnity  which  the  deep  importance 
of  the  subjects  on  which  they  have  addressed  the  Assembly,  so  manifestly 
demands. 

*'In  approaching  these  weighty  subjects  the  committee  deemed  it  to  be 
an  obvious  duty  to  exclude  from  their  view,  all  those  principles  which  result 
from  the  wishes  or  plans  of  diiferent  parties  in  the  Church,  and  to  take  for 
their  guide  simply  the  word  of  God,  which  we  consider  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice;  and  those  public  formularies  by  which  we  have 
solemnly  agreed  and  stipulated  with  each  other,  to  be  governed  in  all  our 
proceedings.  The  moment  we  depart  from  these,  we  are  not  only  exposed 
to  all  the  evils  of  discord;  but  also  run  the  risk  of  destroying  those  bonds 
of  union  by  which  we  have  been  so  long  bound  together  as  an  ecclesiastical 
body.  There  is  certainly  no  portion  of  the  visible  Church  in  which  a  har- 
monious accordance  with  the  same  adopted  formularies,  and  a  uniform  sub- 
mission to  the  same  rules  of  truth  and  order,  are  so  essential  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  ecclesiastical  peace,  and  to  cordial  co-operation  in  promoting  these 
great  purposes  for  which  the  Church  was  founded  by  her  King  and  Head, 
as  among  the  churches  of  our  denomination.  .  The  committee  indeed,  by 
no  means  expect,  and  do  not  suppose,  that  the  Assembly  would  think  of 
enforcing  that  perfect  agreement  of  views  in  every  minute  particular,  which 
in  a  body  so  extended  as  the  Presbyterian  Church,  has  perhaps  never  been 
realized.  But  that  an  entire  and  cordial  agreement  in  all  the  radical  prin- 
ciples of  that  system  of  truth  and  order  which  is  taught  in  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, which  is  embodied  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, aird  which  every  Minister  and  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has 
solemnly  subscribed  and  promised  to  maintain,  may  not  only  be  reasonably 
expected,  but  must  be  as  far  as  possible  secured,  if  we  would  maintain  'the 
unity  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  bonds  of  peace'  and  love — it  is  presumed  this 
86 


682  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

Greneral  Assembly  will  be  unanimous  in  pronouncing.  If  this  be  not  so,  it 
is  in  vain  that  we  assemble  from  year  to  year;  in  vain  that  we  hope  for 
intercourse  either  pleasant  or  edifying.  Our  judicatories  must  be  scenes  of 
discord  and  conflict,  and  the  ties  which  bind  the  several  parts  of  our  extended 
body  to  each  other,  can  scarcely  fail  of  being  ties  of  strife  and  contention. 

'*  Under  convictions  which  these  general  principles  are  adapted  to  impress, 
the  committee  most  deeply  feel  the  importance  of  some  of  the  conclusions  to 
which  they  are  constrained  to  come;  and  although  some  of  these  con- 
clusions are  at  variance  with  several  acts  of  the  last  General  Assembly,  yet 
they  cannot  doubt  that  they  make  an  essential  part  of  the  Presbyterian  sys- 
tem; and  of  course  cannot  be  abandoned  without  seriously  endangering  both 
the  comfort  and  the  safety  of  our  beloved  Church. 

"  The  committee,  therefore,  as  the  result  of  their  deliberations  on  the 
documents  committed  to  them,  would  respectfully  recommend  to  the  Assem- 
bly the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  it  is  the 
right  of  every  Presbytery  to  be  entirely  satisfied  of  the  soundness  in  the 
faith,  and  the  good  character  in  every  respect  of  those  Ministers  who  apply 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Presbytery  as  members,  and  who  bring  testimonials 
of  good  standing  from  sister  Presbyteries,  or  from  foreign  bodies  with  whom 
the  Presbyterian  Church  is  in  correspondence.  And  if  there  be  any  reason- 
able doubt  respecting  the  proper  qualifications  of  such  candidates,  notwith- 
standing their  testimonials,  it  is  the  right,  and  may  be  the  duty  of  such  a 
Presbytery  to  examine  them,  or  to  take  such  other  methods  of  being  satis- 
fied in  regard  to  their  suitable  character  as  may  be  judged  proper,  and  if  such 
satisfaction  be  not  obtained,  to  decline  receiving  them.  In  such  case  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  rejecting  the  applicant  to  make  known 
what  it  has  done  to  the  Presbytery  from  which  he  came,  with  its  reasons. 
It  being  always  understood  that  each  Presbytery  is  in  this  concern,  as  in  all 
others,  responsible  for  its  acts  to  the  higher  judicatories. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  it  is  the 
right,  and  may  be  the  duty,  of  any  judicatory  of  our  Church,  to  take  up,  and 
if  it  see  cause,  to  bear  testimony  against  any  printed  publication  which  may 
be  circulating  within  its  bounds,  and  which  in  the  judgment  of  that  judica- 
tory may  be  adapted  to  inculcate  injurious  opinions;  and  this  whether  the 
author  be  living  or  dead;  whether  he  be' in  the  communion  of  the  Church 
or  not;  whether  he  be  a  member  of  the  judicatory  expi'essing  the  opinion  or 
of  some  other.  A  judicatory  may  be  solemnly  called  upon  to  warn  the 
churches  under  its  care,  and  especially  the  rising  generation,  against  an  erro- 
neous book,  while  the  author  may  not  be  within  their  bounds,  or  immediately 
responsible  at  their  bar ;  and  while,  even  if  he  were  thus  responsible,  and 
within  their  reach,  they  may  not  think  it  necessary  to  arraign  him  as  a 
heretic.  To  deny  our  judicatories,  as  guardians  of  the  churches,  this  right, 
would  be  to  deny  them  one  of  the  most  precious  and  powerful  means  of  bear- 
ing testimony  against  dangerous  sentiments,  and  guarding  the  children  of 
the  Church  against  '  that  instruction  which  causeth  to  err.'  The  writer  of 
such  a  book  may  reside  at  a  distance  from  the  neighbourhood  in  which  his 
work  is  circulating  and  supposed  to  be  doing  mischief,  or  he  may  be  so  situ- 
ated that,  even  if  it  be  proper  to  commence  process  against  him,  it  may  not 
be  possible  to  commence,  or  at  any  rate  to  issue,  that  process  within  a  num- 
ber of  months.  In  the  meanwhile,  if  the  right  in  question  be  denied,  this 
book  may  be  scattering  poison  without  the  possibility  of  sending  forth  an 
effectual  antidote.  Indeed,  it  may  be  indispensably  necessary,  in  cases  which 
may  easily  be  imagined,  to  send  out  such  a  warning,  even  though  the  author 
of  the  book  be  fully  acquitted  from  the  charge  of  heresy. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1835.  683 

"3.  Resolved,  That  the  erection  of  Church  courts,  and  especially  of  Pres- 
byteries and  Synods,  on  the  principle  of 'elective  affinity,'  that  is,  judicato- 
ries not  bounded  by  geographical  limits,  but  having  a  chief  regard  in  their 
erection  to  diversities  of  doctrinal  belief,  and  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  is  con- 
trary both  to  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  our  constitution;  and  opens  a  wide 
door  for  mischiefs  and  abuses  of  the  most  serious  kind.  One  such  Presby- 
tery, if  so  disposed,  might  in  process  of  time  fill  the  whole  Church  with 
unsound  and  schismatic  Ministers,  especially  if  the  principle  were  adopted 
that  regular  testimonials  must  of  course  secure  the  admission  of  those  who 
bore  them,  into  any  other  Presbytery.  Such  a  Presbytery,  moreover,  being 
without  geographical  bounds,  might  enter  the  limits  and  disturb  the  repose 
of  any  Church  into  which  it  might  think  proper  to  intrude  :  and  thus  divide 
churches,  stir  up  strife,  and  promote  party  spirit  and  schism  with  all  their 
deplorable  consequences.  Surely  a  plan  of  procedure  in  the  Church  of  Clod 
which  naturally  and  almost  unavoidably  tends  to  produce  effects  such  as 
these,  ought  to  be  frowned  upon,  and,  as  soon  as  possible,  terminated  by  the 
supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church.     Therefore, 

"  4.  Resolved,  That  at  and  after  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
in  October  next,  the  Synod  of  Delaware  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  Presby- 
teries constituting  the  same  shall  be  then  and  thereafter  annexed  to  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia;  and  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  thus  constituted 
by  the  union  aforesaid,  shall  take  such  order  concerning  the  organization  of 
its  several  Presbyteries  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  and  constitutional,  and 
that  said  Synod,  if  it  shall  deem  it  desirable,  make  application  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  for  such  a  division  of  the  Synod  as  may  best  suit  the  con- 
venience of  all  its  Presbyteries,  and  promote  the  glory  of  Grod. 

''  5.  Resolved,  That  while  this  General  Assembly  fully  appreciate,  and 
deeply  deplore  the  many  painful  evils  which  result  from  the  present  division 
in  our  Church,  in  respect  to  the  method  of  conducting  domestic  missions, 
and  the  education  of  beneficiary  candidates  for  the  ministry ;  they  are  per- 
suaded that  it  is  not  expedient  to  attempt  to  prohibit,  within  our  bounds, 
the  operation  of  the  'Home  Missionary  Society,  or  of  the  'Presbyterian 
Education  Society,'  or  any  other  voluntary  association  not  subject  to  our 
control.  Such  an  attempt  would  tend,  it  is  believed,  to  increase  rather  than 
diminish  the  existing  evils.  The  Assembly,  however,  is  persuaded,  that  it 
is  the  first  and  binding  duty  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  sustain  her  own 
Boards;  and  that  voluntary  associations,  operating  within  the  bosom  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  addressing  themselves  to  her  members  and  Con- 
gregations, are  bound  upon  every  principle  both  of  moral  and  ecclesiastical 
obligation,  neither  to  educate,  nor  to  send  forth  as  Presbyterians,  any 
individuals  known  to  hold  sentiments  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"6.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  deem  it  no  longer  desirable  that 
churches  should  be  formed  in  our  Presbyterian  connection,  agreeably  to  the 
plan  adopted  by  the  Assembly  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut 
in  1801.  Therefore  resolved,  that  our  brethren  of  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut  be,  and  they  hereby  are  respectfully  requested  to  consent 
that  said  plan  shall  be  from  and  after  the  next  meeting  of  that  Association 
declared  to  be  annulled.  And  resolved,  that  the  annulling  of  said  plan 
shall  not  in  anywise  interfere  with  the  existence  and  lawful  operation  of 
churches  which  have  been  already  formed  on  this  plan. 

"  7.  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  see  no  cause  either  to  termi- 
nate or  modify  the  plan  of  correspondence  with  the  Associations  of  our 
Congregational  brethren  in  New  England.  That  correspondence  has  been 
long  established.     It  is  believed  to  have  been  productive  of  mutual  benefit. 


684  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

It  is  now  divested  of  the  votinp;  power,  which  alone  could  be  considered  as 
infringing-  the  constitution  of  our  Church  by  introducing  persons  clothed 
with  the  character  of  plenary  members  of  the  Assembly.  It  stands  at  pre- 
sent, substantially  on  the  same  footing  with  the  visits  of  our  brethren  from 
the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales,  and  in  the  present  age  of 
enlarged,  and  of  combined  efibrt  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  ought  by 
no  means  to  be  abolished.  Besides,  the  Assembly  are  persuaded,  that 
amidst  the  unceasing  and  growing  intercourse  between  the  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  Churches,  it  is  desirable  to  have  that  intercourse  regulated 
by  compact,  and  of  course,  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  introduce  terms  of 
correspondence,  even  if  they  did  not  already  exist. 

"■  8.  Resolved,  That  while  this  General  Assembly  has  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining to  what  extent  the  doctrinal  errors  alleged  in  the  memorial  to  exist 
in  our  Church,  do  really  prevail,  it  cannot  hesitate  to  express  the  painful 
conviction  that  the  allegation  is  by  no  means  unfounded,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  condemn  all  such  opinions,  as  not  distinguishable  from  Pelagian 
or  Arminian  errors;  and  to  declare  their  judgment  that  the  holding  of  the 
opinions  referred  to  is  wholly  incompatible  with  an  honest  adoption  of  our 
Confession  of  Faith.  That  this  is  the  case,  will  be  doubted  by  none  who 
impartially  consider  the  statements  of  that  formulary  contained  in  Chap.  vii. 
Sec.  3,  and  4;  Chap.  vii.  See.  2;  Chap,  viii ;  Chap,  ix;  Chap.  x.  Sec.  1  and 
2;  Chap.  xi.  Sec.  1;  which  statements  must  of  course  be  interpreted  in 
their  plain,  obvious,  and  hitherto  acknowledged  sense.  Against  the  doc- 
trinal opinions,  therefore,  above  alluded  to,  the  Assembly  would  solemnly  lift 
a  warning  voice,  and  would  enjoin  upon  all  our  Presbyteries  and  Synods  to 
exercise  the  utmost  vigilance  in  guarding  against  the  introduction  and 
publication  of  such  pestiferous  errors." — Minutes,  1835,  p.  27. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BARNES'S     SECOND    TRIAL. 

§  12G.    Tlte  Charc/es  tailed. 

[At  a  meeting  of  the  Assembly's  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  held  in  March 
1835,  tlie  Rev.  George  Junkin,  D.  D.,  through  the  hands  of  a  member  of  the  Presbytery, 
tabled  the  following  charges,  against  Mr.  Barnes.] 

"The  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  is  hereby  charged  with  maintaining  the  following  doctrines 
contrary  to  the  Standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

«'  1.  That  sin  consists  in  voluntary  action. 

"  2.  That  Adam  (before  and  after  his  fall)  was  ignorant  of  his  mora!  relations  to  such  a 
degree,  that  he  did  not  know  the  consequences  of  his  sin  would  or  should  reach  any  fur- 
ther, than  to  natural  death. 

"  3.  That  unregenerate  men  are  able  to  keep  the  commandments  and  convert  themselves 
to  God. 

"  4.  That  faith  is  an  act  of  the  mind,  and  not  a  principle,  and  is  itself  imputed  for 
righteousness." 

Mr.  B.irncs  is  also  charged  with  denying  the  following  doctrines,  which  are  taught 
in  the  Standards  of  the  Church,  viz. 

"  .5.  That  God  entered  into  covenant  with  Adam,  constituting  him  a  federal  or  covenant 
head  and  representative  to  all  his  natural  descendants. 

"  6.  'J'hat  the  first  sin  of  Adam  is  imputed  to  his  posterity. 

"  7.  That  mankind  are  guilty,  i.  e.,  liable  to  punishment  on  account  of  the  sin  of 
Adam. 


Part  XL]  BARNES'S   SECOND   TRIAL.  685 

"  S.  That  Christ  suffered  the  proper  penalty  of  the  law,  as  the  vicarious  substitute  of 
his  people,  and  thus  tooli  away  legally  their  sins  and  purchased  pardon. 

"  9.  That  the  righteousness,  i.  e.,  the  active  obedience  of  Christ  to  the  law,  is  imputed  to 
his  people  for  their  justification ;  so  that  they  are  righteous  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  and 
therefore  justified. 

"  10.  Mr.  Barnes  also  teaches,  in  opposition  to  the  Standards,  that  justification  is  simply 
pardon." 

§  127.  Decision  of  the  Assembly's  Second  Preshytery  of  PMladelplda. 

"The  Presbytery  having  heard  the  prosecutor  at  great  length,  in  support  of  his  charges, 
and  the  accused  in  defence  of  himself,  and  having  duly  considered  the  testimony  submit- 
ted in  the  case,  judge  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  not  to  be  guilty  of  teaching  or  holding  any 
heresy  or  erroneous  doctrine,  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  and  our  Standards. 

"1st.  Because  it  has  not  been  proved,  that  Mr.  Barnes  has  taught  that  all  sin  consists  in 
voluntary  action.  He  has  taught,  in  the  passages  cited,  that  men  are  not  compelled  by 
any  physical  necessity,  or  fatal  necessity  of  nature,  but  affirmed,  agreeably  to  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  chap.  ix.  sec.  1,  that  they  are  voluntary  agents  in  the  commission  of  sin. 

"  2.  Because  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  denied,  that  Adam  was  acquainted  with  his  existing 
moral  relations,  but  has  taught  that  there  is  no  reason  from  the  Mosaic  history  of  the 
creation  and  of  the  life  of  Adam,  to  believe,  either  that  he  possessed  all  the  scientific  know- 
ledge attributed  to  him  by  the  Rabbins,  or  that  he  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  conse- 
quences of  sin  before,  as  he  was  after  the  fall. 

"  3.  Because  the  passages  cited  from  Mr.  Barnes's  Notes  on  the  Romans,  teach  nothing 
one  way  or  the  other  on  the  subject  of  man's  ability  or  inability ;  nor  is  there  any  evi- 
dence whatever,  direct  or  implied,  that  he  has  affirmed  or  taught,  that  the  unregenerate 
man  can  convert  himself  to  God.  He  has  indeed  taught,  in  accordance  with  the  Bible 
and  Standards,  that  the  sinner  acts  most  voluntarily,  when  he  turns  to  God,  that  he  is 
regenerated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  his  turning  is  his  own  act.  But  he  has  not 
denied,  that  in  so  turning,  he  is  acted  on  and  efficiently  determined  by  God,  the  Spirit; 
the  contrary  he  has  taught. 

"  4.  Because  Mr.  Barnes  has  in  exact  accordance  with  our  Standards  and  the  Bible, 
taught  that  saving  faith  is  in  every  case,  an  influential  act  of  the  mind.  In  denying  that 
it  is  a  principle,  he  does  not  mean  that  a  Christian  is  not  a  man  of  principle,  nor  his  reli- 
gion that  of  principle,  nor  that  the  mind  of  the  sinner,  who  accredits  the  testimony  of  God, 
is  brought  into  a  state  in  which  it  readily  perceives  the  force  of  evidence  furnished  in  that 
testimony,  and  thus  may  be  said  to  be  a  habit  of  mind;  but  simply,  that  saving  faith  is 
not  anything  independent  of  the  actings  of  the  mind,  nor  any  created  or  conceivable 
essence  of  the  soul,  back  of  the  act  of  believing.  This  exercise  of  mind  and  heart,  the 
Apostle  says,  was  imputed  to  Abraham  for  righteousness.  Mr.  Barnes  has  affirmed  the 
same,  but  has  not  taught,  in  so  doing,  that  faith  is  regarded  as  a  justifying  righteousness. 
He  has,  on  the  contrary,  explicitly  affirmed,  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  the  only 
ground  of  the  justification  of  the  sinner  before  God. 

"  5.  Because,  while  Mr.  Barnes  has  preferred  not  to  use  certain  theological  technicalities, 
such  as  Covenant  of  Works,  Federal  Headship,  Representation,  &c.,  and  for  reasons 
which  he  has  assigned,  he  has  not  denied  the  facts  in  the  case,  as  made  known  to  our 
faith  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  The  Confession  of  Faith  speaks  of  the  Covenant  of  Works 
as  a  commandment,  or  the  law  of  God  given  to  man,  of  obedience  to  which,  abstinence 
from  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  was  the  test  and  evidence.  It  does  not  intimate, 
that  independent  of,  and  subsequent  to,  the  enactment  of  the  moral  law,  God  entered  into 
a  special  compact  with  man,  about  his  obedience,  but  that  he  was  pleased  to  promise  eter- 
nal life,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his  posterity,  on  condition  of  Adam's  obedience  to 
that  law,  to  be  proved  by  his  observance  of  the  prohibition  from  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge.  To  illustrate  the  great,  prime,  elementary  transaction  of  God  with  our  race,  as 
its  moral  governor,  upon  strict  principles  of  commercial  law,  Mr.  Barnes  has  objected,  as 
being  inconsistent  with  thedignity  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  the  nature  of  moral  relations. 
According  to  the  strict  idea  of  a  covenant,  he  conceives  that  the  parties,  previously  to  its  being 
made,  are  at  liberty  to  decline  the  agreement,  and  because  our  first  parents  were  not  at 
such  liberty  to  object  against  or  decline  that  constitution  which  God  ordained  with  them, 
as  the  Head  and  Representative  of  our  race,  he  thinks  that  the  Confession  of  Faith,  by 
using  the  words  law  and  commandment  as  synonymous  with  covenant,  did  not  mean  to 
teach  that  the  parallel  is  complete  between  the  moral  law,  as  originally  given  by  God  to 
our  first  parents,  and  a  covenant  in  the  strict  meaning  of  the  word,  but  has  left  it  optional 


686  THE   NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

whether  to  explain  it  by  the  one  phrase  or  the  other.  Mr.  Barnes  has  preferred  explain- 
ing it  as  a  law  or  commandment;  but  he  has  denied  that  our  first  parents  were  tried  for 
themselves  and  for  the  race,  see  page  122.  He  has  denied  that  in  the  strict  legal  sense 
of  the  term,  Adam  was  the  representative  of  the  race,  because  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
consent  or  appointment  by  those  represented,  as  always  implied  in  such  representation.  Yet 
has  he  not  denied,  that  in  a  more  vague  and  general  sense,  our  first  parents  were  the 
representatives  of  their  race;  but  he  has  objected  to  attempts  to  explain  the  nature  and 
character  of  the  Divine  transactions  with  Adam,  which  are  not  made  in  the  Bible  or  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  but  found  only  in  human  treatises  on  systematic  Theology,  as  mere 
philosophical  theories,  suggested  by  the  forms  and  usages  of  commercial  law  among  men, 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  those  facts  in  the  moral  government  of  God,  which  God  him- 
self has  left  unexplained.  In  so  doing,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  denied,  that  such  a  connection 
was  established  by  God  between  Adam  and  his  race,  that,  in  consequence  of  his  sin,  they 
are  subjected  to  the  same  train  of  ills,  as  if  they  had  themselves  personally  been  the  trans- 
gressors. 

"  6.  Because  while  Mr.  Barnes  has  denied  that  the  sin  of  our  first  parents  is  reckoned 
or  accounted  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  the  crime  of  their  descendants,  either  by  virtue  of  any 
alleged  personal  identity  between  them,  agreeably  to  the  views  of  some  old  Cal- 
vinists,  or  by  virtue  of  such  a  legal  connection  between  them,  that,  on  the  principles  of 
commercial  law,  that  is  reckoned  to  them,  which  is  not  truly  and  properly  theirs,  and  for 
which  they  are  personally  blame-worthy,  and  ill-deserving,  agreeably  to  the  views  of  some 
at  the  present  day,  he  has  not  taught  that  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  sin  of  Adam, 
than  with  the  sins  of  any  other  parents,  nor  that  our  relation  to  him  is  not  very  peculiar, 
nor  that  the  consequences  or  results  of  his  sin,  deeply  and  seriously  affect  us. 

"  7.  Because  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  denied  that  we  suffer  many  and  direful  ills,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  sin  of  Adam,  that  those  ills  are  certain  and  universal,  growing  out  of  the 
connection  between  Adam  and  his  race,  and  are  appointed  by  God,  as  a  wise,  just,  and 
holy  moral  governor,  as  an  expression  of  the  evil  nature  and  tendency  of  apostacy.  He 
has  only  olijected  to  the  use  of  the  words  guilt  and  punishment,  according  to  certain  theo- 
logiral  definitions,  which  by  not  implying  personal  criminality,  conflict  with  the  sense  in 
which  they  are  used  in  common  language — Guilt,  according  to  Mr.  Barnes,  implying 
obnoxiousness  to  punishment  because  of  personal  blameworthiness  of  crime;  and  pun- 
ishment, any  pain  or  suffering  inflicted  on  a  person  for  this  crime  or  offence. 

"  8.  Because  the  prosecutor  did  not  attempt  to  show  in  what  the  proper  penalty  of  the 
law  consisted,  nor  whether  spiritual  and  eternal  death  constituted  a  part  of  it,  nor  whether 
the  Standards  of  our  Church  teach  that  Christ  endured  the  identical  penalty  of  the  law, 
which  according  to  some  old  Calvinistical  writers,  consisted  in  temporal,  spiritual,  and 
eternal  death;  or  only  an  equivalent  amount  of  suffering.  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  denied 
that  Christ  is  the  'vicarious  substitute'  of  his  people,  nor  that  He  has  '  purchased  pardon,' 
but  has  explicitly  affirmed  and  taught  these  things.  In  denying  that  Christ  did  endure 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  he  has  explained  himself  to  mean,  that  Remorse,  Despair,  Corrup- 
tion, and  other  things,  which  he  supposed  to  be  implied  in  the  idea  of  spiritual  death,  as 
well  as  eternal  sufferings,  all  of  which  he  understands  to  be  a  part  of  the  proper  penalty  of 
the  law,  were  not  inflicted  on  Christ,  and  not  to  deny  that  his  sufferings  and  death,  were 
substituted  as  a  sacrifice,  to  satisfy  divine  justice,  fully  equivalent  with  the  penalty  de- 
nounced against  transgression. 

"  9.  Because  Mr.  Barnes  has  taught  nothing  in  regard  to  the  active  obedience  of  Christ, 
as  distinguished  from  his  passive;  so  far  from  having  taught,  that  justification  is  simply 
pardon — he  has  taught  the  very  reverse,  maintaining  that  God  regards  and  treats  the  sin- 
ner who  believes  in  Christ,  as  if  he  were  righteous,  and  that  solely  on  the  ground  of  the 
merits  of  Christ,  irrespective  of  any  good  deeds  or  desert  of  the  sinner  whatever. 

"  10.  Because  the  evidence  submitted  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution,  in  respect  to  the 
charges  of  erroneous  doctrine,  was  that  of  inferences  drawn  from  Mr.  Barnes's  language, 
which  in  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery,  were  not  legitimate,  but  which,  even  if  they 
were,  ought  not,  and  cannot,  agreeably  to  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1824, 
be  used  to  convict  of  heresy  or  dangerous  error,  affecting  the  foundation  of  a  sinner's  hope, 
or  the  Christian's  title  to  eternal  life. 

"  The  Presbytery  therefore  judge,  that  the  charges  have  not  been  maintained,  and  ough 
to  be  dismissed,  and  do  acquit  Mr.  Barnes  of  having  taught  in  his  Notes  on  the  Romans, 
any  dangerous  errors  or  heresies,  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  and  our  Standards.  And 
they  do  moreover  judge,  that  the  Christian  spirit  manifested  by  the  prosecutor,  during  the 
progress  of  the  trial,  renders  it  inexpedient  to  inflict  any  censure  on  him,  and  the  Presby- 


Part  XI.]  BARNES'S    SECOND    TRIAL.  687 

tery  would  express  the  hope  that  the  result  of  all  will  be  to  promote  the  peace  of  the 
Church,  and  further  the  Gospel  of  Christ." — Minutes  of  Presbytery. 

§  128.   Dr.  Junkin's  Apf>eal  to  Sj/nod. 

"Lafayette  College,  July  16th,  183.5. 
«  To  the  Rev.  John  L,  Grant,  Moderator,  and  to  the  Rev.  Second  Presbytery  of  Phdudelphta. 

'^  Rev.  and  Dear  Brethren — You  are  hereby  otKcially  informed  that  I  intend  to  appeal 
to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  at  its  next  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  borough  of  York,  on 
the  last  Wednesday  of  October  next,  against  your  recent  decision  in  the  case  of  the  Rev. 
Albert  Barnes.  This  appeal  is  from  the  '  definitive  sentence.'  Its  genernl  ground  is  '  a 
manifestation  of  prejudice  in  the  case,  and  mistake,'  and  consequent  'injustice  in  the 
decision.' 

"  Allow  me,  before  proceeding  to  specify  the  reasons  which  shut  me  up  to  the  belief 
that  the  Court  was  prejudiced,  and  did  err  in  judgment,  to  say  that  I  impeach  no  motives 
— I  charge  no  corrupt  prejudice;  no  intentional  mistake  or  error  upon  any  man.  jMen 
do  often  err  under  the  purest  motives,  and  are  often  powerfully  prejudiced,  whilst  perfectly 
unconscious  of  it.  With  this  single  remark,  I  proceed  to  detail  the  reasons  why  I  appeal 
on  the  above  named  grounds,  viz. 

«  1.  Because  the  Presbytery,  nearly  three  months  after  the  charges  had  been  received, 
and  the  day  fixed  for  trial,  attempted  to  constrain  the  prosecutor  to  change  them,  by  pre- 
fixing the  general  charge  of  heresy;  and  did  actually  pass  a  resolution  refusing  to  hear 
the  parties,  merely  because  this  term  was  absent;  and  upon  the  prosecutor  saying,  in 
answer  to  a  question  put  to  him,  that  in  his  opinion,  the  errors  charged  amounted  to 
heresy,  the  Presbytery  made  a  record  which  amounted  virtually  to  a  change  of  the  indict- 
ment to  a  general  charge  of  heresy.  The  prosecutor,  now  appellant,  has  staled  his  objec- 
tions to  the  use  of  this  term.  First,  It  is  a  vague  term,  not  defined  in  our  books;  no  two, 
perhaps  of  the  Presbytery  themselves,  would  agree  in  what  constitutes  heresy.  Its  use, 
therefore,  could  only  create  confusion  and  throw  a  character  of  indefiniteness  around 
charges  of  error,  which  he  had  laboured  to  make  definite  and  precise.  Secondly,  'J'his  term 
is  a  bugbear,  and  is  often  used  to  excite  popular  commotion  of  an  unpleasant  character, 
and  may  therefore  greatly  prejudice  the  mind  against  the  one  who  accuses  another  of 
error,  and  in  favour  of  the  accused. 

"Thus  the  Presbytery  manifested  favour  towards  Mr.  Barnes,  in  giving  him  and  his 
friends  the  opportunity  of  exciting  odium  against  the  accuser,  by  allusions  and  references 
to  persecution,  and  to  '  the  inquisitorial  toils'  of  the  prosecutor.  Accordingly,  this  last 
phraseology  was  actually  used  by  one  of  the  judges,  (Rev.  John  Smith),  and  not  without 
effect. 

"  Thus  also  the  Presbytery  changed  substantially  the  ground  and  nature  of  the  prosecu- 
tion, and  led  themselves  into  error.  In  their  final  verdict,  they  assumed  heresy  as  the 
general  charge.  And  in  giving  their  opinions,  some  members  had  their  eye  constantly  on 
that  fearful  term,  the  meaning  of  which  the  court  did  not  define.  So  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bar- 
bour opened  his  remarks — 'I  never  can  give  my  verdict,'  said  he,  '  that  brother  Barnes 
has  been  guilty  of  heresy.^  And  again,  ''I'he  Confession  of  Faith  was  not  made  for  a  trap 
to  catch  heretics.' — And  more  of  the  same  kind.  So  the  Rev.  John  Smith,  and  the  Rev. 
N.  8.  Smith,  rung  the  changes  on  the  word  hereby,  and  evidently  were  engrossed  with 
that  undefined  idea.  So  Elder  Hinckle  said,  'the  prosecutor  has  failed  in  estiiblishing the 
charge  of  heresy  against  the  defendant.'  So  Elder  Darrach,  'I  would  not  say  Mr.  Barnes 
was  guilty  of  heresy,'  And  thus  the  court  was  carried  off  the  ground  of  the  charges,  and 
decided  on  a  case  not  before  them.  Heresy  with  many  is  some  horrible  thing  for  which 
a  man  must  be  burnt.  Thus  lost  in  a  term  undefined  and  undefinable,  the  court,  as 
appears  to  me,  erred  in  judgment.     They  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  burning  Mr.  Barnes. 

"2.  Because  the  accused  was  not  called  upon  by  the  court  to  put  in  a  plea  to  each 
charge  specifically.  Dis.  V.  10.  'The  charges  shall  be  read  to  him,  and  he  shall  be  called 
upon  to  say  whether  he  is  guilty  or  not.'  Now  cases  may  occur,  wherein  an  accused 
person  may  plead  guilty  to  one  and  not  to  another  of  the  charges,  and  unless  the  question 
be  distinctly  put, '  Do  you  admit  the  truth  of  this  first  charge,  or  not1'  and  so  of  the  rest, 
it  cannot  be  known  what  the  plea  is ;  and  if  no  special  plea  be  put  to  each  count  of  the 
indictment,  the  prosecutor  and  the  court  are  put  to  unnecessary  trouble,  and  kept  in  igno- 
rance of  what  they  are  called  upon  to  do;  whether  to  prove  the  truth,  or  only  the  relevancy 
of  the  charge.  This  violation  of  rule  is  the  more  censurable,  because  a  Presbytery  is  a 
court  of  conscience,  and  every  person  arraigned  ought  to  have  it  put  to  his  conscience  to 


688  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM."  [Book  VII. 

say  whether  the  things  charged  are  true  or  not.  But  the  1 2th  section  settles  this  ques- 
tion. '  If  the  Minister,  when  he  appears,  will  not  confess,  but  denies  the  facts  alleged 
against  him,'  &c.  Clearly  this  contemplates  an  explicit  acknowledgment  or  denial  of  the 
things  charged.  Now  Mr.  Barnes,  in  the  plea  he  put  in,  admitted  some  of  the  charges, 
and  denied  others;  but  the  Presbytery  did  not  require  him  to  specify  which  he  admitted, 
and  which  he  denied;  so  that  the  plea  amounted  to  nothing.  He  says,  'I  neither  ha%'e 
taught,  nor  do  1  teach  anything,  according  to  my  best  judgment,  contrary  to  the  word  of 
God  ;  nor  do  I  deny  any  truths  taught  in  the  word  of  God,  as  is  alleged  that  I  do,  in  the 
indictment  now  before  the  Presbytery.'  Can  any  candid  man  read  this  plea  against 
charges  of  holding  doctrines  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  and  Confession  of  Faith,  with- 
out feeling  that  the  accused  admits  teaching  doctrines  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith? 
And  is  this  plea  anything  more  than  any  errorist  in  every  age  has  put  iiil  Who  does 
not  know  that  all  errorists  that  have  troubled  the  Church,  and  do  trouble  her,  always  pro- 
fess to  found  their  doctrines  on  the  Bible]  In  reference  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  there 
is  absolutely  no  plea  at  all.  The  prosecutor  has  always  been  of  opinion,  and  by  the  admis- 
sions of  Mr.  Barnes,  now  more  than  ever,  that  had  he  been  put  to  a  special  plea,  he  would 
have  acknowledged  the  truth  of  at  least  a  majority  of  the  charges,  as  he  has  done  of  the 
principle  ones,  so  far  as  the  Standards  are  concerned;  and  would  have  justified  himself 
on  the  ground  of  Scripture.  Thus,  it  is  believed,  prejudice  was  manifested  in  favour  of 
the  accused.  For  by  this  course  he  was  left  to  all  the  benefit  of  a  denial,  where  he  could 
do  it  with  a  clear  conscience;  whilst  he  had  all  the  advantage  of  silence,  where  he  could 
not  have  denied.      By  this,  too,  the  trial  was  greatly  protracted. 

"Thus,  also,  the  appellant  and  the  court  are  left  still  in  doubt  whether  Mr.  Barnes 
admits  or  denies  certain  points.  Dr.  Ely  in  his  paper  said  Mr.  Barnes  included  Christ's 
active  obedience  in  the  matter  of  the  believer's  justification,  and  did  not  teach  that  justifi- 
cation is  simply  pardon.  On  the  contrary,  Rev.  Mr.  Patterson  said  he  believed  Mr.  Barnes 
held  the  common  doctrine  of  the  New  England  divines,  and  the  doctrine  of  Dr.  Dwight; 
which  is,  that  justification  is  simply  and  only  pardon.  Thus  justice  in  this  stale  of  the 
case  could  not  be  expected.     This  incipient  error  led  on  to  others. 

"  3.  Another  reason  for  thinking  that  there  was  some  little  bias  in  the  court,  is  the  high 
estimate  in  which,  deservedly,  some  at  least  of  the  members  held  Mr.  Barnes  as  to  talents, 
and  his  congregation  as  to  respectability  and  influence.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
Presbytery  held  its  meetings  in  the  lecture-room  where  the  accused  had  usually  met  his 
people,  and  many  of  them  were  present  during  the  trial.  It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  the 
good  brethren  should  not  be  insensibly  influenced.  Accordingly,  one  in  closing  his 
remarks  said,  '  Never  let  me  be  found  condemning  a  man  to  whom  God  has  given  such 
mighty  powers  of  mind,  and  a  congregation  so  dignified  and  influential.' 

"4.  My  fourth  reason  for  appeahng  on  the  ground  of  prejudice  leading  to  error,  is,  that 
the  Presbytery  have  in  their  decision  endorsed  some  of  Mr.  Barnes's  alltged  errors,  and 
having  made  them  their  own,  could  not  be  presumed  altogether  impartial  in  their  judgment. 
Ex.  gr.  'This  exercise  of  mind  and  heart,'  (Abraham's)  say  they,  '  the  Apostle  says  was 
imputed  to  Abraham  for  righteousness.'  See  4th  reason.  And  again,  under  fifth  reason, 
'It  (the  Confession  of  Faith)  does  not  intimate  that  independent  of,  and  subsequent  to,  the 
enactment  of  the  moral  law,  God  entered  into  a  special  compact  with  man  about  his  obe- 
dience ;  but  that  he  was  pleased  to  promise  eternal  life,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his 
posterity,  on  condition  of  Adam's  obedience  to  that  law,  to  be  proved  by  his  observance  of 
the  prohibition  from  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge.' 

"  Now,  on  the  contrary,  the  very  doctrine  of  the  Confession  and  Catechism  is,  that  man 
was  created  having  '  the  law  of  God  written  in  his  heart,'  and  '  when  God  had  created 
man  he  entered  into  a  covenant  of  life  with  him.'  The  covenant  was  subsequent  to  the 
enactment  ot  the  law.  Thus  the  Presbytery  sanctions  the  error  charged,  and  therefore 
may  well  be  su|>posed  favourable  to  the  accused. 

"  5.  Because  on  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  charges,  it  is  very  difficult  to  say  whether  the  Pres- 
bytery admit,  as  Mr.  Barnes  did,  that  he  denied  the  doctrine  of  the  Standards.  It  is  pain- 
fully dilhiult  to  know  what  their  decision  is  under  these  heads;  and  particularly  on  the 
7th,  they  certainly  do  not  tell  us  whether  Mr.  Barnes  denied  or  acknowledged  the  doctrine 
that  Adam's  posterity  are  guilty,  i.  e.,  liable  to  punishment  on  account  of  Adam's  sin. 
Why  did  not  the  Presbytery  give  an  unequivocal  sentence  here]  On  these  three  charges, 
where  every  attentive  hearer  of  his  defence  must  know  that  Mr.  Barnes  admitted  his 
denial  and  rejection  of  the  doctrine  of  our  Standards,  and  where  he  set  u|)  his  defence  on 
the  ground  ut  Scripture  and  liis  own  metaphysics,  in  opposition  to  them,  I  am  constrained 
to  thmk,  the  main  elforts  of  the  Presbytery  have  been  expended  in  throwing  darkness  and 
obscurity  around  the  suiiject,  and  '  so  they  wrap  it  up.' 


Part  XI.]  BARNES'S    SECOND   TRIAL.  ,  689 

•'This  reason  I  may  extend  to  each  one  of  the  charges,  and  the  Presbytery's  action  on 
them. 

"Three  questions  naturally  arose  on  each.  1.  Ts  the  thing  charged  proved  by  the  tes- 
timony 1  2.  Is  it  contrary  to  the  Standards  !  3.  Is  it  contrary  to  the  Bible  ?  Now  the 
prosecutor  humbly  conceives  he  had  a  right  to  a  decision  on  each  of  them.  This  he 
respectfully  requested  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Presbytery  but  was  refused. 

"  6.  Because  an  inaccurate  statement  in  the  8th  reason  of  the  decision,  was,  perhaps, 
partly  the  ground  of  said  decision,  viz.  '  Because  the  prosecutor  did  not  attempt  to  show 
in  what  the  proper  penalty  of  the  law  consisted.'  Now  the  prosecutor  did  show,  from 
the  Confession  and  the  Bible,  that  the  proper  penalty  of  the  law  consisted  in  death.  '  Thou 
shalt  surely  die' — that  it  consisted  in  the  curse — the  wrath  of  God — which  things  include 
sorrows,  anguish,  and  woes  unutterable,  inflicted  upon  the  Saviour  by  the  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God  the  Father,  because  his  own  Son  bare  the  sins  of  the  people  (by  legal  impu- 
tation) in  his  own  body  on  the  tree. 

"  7.  Because  of  a  similar  inaccuracy  in  the  10th  reason,  viz.  that  <  the  evidence  submitted 
on  the  part  of  the  prosecution,  was  that  of  inferences  drawn  from  Mr.  Barnes's  language.' 
Now  the  appellant  humbly  conceives  that  he  submitted  the  language  itself  of  Mr.  Barnes, 
as  the  testimony  and  the  evidence  in  the  case.  He  submitted  all  the  passages  read,  and 
their  adjoining  contexts  respectively.  These  were  the  evidence,  and  it  is  believed  they 
contain  proof. 

"8.  Because  one  member  of  the  court,  at  least,  distinctly  rejected  the  Standards  of  the 
Church,  as  a  rule  of  judgment  in  the  case.  He  said  the  Confession  had  been  twisted  into 
a  wrong  place.  It  was  not  a  trap  to  catch  heretics.  He  had  as  good  a  right  to  bring 
charges  against  a  man  for  holding  doctrines  contrary  to  Ridgley's  Body  of  Divinity  and 
the  Bible,  or  contrary  to  the  Christian  Almanac  and  the  Bible,  as  the  present  prosecutor 
had  to  charge  Mr.  Barnes  with  holding  doctrines  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
the  Bible.  It  is  true,  he  next  day  apologized,  by  saying  he  did  not  mean  to  disparage  the 
Confession  of  Faith.  But  then  his  speech  was  at  least  partly  written.  It  was  deliberately 
and  strongly  expressed  ;  whereas  the  apology  was  obviously  a  lame  eflbrt,  for  popular  effect. 
Now,  how  many  moreof  the  judges  were  of  this  sentiment,  I  cannot  say.  I  believe,  how- 
ever, there  be  some  even  newer  Presbyterians,  than  this  anti-confession  brother.  But  one 
thing  is  obvious,  viz.  that  such  doctrine  effectually  precludes  a  fair  and  impartial  trial. 

"9.  Because  the  Presbytery  took  Mr.  Barnes's  present  declarations  as  expository  of  the 
meaning  of  his  language  adduced  in  proof.  I  think  this  will  be  evident  upon  a  simple 
reading  of  the  passages  of  his  book  quoted  as  testimony,  and  the  decision  of  the  court. 
During  the  whole  trial,  it  appeared  plain  to  me,  that  he  was  by  the  court  viewed  as  the 
legitimate,  and  the  only  legitimate  expounder  of  his  own  printed  words;  and  in  support 
of  this,  it  was  alleged  that  he  knew  best  what  was  his  own  meaning. 

"  Now  the  appellant  believes  that  the  court  itself  was  the  only  authorized  expositor. 
They  had  no  right  to  take  the  present  views  of  the  party  at  the  bar ;  nor  his  present  gloss 
upon  his  own  words,  formerly  uttered,  as  their  correct  meaning.  They  were  bound  simply 
to  weigh  the  words  according  to  their  obvious  meaning  in  their  connection,  and  according 
to  the  usages  of  the  language.  The  question  before  them  was  not,  (or  ought  not  to  have 
been),  What  does  Mr.  Barnes  now  teach  or  deny  1  Not,  What  does  he  now  say  he  taught 
then.^   But  simply,  What  has  he  taught  here  in  this  book? 

"Every  candid  mind  must  perceive,  that  if  a  man  shall  be  permitted  to  give  his  own 
explanation  to  his  own  words,  no  man  can  ever  be  convicted  of  holding  error,  unless  he  be 
so  stupid  as  to  be  unable  to  distinguish  between  truth  and  error,  and  to  fritter  down  and 
explain  away  his  own  terms.  A  very  small  portion  of  talent  for  mystification  can  gloss 
over  the  most  obnoxious  terms.  For  example:  An  action  for  slander  is  brought  against 
me,  for  uttering  the  words — '  I  saw  0.  P.  Q.  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  at  a  public  dinner 
on  the  4th  of  July.'  It  is  proved  that  I  pronounced  these  words,  and  that  I  am  not  on 
friendly  terms  with  O.  P,  Q.  I  put  in  a  plea  of  justification,  and  claim  the  privilege  of 
explaining.  I  show  both  from  my  habits  of  speaking  and  writing,  that  I  have  used  the 
term  intoxication,  in  application  to  high  mental  excitement.  The  man  was  intoxicated 
with  joy.  This  is  all  I  meant.  It  was  a  compliment.  I  was  simply  representing  the 
strong  patriotic  feeling  of  O.  P.  Q.;  he  was  intoxicated  with  joy  upon  a  reminiscence  of 
the  glorious  transactions  this  day  commemorates.  Or,  I  show  that  I  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  abusing  Pennsylvania  as  a  drunken  t'tate — the  whiskey  insurrection  State — the 
state  of  intoxication.  I  meant  nothing  more  than  that  I  saw  O.  P.  Q.  in  Pennsylvania 
that  day.  Will  the  court  and  jury  take  my  explanation,  and  find  me  a  verdict?  or  will 
they  judge  for  themselves  what  my  language  means?    Will  they  receive  as  authority,  my 

87 


690  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

present  testimony,  in  my  own  favour,  or  will  they  ascertain  by  other  scales,  the  freight  of 
the  words  proved  1 

"This,  I  take  it,  is  the  grand  error  of  the  Presbytery,  as  to  the  ground  of  their  decision. 
They  made  Mr.  Barnes  both  witness  and  judge  in  his  own  case,  by  a  gratuitous  assump- 
tion of  his  present  views,  and  his  present  exposition  of  his  language  formerly  uttered,  and 
now  adduced  in  proof,  as  being  undoubtedly  the  true  and  proper  sense  of  that  language, 
and  of  his  doctrines  there  published.  Accordingly,  notwithstanding  he  had  said  in  his 
defence, '  the  doctrine  of  all  sinning  in  Adam,  and  falling  with  him,  I  mean  to  reject,'  the 
Presbytery  acquitted  him  on  the  ground  of  his  oft-repeated  declaration,  that  he  agreed 
with  his  accuser  in  the  substantial  facts  of  the  case. 

"  All  these  considerations,  and  some  others,  conspire  to  sustain  me  in  the  conviction, 
that  my  tenth  and  last,  and  principal  reason  of  appeal,  is  just  and  true,  viz. 

"  10.  Because  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts  of  the 
case,  as  exhibited  in  the  charges,  and  the  testimony  and  the  law.  It  is  not  a  righteous 
decision. 

"  All  which  is  respectfully  submitted,  by  your  unworthy  brother  in  the  Lord, 

Geo.  Junkin." 

§  129.  Decision  of  the  S^nod  of  Philadelphia  on  the  Ajjj^eal. 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  in  view  of  the  proof  presented  to  Synod,  and  of  the  whole  case,  the 
decision  of  the  (Assembly's)  2d  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  case  of  the  charges  of 
the  said  Geo.  Junkin  against  the  said  Albert  Barnes,  be,  and  the  same  hereby  is  reversed, 
as  contrary  to  truth  and  righteousness,  and  the  Appeal  declared  to  be  sustained. 

"  2.  That  some  of  the  errors  alleged  in  the  charges  to  beheld  by  the  said  Albert  Barnes 
are  fundamental;  and  all  of  them  are  contrary  to  the  Standards  of  the  Presbyterian  (Jhurch 
in  the  United  States;  and  that  they  do  contravene  the  system  of  truth  therein  taught,  and 
set  forth  in  the  word  of  God. 

"3.  That  the  said  Albert  Barnes  be,  and  he  hereby  is  suspended  from  the  exercise  of 
all  the  functions  proper  to  the  gospel  ministry,  until  he  shall  retract  the  errors  hereby  con- 
demned, and  give  satisfactory  evidence  cf  repentance." 

[On  the  resolution  to  sustain  the  appeal  and  reverse  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery — 
^yes,  7.3  Ministers,  69  Elders;  Noes,  14  Ministers,  2  Elders;  Non  liquets,  17;  excused,  1. 
On  the  final  vote  adopting  the  minute  closing  with  the  above  resolutions — lyes,  58  Min- 
isters, 58  Elders;  Nays,  29  Ministers,  2  Elders;  Non  liquets  and  excused,  8.] 

§  130.  Decision  of  the  General  Assemhly. 

[Against  the  decision  of  Synod,  Mr.  Barnes  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly.  After 
a  week  spent  in  hearing  the  case,  the  vote  was  taken,  and  resulted,  for  sustaining  the 
appeal,  134;  against  sustaining  it,  96;   declined  voting,  6.     It  was  then] 

"  Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  suspending 
the  Eev.  Albert  Barnes  from  all  the  functions  proper  to  the  gospel  ministry, 
be,  and  it  is  hereby  reversed."  Ayes,  145;  Nays,  78;  declined  voting,  11." 
—Minutes,  1836,  pp.  268,  269. 

§  131.   Dr.  llillcr's  resolution  rejected. 

''The  following  resolution  was  offered  by  Dr.  Miller,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  this  General  Assembly  has  thought  proper  to 
remove  the  sentence  of  suspension  under  which  the  Eev.  Mr.  Barnes  was 
placed  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia;  yet  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  is, 
that  Mr.  Barnes,  in  his  notes  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  has  published 
opinions  materially  at  variance  with  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  with  the  word  of  God;  especially  with  regard  to 
original  sin,  the  relation  of  man  to  Adam,  and  justification  by  faith,  in  the 
atoning  sacrifice  and  righteousness  of  the  lledeemer.  The  Assembly  con- 
sider the  manner  in  which  Mr.  Barnes  has  controverted  the  language  and 
doctrine  of  our  public  standards,  as  highly  reprehensible,  and  as  adapted  to 
pervert  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation,  from  the  simplicity  and  purity 
of  the  gospel  plan.  And  although  some  of  the  most  objectionable  state- 
ments and  expressions  which  appeared  in  the  earlier  editions  of  the  work  in 


Part  XL]  Barnes's  second  trial.  691 

question,  have  been  either  removed,  or  so  far  modified  or  explained,  as  to 
render  them  more  in  accordance  with  our  public  formularies;  still  the 
Assembly  considers  the  work,  even  in  its  present  amended  form,  as  contain- 
ing representations  which  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  letter  or  spirit  of 
our  public  standards;  and  would  solemnly  admonish  Mr.  Barnes  again  to 
review  this  work ;  to  modify  still  further  the  statements  which  have  grieved 
his  brethren;  and  to  be  more  careful  in  time  to  come,  to  study  the  purity 
and  peace  of  the  Church."  [Rejected  by  Yeas,  109,  Nays,  122  ;  declined 
voting,  3;  Synod  of  Philadelphia  excluded,  27.] — Minutes,  1836,  p.  270. 

§  132.  Protest  First. 

"The  following  protest  was  read,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
minutes,  viz. 

''Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  did,  by 
their  vote  on  the  7th  inst.,  reject  a  resolution  disapproving  some  of  the 
doctrinal  statements  contained  in  Barnes's  Notes  on  the  Romans — which 
resolution,  especially  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  the 
undersigned  considered  of  high  importance  to  the  Church  with  which  we 
are  connected,  to  the  cause  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
the  just  exhibition  of  his  grace  and  truth;  we  whose  names  are  subscribed, 
feel  constrained,  in  the  name  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  solemnly  to 
protest  against  said  decision,  for  the  following  reasons,  viz. 

"1.  Because  we  believe  that  the  constitutional  standards  of  the  Church, 
in  their  plain  and  obvious  meaning,  and  in  the  sense  in  which  they  have 
always  been  received,  are  the  rule  of  judgment  by  which  all  doctrinal  con- 
troversies are  to  be  decided.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  maintain 
inviolate  her  doctrine  and  order,  agreeably  to  those  standards;  to  bear  her 
decided  testimony  against  all  deviations  from  them,  and  not  to  countenance 
them,  even  by  implication.  Yet,  in  the  above  decision,  there  was,  as  we 
believe,  a  departure  from  ovir  constitutional  rule,  a  refusal  to  bear  testimony 
against  errors,  with  an  implied  approbation  of  them,  and  a  constructive 
denial  that  Ministers  of  the  gospel  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  are  under 
solemn  obligations  to  conform  in  their  doctrinal  sentiments  to  our  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  Catechisms. 

"2.  Because  the  errors  contemplated  in  the  aforesaid  resolution,  do  not 
consist  merely,  nor  chiefly,  in  inaccurate  or  ambiguous  expressions  and  mis- 
taken illustrations,  but  in  sentiments  and  opinions,  respecting  the  great  and 
important  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  which  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 
statement  of  those  doctrines,  luade  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  revealed 
in  the  word  of  God.  We  sincerely  and  firmly  believe  that  Mr.  Barnes  has 
denied,  and  that  in  a  sneering  manner,  that  Adam  was  the  covenant  head  of 
the  hmiian  race;  that  all  mankind  sinned  in  him  as  such,  and  were  thus 
brought  under  the  penalty  of  transgression ;  that  Christ  suffered  the  penalty 
of  the  law  when  he  died  for  sin;  and  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is 
imputed  to  believers  for  justification.  These  and  similar  doctrinal  views  we 
regard  as  material  variations  from  our  standards,  as  dangerous  in  themselves, 
and  as  contravening  some  of  the  leading  principles  of  our  system,  such  as 
man's  complete  dependence,  and  the  perfect  harmony  of  justice  and  grace 
in  the  salvation  of  the  sinner. 

"3.  Because  this  expression  of  approbation  of  his  opinions  was  passed 
after,  as  we  believe,  it  had  been  clearly  and  sufficiently  proved  to  the  Assem- 
bly, that  Mr.  Barnes  had  denied  these  important  truths,  and  had  expressed 
opinions  respecting  original  sin,  the  nature  of  faith,  and  the  nature  of  justi- 
fication, which  cannot  be  reconciled  with  our  standards;  and  after,  instead 
of  retracting  any  of  his  doctrinal  opinions,  he  had  declared  expressly  before 


692  "  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

the  Assembly,  and  published  in  the  prefoce  to  the  last  edition  of  his  Notes 
on  the  lluinaus,  that  he  had  not  changed,  but  held  them  still,  and  was 
determined  to  preach  them  until  he  died. 

"For  these  reasons,  and  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  we  may  preserve  a 
conscience  void  of  offence,  we  request  that  this  our  solemn  protest  may  be 
entered  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly. 

"W.  W.  Phillips,  J.  McElroy,  James  Hoge,  Samuel  S.  Davis,  Francis 
McFarland,  Joseph  Smith,  James  McCurdy,  Jacob  F.  Price,  W.  L.  Breck- 
inridge, H.  ]M.  Koontz,  P.  J.  Sparrow,  llobert  Johnston,  Joseph  Harbeson, 
John  H.  Culbertson,  W.  P.  Alrich,  J.  S.  Wilson,  T.  C.  Stuart,  J.  McClin- 
tock,  Nathaniel  Todd,  Alexander  11.  Curry,  George  Anderson,  Jas.  McFar- 
ran,  John  Bemiss,  John  M.  C  Bartley,  Samuel  McQuestin,  William  James, 
Ananias  Piatt,  Duncan  McMartin,  Edwin  Downer,  H.  M.  Hopkins,  James 
V.  Henry,  Russell  J.  Minor,  William  Marshall,  James  Lenox,  Samuel 
Boyd,  William  Wallace,  (N.  Y.)  Samuel  Miller,  B.  Ogden,  James  Seabrook, 
Jacob  Castner,  Joseph  Campbell,  James  Kennedy,  John  Stinson,  Samuel 
Henderson,  J.  Coulter,  Joel  Stoneroad,  N.  Ewing,  James  Alexander, 
Joseph  D.  Ray,  Robert  Highlands,  John  Miller,  J.  Eaton,  Robert  Porter, 
Joseph  jMcFarren,  C.  Velandingham,  Alex.  Write,  R.  Johnston,  James 
Wilson,  James  Rowland,  Archibald  Hanna,  John  Elliot,  William  Wallace, 
(Lan.)  Robert  Smith,  J.  S.  Galloway,  S.  Scovel,  B.  C.  Swan,  G.  Bishop, 
William  Dunn,  M.  G.  Wallace,  J.  S.  Weaver,  Samuel  Donnell,  B.  P.  Spill- 
mtin,  W.  A.  G.  Posey,  J.  S.  Berryman,  D.  S.  Todd,  Lewis  Collins,  William 
Williamson,  James  Wharey,  John  McElhenny,  Thos.  Baird,  E.  W.  Caru- 
thers,  Archibald  McCallum,  R.  H.  Kilpatrick,  John  S.  McCutchan,  T.  A. 
Ogden,  A.  A.  Campbell,  John  Ingram,  S.  B.  Lowers,  J,  Le  Roy  Davies, 
Thomas  L.  Dunlap,  Eugenius  A.  Nesbit,  Gilbert  T.  Snowden,  Horace  S. 
Pratt,  John  H.  Van  Court,  F.  H.  Porter,  Thomas  R.  Borden,  T.  C.  Stuart, 
John  R.  Hutchison,  David  Morrow,  J.  H.  Gray,  George  Anderson." — Min- 
iites,  1836,  p.  283. 

§  133.  Protest  Second. 

"  The  following  protest  was  also  offered,  and  being  read,  was  ordered  to 
be  entered  on  the  Minutes,  viz. 

"The  undersigned,  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  were  of  the 
opinion  that  the  appeal  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  should  be  sustained 
only  in  part,  and  that  a  modified  decision  should  be  made,  beg  leaA^e  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Assembly  this  brief  explanation  of  their  views,  and  desire  that 
it  may  be  entered  on  the  Minutes,  as  their  protest  against  the  course  which 
has  been  pursued  in  this  case. 

"  1.  They  explicitly  declare,  that  in  their  opinion  the  refusal  of  the 
Presbytery  to  bring  their  records  before  the  Synod,  and  of  Mr.  Barnes  to 
appear  and  plead  in  defence  when  their  objections  had  been  overruled,  was 
irregular  and  censurable;  and  that  although  the  Synod  acted  in  a  manner 
that  was  questionable,  and  perhaps  injudicious,  in  trying  the  appeal  of  Dr. 
Junkin,  without  the  records  of  the  Presbytery,  and  in  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Barnes,  who  had  declined  making  any  defence,  yet  this  irregularity  was 
not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  annul  their  proceedings. 

"2.  They  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  charges  brought  against  Mr. 
Barnes  by  Dr.  Junkin,  were  at  least  partly  substantiated,  and  that  on  very 
important  topics  of  the  system  of  doctrine  contained  in  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  the  word  of  God;  and  that,  therefore,  the  appeal  could  be  sus- 
tained only  in  a  modified  sense,  if  at  all  on  this  ground,  without  an  implied 
approbation  of  his  doctrinal  views. 

"3.  Further,   they  were  of  the  opinion,  that  inasmuch  as  some  of  the 


Part  XL]  Barnes's  second  trial.  693 

charges  wei'e  not  fully,  if  at  all  sustained;  and  it  may  be  doubted  whetber 
the  Synod  ought,  as  the  circumstances  of  the  case  appeared  to  be,  to  have 
inflicted  the  censure  of  suspension ;  and  Mr.  Barnes,  during  the  progress 
of  this  trial,  exhibited  some  important  alterations  of  his  book,  and  made  such 
explanations  and  disavowals  of  the  sentiments  ascribed  to  him,  as  were 
satisfactory  in  a  considerable  degree;  the  removal  of  his  suspension  might 
be  deemed  proper  and  safe ;  they  were  therefore  willing,  on  this  account,  to 
concur  in  this  measure ;  but  did  not  desire  to  sustain  the  appeal  in  an 
unqualified  sense. 

"  The  undersigned,  therefore,  desire  to  place  themselves  aright,  in  the 
discharge  of  their  official  duty,  before  this  Assembly,  and  the  Church  with 
which  they  are  connected,  and  the  whole  Christian  Church,  so  far  as  these 
transactions  may  be  known;  and  cannot  consent  to  be  understood  as  giving 
countenance  to  irregular  proceedings  in  the  judicatories  of  the  Church,  or 
those  who  are  amenable  to  them;  or  as  overlooking  erroneous  doctrinal 
sentiments;  or  as  desiring  to  exercise  undue  severity  towards  the  appellant. 
And  they  cannot  withhold  the  expression  of  their  regret,  that  all  their 
efforts  to  procure  a  justly  modified  decision,  were  defeated  by  the  positions 
occupied  by  different  and  opposite  portions  of  the  Assembly,  in  regard  to 
this  case;  nor  will  they  conceal  that  they  have  painful  apprehensions  that 
these  things  will  lead  to  extended  and  increased  dissension,  and  endanger 
the  disruption  of  the  holy  bonds  which  hold  us  together  as  one  Church. 
Pittsburgh,  June  7th,  1836. 

"  James  Hoge,  Samuel  Miller,  N.  Ewing,  John  McElhenny,  John  H.  Van 
Court,  Benjamin  Ogden,  Thomas  A.  Ogclen,  Francis  McFarland,  John  M. 
C.  Bartly,  James  Wharey,  Samuel  S.  Davis,  D.  McMartin,  Jr.,  Samuel  L. 
Graham,  Evander  McNair,  John  S.  Galloway,  Samuel  Henderson.'^ — 
Minutes,  1836,  p.  286. 

§  134.   The  Assembly's  Reply  to  these  Protests. 

"  In  reply  to  the  two  protests  of  the  minority,  against  the  decision  of  the 
Assembly  in  refusing  to  censure  the  first  edition  of  Barnes's  Notes  on  the 
Romans,  the  Assembly  remark  : 

''1.  That  by  their  decision  they  do  not  intend  to,  and  do  not,  in  fact, 
make  themselves  responsible  for  all  the  phraseology  of  Mr.  Barnes ;  some  of 
which  is  not  sufficiently  guarded,  and  is  liable  to  be  misunderstood;  and 
which  we  doubt  not  Mr.  Barnes,  with  reference  to  his  usefulness,  and 
the  peace  of  the  Church,  will  modify  so  as  to  prevent,  as  far  as  may  be,  the 
possibility  of  misconception. 

"  2.  Much  less  do  the  Assembly  adopt  as  doctrines,  consistent  with  our 
standards,  and  to  be  tolerated  in  our  Church,  the  errors  alleged  by  the  pro- 
secutor, as  contained  in  the  Book  on  the  Romans.  It  was  a  question  of  fact 
whether  the  errors  alleged  are  contained  in  the  book;  and  by  the  laws  of 
exposition,  in  conscientious  exercise  of  their  own  rights  and  duties,  the 
Assembly  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  book  does  not  teach  the 
errors  charged.  This  judgment  of  the  Assembly  is  based  on  this  maxim  of 
equity  and  charity,  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  1824,  in  the  case  of  Craig- 
head, which  is  as  follows,  namely:  *A  man  cannot  be  fairly  convicted  of 
heresy  for  using  expressions  which  may  be  so  interpreted  as  to  involve 
heretical  doctrines,  if  they  also  admit  of  a  more  favourable  construction. 
It  is  not  right  to  charge  any  man  with  an  ojjinion  which  he  disavows.'  The 
import  of  this  is,  that  when  language  claimed  to  be  heretical,  admits  without 
violence  of  an  orthodox  exposition,  and  the  accused  disclaims  the  alleged 
error,  and  claims  as  his  meaning  the  orthodox  interpretation,  he  is  entitled 
to  it,  and  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  true  intent  and  import  of  his  words. 


694  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

But  in  the  ease  of  the  first  edition  of  the  Notes  on  the  Romans,  the  language 
is,  without  violence,  reconcilable  with  an  interpretation  conformable  to  our 
standards;  and,  therefore,  all  the  changes  of  phraseology  which  he  has  sub- 
sequently made,  and  all  his  disclaimers  before  the  Assembly,  and  all  his 
definite  and  unequivocal  declarations  of  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  his 
words  in  the  first  edition,  are  to  be  taken  as  ascertaining  his  true  meaning; 
and  forbid  the  Assembly  to  condemn  the  book  as  teaching  great  and  danger- 
ous errors. 

"3.  When  the  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Barnes,  by  a 
majority  of  38 ;  and  by  a  majority  of  67  removed  the  sentence  of  his  sus- 
pension, and  restored  him  in  good  standing  to  the  ministry,  it  is  not  compe- 
tent for  the  same  judicature,  by  the  condemnation  of  the  book,  to  inflict  on 
Mr.  Barnes  indirectly,  but  really,  a  sentence  of  condemnation,  as  direct  in 
its  efi"ects,  and  as  prostrating  to  his  character  and  usefulness,  as  if  it  had 
been  done  directly,  by  refusing  to  sustain  his  appeal,  and  by  confirming  the 
sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia: — And  what  this  Assembly  has 
declared,  that  it  cannot  in  equity  do  directly,  it  cannot,  in  equity  or  con- 
sistency, attempt  to  do  indirectly. 

"4.  The  proposed  condemnation  of  Mr.  Barnes's  book,  as  containing 
errors  materially  at  variance  with  the  doctrines  of  our  standards,  after  sus- 
taining his  appeal,  and  restoring  him  to  good  standing  in  the  ministry, 
would  be  a  direct  avowal  that  great  and  dangerous  errors  may  be  published 
and  maintained  with  impunity  in  the  Church.  For  if  the  book  does  in  fact 
inculcate  such  errors,  it  were  wrong  to  attempt  to  destroy  the  book  and 
spare  the  man.  If  the  charges  are  real,  they  are  not  accidental.  Therefore, 
should  the  Assembly  decide  the  alleged  errors  of  the  book  to  be  real,  it 
would,  by  its  past  decision,  declare  that  a  man  suspended  for  great  and  per- 
nicious errors,  may  be  released  from  censure,  and  restored  to  an  unembar- 
rassed standing  in  the  ministry ;  a  decision  to  which  this  Assembly  can 
never  give  its  sanction. 

"  5.  The  attempt  to  condemn  Mr.  Barnes,  by  a  condemnation  of  his  book, 
after  he  had  been  acquitted  on  a  hearing  on  charges  wholly  founded  on  the 
book,  is  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  maxim  of  law,  that  no  man  shall  be 
twice  put  in  jeopardy  for  the  same  ofi"ence;  and  if  it  were  otherwise,  and 
the  man  might  be  tried  in  his  person,  and  tried  on  his  book,  the  same  pro- 
cess of  specification  and  defence  is  due  to  personal  and  public  justice. 

''6.  So  far  is  the  Assembly  from  countenancing  the  errors  alleged  in  the 
charges  of  Dr.  Junkiu,  that  they  do  cordially  and  ex  animo  adopt  the  Con- 
fession of  our  Church,  on  the  points  of  doctrine  in  question,  according  to 
the  obvious  and  most  prevalent  interpretation;  and  do  regard  it  as  a  whole, 
as  the  best  epitome  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  ever  formed.  And  this 
Assembly  disavows  any  desire,  and  would  deprecate  any  attempt  to  change 
the  phraseology  of  our  standards,  and  would  disapprove  of  any  language  of 
light  estimation  applied  to  them;  believing  that  no  denomination  can  pros- 
per whose  members  permit  themselves  to  speak  slightly  of  its  formularies  of 
doctrine ;  and  are  ready  to  unite  with  their  brethren,  in  contending  ear- 
nestly for  the  faith  of  our  standards. 

"  7.  The  correctness  of  the  preceding  positions  is  confirmed,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  Assembly,  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the  real  meaning  of  Mr.  Barnes 
under  each  charge,  as  ascertained  by  the  language  of  his  book  :  and  the 
revisions,  disclaimers,  explanations,  and  declarations  which  he  has  luade. 

"In  respect  to  the  first  charge,  that  Mr.  Barnes  teaches  that  all  sin  is 
voluntary,  the  context,  and  his  own  declarations,  show  that  he  refers  to  all 
actual  sin  merely,  in  which  he  aflirms  the  sinner  acts  under  no  compulsion. 

"  The  second  charge  implies  neither  heresy  nor  errors,  but  relates  to  the 


Part  XI.]  BARNES'S   SECOND   TRIAL.  695 

expression  of  an  opinion  on  a  matter,  concerning  which,  no  definite  instruc- 
tion is  contained,  either  in  the  Bible,  or  in  the  Confession  of  Faith. 

"  In  respect  to  the  third  charge,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  taught  that  unre- 
generate  men  are  able,  in  the  sense  alleged,  to  keep  the  commandments,  and 
convert  themselves  to  God.  It  is  an  inference  of  the  prosecutor  from  the 
doctrine  of  natural  ability,  as  taught  by  Edwards,  and  of  the  natural  liberty 
of  the  will  as  taught  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap,  is..  Sect.  1.  On  the 
contrary,  he  does  teach  in  accordance  with  our  standards,  that  man,  by  the 
fall,  hath  wholly  lost  all  ahility  of  ivill  to  any  spiritual  good  accompanying 
salvation. 

"In  respect  to  the  fourth  charge,  that  faith  is  an  act  of  the  mind,  Mr. 
Barnes  does  teach  it  in  accordance  with  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the 
Bible ;  but  he  does  not  deny  that  faith  is  a  fruit  of  the  special  influence  of 
the  Spirit,  and  a  permanent  holy  habit  of  mind,  in  opposition  to  a  created 
physical  essence.  That  faith  'is  counted  for  righteousness,'  is  the  language 
of  the  Bible,  and  as  used  by  Mr.  Barnes,  means,  not  that  faith  is  the  meri- 
torious ground  of  justification,  but  only  the  instrument  by  which  the  benefit 
of  Christ's  righteousness  is  appropriated. 

"  In  respect  to  the  fifth  charge,  Mr.  Barnes  nowhere  denies,  much  less 
'sneers'  at  the  idea  that  Adam  was  the  Covenant  and  Federal  Head  of  his 
posterity : — On  the  contrary,  though  he  employs  not  these  terms,  he  does, 
in  other  language,  teach  the  samti  truths  which  are  taught  by  this  phrase- 
ology. 

"In  respect  to  the  sixth  and  seventh  charges,  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  not 
imputed  to  his  posterity,  and  that  mankind  are  not  guilty,  or  liable  to  pun- 
ishment, on  account  of  the  first  sin  of  Adam ;  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  it  is 
not  taught  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  imputed  to 
his  posterity: — The  imputation  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin,  Mv.  Barnes 
affirms,  though  not  as  including  personal  identity,  and  the  transfer  of  moral 
qualities,  both  of  which  are  disclaimed  by  our  standard  writers,  and  by  the 
General  Assembly. 

"  In  respect  to  the  eighth  charge,  that  Christ  did  not  suffer  the  penalty 
of  the  law,  as  the  vicarious  substitute  of  his  people,  Mr.  Barnes  only  denies 
the  literal  infliction  of  the  whole  curse,  as  including  remorse  of  conscience 
and  eternal  death ;  but  admits  and  teaches,  that  the  sufferings  of  Christ, 
owing  to  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  person  of  the 
Mediator,  were  a  full  equivalent. 

"In  respect  to  the  ninth  charge,  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not 
imputed  to  his  people,  Mr.  Barnes  teaches  the  imputation  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ,  but  not  as  importing  a  transfer  of  Christ's  personal  righteous- 
ness to  believers,  which  is  not  the  doctrine  of  our  Church : — And  when  he 
says  that  there  is  no  sense  in  which  the  righteousnss  of  Christ  becomes  ours, 
the  context,  and  his  own  declarations,  show  that  he  simply  means  to  deny  a 
literal  transfer  of  his  obedience ;  which,  on  the  contrary,  he  teaches  is  so 
imputed  or  set  to  our  account,  as  to  become  the  only  meritorious  cause  or 
ground  of  our  justification. 

"  In  respect  to  the  tenth  charge,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  taught  that  justifi- 
cation consists  in  pardon  only ;  but  has  taught  clearly  that  it  includes  the 
reception  of  believers  into  favour,  and  their  treatment  as  if  they  had  not 
sinned." — Mimitcs,  1836,  p.  287. 


696  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

the  general  assembly  of  1836. 

Title  1. — Cases  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Wilmington  •  and  the 
Assembly's  Second. 

§  135.    The  Assembly's  Presbytery  refuses  to  submit  lier  Records. 

[Upon  the  trial  of  Dr.  Junkin's  appeal  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  before  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  when  the  records  and  other  papers  of  the  Presbytery,  relating  to  the  case, 
were  called  for,  Dr.  Ely  read  the  following  extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  in 
reply,  viz.] 

«  Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  our  Church  dissolved  the  Synod  of  Delaware,  at 
and  after  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which  occurred  yesterday  ;  whereas, 
the  said  Assembly  passed  no  order  for  the  transfer  of  the  books,  minutes,  and  unfinished 
proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Delaware,  and  of  the  Presbyteries  then  belonging  to  the 
same,  to  any  other  Synod  or  judicatory  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  reason 
and  the  excellent  standards  of  our  Church,  that  any  Presbytery  should  be  amenable  to 
more  than  one  Synod  at  the  same  time,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  will,  and  hereby  does,  decline  to  submit  its  books,  records, 
and  proceedings  prior  to  this  date,  to  the  review  and  control  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
until  the  General  Assembly  shall  take  some  order  on  this  subject." 

§  136.  Resolution  of  censure. 

[The  Presbytery  persisting  in  this  refusal  to  exhibit  her  records,  the  Synod  adopted  the 
following  Minute,  viz.] 

Whereas,  Section  III.  and  16th  sub.section.  Chap.  VIL  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  con- 
fers on  this  Synod  the  power  to  censure,  according  to  circumstances,  niuj  Judicatory  that 
shall  neglect  to  send  up  authentic  records  of  any  trial  in  which  an  appeal  is  taken: — And 
whereas,  the  Assembly's  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  has  not  only  neglected,  but 
refused,  by  a  Minute  this  day  laid  on  the  table  of  Synod,  to  produce  the  record  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Barnes  and  Dr.  Junkin,  which  is  an  appeal  regularly  taken  and  prosecuted,  although 
it  is  admitted  by  the  Stated  Clerk  of  said  Presbytery,  that  the  said  records  are  present, 
and  in  possession  of  said  Presbytery: — And  whereas,  that  refusal  is  aggravated  in  its 
injustice,  by  the  fact  that  the  members  of  that  Presbytery  itself  prevented  the  appellant 
from  appealing  directly  to  the  General  Assembly,  as  was  his  declared  desire,  and  that  at  a 
period  when  there  was,  and  could  be  no  Synod  to  which  he  could  appeal  but  this  Synod ; 
because  the  Assembly  had  ordered  the  dissolution  of  the  Synod  of  Delaware,  before  the 
next  stated  meeting  to  which  that  Synod  stood  adjourned: — 

"And  whereas,  this  Synod  has  passed  a  special  order,  directing  said  Presbytery  to 
produce  the  record  necessary  in  the  case  on  trial,  which  order  the  Presbytery  explicitly 
refuses  to  obey ;  now  therefore,  Be  it  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Synod, 
the  conduct  of  the  (Assembly's)  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in  all  the  premises,  is 
obstinale,  vexatious,  unjust,  uncandid,  contumacious,  and  grossly  disorderly." 

§  137.    The  Presbytery  dissolved. 

[On  a  subsequent  day  of  the  same  sessions  it  was] 

''Resolved,  \st.  That  the  Assembly's  Second  Presbytery  be,  and  it  hereby  is  dissolved, 
and  that  all  the  Churches,  Ministers,  Licentiates,  and  Candidates  belonging  to  it,  are  hereby 
directed  to  make  application  as  soon  as  possible,  for  admission  into  the  Presbyteries  within 
the  bounds  of  which  each  of  said  Churches,  Ministers,  Licentiates,  and  Candidates  may 
reside  or  be  situated. 

"Resolved,  2d.  That  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Assembly's  Second  Presbytery  is  hereby 
directed  to  cause  all  the  papers  and  records  of  and  belonging  to  said  Presbytery,  to  be 
placed  without  delay  in  the  hands  of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia ; 
who  IS  hereby  directed  to  cause  an  attested  copy  of  said  records  to  be  made  out  and  placed 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OP  1836.  697 

in  tho  hands  of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synodical  Second  Presbytery,  at  the  expense  of 
the  last  named  Presbytery. 

"Resolved,  3d.  That  every  Church,  Minister,  Licentiate,  and  Candidate  who  shall  not 
apply  for  admission  to  the  Presbytery  within  whose  bounds  each  may  reside  or  be  situ- 
ated, at  or  before  the  next  semi-annual  meeting  of  said  Presbyteries  in  the  Spring  of 
1836,  every  such  Church,  Minister,  Licentiate,  and  Candidate  is  thereby  declared  to  be, 
de  facto,  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  unless  prevented  from 
so  doing  by  some  providential  or  other  insurmountable  obstacle." 

§  138.    Complaints  against  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington. 

[At  the  same  sessions  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  which  the  above  action  was  had, 
the  two  following  complaints  were  tabled  against  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  by  that 
of  Carlisle,  viz.] 

§  139.    Charges  relative  to  the  case  of  Mr.  AfcKim. 

"To  the  Rev.  Moderator  and  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  York,  Pennsylvania.  The 
Memorial  and  Petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  most  affectionately  showeth: 

"That  at  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  held  in  Carlisle,  September  27th,  1831, 
Mr.  M.  McKim  was  received  on  trials  for  the  gospel  ministry. 

"  That  on  the  next  day,  September,  28, 1831,  he  was  examined  on  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages,  on  Natural  and  Moral  Philosophy.  This  examination  was  sustained,  and  a 
subject  assigned  to  him  for  an  exegesis — which  exegesis  was  read  before  Presbytery  at 
their   meeting  in  Shippensburg,  April  11th,  1832,  and  sustained  as  a  part  of  trial,  and 

John  ii.  14,  was  assigned  to  him  as  a  subject  for  a  critical  exercise,  and  Romans  viii.  26 

28,  as  the  subject  for  a  lecture. 

"  That  at  a  session  of  the  Presbytery  held  in  Gettysburg,  October  4th,  1 832,  Mr.  M. 
McKim  read  a  critical  exercise,  and  a  lecture  on  the  subjects  previously  assigned  by  the 
Presbytery,  which  were  sustained  as  parts  of  trial. 

"That  at  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  at  Silver  Spring,  October  7th,  1834,  Mr.  M. 
McKim  having  been,  as  was  stated,  providentially  prevented  from  attending  the  meetings 
of  Presbytery  for  two  full  years,  had  2  Cor.  v.  17,  assigned  him  as  a  subject  for  a  popular 
discourse,  in  accordance  with  the  request  of  Mr.  McKnight,  who  stated,  that  during  the 
recess  of  Presbytery,  he  had  given  it  to  him  (Mr.  McKim)  as  a  theme  for  a  popular  ser- 
mon. On  this  subject,  Mr.  McKim  delivered  a  discourse  on  the  next  day.  On  the  9th  of 
October,  1834,  he  was  examined  in  part  on  Systematic  Theology,  and  on  the  10th,  the 
examination  was  resumed.  The  roll  being  called,  the  popular  sermon  and  examination 
of  Mr.  McKim  were  not  sustained. 

" '  Resolved,''  by  the  Presbytery, '  that  as  Mr.  McKim's  popular  sermon  and  examination 
were  not  sustained;'  Eph.  ii.  I — '  You  hath  he  quickened,  &c.'  be  assigned  him  for 
another  sermon;  and  that  he  be  recommended  to  pursue  his  theological  studies  at  some 
approved  Theological  Seminary. 

Presbytery  being  met  October  28th,  1834,  at  Great  Conewago,  a  communication  was 
received  from  Mr.  McKim,  and  read  before  Presbytery,  containing  a  request  to  be  dis- 
missed from  this  Presbytery,  to  connect  himself  with  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington; 
which  was  ordered  to  be  laid  on  the  table,  and  a  committee  of  three  were  appointed  to 
confer  with  him,  and  bring  in  a  report.  At  Gettysburg,  October  30th,  1834,  this  commit- 
tee reported  to  Presbytery,  in  substance,  that  they  have  performed  that  duty,  and  the  result 
is,  that  Mr.  McKim  still  declines  submitting  himself  to  any  farther  trials  under  this  Pres- 
bytery, and  persists  in  his  request  to  be  dismissed,  to  put  himself  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Wilmington.  It  was  then  moved  and  seconded,  that  the  consideration  of 
this  report  be  indefinitely  postponed,  which  having  been  discussed  for  a  short  time,  it  was 
agreed  to  have  a  recess  till  2  o'clock,  P.  M.  After  recess,  the  Presbytery  met.  The 
motion  for  indefinite  postponement  in  the  case  of  Mr.  McKim  was  withdrawn.  A  com- 
munication was  received  from  Mr.  McKim,  which  was  ordered  to  be  laid  on  the  table,  and 
Presbytery  adjourned  to  meet  at  Newville,  23d  of  December  next. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  Presbytery  held  at  Newville,  December  23d,  1834,  a  letter  directed 
to  the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery,  and  signed  by  the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wil- 
mington, and  by  order  of  the  said  Presbytery,  being  introduced,  a  committee  of  three 
were  appointed  to  report  to  Presbytery  an  answer  to  said  letter.  The  answer  to  this  letter 
directed  to  the  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  was  reported,  accepted,  and 
adopted,  and  recorded.   Inquiry  was  then  made  at  Presbytery,  by  Stated  Clerk, '  Whether, 


698  THE    NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book   YII. 

if  Mr.  McKim  should  apply  for  a  certified  copy  of  the  Minutes  in  his  case,  his  request 
should  be  granted"!'  whereupon, 

"  ReMihie.d,  That  in  present  circumstances,  it  is  not  proper  or  advisable  that  such  copy 
be  given  him  ;  and  they  regret  that  he  should  have  already  received  a  copy,  in  part,  of  the 
proceedings  in  his  case. 

"  'I'd  the  letter  sent  by  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle  to  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  a  kind 
of  answer,  far  from  meetmg  the  request  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  was  received  by  our 
Moderator,  addressed  to  him,  not  as  moderator,  but  as  a  private  member,  subscribed  by 
the  writer  of  the  former  letter,  as  a  private  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  and 
purporting  to  be  a  private  letter,  as  the  writer  says  the  former  one  was  intended  to  have  been, 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  report  on  this  communication,  which  report  was  made, 
amended,  and  adopted.  To  this  renewed  request  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  they  have 
received  a  letter  from  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington. 

<'  The  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  at  their  late  meeting  in  Lower  Path  Valley,  October  1.3th, 
1835,  being  by  this  letter  informed,  that  two  Ministers,  one  of  whom  was  lately,  and  the 
other  is  still,  a  member  of  this  Presbytery,  had  subscribed  the  certificate,  a  copiy  of  which 
is  therein  contained,  appointed  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Moody,  Henry  R.  Wilson,  and 
James  Williamson,  a  committee  to  consider  and  report  in  relation  to  this  certificate,  so  far  as 
as  Mr.  Dewitt  is  concerned.  The  same  committee  was  charged  with  the  following  reso- 
lution, viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  draft  a  memorial  and  petition  to 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  stating  to  them  a  full  view  of  the  case  of  Mr.  McKim,  and 
praying  them  to  revoke  his  licensure,  and  dissolve  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington. 

"  The  result  of  the  conference  with  Rev.  W.  R.  Dewitt  is  contained  in  the  report  of 
that  committee,  and  this  transaction  has  brought  up  more  light  in  the  case  of  Mr.  McKim, 
and  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington. 

"  On  last  Spring  sometime,  Mr.  McKim  had  been  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Wilmington 
Presbytery,  and  has  been  preaching  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  where 
he  had  been  rejected  on  account  of  error  in  doctrine,  and  has  lately  been  ordained,  as 
appears,  from  his  being  a  member  on  your  floor. 

In  the  review  of  this  whole  case,  the  following  remarks  are  apparent. 

"  1.  The  great  difference  between  the  statements  made  in  the  first  letter  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Wilmington,  which  carried  with  it  all  the  forms  and  evidence,  of  Presbyterial 
authority,  and  what  it  is  at  length  brought  down  to  be. 

"  2.  The  difficulty  into  which  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle  is  thrown — some  unknown 
member  is  charged  with  writing  a  letter,  which  misrepresents  their  doings,  and  the  Pres- 
bytery is  left  in  the  dark  where  to  fix  the  charge,  while  applications  are  made,  in  the 
meantime,  for  the  dismissal  of  members,  and  in  one  instance,  undue  methods  taken  to 
procure  a  dismission. 

"3.  The  manifest  impropriety  of  taking  Mr.  McKim  upon  trial,  de  novo,  in  that  Pres- 
bytery, while  he  naturally  belonged  to  another,  which  is  contrary  to  the  Form  of  Gov., 
Chap,  xiv.,  Sec.  2.  But  if  it  be  said  that?Mr.  McKim  found  it  more  convenient,  which 
may  appear  strange,  living,  as  he  did,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  to 
put  himself  under  the  care  of  the  Wilmington  Presbytery,  and  came  as  the  book  requires, 
with  testimonials  of  his  exemplary  piety,  and  other  requisite  qualifications,  certified  by 
two  Ministers  in  good  standing,  belonging  to  that  Presbytery  from  whence  he  came;  it  is 
not  at  all  applicable  to  his  case,  for  that  supposes  an  applicant,  who  had  not  before  been 
on  trial  in  any  other  Presbytery.  And  that  this  was  not  his  case,  the  Presbyteiy  of  Wil- 
mington had  sufficient  information,  as  appears  from  their  own  acknowledgments,  in  their 
correspondence  with  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  as  well  as  from  the  information  given  by 
Mr.  Dewitt,  to  prevent  the  certificate,  signed  by  him,  from  leading  the  Presbytery  of  Wil- 
mington astray. 

"  In  this  act  of  theirs,  they  have  gone  in  opposition  to  the  rules  of  the  Assembly.  See 
Digest,  Chap,  ii..  Sec.  1.,  4.,  on  page  61,  62,  63.  See  Digest  under  the  head  of  General 
Decisions,  Chap,  ii..  Sec.  2.  the  case  of  John  McClean,  on  page  318,  and  Chap.  iii. 
under  the  same  head,  on  sundry  points  of  order,  Sec.  4.  on  page  323,  also  Chap,  v.,  Sec.  8. 
Judicial  sentences  of  sister  Churches  to  be  respected. 

"  Thus,  Rev.  Fathers  and  Brethren,  in  this  Memorial  and  Petition,  together  with  the 
documents  therein  referred  to,  you  have  a  full  and  faithful  history  of  this  case,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end.  And  to  your  wisdom  and  prudence  we  leave  it  to  judge  how  far  it 
is  proper  to  meet  the  views  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  in  their  resolution,  appointing 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1836.  699 

a  committee  to  memorialize  and  petition  the  SynoJ,  to  revoke  the  licensure  of  Mr.  J.  M. 
McKim,  and  to  dissolve  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington. 
Signed  by  the-Committee  of  Presbytery. 

John  Moodet, 

Henry  R.  Wilson, 

James  Williamson,  Committee." 

— Minutes  of  Synod. 

§  140.    Charges  relative  to  the  organization  of  a  CJmrch. 

«  Whereas,  a  pro-re-nata  meeting  of  this  Presbytery,  was  had  on  the  19th  day  of  May 
last,  agreeably  to  a  call  of  the  Moderator,  to  take  into  consideration  an  act  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Wilmington,  appointing  a  committee  to  organize  a  Church  in  the  village  of  New- 
ark, within  the  bounds  of  a  Church  under  the  care  of  this  Presbytery;  and  whereas,  at 
that  meeting,  Messrs.  Samuel  Martin,  D.  D.,  White,  and  Graham,  with  the  Elders,  James 
Kelton  and  James  Love,  Sen.,  were  appointed  to  meet  the  Committee  of  Wilmington 
Presbytery,  and  remonstrate  against  their  proceeding  to  organize  a  Church  in  said  village, 
and  take  such  measures  as  to  them  might  appear  necessary  and  proper,  to  prevent  an  act 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  so  immediately  calculated  to  produce  collision  between 
the  two  Presbyteries,  and  to  disturb  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  Churches  in  whose 
bounds  the  contemplated  Church  was  to  be  organized;  and  whereas,  in  defiance  of  the 
remonstrance,  entreaties,  and  expostulations  of  the  Committee  of  this  Presbytery,  the 
committee,  or  rather  a  single  member  of  the  Committee  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington, 
did  proceed  to  organize  a  Church,  composed  of  nine  persons,  or  members,  several  of 
whom  had  no  fixed  residence,  thereby  evidently  setting  up  altar  against  altar,  to  the  grati- 
fication of  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  the  grief  of  the  pious,  and  laying  a 
foundation  for  unhallowed  collision  between  the  two  Presbyteries  and  Churches ;  and 
whereas  there  now  appears  to  be  no  means  of  redress,  but  for  this  Presbytery  to  complain 
to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  its  next  session,  of  the  unconstitutional,  unchristian,  and 
disorderly  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  and  its  Committee,  in  organizing  a 
Church  in  the  village  of  Newark — therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Samuel  Martin,  D.  D.,  James  Magraw,  D.  D.,  Messrs.  J.  N. 
C.  Grier,  James  Latta  and  Thomas  Love,  be  a  committee  in  the  name,  and  on  the  behalf 
of  this  Presbytery,  to  complain  of  the  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  and  its 
Committee,  in  the  premises,  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  at  its  sessions  in  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  to  pursue  all  necessary  measures  to  issue  said  complaint  before  Synod. 

A  true  copy, 

John  N.  C.  Grieh,  Staled  Clerk." 

— Minutes  of  Synod. 

§  141.    The  records  withheld. 

[The  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  was  required  to  produce  its  records  in  the  case  of  the 
Newark  church.    In  reply,  the  Clerk  of  Presbytery  communicated  the  following  extract:] 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington,  at  York,  Pennsylvania,  October  29th, 
1835,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  of  this  Presbytery  be  not  allowed  to  deliver  the 
records  or  papers  belonging  to  this  Presbytery  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  because  in 
our  judgment,  said  Synod  has  not  and  could  not  have  any  jurisdiction  over  this  Presby- 
tery prior  to  the  28th  day  of  October,  1835. 

"True  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington. 

Attest,  E.  W.  Gilbert,  Slated  Clerk. 

«  York,  Oct.  2<ith,  1835." 

«  Whereupon  it  was  Resolved,  That  the  above  plea  to  the  jurisdiction  of  this  Synod  be 
considered  as  no  bar  to  proceeding  in  this  case. 

"  Further  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  be  and  it  hereby  is  censured 
for  contumacy  in  withholding  its  records. 

"  And  further  Resolved,  That  the  act  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  in  organizing  a 
church  within  the  bounds  of  a  church  already  existing  and  connected  with  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  Castle,  was  disorderly  and  an  unkind  interference,  and  that  the  church  thus 
formed  be,  and  it  hereby  is  dissolved." 


700  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

[In  the  case  of  Mr.  McKim,  the  Presbytery  again,  for  the  same  reason,  refused  to  pro- 
duce their  records;   whereupon] 

"  It  was  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  be  censured  for  contumacy  in 
refusing  to  lay  their  records  on  the  table  of  Synod.  A  desultory  conversation  then  took 
place,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  at  what  time  Mr.  McKim  had  been  ordained  by  said 
Presbytery — when  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  Mr.  J,  M.  McKim  be  called  upon  as  a  member  of  this  Synod,  and  as 
in  a  court  of  conscience,  to  say  at  what  time  and  place  he  was  ordained.  This  question 
was  accordingly  asked  by  the  Moderator;  when  Mr.  McKim  declared  that  he  was  ordained 
on  Wednesday  morning,  the  same  day  the  Synod  met,  in  the  Session  Room  of  the  Ger- 
man Reformed  Church,  in  this  borough.     It  was  then 

"Resolved,  That  the  conduct  of  the  Wilmington  Presbytery,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  McKim, 
was  unconstitutional  and  grossly  disorderly. 

"  Further  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  be,  and  it  hereby  is  dissolved, 
and  the  Ministers,  licentiates,  candidates,  and  churches,  being  and  residing  on  the  north 
side  of  the  New  Castle  and  Frenchtown  Railroad,  including  the  church  in  New  Castle,  be 
transferred  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle;  and  the  Ministers,  licentiates,  candidates, 
and  churches,  being  and  residing  on  the  south  side  of  said  line,  be  transferred  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Lewes,  and  that  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  said  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  be 
directed  to  transfer  the  records  and  all  other  documents  belonging  to  said  Presbytery  to 
the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle." — Min.  of  Synod. 

[Appeals  and  complaints  on  behalf  of  each  of  these  Presbyteries  in  all  the  cases  thus 
decided,  were  carried  up  to  the  General  Assembly.] 

§  142.     The   Assemhlt/'s    Second  Preshytery   restored  and   geograpliically 

defined. 

"The  Assembly  resumed  tlie  unfinished  business  of  yesterday,  being  the 
appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia;  and  it  was 

^^  Resolved,  1.  That  the  petition  of  the  appellants  be  granted. 

"2.  That  all  the  Ministers  and  churches  now  connected  with  the  said 
Presbytery,  remain  in  their  present  relation  until  they  shall  signify  their 
desire  to  said  Presbytery  to  withdraw  from  it. 

"3.  The  boundaries  of  the  said  Presbytery,  to  be  as  follows;  viz.  East,  a 
line  running  from  the  Delaware  along  Tenth  street,  as  far  as  Coates's  street, 
and  thence  to  the  Township  line  road,  -^here  it  intersects  Broad  street,  and 
along  said  road  to  the  Southern  boundary  of  Montgomery  county,  including 
all  between  said  lines,  and  the  river  Schuylkill,  and  also  the  whole  of  the 
covinties  of  Berks  and  Schuylkill,  and  as  much  of  Chester  and  Philadelphia 
counties  as  lies  north  of  the  Conestoga  turnpike  road  from  Morgantowu  to 
the  Lancaster  turnpike  road,  and  along  this  latter  road  to  the  Schuylkill 
Permanent  Bridge :  Provided,  that  the  above  shall  not  be  construed  to  em- 
brace the  Ninth  Church  and  the  pastor  thereof;  but  the  same  shall  remain 
a  part  of  the  2d  Presbytery  (Synodical);  and,  provided  also,  that  the  Tenth 
Church  and  the  pastor  thereof,  be  authorized  to  unite  with  the  1st  Presby- 
tery, if  they  desire  it. 

^^  Resolved ,  That  the  2d  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  defined  and  bounded 
as  above,  be  hereafter  known  by  the  name  of  the  3d  Preshytertj  of  Philadel- 
X>hia." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  277. 

§  143.  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  restored. 

"  The  Assembly  took  up  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Gilbert  and  Mr.  Pickands 
in  behalf  of  themselves  and  others,  members  of  the  late  Presbytery  of  Wil- 
mington, against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  for  dissolving  them,  and  a  peti- 
tion to  be  restored  to  their  former  state  as  a  Presbytery." 

[After  hearing  the  parties,  it  was] 

"Resolve(l,  That  the  complaint  be  sustained,  and  the  petition  granted — 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY   OF   1837.  701 

and  the  Presbytery  are  hereby  restored  to  the  state  in  which  they  were  at 
the  time  of  their  organization  by  the  Synod ;  except  that  the  churcli  of  New 
Castle,  if  they  desire  it,  shall  have  the  privilege  of  uniting  with  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle." — Minutes,  1836,  p.  279. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837. 

Title  1. — Abrogation  or  the  Plan  of  Union. 

§144. 

"  The  Assembly  proceeded  to  the  order  of  the  day,  viz.  that  part  of  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Overture  No.  1,  which  relates  to  the  '  Plan  of 
Union'  adopted  in  1801. 

''The  report  was  read  and  adopted,  in  part,  as  follows,  viz. 

"In  regard  to  the  relation  existing  between  the  Presbyterian  and  Congre- 
gational Churches,  the  committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions : 

"1.  That  between  these  two  branches  of  the  American  Church,  there 
ought,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  to  be  maintained  sentiments  of 
mutual  respect  and  esteem,  and  for  that  purpose  no  reasonable  efiorts  should 
be  omitted  to  preserve  a  perfectly  good  understanding  between  these 
branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

"2.  That  it  is  expedient  to  continue  the  plan  of  friendly  intercourse,  be- 
tween this  Church  and  the  Congregational  Churches  of  New  England,  as  it 
now  exists." — Ilinutes,  1837,  p.  419. 

"3.  But  as  the  'Planof  Union' adopted  for  the  new  settlements,  in  1801, 
was  originally  an  unconstitutional  act  on  the  part  of  that  Assembly — these 
important  standing  rules  having  never  been  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries — 
and  as  they  were  totally  destitute  of  authority  as  proceeding  from  the  Gene- 
ral Association  of  Connecticut,  which  is  invested  with  no  power  to  legislate 
in  such  cases,  and  especially  to  enact  laws  to  regulate  Churches  not  within 
her  limits ;  and  as  much  confusion  and  irregularity  have  arisen  from  this 
unnatural  and  unconstitutional  system  of  union,  therefore,  it  is  resolved, 
that  the  Act  of  the  Assembly  of  ±801,  entitled,  a  '  Plan  of  Union,'  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby  abrogated."     [Yeas,  143.    Nays,  110.] — Jbid.  p.  421. 

§  145.  Protest  ogainst  the  ahrogation  of  the  Plan  of  Union. 

"  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  G  eneral  Assembly,  respectfully  present 
the  following  protest  against  the  resolution  of  said  Assembly,  adopted  on  the 
23d  ult.,  ahrogatiny  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  entitled  *a 
Plan  of  Union,'  &c.  and  for  the  following  reasons,  viz. 

"  1.  Because  the  said  act  is  declared,  in  the  resolution  complained  of,  to 
have  been  unconstitutional.  The  utmost  that  can  be  said  on  this  subject  is, 
that  it  is  an  act  neither  specifically  provided  for,  nor  prohibited,  in  the 
constitution.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  affirmed  to  be  contrary  to  the  consti- 
tution. 

"  The  constitution  provides,  that  before  any  constitutional  rules  proposed 
by  the   General  Assembly  to  be  established,  shall  be  obligatory  on  all  the 


702  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

Churches,  the  approval  of  them  by  a  majority  of  Presbyteries  must  be  first 
obtained.  (Form  of  Government,  Chap,  xii.,  Sec.  6.)  The  act  of  the  Assem- 
bly adopting  the  Plan  of  Union,  it  is  admitted,  was  not  previously  trans- 
mitted to  the  Presbyteries  for  their  approval.  It  does  not  therefore  follow, 
however,  that  that  act  was  unconstitutional;  because  the  provisions  of  the 
Plan  of  Union  were,  neither  in  fact,  nor  ever  regarded  by  any  of  the  Pres- 
byteries as  'constitutional  rules,'  'to  be  obligatory  on  all  the  Churches.' 
They  were  the  mere  terms  of  an  agreement,  or  treaty,  between  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
necticut, and  through  that  Association  with  all  the  Churches  which  have 
been  formed  according  to  the  terms  of  that  treaty. 

"  In  the  act  of  the  Assembly  adopting  that  Plan  of  Union,  the  General 
Assembly  being  constitutionally  '  the  bond  of  Union,  peace,  correspondence, 
and  mutual  confidence,  among  all  our  Churches,'  (Form  of  Government, 
Chap,  xii..  Sec.  4.)  merely  exercised  its  legitimate  functions,  agreeably  to 
the  constitution,  (Form  of  Government,  Chap,  i.,  Sec.  2.)  in  declaring  '  the 
terms  of  admission  into  the  communion'  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  pro- 
per to  be  required  on  the  frontier  settlements.  And  in  this  light  the  entire 
Presbyterian  Church  has  so  regarded  this  Plan  of  Union  from  its  adoption 
up  to  the  present  time,  when  the  abrogation  of  it  is  publicly  declared  by  the 
advocates  of  the  measure,  to  be  necessary  for  the  acquisition  and  perpetua- 
tion of  power  to  accomplish  the  ends  avowed  and  sought  by  the  minority  of 
the  last  General  Assembly,  and  prosecuted  by  means  of  a  convention,  called 
at  their  instance,  and  holding  its  sessions  cotemporancously  with  those  of  the 
Assembly.  For,  the  following  facts  are  undeniable,  viz.  1st.  That  the  Plan 
of  Union  now  declared  to  be  unconstitutional,  was  formed  twenty  years 
hefore  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church : 
2d.  That  this  Plan,  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  was  in 
full  and  efficient  operation,  and  of  acknowledged  authority  as  common 
law  in  the  Church:  3d.  That  it  had  been  recognized  and  respected,  in 
numerous  precedents,  in  the  doings  of  the  General  Assembly,  from  year  to 
year:  and  4th.  That  for  sixteen  years  since  the  adoption  of  this  constitu- 
tion, it  has  been  regarded  of  equal  authority  with  any  act  whatever  to 
which  the  General  Assembly  is  constitutionally  competent. 

"  Had  the  Plan  of  Union,  and  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  adopting 
it,  been  regarded  unconstitutional  and  null,  as  being  either  an  assumption  of 
power  not  granted,  or  a  trespass  on  the  rights  of  Presbyteries,  some  remon- 
strance, or  objection  to  the  imposition  of  constitutional  rules  for  the  govern- 
ment of  all  the  churches,  not  legitimately  enacted,  would  have  been  heard 
from  some  quarter  before  the  lapse  of  one-third  of  a  century.  Had  the  Plan 
of  Union  been  thought  illegal,  or  had  it  been  designed  or  desired,  by  the 
Presbyteries  in  1821,  when  the  Constitution  was  revised,  amended,  and 
adopted  by  them  a  second  time,  to  frustrate  or  resist  the  operation  of  this 
Plan,  unquestionably  either  the  revised  and  amended  Constitution  would 
have  had  embodied  in  it  some  provision  against  it,  or  some  attempt  at  least 
would  have  been  made  to  that  effect.  The  truth  is,  that  the  Plan  of  Union, 
adopted  by  the  General  Assembly,  was  felt  to  be  morally  binding  as  a  solemn 
agreement  or  treaty  duly  ratified  by  the  power  constitutionally  competent  to 
do  so,  and  by  no  means  the  enanctment  of  constitutional  rules  to  be  'obliga- 
tory on  all  the  churches'  for  their  government. 

"  It  is  to  no  purpose,  in  our  opinion,  to  allege  the  unconstitutionality  of 
the  Plan  of  Union,  by  pleading,  that  for  a  church  to  be  regarded  as  a  Pres- 
byterian cliurch,  it  must,  according  to  our  Constitution,  be  organized  with 
Ruling  Elders,  while  that  Plan  provides  for  the  organization  of  churches  in 


Part  XI.]  THE   ASSEMBLY   OF   1837.  703 

certain  cases  witliout  sucli  officers;  because  the  Plan  of  Union  designedly 
contemplates  a  process,  which  the  Assembly  was  constitutionally  competent 
to  prescribe,  and  which  the  entire  Church  had  approved,  by  which  churches 
on  the  frontier  settlements  may  be  organized  partially  at  first  on  the  Pres- 
byterian ground,  and  be  gradually  brought  fully  on  to  it;  and  because,  if 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  prescribing  the  full  form  of  organization 
proper  for  a  Presbyterian  church,  must  in  every  case  be  minutely  and  com- 
pletely observed,  and  any  deviation  from  it  should  vitiate  the  organization, 
then  must  those  numerous  Churches  among  us,  in  which  there  are  no  dea- 
cons, be  for  the  same  reason  pronounced  unconstitutional. 

"  The  attempt,  too,  to  prove  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  act  of  the 
Assembly  adopting  the  Plan  of  Union,  by  attributing  to  the  provisions  of 
that  plan  the  character  of  constitutional  rules  obligatory  on  all  the  churches, 
and  by  objecting  that  the  Presbyteries  had  not  been  previously  consulted, 
strikes  as  directly,  and  is  as  conclusive  against  the  plans  adopted  for  the 
organization  and  government  of  the  Theological  Seminaries  at  Princeton  and 
Allegheny,  of  the  Boards  of  Education  and  of  Missions,  and  for  the  union 
and  perpetuated  existence  of  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  who  were  admitted  into  commu- 
nion with  the  Presbyterian  Church  by  the  terms  of  a  Plan  of  Union  agreed 
upon  between  that  Synod  and  the  General  Assembly.  For  the  provisions 
of  these  plans  have  never  been  transmitted  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their 
approval.  If,  therefore,  the  Plan  of  Union  with  the  General  Association  of 
Connecticut  is  to  be  abrogated  because  of  alleged  vmconstitutionality  on 
these  grounds,  so  mvist  be  the  rules  and  regulations,  and  the  whole  organi- 
zation and  government  of  the  Theological  Seminaries  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  also  the  act  of  the  Assembly,  by  which  the  Presbyteries  of  the 
Associate  Reformed  Synod  were  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  ' 
these  United  States,  and  by  which  the  General  Assembly  became  possessed 
of  the  valuable  theological  library  known  as  the  Mason  Library,  now  in 
Princeton,  and  formerly  belonging  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod. 

"2.  We  protest  against  the  resolution  referred  to,  because  the  Plan  of 
Union  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  was  designed  to  suppress 
and  prevent  schismatical  contentions,  and  for  the  promotion  of  charity,  or, 
in  the  language  of  the  Plan  itself,  '  with  a  view  to  prevent  alienation  and 
promote  union  and  harmony,'  which,  through  a  long  series  of  years,  it  has 
been  efficient  in  doing,  and  has  proved,  both  itself  efficacious  to  do, 
and  the  wisdom  of  the  Assembly  in  its  projection  and  adoption;  both  which 
ends  the  General  Assembly  is  constitutionally  competent  to  design,  and  for 
which  it  is  invested  with  ample  authority  by  the  Constitution,  (Form  of 
Government,  Chap,  xii.,  Sec.  5,)  and  held  responsible  by  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church. 

''3.  We  protest  against  the  resolution  referred  to,  because  it  declares  the 
said  'Plan  of  Union"  to  have  been  'totally  destitute  of  authority  as  pro- 
ceeding from  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  which  is  invested  with 
no  power  to  legislate  in  such  cases.'  Even  on  the  assumption,  that  the  said 
Association  was  invested  with  no  such  power — which,  it  seems  to  us,  both 
indecorous  and  irrelevant  for  this  General  Assembly  to  assert  as  a  reason  for 
the  resolution  adopted — we  cannot  doubt  that  that  Association  had  full 
power  to  agree  to  the  stipulations  of  a  treaty  or  contract,  proposed  by  the 
General  Assembly,  and  urged  on  the  acceptance  of  the  General  Association ; 
and  especially,  when  it  is  considered,  that  by  acceding  to  the  said  stipula- 
tions, the  said  Association  relinquished  whatever  right  it  had  to  the  direc- 
tion and  regulation  of  the  members   of  its  own  churches  in  the  new  settle- 


704  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

ments,  and  allowed  and  influenced  them  to  increase,  both  the  numbers  and 
the  pecuniary  and  spiritual  strength  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  And  even 
if  the  Plan  referred  to  had  not  authority  in  so  far  as  it  emanated  from  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut,  which  we  by  no  means  admit,  it  was 
tinquestionably  binding  on  the  General  Assembly,  by  virtue  of  its  own 
engagement,  to  fulfil  its  own  obligations,  and  after  numerous  churches  had. 
been  formed  under  their  own  care,  the  obligations  of  the  "Plan  appear  to 
us  to  have  been  common  to  the  General  Assembly,  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut,  and  the  churches,  Presbyteries,  and  Synods  formed  in  pur- 
suance and  in  the  faith  of  it,  and  that  no  one  of  these  bodies  could  lawfully 
abrogate  it  without  the  consent  of  all  the  others.  Our  opinion  therefore  is, 
that  the  resolution  of  this  General  Assembly,  abrogating  the  said  Plan  of 
Union,  so  far  as  it  was  intended  to  aflFect  churches  already  formed  under  its 
provisions,  is  a  breach  of  faith,  and  wholly  void  and  of  no  effect;  that  all 
such  churches  have  a  right  to  continue  their  organization  on  the  conditions 
of  the  said  Plan;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Presbyteries,  the  Sj^nods, 
and  all  future  General  Assemblies  to  protect  them  in  that  right,  until  they 
shall  voluntarily,  under  the  kind  and  conciliatory  influence  of  the  aforesaid 
bodies,  adopt  the  Presbyterian  organization  in  full,  as  many  of  them  have 
already  done,  and  others,  we  are  happy  to  learn,  will  probably  soon  do,  if 
allowed  to  exercise  their  choice  unrestrained  by  the  attempted  exercise  of 
assumed  authority. 

"4.  We  protest  against  the  said  resolution,  because  it  denominates  the 
Plan  of  Union  unnatural,  as  well  as  unconstitutional,  and  attributes  to  it 
much  confusion  and  irregularity;  whereas,  it  appears  to  us  to  have  been  a 
most  natural,  wise,  and  benevolent  plan  for  promoting  the  unity,  increase, 
and  purity  of  the  Church  in  our  new  settlements,  and  that  its  operation  for 
thirty-sis  years,  with  but  such  occasional  irregularities  as  may  occur  under 
any  system  of  government,  has,  on  the  whole,  been  productive  of  benign 
and  happy  effects;  in  view  of  which  this  General  Assembly  and  the  whole 
Church  ought  to  cherish  sincere  and  devout  gratitude  to  God. 

'*  5.  We  protest  against  the  said  resolution,  because  the  mode  in  which 
it  was  brought  before  the  Assembly,  appears  to  us  to  have  been  exceedingly 
exceptionable,  it  having  been  in  substance  proposed  in  the  memorial  of  a 
convention,  of  whose  alleged  cause  and  objects,  and  of  most  of  whose  decla- 
rations, because  unaccompanied  with  satisfactory  proof,  we  wholly  disapprove, 
and  which  memorial,  as  coming  from  such  a  body,  we  think  this  Assembly 
ought  not  to  have  received  and  entertained,  especially  when  it  was  found  to 
contain  representations  of  the  state  of  the  Church,  in  our  opinion  not  justi- 
fied by  fact,  and  of  very  injurious  tendency.  Another  objection  to  the  mode 
in  which  the  said  resolution  was  brought  before  the  Assembly  is,  that  a 
majority  of  the  committee  to  whom  the  memorial  was  referred,  and  who 
reported  the  resolution  against  which  we  protest,  were  members  of  the  con- 
vention presenting  the  memorial. 

"G.  We  protest,  because  against  the  earnest  remonstrances  of  many  who 
are  best  acquainted  with  the  happy  effects  of  the  Plan  of  Union,  the  debate 
on  the  subject  was  arrested  by  an  impatient  call  for  the  previous  question, 
more  than  eighfi/  of  the  members  voting  for  it,  having  been  members  of  the 
convention  in  whose  name  the  said  memorial  was  presented.  The  Assem- 
bly was  thus  forced  to  a  decision  without  any  proper  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  alleged  irregularities,  and  before  the  subject  of  errors  in  doctrine 
had  been  discussed  in  the  Assembly,  notwithstanding  the  memorialists  had 
declared,  that  they  'complain  and  testify'  against  said  Plan  of  Union, 
'  chiefly  because  of  their  sincere  belief,  that  the  doctrinal  purity ,  of  our 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  705 

ancient  Confession  of  Faith  is  endangered,  and  not  because  of  any  prefer- 
ence for  a  particular  system  of  mere  Church  irovernment  and  discipline.' 

"  For  these  reasons,  the  undersigned  enter  this  their  solemn  protest. 
^^  PhiladeJpliiay  June  \st,  1837. 

''John  P.  Cleaveland,  William  Jessup,  Baxter  Dickinson,  Absalom 
Peters,  Henry  Brown,  Horace  Bushnell,  Harmon  Kingsbury, 
Timothy  Stillman,  David  Porter,  E.  W.  Gilbert,  Darius  0.  Gris- 
■wold,  John  B.  Richardson  James  B.  Shaw,  Washington  Thatcher, 
Thomas  Brown,  Thomas  Lounsbury,  Nahum  Gould,  Abner  Hol- 
lister,  Ephraim  Cutler,  William  Fuller,  Gardner  Hayden,  Robert 
Stuart,  Silas  West,  Marcus  Smith,  John  L.  Grant,  John  Gridley, 
Nathaniel  C.  Clark,  Varnum  Noyes,  Dudley  Williams,  George 
Spauldiiig,  John  Seward,  Edwin  Holt,  Alanson  Saunders,  Jona- 
than Cone,  J.  M.  Rowland,  J.  W.  McCullough,  Dewey  Whitney, 
H.  S.  Walbridge,  Horace  Hunt,  Samuel  Reed,  Rufus  Nutting, 
Zina  Whittlesey,  James  R.  Gibson,  Ben  net  Roberts,  Joseph  H. 
Breck,  Enoch  Kingsbury,  James  Boyd,  Eldad  Barber,  David 
Schenck,  Ira  Pettibone,  Lewis  H.  Loss,  Jonathan  Hovey,  J.  B. 
Preston,  Ambrose  White,  Wilfred  Hall,  John  S.  Martin,  George 
Painter,  Benjamin  Woodbury,  Burr  Bradley,  Ira  M.  Wead,  P.  W. 
Warriner,  T.  D.  Southworth,  Adam  Miller,  Jacob  Paris,  Alexan- 
der Campbell,  N.  S.  S.  Beman,  H.  H.  Hayes,  Henry  Brewster, 
N.  E.  Johnson,  Solomon  Stevens,  Daniel  Sayre,  William  C.  Wis- 
ner,  Isaac  J.  Rice,  Felix  Tracy,  Bliss  Burnap,  E.  Cheever,  E.  Sey- 
mour, Obadiah  Woodruff,  Frederick  W.  Graves,  James  I.  Ostrom, 
Philip  C.  Hay,  Jacob  Gideon,  David  B.  Ayers,  S.  W.  May, 
Ammi  Doubleday,  Robert  Aikman,  William  Roy,  Thomas  McAu- 
ley,  John  Leonard,  Calvin  Cutler,  Merit  Harmon,  F.  A.  McCor- 
kle,  James  W.  Phillips,  George  E.  Delavan,  James  A.  Cai'uahan, 
Obadiah  N.  Bush,  John  M'Sween,  George  Duffield,  S.  Benjamin, 
John  Crawford,  Fayette  Shipherd,  Thomas  Williams,  R.  Camp- 
bell."— Minutes,  1837,  p.  454. 

§  146.  Answer  to  this  Protest. 

"The  committee  to  whom  that  subject  was  referred,  beg  leave  to  present 
the  following  answer  to  the  protest  against  the  resolution,  abrogating  '  the 
Plan  of  LTuion,'  and  request  that  both  be  placed  on  your  minutes.  The 
reasons  of  protest  are  numbered  from  one  to  six.  No.  1  is  the  principal, 
and  therefore  we  prefer  leaving  it  to  the  last,  and  commencing  with  No.  2. 
'We  protest,'  say  the  minority,  'against  the  resolution  referred  to,  because 
the  Plan  of  Union  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1801,  was  designed 
to  suppress  and  j^^cvent  scliismatical  contentions,  and  for  the  pi^'oniotion  of 
charity.,  or,  in  the  language  of  the  Plan  itself,  'with  a  view  to  prevent  alien- 
ation and  promote  union  and  harmony.' 

"To  this  a  sufficient  answer  is  found  in  the  broad  and  undeniable  fact, 
that  'the  Plan  of  Union '  has  been  a  principal  means  of  dividing  the  Church 
and  this  General  Assembly  into  two  parties,  and  been  the  main  source  of 
those  schisms  which  for  many  years  have  distracted  our  Zion.  Whilst  it  is 
admitted,  that  in  some  instances  it  may  have  beneficially  affected  certain 
localities,  it  has  laid  the  deep  foundation  of  lasting  confusion,  and  opened 
wide  the  flood-gates  of  error  and  fanaticism.  For  proof  of  this,  we  have 
only  to  refer  to  the  recorded  votes  of  the  last  and  the  present  General 
Assemblies,  from  which  it  abundantly  appears,  that  the  representatives  of 
Churches  formed  on  this  plan  have  always  opposed  the  Boards  of  Education 
89 


706  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VIL, 

and  of  Missions,  and  the  efforts  toward  reform,  and  the  suppression  of  errors 
and  of  schisruatical  contentions. 

''No  3.  'Because  it  declares  the  said  Plan  of  Union  to  have  been 
totally  destitute  of  authorit}'^,  as  proceeding  from  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut,  which  is  invested  with  no  power  to  legislate  in  such  cases.' 

"In  reply  to  this,  let  it  be  remarked,  1st,  that  the  protesters  seeming  to 
admit  that  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  had  no  power  and  autho- 
rity to  bind  their  Churches,  yet  insist  that  the  General  Assembly  could 
make  a  treaty  or  covenant  that  should  be  binding  on  the  other  side  ;  and  the 
brethren,  in  arguing  the  case,  did  insist  on  the  'Plan'  being  of  the  nature 
of  a  covenant,  (although  no  such  term  is  contained  in  it,)  and  yet  one  of  the 
parties  to  this  covenant  had  no  authority  to  make  a  contract  and  to  make  it 
obligatory  on  their  Churches.  That  is,  a  contract,  treaty,  or  covenant  can 
exist  and  be  and  continue  for  ever,  binding  in  right  and  in  law  upon  one 
party,  whilst  the  other  party,  having  no  power  or  authority  to  bind  them- 
selves and  those  for  whom  they  plead  its  benefits,  never  could  be  bound. 
That  is,  a  treaty  or  covenant  may  exist  without  a  mutual  obligation ! 

"2dly.  The  protesters,  without  distinctly  affirming  it  again,  seem  willing 
that  the  reader  of  their  protest  should  believe  that  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut  had  power  to  bind  their  Churches — that  their  acts  participate 
of  the  nature  of  ecclesiastical  authority.  'By  acceding  to  said  stipulations,' 
(say  they,)  'the  said  Association  relinquished  whatever  right  it  had  to  the 
direction  and  regulation  of  the  members  of  its  own  Churches  in  the  new 
settlements.'  Now  these  remonstrants  know  perfectly  well,  that  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut  never  had,  never  claimed,  and  never  exercised 
any  right  at  all  '  to  the  direction  and  regulation  of  the  members  of  its  own 
Churches,'  even  in  Connecticut  itself,  much  less  'in  the  new  settlements.' 
The  'right'  of  counsel  and  advice  is  the  utmost  stretch  of  their  power  and 
authority.  And  this  General  Assembly  might  give  counsel  and  advice  to 
the  Churches  of  Connecticvit,  and  should  it  be  founded  in  truth,  it  is  just  as 
binding  upon  those  Churches  as  the  counsels  of  their  own  General  Associa- 
tion, i.  e.,  it  comes  divested  entirely  of  all  ecclesiastical  aiithoriti/. 

"3dly.  The  resolution  of  abrogation  is  alleged  to  be  'a  breach  of  faith, 
and  wholly  void  and  of  no  effect.'  This  is  begging  the  question  :  it  goes  on 
the  asmmptlon,  that  faith  was  plighted  of  right,  and  the  treaty,  so  called, 
lawfully  constituted;  which  we  have  supposed  to  be  the  very  point  in 
question. 

"No.  4.  'Because  it  denominates  the  Plan  of  Union  iinnatural  as  well 
as  unconstitutional,  and  attributes  to  it  much  confusion  and  irregularity.' 
A  sufficient  answer  to  this  is  found  in  the  preceding;  to  which  may  be 
added  a  single  remark  as  to  irregularity;  viz.  that  upon  inquiry  at  brethren 
who  came  in  upon  this  '  Plan,'  it  appeared  from  their  own  showing,  to  the 
abundant  conviction  of  this  General  Assembly,  that  there  were  some  mem- 
bers on  this  floor,  deliberating  and  voting  on  the  very  resolutions  in  question, 
who  had  never  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church. 

"No.  5.  The  fifth  reason  of  protest  is,  that  the  resolution  was  concocted 
and  brought  before  the  Assembly  by  members  of  this  body  who  had  pre- 
viously consulted,  in  the  form  of  a  convention,  and  memorialized  this  body 
on  the  subject:  and  that  a  majority  of  the  committee  to  whom  the  memo- 
rial was  referred  were  members  of  the  convention. 

"As  to  the  former,  let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  it  is  the  right  of  every  free- 
man and  the  duty  of  every  Christian,  before  entering  upon  any  great  and 
important  measure,  to  'ponder  the  path  of  his  feet,'  because  'in  the  multi- 
tude of  counsellors  there  is  safety.'  How  the  name  'convention,'  anymore 
than  the  name  'caucus,'  should  utterly  vitiate  their  counsel,  it  may  be  diffi- 
cult to  discern. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  707 

"As  to  the  latter,  it  maybe  remarked,  that  in  all  deliberative  bodies,  the 
principle  is  settled,  that  larp;e  committees  ought  to  be  selected  in  proportion 
to  the  respective  party  views  that  may  be  entertained  on  the  subject  com- 
mitted. The  wisdom  of  the  rule  is  obvious  to  common  sense,  and  the 
Moderator  of  this  Assembly  simply  carried  out  the  rule  in  this  case. 

"No.  6.  The  sixth  reason  of  protest  is,  'because  the  debate  on  the  sub- 
ject was  arrested  by  an  impatient  call  for  the  previous  question.  The 
Assembly  was  thus  forced  to  a  decision  without  any  proper  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  the  alleged  irregularities,  and  before  the  subject  of  errors  in 
doctrine  had  been  decided  on  in  the  Assembly.' 

"Here  remark,  Jirsf,  the  call  for  the  previous  question  was  not  impatient 
— it  was  asked  for  and  seconded  by  a  majority  of  the  house,  not  in  the 
spirit  of  violence  and  unjust  oppression  of  the  minority;  and,  secondly, 
there  was  no  unreasonable  curtailment  of  debate.  The  resolution  was  dis- 
cussed two  whole  days — a  period  of  time  perhaps  more  extended  than  was 
ever  before  allotted  or  allowed  by  any  General  Assembly  to  any  single  naked 
resolution.  And,  thirdly,  the  brethren  of  the  minority  occupied  the  floor 
more  than  one-half  of  the  time.  And  on  another  resolution,  where  the  dis- 
cussion w^as  arrested  by  the  previous  question,  it  was  just  at  the  close  of  two 
long  speeches  by  the  minority,  and  after  they  had  consumed  more  than  five 
hours  in  debate;  whereas,  the  majority  had  not  occupied  the  floor  two  hours 
and  a  half.  So,  utterly  groundless  is  the  insinuation  that  a  cruel  and  unjust 
use  has  been  made  of  the  previous  question. 

"'The  Assembly  was  thus  forced,'  say  the  protesters — 'the  Assembly  was 
forced!'  'Forced'  by  whom?  Undoubtedly,  by  itself — 'forced'  to  do  just 
as  it  wished  to  do — 'forced'  to  decide  by  a  strong  vote  on  a  subject  which 
had  been  discussed  two  whole  days  !     Strange  coercion  this ! ! 

"But, ybwr</i7y,  the  resolution  in  question  was  passed  before  the  doctrinal 
errors  were  condemned.  This  is  true.  But  it  is  also  true,  that  '  the  Assem- 
bly was  thus  forced,'  by  the  opposition  of  the  minority,  to  pass  by  the  doc- 
trinal discussion,  because  they  could  not  have  it  in  the  order  recommended 
by  their  committee.  Certain  alleged  errors  were  offered  by  the  minority, 
which  they  refused  to  have  put  in  their  proper  place;  but  insisted  on  having 
first  of  all  a  decision  upon  them  as  amendments;  which  attempt,  had  it 
been  successful,  would  have  precluded  their  discussion,  except  upon  a  vote 
of  reconsideration,  which  requires  two-thirds:  and  thus  the  majority  would 
have  been  completely,  as  to  these  alleged  errors,  in  the  power  of  the  minori- 
ty. Hence  they  were  laid  on  the  table,  to  be  taken  up  at  a  future  time. 
We  now  proceed  to 

"No.  1.  The  principal  reason  of  protest  is  in  these  words,  viz.  'Because 
the  said  act  is  declared,  in  the  resolution  complained  of,  to  have  been  uncon- 
stitutional.' 

"  In  opposition  to  the  resolution  declaring  the  Plan  of  Union  unconstitu- 
tional, it  would  appear  most  reasonable  that  the  protesters  should  affirm  its 
constitutionality;  i.  e.,  that  the  Constitution  covers  and  provides  for  it. 
This  ground,  however,  the  protesters  have  not  ventured  to  take.  On  the 
contrary,  they  explicitly  admit,  that  the  Constitution  makes  no  provision  for 
said  act — '  it  is,'  say  they,  '  neither  specifically  provided  for,  nor  prohibited 
in  the  Constitution.' 

"A  remark  or  two  will  show  that  in  this  they  have  abandoned  the  ground. 
For,  1.  The  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  like  that  of  our 
National  Union,  is  a  Constitution  of  specific  powers,  granted  by  the  Presby- 
teries, the  fountains  of  power,  to  the  Synods  and  the  General  Assembly. 
2.  No  powers,  not  specifically  granted,  can  lawfully  be  inferred  and  assumed 
by  the  General  Assembly,  but  only  such  as  are  indispensably  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  those  which  are   specifically  granted.     3.  Therefore  the 


708  THE   NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 


burden  of  proof  lies  upon  those  who  affirm  that  the  Assembly  had  power 
enact  this  '  Plan  of  Union.'     They  admit  that  there  is  no  specific  grant 


to 

of 

such  power;  they  are  bound  then  to  prove  that  its  exercise  was  indispensa- 
bly necessary,  in  order  to  carry  out  some  other  power  specifically  granted. 
Now  we  search  in  vain  for  any  such  proof  in  the  protest.  There  is,  we 
believe,  but  a  single  effort  of  the  kind.  This  effort  is  made  in  view  of  two 
distinct  and  distant  clauses  in  our  book.  (Form  of  Gov.,  Chap.  xii. 
Sec.  4.)  The  General  Assembly  'shall  constitute  the  bond  of  union,  peace, 
correspondence,  and  mutual  confidence  among  all  our  Chvu'ches.'  But  sure- 
ly here  is  no  power  granted  to  constitute  a  bond  of  union  with  churches  of 
another  denomination.  It  has  exclusive  reference  to  'all  our  Churches,' 
and  yet  the  protesters  refer  to  this  as  authority  for  forming  a  union  with  a 
denomination  not  holding  the  same  form  of  government. 

"An  equally  unsuccessful  attempt  is  made  upon  Chap.  i.  Sec.  2,  where 
the  book  affirms,  that  'any  Christian  Church,  or  Union  or  Association  of 
Churches,  is  entitled  to  declare  the  terms  of  admission  into  its  communion.' 
And  the  protesters  assert  here,  that  the  General  Assembly  exercised  this 
power  in  forming  'the  Plan  of  Union,'  and  so  declared  'the  terms  of  admis- 
sion into  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  proper  to  be  required 
in  the  frontier  settlements.' 

"  On  this  statement  two  remarks  seem  requisite;  first,  the  settling  of  the 
terms  of  communion,  we  had  thought,  was  the  highest  act  of  power — an  act 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  General  Assembly  itself — an  act  which  the  consti- 
tution itself  provides,  shall  be  done  only  by  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries. 
When,  we  ask,  did  the  Presbyterian  Church  'declare  the  terms  of  admission 
into  its  communion?'  Most  assuredly,  when  the  constitution  was  adopted. 
And  yet  the  protesters  in  this  case  aver,  that  the  'Plan  of  Union'  is  a  declara- 
tion of  the  terms  of  admission  into  our  communion  !  Could  they  affirm  more 
directly  its  unconstitutionality  ? 

"  The  other  remark  is,  that  the  Plan  of  Union  itself  does  not  prescribe 
the  terms  of  admission  into  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It 
prescribes  the  manner  in  which  Congregationalists  may  remain  out  of  this 
Church,  and  yet  exercise  a  controlling  and  governing  influence  over  its  eccle- 
siastical judicatories. 

"  In  the  entire  absence  of  all  proof,  that  the  power  exercised  in  forming 
the  Plan  of  Union,  was  indispensably  necessary  to  carry  out  a  power  speci- 
fically granted,  and  in  the  face  of  their  own  admission,  that  such  power  is 
not  specifically  given  to  the  General  Assembly,  we  conclude,  that  the  act  in 
question  was  without  any  authority,  and  must  be  null  and  void. 

"The  next  thing  worthy  of  notice,  is  the  criticism  on  the  phrases  'con- 
stitutional rules,'  and  'obligatory  on  all  the  Churches.'  This  Plan  of  Union, 
it  is  argued,  is  not  of  the  nature  of  constitutional  rules,  obligatory  on  all  the 
(churches,  and  therefore  it  was  not  necessary  that  it  should  have  been  sent 
down,  and  have  received  the  sanction  of  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries.  In 
presenting  this  argument,  the  protesters  admit,  that  if  the  Plan  did  embrace 
constitutional  rules,  the  Assembly  had  no  power  to  enact  it.  The  book, 
(Form  of  Gov.,  Chap.  xii.  Sec.  6,)  declares:  '  Before  any  overtures  or  regu- 
lations proposed  by  the  Assembly  to  be  established  as  constitutional  rules, 
shall  be  obligatory  on  the  Churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them 
to  all  the  Presbyteries,  and  to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of 
them  in  writing,  approving  thereof ' 

"This  was  not  done  with  the  Plan;  and  the  only  question  before  us  is, 
whether  it  is  an  alteration  of  the  constitution?  This  Assembly  affirms  that 
it  is  a  radical  and  thorough  change  of  the  entire  system.  On  which 
remark — 

"  1.  Our  book  describes  four  Church  courts,  viz.  the  Church  Session,  the 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY   OF   1837.  709 

Presbytery,  the  Synod,  and  the  General  Assembly.  And  (Cbap.  ix.)  it 
defines  *  the  Church  Session  to  consist  of  the  Pastor  or  Pastors  and  Ruling 
Elders  of  a  particular  congregation,'  and  intrusts  to  these,  as  permanent  offi- 
cers, the  government  of  that  Church.  But  the  Plan  of  Union  proA'ides  for 
no  such  thing.  It  expressly  dispenses  with  the  Church  Session,  and  leaves 
the  government  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  or  of  a  temporary  committee. 

"Again,  Chap.  x.  Sec.  2,  'A  Presbytery  consists  of  all  the  Ministers 
and  one  Ruling  Elder  from  each  congregation  within  a  certain  district.'  But 
the  Plan  of  Union  abrogates  this  provision.  It  does  not  merely  pass  it  by, 
but  absolutely  repeals  and  nullifies  it.  According  to  the  Plan,  a  Presbytery 
may  have  committee-men  less  or  more  in  it,  and  may  have  not  a  single 
Elder.  The  book  farther  states,  that  '  Every  Congregation  (i.  e.  of  Presbyte- 
rians as  before  described,)  which  has  a  stated  Pastor,  has  a  right  to  be  repre- 
sented by  one  Elder;  and  every  collegiate  Church,  (i.  e.  a  Church  with  two 
or  more  Ministers,)  by  two  or  more  Elders,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
pastors.'  Here  it  is  perfectly  obvious,  that  the  principle  of  equal  represent- 
ation in  Presbytery  is  aimed  at.  The  same  is  true  of  a  Synod,  Chapter  xi. 
'The  ratio  of  the  representation  of  Elders  in  the  Synod  is  the  same  as  in  the 
Presbytery.'  That  is,  every  Congregation,  governed  by  its  own  Session,  shall 
be  represented  in  Presbytery  and  Synod.  But  the  Plan  provides  for  Con- 
gregational committee-men,  sitting  and  acting  and  voting  in  Presbytery, 
although  it  also  provides  that  the  congregation  he  represents  shall  not  be 
under  the  government  of  the  Presbytery,  and  no  appeal  can  be  taken  from 
it  to  the  Presbytery,  even  by  a  Minister,  unless  the  Church  agree  to  it. 
Thus  the  power  of  government  is  in  the  hands  of  men  over  whom  that  gov- 
ernment does  not  extend.  It  is  surely  not  necessary  to  proceed  farther,  to 
show  that  the  Plan  is  an  abrogation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Presbyterian  system.  And  yet  the  protesters  say,  it  does  not  contain  con- 
stitutional rules.  No,  veiily,  but  it  is  a  mass  of  unconstitutional  usurpations, 
resulting  from  an  overstretch  of  power.  By  the  criticism  of  the  protest,  it 
is  denied  that  the  Plan  contains  constitutional  rules;  whereas,  in  the  first 
sentence  of  the  instrument  itself,  it  is  called  '  a  plan  of  government  for  the 
Churches  in  the  new  settlements.'  And  the  second  sentence  runs  thus : 
'  regulations  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly,'  &c.  Now  if  re(/ulations  are 
not  rules,  language  has  lost  its  meaning;  and  if  regulations  containing  'a 
plan  of  government  for  the  Churches,'  are  not  intended  to  be  binding,  and 
do  not  touch  the  constitution,  we  are  utterly  at  a  loss  to  see  how  rules  and 
regulations  could  be  expressed.  The  article  in  question  has  been  called  '  a 
Plan  of  Union,'  'a  contract,'  'a  covenant,'  none  of  which  phrases  is  found 
in  the  document  itself.  It  declares  itself  to  be  'regulations'  containing  'a 
plan  of  government  for  the  Churches.'  Now  the  General  Assembly  never 
had  the  power  to  establish  'regulations'  and  a  new  'plan  of  government/ 
the  Plan  is  therefore  null  and  void. 

"  But,  we  are  told,  these  governmental  regulations  were  not  binding  on  all 
tlie  Churches.  Were  they  not,  indeed?  Have  they  not  given  rise  to  hetero- 
geneous bodies,  who  have  come  up  here  and  bound  us  almost  to  our  undo- 
ing? Have  they  not  bound  with  green  withes  and  new  cords  this  body  and 
its  Boards  of  Education  and  Missions?  Have  they  not  well  nigh  shorn  us  of 
the  locks  of  our  strength,  and  forbidden  us  to  go  forth  into  the  field  of  mis- 
sionary conflict  against  the  foes  of  our  God  and  King?  Surely  these  protesters 
will  not  say  the  regulations  are  not  binding  upon  all  the  Churches. 

"But,  again,  we  are  told  in  the  protest,  they  are  of  long  standing  and 
have  acquired  the  force  of  common  law.  Does  long  use  constitute  law?  Then 
it  would  follow  that  concubinage  and  polygamy  exist  of  moral  right. 

"Again,  we  are  told,  that  this  'plan  of  government'  was  in  existence  twenty 


710  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

years  prior  to  tlio  last  adoption  of  our  constitution;  and  the  inference  is, 
that  therefore  it  is  binding,  and  was  viewed  as  a  contract  to  be  kept  in  good 
faith.  The  fair  inferences,  however,  from  the  fact,  ought  to  be,  that  this 
*phm  of  government'  was  not  submitted  to  our  Presbyteries  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  is  therefore  not  binding;  and  that  this  neglect  was  owing  to 
the  circumstance  that  it  was  theu  little  known,  and  its  evils  were  not  all 
developed. 

"Again,  we  are"told  in  the  protest,  in  reference  to  this  new  'plan  of  gov- 
ernment,' that  its  omission  of  elders,  being  expressly  provided  for  and 
designed,  does  not  'vitiate  the  organization — for  then  must  numerous 
churches  among  us,  in  which  there  are  no  deacons,  be  for  the  same 
reason  pronounced  unconstitutional.'  And  we  are  free  to  confess,  that,  if  the 
constitution  made  the  deacon  a  ruling  officer  in  the  Church,  he  must  be  found 
in  our  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  his  absence  would  nullify  their  constitutional 
existence.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case.  The  deacon's  office  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  in  our  book,  is  limited  to  'serving  tables.'  The  argument 
therefore  is  lame,  and  shows  its  eastern  birth. 

"Again,  the  protest  affirms  that  the  argument  against  this  'plan  of  gov- 
ernment for  the  churches,'  because  it  was  not  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries, 
strikes  equally  against  the  Theological  Seminaries,  the  Boards  of  Education 
and  of  Missions,  and  also  against  the  admission  of  the  Presbyteries  of  the 
Associate  Reformed  Synod  into  this  Church. 

"Let  us  touch  these  in  their  order:  and  first,  the  Theological  Seminaries. 
Here,  again,  if  our  protesters  can  show  that  these  Seminaries  are,  in  the 
language  of  our  book,  '  constitutional  rules — obligatory  on  the  Churches,'  or, 
even  in  the  language  of  their  favourite  Plan,  'regulations,'  and  'a  plan  of 
government  for  the  churches  in  the  new  settlements,'  we  will  give  up  the  argu- 
ment, and  Princeton  and  the  Western  Seminaries  and  all.  But  if,  as  every 
one  knows,  the  constitutions  and  regulations  of  these  Seminaries  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  government  of  the  Churches,  any  more  than  the  private  regu- 
lations of  a  private  clergyman,  for  his  private  class  of  students,  then  is  this 
argument  null  and  void  from  the  beginning.  As  to  the  power  in  the  Assem- 
bly to  organize  a  Seminary,  it  may  be  found  in  the  book,  (Form  of  Govern- 
ment, Chap.  xii.  Sec.  5,)  under  the  general  power  'of  superintending  the 
concerns  of  the  whole  Church,'  none  of  which  concerns  is  of  more  vital 
importance  than  that  of  providing  an  efficient  ministry:  also  to  them  belongs 
the  power  of  'promoting  charity,  truth,  and  holiness,  through  all  the 
Churches  under  their  care.'  Now,  the  training  of  a  pious  and  orthodox  ;Min- 
istry  is  the  most  eff'ectual  mode  of  accomplishing  this  work,  and  clearly 
places  Theological  Seminaries  within  the  Assembly's  power. 

"The  same  remarks  are  relevant  and  true,  in  reference  to  the  Board  of 
Education. 

"As  to  the  Board  of  Missions,  '  the  superintending  of  the  concerns  of  the 
whole  Church'  cannot  be  carried  out  without  missions ;  and  the  Form  of 
Government,  Chap,  xviii.,  expressly  provides  for  them,  and  grants  to  the 
Assembly  power  over  this  very  business.  It  reads  thus :  '  The  General 
Assembly  may,  of  their  own  knowledge,  send  missions  to  any  part  to  plant 
Churches  or  to  supply  vacancies;  and,  for  this  purpose,  may  direct  any 
Presbytery  to  ordain  Evangelists,  or  Ministers,  without  relation  to  any  parti- 
cular Churches.'  How  utterly  unreasonable,  then,  for  the  protesters  to  deny 
the  Assembly's  power  to  institute  a  Board  of  Missions  ! 

"As  to  the  Mason  Library  and  the  Associate  lleformed  Churches,  it  may 
be  necessary  only  to  remark,  that  the  two  Presbyteries  of  New  York  and  of 
Philadelphia — the  only  parts  which  came  into  this  Presbyterian  Church — 
were,  from  their  beginning,  Fresbijteruin,  according  to  the  strictest  order; 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY   OF   1837.  711 

holding  the  same  identical  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  and  Presbyte- 
rian Form  of  Church  Government:  it  is  therefore  difficult  to  perceive  how 
the  admission,  by  the  General  Assembly,  of  strict  and  rigid  Presbyterians 
into  their  connection,  could  be  either  extra  or  unconstitutional.  The  act  or 
their. admission  did  not  create  'regulations,'  and  'a  plan  of  government  for 
the  Churches,'  as  did  'the  Plan'  in  question  :  it  was  not  'an  overture  or 
regulation  for  establishing  constitutional  rules,  obligatory  on  the  Churches,' 
and  therefore  its  transmission  to  all  the  Presbyteries  was  not  necessary. 

"Finally,  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  'plan  of  government  for  the 
Churches  in  the  new  settlements,'  abrogated  by  this  resolution,  is  further 
demonstrated  by  a  reference  to  Form  of  Government,  Chap,  xii.,  Sec.  1, 
which  says,  'The  General  Assembly  is  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  It  shall  represent,  in  one  body,  all  the  particular  Churches 
of  this  denomination,'  and  subsequently,  it  dehnes  the  ratio  of  representa- 
tion. Now,  it  has  been  proved,  on  the  open  floor  of  this  General  Assembly, 
by  the  protesters  themselves,  that  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Ileserve,  which 
was  formed  on  this  'plan  of  government/  and  which  contains  one  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  particular  Churches,  has  only  from  twenty-four  to  thirty 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  it ;  and  yet  that  Synod  claim  a  right  to  twenty 
representatives  here  !  Whom  do  these  twenty  represent  ?  Certainly  not 
'particular  Churches  of  this  denomination,'  as  our  book  says.  No,  but  Con- 
gregational Churches,  which,  by  the  terms  of  our  book,  and  the  whole  repre- 
sentative spirit  of  our  system,  have  no  right  to  be  represented  here,  and  to 
judge  and  vote  here,  under  a  constitution  which  they  deny  to  be  binding 
upon  themselves.  With  no  greater  impropriety  would  unnaturalized 
foreigners  claim  the  right  of  franchise  in  our  country,  and  of  eligibility  to 
office  in  our  legislatures,  our  supreme  judicial  tribunals,  and  the  executive 
departments  of  our  States  and  the  nation.  Besides,  it  has  been  shown  by 
themselves  here,  that  this  'plan  of  government'  has  been  here  violated,  by 
those  claiming  privileges  under  it,  sending  men  to  the  Assembly  who  had 
never  adopted  our  constitution. 

"  We  therefore  conclude,  that  the  reasonings  of  the  protesters  is  falla- 
cious;  the  'plan  of  government'  adopted  in  1801  is,  and  ever  has  been, 
unconstitutional,  and  therefore  this  General  Assembly  ought  to  declare,  as  it 
has  done  in  the  resolution  protested  against,  that  it  is,  from  the  beginning, 
null  and  void." — Minutes,  1837,  pp.  458-461. 

Title  2. — Process  against  Disorderly  Colfrts. 

[A  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  charges,  &c.;  for  which,  and  protest  and  reply 
upon  it,  see  Booii  III,  §§  174—176.] 

§  147.    Certain  Synods  achnonished. 

[On  the  last  day  of  the  Sessions  of  the  Assembly] 

"Dr.  Cuyler,  from  the  committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report  to  the 
Assembly  on  the  subject  of  citing  inferior  judicatories,  presented  a  report, 
which  was  amended  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  committee  believe,  that,  for  the  present,  there  is  no  urgent  necessi- 
ty to  cite  any  inferior  judicatories;  and  after  what  has  been  done  toward  the 
reform  of  the  Church  during  the  present  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly, 
they  believe  it  will  be  best  to  wait  for  a  time,  without  further  decisive 
action,  in  the  hope  that  those  portions  of  the  Church  against  which  serious 
charges  are  still  made  by  common  fame,  will  see  the  necessity  of  taking 
order  on  the  subject,  and  doing,  without  delay,  what  truth  and  righteous- 
ness may  require  of  them. 

"  We  deem  it  proper,  however,  to  say,  that  several  of  the  Synods  are  so 


712  TnE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

seriously  charpjed,  in  several  respects,  that  this  Assembly  would  be  wanting 
in  faithfulness  to  itself,  to  them,  and  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  as  well  as  to 
the  principles  of  justice  and  fair  dealing,  in  carrying  out  its  own  principles, 
if  it  did  not  specially  urge  several  of  them  to  give  proinpt  and  particular 
attention  to  certain  matters,  in  which  they,  or  some  of  their  Presbyteries  or 
Churches,  are  specially  charged.  We,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Synods  of  Albany  and  New  Jersey  be  enjoined 
to  take  special  order  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  irregularities  in  church 
order,  charged  by  common  fame  upon  some  of  their  Presbyteries  and 
Churches. 

"2.  That  the  Synod  of  Michigan  be  enjoined  to  take  special  order  in 
regard  to  the  subject  of  errors  in  doctrine,  so  charged  upon  all  its  Presby- 
teries. 

''3.  That  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  be  enjoined  to  take  special  order  in 
regard  to  error  in  doctrine,  so  charged  as  being  connived  at  by  several  of 
its  Presbyteries,  and  held  by  some  of  its  members. 

"4.  That  the  Synod  of  Illinois  be  enjoined  to  take  special  order  in 
regard  to  errors  in  church  order  and  errors  in  doctrine,  so  charged  upon 
several  of  its  Presbyteries. 

^'5.  That  besides  the  general  reference  to  the  word  of  Grod  and  our  stand- 
ards, we  refer  the  Synods  above  named  to  the  testimony  of  this  General 
Assembly,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  errors  and  irregularities  intended  by  it,  in 
these  resolutions.  And  said  Synods  are  enjoined  to  take  order  on  the  sub- 
jects now  referred  to  thera  for  consideration  and  action,  at  their  fii'st  stated 
meeting  after  this  Assembly  adjourns;  and  to  report  their  doings  herein, 
with  whatever  else  seems  to  them  necessary  to  elucidate  the  whole  subject, 
in  writing,  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

"6.  And  the  said  five  Synods  are  especially  enjoined,  and  all  other 
Synods  in  our  bounds  are  required,  to  cause  to  be  laid  before  the  next 
General  Assembly,  as  far  as  possible,  copies  of  all  the  abbreviated  creeds  and 
church  covenants  in  use  amongst  their  Churches;  which  subject  is  also  par- 
ticularly commended  to  all  our  Presbyteries,  both  in  relation  to  the  present 
demand,  and  with  reference  to  the  testimony  of  this  Assembly  on  that  sub- 
ject."—/^*/tZ.  p.  496. 

Title  3. — Committee  of  Conference,  on  amicable  separation, 

§148. 

"Mr.  Breckinridge  gave  notice  that  he  would  to-morrow  morning  offer  a 
resolution  to  appoint  a  committee,  to  consist  of  equal  numbers  from  the  ma- 
jority and  minority  on  the  vote  to  cite  inferior  judicatories,  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  a  voluntary  division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

"  Agreeably  to  notice  given  last  evening,  Mr.  Breckinridge  moved  that  a 
committee  of  ten  members,  of  whom  an  equal  number  shall  be  from  the  ma- 
jority and  minority  of  the  vote  on  the  resolutions  to  cite  inferior  judicatories, 
be  appointed  on  tlae  state  of  the  Church. 

"Dr.  Junkin  and  Mr.  Ewing,  on  the  part  of  the  majority,  and  Messrs.  A. 
Campbell  and  Jcssup,  on  the  part  of  the  minority,  were  appointed  to  nomi- 
nate each  five  members  of  the  committee  on  the  foregoing  resolutions. 

"Dr.  Junkin  and  Mr.  Campbell,  from  the  committees  to  nominate  the 
Committee  of  Ten  on  the  State  of  the  Church,  respectively  reported,  the  fol- 
lowing nominations,  viz.  Mr.  Breckinridge,  Dr.  Alexander,  Dr.  Cuyler,  Di-. 
Witherspoon,  and  Mr.  Ewing,  on  the  part  of  the  majority ;  and  Dr.  M' Auley, 
Dr.  Beman,  Dr.  Peters,  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  Mr.  Jcssup,  on  the  part  of  the 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  713 

minority.  The  report  was  adopted;  and  the  committee  was  directed  to  meet 
in  this  house,  at  the  rising  of  the  Assembly  this  morning,  and  afterwards  on 
their  own  adjournments. 

''On  motion,  The  Assembly  engaged  in  prayer,  on  behalf  of  this  com- 
mittee, and  of  the  subject  referred  to  them." — Minutes,  1837,  pp.426,  427. 

"The  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church  reported,  by  their  chairman, 
Dr.  Alexander,  that  they  had  not  been  able  to  agree,  and  asked  to  be  dis- 
charged. 

"  Both  portions  of  the  committee  then  made  separate  reports,  accom- 
panied by  various  papers,  which  reports  and  papers  were  ordered  to  be 
entered  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly,  and  are  as  follows,  viz. 

§  149.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Majority. 

''The  Committee  of  the  Majority,  from  the  United  Committee  on  the 
State  of  the  Church,  beg  leave  to  report : 

"That  having  been  unable  to  agree  with  the  Minority's  Committee  ou 
any  plan  for  the  immediate  and  voluntary  separation  of  the  New  and  Old- 
school  parties  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  they  lay  before  the  General 
Assembly  the  papers  which  passed  between  the  committees,  and  which  con- 
tain all  the  important  proceedings  of  both  bodies. 

"These  papers  are  marked  1  to  5  of  the  majority,  and  1  to  4  of  the 
minority.*  A  careful  examination  of  them  will  show  that  the  two  com- 
mittees were  agreed  in  the  following  matters,  namely : 

"1.  The  propriety  of  a  voluntary  separation  of  the  parties  in  our  Church, 
and  their  separate  organization. 

"2.  As  to  the  corporate  funds,  the  names  to  be  held  by  each  denomina- 
tion, the  Records  of  the  Church,  and  its  Boards,  and  Institutions. 

"It  will  further  appear,  that  the  committees  were  entirely  unable  to  agree, 
on  the  following  points,  namely: 

"1.  As  to  the  propriety  of  entering  at  once,  by  the  Assembly,  upon  the 
division,  or  the  sending  down  of  the  question  to  the  Presbyteries. 

"2.  As  to  the  power  of  the  Assembly  to  take  effectual  initiative  steps,  as 
proposed  by  the  majority ;  or  the  necessity  of  obtaining  a  change  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Church. 

"3.  As  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  succession  of  this  General  Assembly, 
so  that  neither  of  the  new  Assemblies  proposed,  to  be  considered  this  pro- 
per body  continued ;  or  that  the  body  which  should  retain  the  name  and 
institutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  should  be  held  in  fact  and  law,  to  be  the  true 
successors  of  this  body.  AVhile  the  Committee  of  the  Majority  were  per- 
fectly disposed  to  do  all  that  the  utmost  liberality  could  demand,  and  to  use 
in  all  cases  such  expressions  as  should  be  wholly  unexceptionable;  yet  it 
appeared  to  us  indispensable  to  take  our  final  stand  on  these  grounds. 

"  For,  first,  we  are  convinced  that  if  anything  tending  towards  a  volun- 
tary separation  is  done,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  do  it  eff"ectually,  and  at 
once. 

"  Secondly.  As  neither  party  professes  any  desire  to  alter  any  constitutional 
rule  whatever,  it  seems  to  us  not  only  needless,  but  absurd,  to  send  down 
an  overture  to  the  Presbyteries  on  this  subject.  We  believe,  moreover,  that 
full  power  exists  in  the  Assembly,  either  by  consent  of  parties,  or  in  the  way 
of  discipline,  to  settle  this,  and  all  such  cases;  and  that  its  speedy  settle- 
ment is  greatly  to  be  desired. 

"  Thirdly.  In  regard  to  the  succession  of  the  General  Assembly,  this  com- 

*  There  is  a  niisarrangement  of  these  papers  in  the  printeJ  Minutes,  which  is  here  rectified. 

90 


714  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

niittee  could  not  in  present  circumstances,  consent  to  anything  that  should 
even  imply  the  final  dissolution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  now  organized 
in  this  country;  which  idea,  it  will  be  observed,  is  at  the  basis  of  the 
plan  of  the  minority;  insomuch  that  even  the  body  retaining  the  name  and 
institutions  should  not  be  considered  the  successor  of  this  body. 

"  Fi.nallt/.  It  will  be  observed  from  our  fifth  paper,  as  compared  with  the 
fourth  paper  of  the  Minority's  Committee,  that  the  final  shape  which  their 
proposal  assumed,  was  such,  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  majority  of  the 
House  to  carry  out  its  views  and  wishes,  let  the  vote  be  as  it  might.  For  if 
the  House  should  vote  for  the  plan  of  the  Committee  of  the  Majority,  the 
other  committee  would  not  consider  itself,  or  its  friends,  bound  thereby :  and 
voluntari/  division  would  therefore  be  impossible,  in  that  case.  But  if  the 
House  should  vote  for  the  minority's  plan,  then — the  foregoing  insuperable 
objections  to  that  plan  being  supposed  to  be  surmounted — still  the  whole 
case  would  be  put  off,  perhaps  indefinitely. 

''  A.  Alexander,  C.  C.  Cuyler,  J.  Witherspoon,  N.  Ewing,  R.  J.  Breck- 
inridge." 

§  150.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Mino7-iti/. 

''The  subscribers,  appointed  members  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  on  the 
State  of  the  Church,  respectfully  ask  leave  to  report,  as  follows: 

"It  being  understood  that  one  object  of  the  appointment  of  said  committee 
was  to  consider  the  expediency  of  a  voluntary  division  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  to  devise  a  plan  for  the  same,  they,  in  connection  with  the 
other  members  of  the  committee,  have  had  the  subject  under  deliberation. 

"The  subscribers  had  believed  that  no  such  imperious  necessity  for  a 
division  of  the  Church  existed,  as  some  of  their  brethren  supposed,  and 
that  the  consequences  of  division  would  be  greatly  to  be  deprecated.  Such 
necessity,  however,  being  urged  by  many  of  our  brethren,  we  have  been 
induced  to  yield  to  their  wishes,  and  to  admit  the  expediency  of  a  division, 
provided  the  same  could  be  accomplished  in  an  amicable,  equitable,  and 
proper  manner.  We  have  accordingly  submitted  the  following  propositions 
to  our  brethren  on  the  other  part  of  the  same  committee,  who  at  the  same 
time  submitted  to  us  their  proposition,  which  is  annexed  to  this  report. 

"  [Here  read  the  Proposition  marked  Minority  No.  1,  and  Majority  No. 

"Being  informed  by  the  other  members  of  the  committee,  that  they  had 
concluded  not  to  discuss  in  committee  the  propositions  which  should  be 
submitted,  and  that  all  propositions  on  both  sides  were  to  be  in  writing,  and 
to  be  answered  in  writing,  the  following  papers  passed  between  the  two 
parts  of  the  committee : — Here  read, 
No.  2,  Minority  paper. 

2,  Majority     " 

3,  Majority     " 

3,  Minority     " 

4,  Majority     " 

4,  Minority     " 

5,  Majority     " 

"From  these  papers  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  only  question  of  any  import- 
ance upon  which  the  committee  difi"ered,  was  that  proposed  to  be  submitted 
to  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  as  preliminary  to  any  action  upon  the 
details  of  either  plan.  Therefore,  believing  that  the  members  of  this  As- 
sembly have  neither  a  constitutional  nor  moral  right  to  adopt  a  plan  for  a 
division  of  the  Church,  in  relation  to  which  they  are  entirely  uninstructed 
by  the  Presbyteries ;  believing  that  the  course  proposed  by  their  brethren 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  715 

of  the  committee  to  be  entirely  inefficacious,  and  calculated  to  introduce 
confusion  and  discord  into  the  whole  Church,  and  instead  of  mitigating,  to 
enhance  the  evils  which  it  proposes  to  remove ;  and  regarding  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  themselves,  with  the  modifications  thereof,  as  before  stated,  as  pre- 
senting in  general  the  only  safe,  certain,  and  constitutional  mode  of  division, 
the  subscribers  do  respectfully  present  the  same  to  the  Assembly  for  their 
adoption  or  rejection. 

"■  Thomas  M' Auley,  N.  S.  S.  Beman,  Absalom  Peters,   B.  Dickinson, 
William  Jessup." 

§  151.  No.  1,  of  the  Majority. 

''The  portion  of  the  committee  which  represents  the  majority,  submit  for 
consideration : 

*'  1.  That  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  require  a  separation  of  the  portions  called  respectivel'y  the 
Old  and  New-school  parties,  and  represented  by  the  majority  and  minority 
in  the  present  Assembly. 

"  2.  That  the  portion  of  the  Church  represented  by  the  majority  in  the 
present  General  Assembly,  ought  to  retain  the  name  and  the  corporate  pro- 
perty of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

"3.  That  the  two  parties  ought  to  form  separate  denominations,  under 
separate  organizations;  that  to  effect  this  with  the  least  delay,  the  Commis- 
sioners in  the  present  General  Assembly  shall  elect  which  body  they  will 
adhere  to,  and  this  election  shall  decide  the  position  of  their  Presbyteries 
respectively,  for  the  present;  that  every  Presbytery  may  reverse  the  deci-^ 
sion  of  its  present  Commissioners,  and  unite  with  the  opposite  body  by  the 
permission  of  that  body  properly  expressed ;  that  minorities  of  Presbyteries, 
if  large  enough,  or  if  not,  then  in  connection  with  neighbouring  minorities, 
may  form  new  Presbyteries,  or  attach  themselves  to  existing  Presbyteries^ 
in  union  with  either  body,  as  shall  be  agreed  on;  that  Synods  ought  to 
take  order  and  make  election  on  the  general  principles  already  stated ;  and 
minorities  of  Synods  should  follow  out  the  rule  suggested  for  minorities  of 
Presbyteries,  as  far  as  they  are  applicable." 

§  152.  No.  1,  of  the  Minority. 

"  Whereas,  the  experience  of  many  years  has  proved  that  this  body  is 
too  large  to  answer  the  purposes  contemplated  by  the  Constitution,  and 
there  appear  to  be  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  reducing  the  repre- 
sentation : 

*' And  whereas,  in  the  extension  of  the  Church  over  so  great  a  territory, 
embracing  such  a  variety  of  people,  difference  of  view  in  relation  to  import- 
ant points  of  Church  policy  and  action,  as  well  as  theological  opinion,  are 
found  to  exist : 

''Now,  it  is  believed,  a  division  of  this  body  into  two  separate  bodies, 
which  shall  act  independently  of  each  other,  will  be  of  vital  importance  to 
the  best  interests  of  the  lledeemer's  kingdom. 

"  Therefore,  Resolved,  That  the  following  rules  be  sent  down  to  the 
Presbyteries  for  their  adoption  or  rejection  as  constitutional  rules,  to  wit: 

"  1.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America  shall  be,  and  it  hereby  is  divided  into  two  bodies;  the  one 
thereof  to  be  called  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  other,  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  2.  That  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Government  of  the  Pres- 


71^  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

byterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  as  it  now  exists,  shall 
continue  to  be  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Government  of  both 
bodies,  until  it  shall  be  constitutionally  changed  and  altered  by  either,  in 
the  manner  prescribed  therein. 

"  8.  That  in  sending  up  their  Commissioners  to  the  next  General  Assem- 
bly, each  Presbytery,  after  having,  in  making  out  their  commissions,  fol- 
lowed the  form  now  prescribed,  shall  add  thereto  as  follows :  '  That  in  case  a 
majority  of  the  Presbyteries  shall  have  voted  to  adopt  the  plan  for  organ- 
izing two  General  Assemblies,  we  direct  our  said  Commissioners  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  '  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
United  States  of  America,'  or  the  '  American  Presbyterian  Church,'  as  the 
case  may  be.'  And  after  the  opening  of  the  next  General  Assembly,  and 
before  proceeding  to  other  business  than  the  usual  preliminary  organization, 
the  said  Assembly  shall  ascertain  what  is  the  vote  of  the  Presbyteries,  and 
in  case  a  majority  of  said  Presbyteries  shall  have  adopted  these  rules, 
then  the  two  General  Assemblies  shall  be  constituted  and  organized  in  the 
manner  now  pointed  out  in  the  Form  of  Government,  by  the  election  of 
their  respective  Moderators,  Stated  Clerks,  and  other  officers. 

"4.  The  several  Presbyteries  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  belong  to  that 
Assembly  with  which  they  shall  direct  their  Commissioners  to  meet,  as 
stated  in  the  preceding  rule.  And  each  General  Assembly  shall,  at  their 
first  meeting  as  aforesaid,  organize  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  each  into 
Synods.  And  in  case  any  Presbytery  shall  fail  to  decide  as  aforesaid  at 
that  time,  they  may  attach  themselves  within  one  year  thereafter  to  the 
Assembly  they  shall  prefer. 

•  "  5.  Churches  and  members  of  Churches,  as  well  as  Presbyteries,  shall  be 
at  full  liberty  to  decide  to  which  of  said  Assemblies  they  will  be  attached, 
and  in  case  the  majority  of  male  members  in  any  Church  shall  decide  to 
belong  to  a  Presbytery  connected  with  the  Assembly  to  which  their  Presby- 
tery is  not  attached,  they  shall  certify  the  same  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the 
Presbytery,  which  they  wish  to  leave  and  the  one  with  which  they  wish  to 
unite,  and  they  shall,  ipso  facto,  be  attached  to  such  Presbytery. 

"6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  Presbyteries,  at  their  first  meeting  after  the 
adoption  of  these  rules,  or  within  one  year  thereafter,  to  grant  certificates  of 
dismission  to  such  Ministers,  Licentiates,  and  Students,  as  may  wish  to  unite 
with  a  Pi'esbytery  attached  to  the  other  General  Assembly. 

"7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  Church  Sessions  to  grant  letters  of  dismission 
to  such  of  their  members,  being  in  regular  standing,  as  may  apply  for  the 
same  within  one  year  after  the  organization  of  said  Assemblies  under  these 
rules,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  with  any  Church  attached  to  a  Presbytery 
under  the  care  of  the  other  General  Assembly;  and  if  such  Session  refuse 
so  to  dismiss,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  such  members  to  unite  with  such  other 
Church  in  the  same  manner  as  if  a  certificate  were  given. 

"8.  The  Boards  of  Education  and  Missions  shall  continue  their  organiza- 
tions as  heretofore,  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Assembly;  and  in  case  the 
rules  for  the  division  of  the  Assembly  be  adopted,  those  Boards  shall  be,  and 
hereby  are,  transferred  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  if  that  Assembly  at  its  first  meeting  shall 
adopt  the  l^oards  as  their  organizations;  and  the  seats  of  any  Ministers  or 
Elders  in  those  lioards,  not  belonging  to  that  General  Assembly,  shall  be 
deemed  to  be  vacant. 

"  9.  The  records  of  the  Assembly  shall  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  present 
Stated  Clerk,  for  the  mutual  use  and  benefit  of  both  General  Assemblies, 
until,  by  such  an  arrangement  as  they  may  adopt,  they  shall  appoint  some 
other  person  to  take  charge  of  the  same.    And  either  Assembly,  at  their  own 


Part  XL]  THE   ASSEMBLY   OF   1837.  717 

expense,  may  cause  such  extracts  and  copies  to  be  made  thereof,  as  they 
may  desire  and  direct. 

"  10.  The  Princeton  Seminary  funds  to  be  transferred  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  if  it  can  be  so  done  legally  and  without  forfeiting 
the  trusts  upon  which  the  grants  were  made;  and  if  it  cannot  be  done 
legally,  and  according  to  the  intention  of  the  donors,  then  to  remain  with  the 
present  Board  of  Tru'stees  until  legislative  authority  be  given  for  such  trans- 
fer. The  supervision  of  said  Seminary,  in  the  same  manner  in  which  it  is 
now  exercised  by  the  General  Assemblj,  to  be  transferred  to  and  vested  in 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  to  be 
constituted.  The  other  funds  of  the  Church  to  be  divided  equally  between 
the  two  Assemblies.* 

"  Pass  a  resolution  suspending  the  operation  of  the  controverted  votes  until 
after  the  next  Assembly. 

§  153.  No.  2,  of  the  Majority. 

"  The  Committee  of  the  Majority  having  considered  the  paper  submitted 
by  that  of  the  Minority,  observe, 

"  1.  That  they  suppose  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  a  division  of  the 
Church  may  be  considered  as  agreed  on  by  both  committees;  but  we  think 
it  not  expedient  to  attempt  giving  reasons  iu  a  preamble;  the  preamble  is 
therefore  not  agreed  to. 

"  2.  So  much  of  No.  1,  of  the  plan  of  the  Committee  of  the  Minority,  as 
relates  to  the  proposed  names  of  the  new  General  Assemblies,  is  agreed  to. 

"3.  Nos.  1  to  8  inclusive,  except  as  above,  are  not  agreed  to,  but  our  pro- 
position, No.  3,  in  our  first  paper,  is  insisted  on.  But  we  agree  to  the  pro- 
posal in  regard  to  single  Churches,  individual  Ministers,  licentiates,  students, 
and  private  members. 

"4.  In  lieu  of  No.  9,  we  propose  that  the  present  Stated  Clerk  be  directed 
to  make  out  a  complete  copy  of  all  our  records,  at  the  joint  expense  of  both 
the  new  bodies,  and  after  causing  the  copy  to  be  examined  and  certified, 
deliver  it  to  the  written  order  of  the  Moderator  and  Stated  Clerk  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church. 

''5.  We  agree,  iu  substance,  to  the  proposal  iu  No.  10,  and  offer  the  fol- 
lowing as  the  form  in  which  the  proposition  shall  stand  :  that  the  corporate 
funds  and  property  of  the  Church,  so  far  as  they  appertain  to  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  or  relate  to  the  Professors'  support,  or  the  education 
of  beneficiaries  there,  shall  remain  the  property  of  the  body  retaining  the 
name  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America;  that  all  other  funds  shall  be  equally  divided  between  the 
new  bodies,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  in  conformity  with  the  intentions  of 
the  donors ;  and  that  all  liabilities  of  the  present  Assembly  shall  be  dis- 
charged in  equal  portions  by  them;  that  all  questions  relating  to  the  future 
adjustment  of  this  whole  subject  upon  the  principles  now  agreed  on,  shall 
be  settled  by  committees  appointed  by  the  new  Assemblies  at  their  first  meet- 
ing respectively;  and  if  these  committees  cannot  agree,  then  each  commit- 
tee shall  select  one  arbitrator,  and  these  two,  a  third,  which  arbitrators  shall 
have  full  power  to  settle  fiually-the  whole  case  in  all  its  parts;  and  that  no 
person  shall  be  appointed  an  arbitrator,  who  is  a  member  of  either  Church; 
it  being  distinctly  understood  that  whatever  difficulties  may  arise  in  the  con- 
struction of  trusts,  and  all  other  questions  of  power,  as  well  as  right,  legal 
and  equitable,  shall  be  finally  decided  by  the  committees  or  arbitrators,  so 
as  in  all  eases  to  prevent  an  appeal  by  either  party  to  the  legal  tribunals  of 
the  country. 

*  See  I  197,  and  Book  V.  §  290—294. 


TIS'  THE   NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

§  15  k  No.  2,  of  the  Minority. 

"The  Committee  of  the  Minority,  &c.,  make  the  following  objections  to 
the  proposition  of  the  Majority. 

*' 1.  To  any  recognition  of  the  terras  'Old  and  New-schools,'  or  'Majority 
and  jNIiuority,'  of  the  present  Assembly;  in  any  action  upon  the  subject  of 
division,  the  minority  expect  the  division  in  every  respect  to  be  equal;  no 
other  would  be  satisfactory. 

''  2.  Insisting  upon  an  equal  division,  we  are  willing  that  that  portion  of 
the  Church  which  shall  choose  to  retain  the  present  Boards,  shall  have  the 
present  name  of  the  Assembly.  The  corporate  property  which  is  suscepti- 
ble of  division  to  be  divided,  as  the  only  fair  and  just  course. 

''3.  We  object  to  the  power  of  the  Commissioners  to  make  any  division 
at  this  time,  and  as  individuals  we  cannot  assume  the  responsibility. 

No.  3,  oftlie  Majority. 

"  The  Committee  of  the  Majority,  &c.,  in  relation  to  paper  No.  2,  ob- 
serve : 

"1.  That  the  terms  'Old  and  New-school,  Majority  and  Minority,' are 
meant  as  descriptive,  and  some  description  being  necessary,  we  see  neither 
impropriety  nor  unsuitableness  in  them. 

"  2.  Our  previous  paper  No.  2,  having,  as  we  suppose,  substantially 
acceded  to  the  proposal  of  the  minority  in  relation  to  the  funds  in  their  first 
paper,  we  deem  any  further  statement  on  that  subject  unnecessary. 

"  3.  That  we  see  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  settling  the  matter  at  pre- 
sent, subject  to  the  revision  of  the  Presbyteries,  as  provided  in  our  first 
paper,  under  the  third  head;  and  as  no  'constitutional  rules'  are  proposed  in 
the  way  of  altering  any  principles  of  our  system,  we  see  no  constitutional 
obstacle  to  the  execution  of  the  proposal  already  made.  We  therefore  adhere 
to  that  plan  as  our  final  proposal.  But  if  the  commissioners  of  any  Presby- 
tery should  refuse  to  elect,  or  be  equally  divided,  then  the  Presbytery  which 
they  represent  shall  make  such  election  at  its  first  meeting  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  present  General  Assembly. 

§  155.  No.  3,  of  the  Minority. 

"1.  We  accede  to  the  proposition  to  have  no  preamble. 

"2.  We  accede  to  the  proposition  No.  4,  modifying  our  proposition  No.  9, 
in  relation  to  the  records  and  copies  of  the  records.  The  copy  to  be  made 
within  one  year  after  the  division. 

"3.  We  assent  to  the  modification  of  No.  10,  by  No.  5  of  the  proposi- 
tions submitted,  with  a  trifling  alteration  in  the  phraseology,  striking  out 
the  words,  '  shall  remain  the  property  of  the  body  retaining  the  name  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,'  and  inserting  the  words,  'shall  be  transferred  and  belong  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  hereby  constituted.' 

"4.  We  cannot  assent  to  any  division  by  the  present  Commissioners  of 
the  Assembly,  as  it  would  in  no  wise  be  obligatory  on  any  of  the  judicato- 
ries of  the  Church,  or  any  members  of  the  Churches.  The  only  cfl'cct 
would  be  a  disorderly  dissolution  of  the  present  Assembly,  and  be  of  no 
binding  force  or  effect  upon  any  member  who  did  not  assent  to  it. 

"  5.  We  propose  a  resolution  to  be  appended  to  the  Bules,  and  which  we 
believe,  if  adopted  by  tlie  committee,  would  pass  with  great  unanimity, 
urging  in  strong  terms  the  adoption  of  the  llulcs  by  the  Presbyteries;  and 
the  members  of  the  minority  side  of  the  committee  pledge  themselves  to 
use  their  influence  to  procure  the  adoption  of  the  same  by  the  Presbyteries. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  719 

§  156.  No.  4,  of  the  Majority. 
"The  Committee  of  the  Majority,  &e.,  in  reply  to  paper  No.  3,  of  the 
Minority's  Committee,  simply  refer  to  their  own  preceding  papers,  as  con- 
taining their  final  propositions. 

§  157.  No.  4.  of  the  Minoritr/. 

"  The  Committee  of  tlie  Minority,  in  reply  to  paper  No.  3,  of  the  Majori- 
ty, observe: 

"That  they  will  unite  in  a  report  to  the  Assembly,  stating  that  the  com- 
mittee have  agreed  that  it  is  expedient  that  a  division  of  the  Church  be 
effected,  and  in  general  upon  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  to  be  carried 
out,  but  they  difi'er  as  to  the  manner  of  effecting  it. 

"On  the  one  hand,  it  is  asked  that  a  division  be  made  by  the  present 
Assembly  at  their  present  meeting;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  plan  of 
division,  with  the  subsequent  arrangement  and  organization,  shall  be  submit- 
ted to  the  Presbyteries  for  their  adoption  or  rejection. 

"They  will  unite  in  asking  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  the  above 
points  previous  to  reporting  the  details,  and  in  case  the  Assembly  decide  in 
favour  of  immediate  division,  then  the  paper  No.  1,  of  the  majority,  with 
the  modifications  agreed  on,  be  taken  as  the  basis  of  the  report  in  detail. 

"If  the  Assembly  decide  to  send  to  the  Presbyteries,  then  No.  1,  of  the 
Minority's  papers,  with  the  modifications  agreed  on,  shall  be  the  basis  of  the 
report  in  detail. 

"The  Committee  of  the  Minority  cannot  agree  to  any  other  propositions 
than  those  already  submitted,  until  the  above  be  settled  by  the  Assembly. 

"If  the  above  proposition  be  not  agreed  to,  or  be  modified  and  then 
agreed  to,  they  desire  that  each  side  may  make  a  report  to  the  Assembly  to- 
morrow morning. 

§  158.  No.  5,  of  the  Majority. 
"The  Committee  of  the  Majority,  &c.,  in  answer  to  No.  4,  &c.,  reply  that 
understanding  from  the  verbal  explanations  of  the  Committee  of  the  Minori- 
ty, that  the  said  committee  would  not  consider  either  side  bound  by  the  vote 
of  the  Assembly,  if  it  were  against  their  views  and  wishes  respectively  ou 
the  point  proposed  to  be  submitted  to  its  decision  in  said  paper,  to  carry  out 
in  good  faith  a  scheme  which,  in  that  case,  could  not  be  approved  by  them ' 
and  under  such  circumstances  a  voluntary  separation  being  manifestly 
impossible,  this  committee  consider  No.  4,  of  the  Minority,  as  virtually  a 
a  waver  of  the  whole  subject.  If  nothing  further  remains  to  be  proposed, 
they  submit  that  the  papers  be  laid  before  the  Assembly,  and  that  the 
united  Committee  be  dissolved." 

§  159. 

"The  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church  was  discharged. 

"It  was  moved  that  the  further  consideration  of  the  reports  be  indefinite- 
ly postponed;  and,  after  debate, 

"It  was  moved  that  this  whole  subject  be  laid  on  the  table  for  the  present. 
The  motion  was  adopted,  by  yeas  and  nays,  as  follows,  viz.  Ym»,  138, 
Nays,  107." — Minutes,  1837,  pp.  43U — 437. 

Title  4. — The  Synods  or  the  Western  Reserve,  Utica,  Geneva, 
AND  Genesee,  disowned. 

§  100. 
(a)  "Resolved,  That,  by  the  operation  of  the  abrogation  of  the  Plan  of 
Union  of   1801,  the   Synod   of  the  Western  Heservo  is,  and  is  hereby 


720  THE  NEW-SCnOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

declared  to  be  no  lonirer  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America." — Yeas,  132,  Nays,  105. — Minutes,  1837,  p.  440. 

(h)  "Be  it  resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America, 

"1.  That  in  consequence  of  the  abrogation  by  this  Assembly  of  the  Plan 
of  Union  of  1801,  between  it  and  the  (ieneral  Association  of  Connecticut, 
as  utterly  unconstitutional,  and  therefore  uull  and  void  from  tiie  beginning, 
the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva  and  Genesee,  which  were  formed  and  attached 
to  this  body  under  and  in  execution  of  said  'Plan  of  Union,'  be,  and  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  that  they  are  not  in 
form  or  in  fact  an  integral  portion  of  said  Church. 

"2.  That  the  solicitude  of  this  Assembly  on  the  whole  subject,  and  its 
urgency  for  the  immediate  decision  of  it,  are  greatly  increased  by  reason  of 
the  gross  disorders  which  are  ascertained  to  have  prevailed  in  those  Synods, 
(as  well  as  that  of  the  Western  Reserve,  against  which  a  declarative  resolu- 
tion, similar  to  the  first  of  these,  has  been  passed  during  our  present  ses- 
sions,) it  being  made  clear  to  us,  that  even  the  Plan  of  Union  itself  was 
never  con.sistently  carried  into  effect  by  those  professing  to  act  under  it. 

^'3.  That  the  General  Assembly  has  no  intention,  by  these  resolutions,  or 
by  that  passed  in  the  case  of  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  to  affect 
in  any  way  the  ministerial  standing  of  any  members  of  either  of  said 
Synods;  nor  to  disturb  the  pastoral  relation  in  any  Church;  nor  to  interfere 
with  the  duties  or  relations  of  private  Christians  in  their  respective  Congre- 
gations; but  only  to  declare  and  determine  according  to  the  truth  and  neces- 
sity of  the  case,  and  by  virtue  of  the  full  authority  existing  in  it  for  that 
purpose,  the  relation  of  all  said  Synods,  and  all  their  constituent  parts  to 
this  body,  and  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States. 

''4.  That  inasmuch  as  there  are  reported  to  be  several  Churches  and 
Ministers,  if  not  one  or  two  Presbyteries,  now  in  connection  with  one  or 
more  of  said  Synods,  which  are  strictly  Presbyterian  in  doctrine  and  order, 
be  it,  therefore,  further  resolved,  that  all  such  Churches  and  Ministers  as 
wish  to  unite  with  us,  are  hereby  directed  to  apply  for  admission  into  those 
Presbyteries  belonging  to  our  connection  which  are  most  convenient  to  their 
respective  locations;  and  that  any  such  Presbytery  as  aforesaid,  being 
strictly  Presbyterian  in  doctrine  and  order,  and  now  in  connection  with 
either  of  said  Synods,  as  may  desire  to  unite  with  us,  are  hereby  directed 
to  make  application,  wath  a  full  statement  of  their  cases,  to  the  >uext  General 
Assembly,  which  will  take  proper  order  thereon." 

§  161.   Mr.  Jessiqy's  amendment. 

"  It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Jessup  to  postpone  the  resolutions,  with  a  view  of 
introducing  the  following  substitute,  viz. 

'' '  Whereas,  it  has  been  alleged,  that  the  Synods  of  Geneva,  Genesee,  and 
Utioa,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  have 
been  guilty  of  important  delinquency  and  grossly  unconstitutional  proceed- 
ings, and  a  resolution  predicated  on  this  allegation  to  exclude  the  said  Synods 
from  the  said  Presbyterian  Church,  has  been  offered  in  this  Assembly;  and 
whereas,  no  specified  act  of  the  said  Synod  has  been  made  the  ground  of 
proceeding  against  that  body,  nor  any  specific  members  of  that  body  have 
been  designated  as  the  delinquents ;  and,  whereas,  these  charges  are  denied 
by  the  commissioners  representing  those  bodies  on  this  floor,  and  an  inquiry 
into  the  whole  matter  is  demanded;  and,  whereas,  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Synods  have  had  no  previous  notice  of  these  proceedings,  nor  of 
the  existence  of  any  chai'ge  against  them,  individually  or  collectively,  nor 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1837.  721 

any  opportunity  of  defending  themselves  against  the  charges  so  brought 
against  them : 

"Therefore,  Resolved,  That  the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee, 
be,  and  hereby  are,  cited  to  appear  on  the  third  Thursday  of  May  next,  at 
Philadelphia,  before  the  next  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Cburch 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  to  show  what  they  have  done,  or  failed  to 
do,  in  the  case  in  question,  and,  if  necessary,  generally  to  answer  any  charges 
that  may  or  can  be  alleged  against  them,  to  the  end  that  the  whole  matter 
may  be  examined  into,  deliberated  upon,  and  judged  of,  according  to  the 
Constitution  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America.' " 

[Mr.  Jessup's  motion  was  cut  off  hy  the  call  for  the  previous  question,  and  the  resolu- 
tion was  adopted.] — Ibid.  pp.  443,  444, 445. 

§  162.   Protest  of  the  Commissioners  from  the  Synod  of  Western  Reserve. 

"We,  the  subscribers.  Commissioners  to  this  General  Assembly,  from 
the  Presbyteries  of  Grand  River,  Trumbull,  Portage,  Cleveland,  Lorain, 
Medina,  Huron  and  Maumee,  feel  it  our  duty  to  enter  our  solemn  protest  and 
remonstrance  against  what  we  regard  the  unconstitutional  and  unjust  act  of 
the  Assembly,  by  which  we  are  interrupted  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
assigned  us  by  our  respective  Presbyteries,  and  excluded  from  the  floor  of 
this  House,  and  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  these  United  States  of 
America;  and  by  which  the  General  Assembly  of  the  said  Church  is  actu- 
ally dismembered  : — and  for  the  following  reasons,  viz. 

"  1.  We  were  regularly  appointed  by  our  Presbyteries,  commissioned  in 
due  form,  and  admitted  to  our  seats  in  this  Assembly,  and  exercised  our 
undisputed  rights  as  members  for  two  weeks. 

"2.  The  Presbyteries  represented  by  us,  all  have  a  regular  Presbyterian 
existence,  according  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as 
interpreted  and  administered  by  all  the  courts  of  the  Church ; — and  some 
of  these  Presbyteries  existed  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in 
1821,  and  participated  in  that  act. 

"3.  If  there  was  anything  wrong  in  the  original  organization  of  our 
Presbyteries — which  we  do  not  admit  or  believe — this  wrong  was  charge- 
able, not  upon  us,  but  upon  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  from  whose  act  our  ori- 
ginal Presbyteries  received  their  existence,  and  which  act  has  been  sanc- 
tioned by  twenty-two  General  Assemblies,  up  to  the  present  time. 

"4.  But  if — after  an  administration  of  the  Constitution  for  thirty-six 
years,  on  the  assumption  that  the  *  Plan  of  Union '  with  the  '  Association  of 
Connecticut'  was  constitutional — a  different  conclusion  is  noio  arrived  at, 
we  can  see  no  reason  why  this  new  discovery,  which  legally  concerns  the 
^accommodation  churches'  only,  should  be  made  a  reason  why  Presbyteries, 
Ministers,  and  Elders,  regularly  introduced  into  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
according  to  its  known  and  common  forms,  should  be  driven,  without  a  con- 
stitutional trial,  from  the  rights  and  privileges  secured  to  them  by  our  Con- 
stitution. 

"  5.  If  it  be  assumed  that  the  existence  of  Churches  on  the  'accommo- 
dation plan'  rightfully  annihilates  the  existence  of  all  Presbyteries  and 
Synods  where  such  churches  have  been  formed,  we  see  not  why  this  prin- 
ciple should  be  confined  in  its  severe  application  to  the  '  Synod  of  the  West- 
ern Reserve,'  when  it  is  known  that  the  same  system  has  prevailed  in  the 
Synods  of  Albany,  New  Jersey,  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia;  and 
extensively  in  other  Synods  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly.  And, 
if  the  toleration  of  the  '  accommodation  plan '  proves  so  fatal  to  the  exist- 
ence of  inferior  courts,  we  see  not  why  the  originating  and  the  fostering  of 
91 


722  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

this  plan  for  thirty-six  years,  should  not  render  nugatory  all  the  acts  of  the 
Assembly  itself,  and  even  destroy  its  charter. 

'*A  principle  which  leads  to  results  so  disastrous  and  'suicidal'  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  we  cannot  regard  as  constitutional. 

"6.  Once  admit  that  regularly  appointed  Commissioners  maybe  excluded 
instanter,  without  a  charge  of  discourtesy  to  the  House,  and  without  trial, 
and  the  way  is  open  to  drive  from  the  General  Assembly,  under  some  pre- 
text or  other,  any  member,  or  any  number  of  members,  who,  for  the  time 
being,  may  be  obnoxious  to  the  majority.  This  principle  annihilates  at 
once  and  for  ever,  the  rights  of  Presbyteries  on  this  floor,  and  renders  the 
Constitution  itself  a  dead  letter. 

<' We  complain  not  so  much  that  we  were  denied  a  patient  hearing;  that 
it  was  professed  we  were  not  on  trial,  on  the  ground  that  we  were  already 
out  of  the  House  by  the  passage  of  a  previous  resolution ;  and  that  still  tes- 
timony was  elicited  from  us  catechetically,  which,  we  think,  was  abused  to 
our  condemnation ;  that  the  whole  case  on  which  hung  the  destiny  of  the 
Synod,  was  hurried  through,  and  finally  closed  by  the  ^previous  question,' 
which  shut  up  the  mouths  of  ourselves  and  our  friends;  that,  finally,  we 
were  furnished  with  no  communication  dismissing  us  from  the  House  in  a 
courteous  jnanner.  All  this  we  have  felt  to  be  unkind  and  unjust  treat- 
ment ;  but  we  have  passed  it  over,  to  select  our  reasons  for  protest  from  the 
great  principles  of  Presbyterianism,  which  in  our  case,  have  been  violated. 
We,  therefore,  wish  to  leave  this  our  solemn  protest  on  the  records  of  a 
court,  of  which  we  still  regard  ourselves  as  rightful  members.  Having 
done  this,  we  commit  our  case  to  the  calm  decision  of  the  Church  at  large — 
of  posterity — of  God. 

"Rufus  Nutting,  Alanson  Saunders,  Henry  Brown,  Eldad  Barber, 
John  Seward,  William  Fuller,  Joseph  H.  Breck,  James  Boyd, 
Harmon  Kingsbury,  Isaac  J.  Rice,  Varnum  Noyes,  Benjamin 
Woodbury,  Dudley  Williams." — llinufcs,  1837,  p.  449. 

§  163.  Answer  to  the  Protest. 

"  The  General  Assembly  might  not  only  decline  to  reply  to  the  protest 
signed  by  the  Commissioners  from  the  Presbyteries  composing  the  Synod 
of  the  Western  Reserve,  but  even  refuse  to  admit  it  to  record.  For  if  the 
'Plan  of  Union'  was  unconstitutional,  and  therefore  void,  from  the  beginning, 
and  the  existence  of  these  Presbyteries  was  founded  on  that  Plan  of  Union, 
then  they  never  had  a  constitutional  existence,  and  their  Commissioners 
never  had  a  constitutional  right  to  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly.  The 
Assembly,  therefore,  do  not  exclude  those  who  they  admit  ojice  had  a  right 
to  seats  here,  but  they  simply  declare  that,  from  the  unconstitutional  organ- 
ization of  these  Presbyteries,  their  Commissioners  never  had,  and  of  course 
now  have  not  a  right  to  seats  in  this  Assembly.  They  therefore  had  no 
'right  to  vote,'  and  consequently  had  no  'right  to  join  in  a  protest'  against 
any  decision  of  this  House,  or  to  have  their  protest  admitted  to  record. 
They  did  vote,  however,  in  the  decision  against  which  they  protest ;  but  if 
they  did  that  in  one  case  which  the  Constitution  did  not  authorize,  that  cer- 
tainly gives  them  no  right  to  do  another  thing  which  depended  on  their 
right  to  do  the  first  act. 

<'  But  the  Assembly  desire  to  treat  those  brethren  with  all  courtesy,  and 
therefore  allow  their  protest  a  place  in  the  records. 

"To  their  reasons  for  protesting,  the  following  answers  are  given. 

"  It  seems,  however,  to  be  proper  in  the  first  place  to  state  the  great  prin- 
ciple on  which  the  Assembly  decided. 

"  We  believe  that  our  powers,  as  a  judicatory,  are  limited  and  prescribed 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1887.  723 

by  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Whatever  any  Assembly 
may  do  which  it  is  not  authorized  by  the  Constitution  to  do,  is  not  binding 
on  any  inferior  judicatory,  nor  on  any  subsequent  Assembly. 

"The  Constitution  provides  that  all  our  judicatories  shall  be  composed  of 
Bishops  or  Ministers,  and  Ruling  Elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
the  General  Assembly  have  no  right  to  introduce  into  any  of  the  judicatories 
any  other  persons  claiming  to  hold  any  other  offices,  either  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  or  any  other  Church.  And  should  they  attempt  to  do  this,  no  one 
is  bound  by  it.  But  the  General  Assembly  of  1801  did  permit  members  of 
standing  committees  in  Churches  not  Presbyterian,  'to  sit  and  act'  in  o\ar 
Presbyteries,  and  under  this  provision  they  have  sat  in  the  higher  judicato- 
ries of  the  Church. 

"  On  a  thorough  investigation  it  is  now  fully  ascertained  that  they  had  no 
authority  from  the  Constitution  to  admit  officers  from  any  other  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  to  sit  and  act  in  our  judicatories ;  and,  therefore,  no 
Presbytery  or  Synod  thus  constituted,  is  recognized  by  the  Constitution  of 
our  Church,  and  no  subsequent  General  Assembly  is  bound  to  recognize 
them. 

"  The  Presbyteries  of  the  Synod  of  the  "Western  Reserve  are  thus  consti- 
tuted, for  committee-men  are  permitted  'to  sit  and  act'  in  all  these  Presby- 
teries ;  therefore  this  General  Assembly  cannot  recognize  the  constitutional 
existence  of  these  Presbyteries. 

"  The  fact  that' they  have  been  recognized  by  former  Assemblies  cannot 
bind  this  Assembly,  when  it  is  fully  convinced  of  the  unconstitutionality  of 
the  organization. 

"  In  reply  to  the  first  reason  in  the  protest,  viz.  that  they  were  regularly 
appointed  by  their  Presbyteries,  &c.,  we  say  they  were  not  regularly  ap- 
pointed, for  it  is  admitted  that  these  committee-men  are  allowed  to  vote  for 
commissioners  to  the  Assembly,  and  these  illegal  votes,  of  which  there  may 
have  been  a  majority,  renders  the  appointment  illegal.  They  held  their  seats 
in  this  Assembly  for  some  time,  it  is  true,  but  this  gives  them  no  right  to  con- 
tinue to  hold  them  after  it  is  ascertained  that  they  had  no  constitutional 
right  to  seats. 

"  As  to  the  second  reason,  that  their  Presbyteries  have  a  regular  Presby- 
terian existence,  it  is  denied  by  this  Assembly,  and  on  this  ground  they  are 
denied  seats.  The  existence  of  Presbyteries  thus  constituted  is  recognized 
neither  in  the  former  nor  the  amended  Constitution  of  the  Church. 

"  3.  If  the  Synod  of  Pittsbui'gh  constituted  Presbyteries  in  part  of  materials 
not  allowed  by  the  Constitution,  this  Assembly  is  not  bound  to  recognize 
them. 

"  4.  It  is  well  known  to  those  acquainted  with  the  history  of  this  General 
Assembly,  that  the  '  Plan  of  Union,'  as  an  unconstitutional  compact,  has 
long  been  a  subject  of  complaint,  and  as  long  ago  as  the  year  1831,  the 
Assembly  resolved,  that  the  appointment  of  members  of  standing  commit- 
tees, to  be  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  was  of  questionable  constitu- 
tionality, and  therefore  ought  not  in  future  to  be  made;  and  since  that 
time  none  have  been  received  in  the  Assembly  known  to  be  such.  But 
their  right  to  seats  here  is  just  as  constitutional  as  in  the  Presbytery. 

"The  protcstants  still  assume  that  their  Presbyteries  are  regularly  consti- 
tuted, while  we  consider  it  a  fundamental  departure  from  our  system  to 
organize  a  Presbytery  with  one  or  two  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  ten  or 
twelve  of  another  denomination  of  Christians.  And  had  none  but  Presby- 
terian Churches  been  allowed  to  belong  to  the  Presbyteries,  some  of  these 
Presbyteries  never  would  have  existed.  The  representatives  of  these 
Churches,  on  the  accommodation  plan,   form  a  constituent  part  of  these 


724  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  YII. 

Presbyteries  as  realli/  as  the  Pastors  or  Elders,  and  this  Assembly  can 
recognize  no  Presbytery,  thus  constituted,  as  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

"  5.  The  xVssembly  has  extended  ithe  operation  of  this  principle  to  other 
Synods  which  they  find  similarly  constituted.  But  even  if  they  did  not, 
this  injures  not  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve. 

"6.  'Once  admit  that  regularly  appointed  Commissioners  may  be  exclu- 
ded,' &c.  This  is  assuming  what  we  deny.  Many  of  those  who  voted  for 
these  Commissioners,  and  for  aught  we  know,  a  majority,  were  neither 
Bishops  nor  Kuliug  Elders  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  therefore  had 
no  right  to  vote  for  those  Commissioners. 

"The  Constitution  says  expressly,  it  (the  General  Assembly)  shall  repre- 
sent in  one  body,  all  the  particular  churches  of  this  denomination; — but 
these  Commissioners  were  voted  for  by  the  delegates  of  churches  of  another 
denomination;  therefore  they  represent  churches  of  another  denomination. 
According  to  their  own  showing,  there  is  one  Presbytery  with  only  one 
Presbyterian  church,  another  with  two,  and  in  the  whole  Synod,  containing 
one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  churches,  there  are  only  twenty-five,  or  at  most 
thirty  Presbyterian  churches,  and  one  hundred  and  nine  Congregational 
churches,  or  churches  of  a  mixed  character.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  a 
Presbyterian  body  where  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  churches  are  not 
Presbyterian.  It  is  perfectly  manifest  that  in  a  body  thus  constituted  it 
would  often  occur  that  the  Commissioners  elected  would  be  chosen  by  those 
who  had  no  right  to  vote,  and  so  they  would  be  the  representatives  not  of 
the  Presbyterian  but  of  the  Congregational  denomination. 

''We  would  observe,  in  reference  to  the  conclusion  of  the  protest,  that 
the  members  of  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve,  and  their  friends,  occu- 
pied a  larger  space  in  the  discussion  than  the  majority  of  the  Assembly;  and 
the  'previous  question'  was  not  called  for  until  it  was  manifest  that  the 
minds  of  members  were  made  up.  As  the  Assembly  has  already  made  pro- 
vision for  the  organization  into  Presbyteries  and  annexation  to  this  body  of 
all  the  Ministers  and  Churches  who  are  thoroughly  Presbyterian,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  reply  to  the  closing  remarks  of  the  protest." — Ihicl.  p.  450. 

§  164.  Protest  of  the  Commissioners  from  the  Si/nods  of  Utica,  Geneva, 

and  Genesee. 

"Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  now  in  session,  has  declared  the  Synods  of  Utica, 
Geneva,  and  Genesee  no  longer  constituent  parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church; 
and,  whereas,  the  Commissioners  from  the  Presbyteries  constituting  those 
Synods  have  been  deprived  of  the  right  of  deliberating  and  voting  in  this 
House —  Therefore, 

"The  undersigned.  Commissioners  from  the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and 
Genesee,  claim  their  right  to  enter  their  protest  and  remonstrance  against 
these  acts,  for  the  reasons  following,  viz. 

"1.  Because  we  deem  such  acts  utterly  unconstitutional  and  unprece- 
dented. In  our  Form  of  Government,  (Chap,  xii.,  Sects.  4  and  5,)  the 
powers  of  the  General  Assembly  are  specifically  defined,  but  no  authority  to 
exercise  such  summary  process  and  excision  is  there  granted.  In  our  Book 
of  Discipline,  (Chapters  iv.  and  v.)  the  mode  of  procedure  in  the  trial  and 
punishment  of  Ministers  of  the  gospel  is  expressly  and  specifically  prescri- 
bed, yet  no  one  point  of  these  laws  of  discipline  has  been  conformed  to  in 
the  excision  and  virtual  excommunication  of  four  or  five  hundred  Ministers, 
in  good  and  regular  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  no  citations  have 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  725 

been  issued  or  served  ;  no  charges  have  been  specified  or  preferred,  and  no 
opportunity  has  been  afforded  for  justification  or  defence. 

"2.  Because,  when  the  regular  and  constitutional  method  of  trial  was 
proposed  to  this  House,  the  majority  rejected  this  plan,  and  proceeded  with- 
out trial  in  any  form,  and,  in  our  judgment,  in  the  face  of  all  the  regulations 
and  provisions  of  our  constitution  and  rules  of  discipline,  to  declare  the 
aforesaid  Synods  to  be  '  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States,  and  not  in  form  or  fact  an  integral  portion 
of  said  Church.' 

"3.  Because  the  act  of  exclusion  is  professedly  based  on  the  previous  act 
of  the  Assembly  purporting  to  abrogate  the  '  Plan  of  Union'  formed  by  the 
Assembly  of  1801,  with  the  Connecticut  Association,  and  acted  upon  for 
thirty-six  years;  whereas,  in  our  estimation,  that  ancient  compact  could  not, 
in  good  faith,  be  abrogated  without  previous  conference  with  said  Associa- 
tion ;  and  even  if  it  could  be  so  abrogated,  that  abrogation  would  not  destroy 
or  invalidate  the  institutions  established,  and  the  rights  vested  under  its 
operation.  Besides,  the  majority  of  the  churches  within  the  bounds  of  said 
Synods  are  strictly  Presbyterian  in  their  structure,  and,  with  few  exceptions, 
even  the  small  number  of  churches  originally  Congregational,  were  not  organ- 
ized under  the  stipulations  of  the  said  'Plan  of  Union,"  but  came  in  under 
a  different  arrangement,  and  possessed  rights  on  this  subject,  separate  from 
and  independent  of  the  '  Plan  of  Union'  of  1801,  secured  to  them  by  the 
Assembly  of  1808,  by  which  the  Synod  of  Albany  was  authorized  to  take 
the  'Middle  Association'  under  its  care;  in  virtue  of  which  arrangement, 
Commissioners  from  said  Association  were  admitted  to  the  floor  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  up  to  the  period  when  the  Association  was  dissolved,  and, 
ei'ected  into  two  Presbyteries,  regularly  organized  out  of  its  materials. 

"  4.  Because  all  our  Synods  and  Presbyteries  have  been  regularly  and 
constitutionally  formed  and  recognized,  and,  as  such,  have  no  necessary  de- 
pendence whatever  upon  the  '  Plan  of  Union,'  or  any  other  plan  of  accom- 
modation, and,  consequently,  could  not  be  affected  either  by  the  existence  or 
abrogation  of  such  Plan. 

"  5.  Because  no  proof  was  exhibited  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  that  a 
single  Minister  in  these  Synods  was  irregularly  inducted  into  the  office  of 
the  ministry,  and  we  know  of  none  such — and  in  every  Presbytery  belong- 
ing to  these  Synods,  there  are  churches  formed  on  strict  Presbyterian  prin- 
ciples, and  in  most  of  our  Presbyteries  such  churches  compose  a  large 
majority. 

"6.  Because,  while  the  resolution  for  the  exclusion  of  these  Synods  was 
under  discussion,  members  were  permitted  to  read  and  refer  to  letters  and 
publications  containing  what  we  consider  unfounded  statements,  and  to  utter 
vague  and  injurious  reports,  and  when  requested,  refused  to  give  names, 
places,  and  dates;  and,  although  the  right  was  insisted  upon,  not  a  single 
Commissioner  from  any  one  of  the  three  Synods  could  obtain  the  floor  to 
address  the  Assembly  on  the  resolution — being  put  down  by  the  motion  for 
the  previous  question. 

"7.  Because  no  notice  whatever  was  given  to  the  Synods  in  question  of 
the  intention  to  sever  them  from  the  Presbyterian  Church,  nor  the  least 
opportunity  affoi'ded  them  for  vindicating  themselves  from  the  vague  and 
informal  charges  uttered  against  them  on  the  floor  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"8.  Because  there  has  been  no  definite  or  authentic  evidence  whatever, 
regularly  before  this  Assembly,  of  the  existence  within  the  bounds  of  the 
said  Synods  of  those  errors  in  doctrine,  or  those  gross  irregularities  in  prac- 
tice, which  they  are  alleged  to  be  guilty  of  tolerating. 

"  9.  Because,  in  our  view,  these  acts  of  the  Assembly  are  not  only  uncon- 


726  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

stitutional  and  unwarrantable,  but  tend  to  disturb  tbo  peace  of  our  churches, 
to  injure  our  ministerial  character  and  standing,  and  to  impair  our  useful- 
ness, and  thus  to  retard  the  progress  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  one  of  the 
most  populous  aud  important  sections  of  our  country. 

"  10.  Because,  finally,  while  in  the  accompanying  resolutions,  it  is  declared 
that  these  acts  are  not  intended  to  affect  our  ministerial  character,  or  to  inter- 
fere with  the  organization  and  peace  of  our  Synods  or  Presbyteries,  the  last 
resolution  in  the  category  directs  Presbyteries,  Ministers,  and  Churches,  to 
detach  themselves  from  the  bodies  with  which  they  are  now  connected,  and 
apply  for  admission  into  the  nearest  Presbyteries  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Thus  attempting  to  exercise  authority  over  bodies  already  declared  not  to  be 
constituent  portions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  and  to 
disturb  their  order  and  peace. 

"  For  these  reasons,  we  do  hereby  enter  our  solemn  protest  and  remon- 
strance against  the  proceedings  in  question, 

"John  W.  M'CuUough,  George  Spalding,  S.  Benjamin,  Philip  C. 
Hay,  Thomas  Lounsbury,  JMerit  Harmon,  Solomon  Stevens,  Ira 
Pettibone,  John  Gridley,  J.  B.  Richardson,  Marcus  Smith,  Horace 
Hunt,  Henry  Brewster,  Samuel  W.  May,  Fayette  Shipherd, 
Washington  Thatcher,  J.  B.  Preston." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  404:. 

§  165.  Ansioer  to  this  Protest. 

"  In  reply  to  the  protest  of  the  Commissioners  from  the  Presbyteries  com- 
posing the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee,  against  the  act  of  this 
Assembly  declaring  them  no  longer  a  constituent  portion  of  the  Presbyte^ 
rian  Church,  the  Assembly  remark : 

"1.  That  the  above  named  Synods  became  connected  with  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  by  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  which  Plan  the  Assembly  had 
no  constitutional  power  to  adopt;  and  was  accordingly  null  and  void  from  the 
beginning.  So  it  has  been  declared  by  this  Assembly.  And  as  these  Synods 
became  connected  with  the  General  Assembly  by  an  unconstitutional  Plan 
of  Union,  they  never  have  been  a  constitutional  part  of  it.  And  this  is  all 
the  act  in  reference  to  them  declares. 

"  Nor  is  there,  as  the  protestants  declare,  an  excommunication  of  four  or 
five  hundred  Ministers.  The  act  itself  asserts  the  contrary.  As  there  was 
no  judicial  process  instituted  against  them,  no  citations  were  necessary. 
Without  impeaching  the  character  or  standing  of  the  brethren  composing 
these  Synods,  this  Assembly,  by  a  legislative  act,  merely  declares  them,  in 
consequence  of  the  abrogation  of  the  Plan  of  Union  of  1801,  no  longer  a 
constituent  part  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States. 

"  2.  When  resolutions  were  before  the  House  for  the  citation  of  judicatures 
to  the  bar  of  the  next  Assembly,  charged  by  common  fame  with  sanctioning 
errors  in  doctrine  and  irregularities  in  practice,  the  protestants  unanimously 
opposed  them.     And  now  they  complain  that  they  were  not  thus  cited. 

"3.  The  compact  of  the  Assembly  of  1808  with  the  Synod  of  Albany,  in 
reference  to  the  '  Middle  Association,'  is  as  unconstitutional  as  the  Plan  of 
Union  of  1801.  And  the  fact  stated  by  the  protestants,  that  two  large  Pres- 
byteries were  made  out  of  that  Middle  Association,  and  that  commissioners 
from  said  Association  were  admitted  to  the  floor  of  the  Assembly  as  mem- 
bers, only  proves  the  constitutionality  of  the  act  against  which  they  com- 
I'lain.    So  that  their  third  specification  of  grievance  contains  its  own  answer. 

"4.  The  contrary  of  their  fourth  specification  of  grievance  is  believed  and 
Toved  to  be  the  fact.  The  great  majority  of  the  churches  of  these  Synods 
were  formerly  Congregational ;  and  the  great  majority  of  those  of  them  now 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  727 

Presbyterian,  retain  nrncli  of  their  Congregational  peculiarities  and  preju- 
dices. They  almost  unanimously  prefer  the  institutions  of  the  Church  they 
have  abandoned,  to  those  of  the  Church  of  their  adoption.  They  are  in 
form  Presbyterian,  but  in  prejudice  and  in  fact  Congregational. 

''5.  As  no  charge  was  brought  against  any  Minister  or  Ministers,  that 
they  were  irregularly  inducted  into  the  office  of  the  Ministry,  no  proof  was 
needed  to  sustain  it.  The  charge  is,  not  that  they  were  irregularly  inducted 
into  the  Christian  Ministry,  but  that  they  were  unconstitutionally  connected 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"6.  The  papers  complained  of  were  official  papers,  published  over  the 
signatures  of  Stated  Clerks  of  Presbyteries,  and  committees  of  Synods  and 
Associations.  The  resolutions  complained  of  were  thirty-six  hours  under 
debate,  and  more  than  one-half  of  the  time  was  occupied  by  those  opposed 
to  their  adoption.  A  brother,  in  the  midst  of  an  argument,  yielded  the 
floor  that  the  protestants  might  make  what  statements  they  thought  proper. 
But  none  were  made.  The  previous  question  was  once  withdrawn  for  the 
same  purpose;  and  they  were  yet  silent.  And  yet  they  complain  because 
no  time  was  given — that  they  were  put  down  by  the  previous  question ! ! 

"7.  This  is  founded  on  the  supposition,  that  they  were  constitutional 
parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  the  act  by  which  they  are 
declared  to  be  no  longer  a  constitutional  part  of  it,  is  not  a  legislative  but  a 
judicial  act.     Both  of  which  suppositions  are  incorrect. 

''8.  The  evidence  of  great  errors  in  doctrine  and  gross  irregularities  in 
practice,  prevailing  to  an  alarming  extent  within  the  bounds  of  said  Synods, 
and  if  not  countenanced,  certainly  unsuppressed  by  them,  is  before  the 
Church  and  the  world. 

"9.  This  is  a  mere  expression  of  opinion  by  the  protestants,  to  which  in 
this  free  country  every  man  has  an  undoubted  I'ight. 

"10.  In  the  resolution  complained  of,  this  Assembly  merely  tenders  its 
advice  to  the  Ministers  and  Churches  sincerely  Presbyterian,  and  points 
them  to  the  constitutional  door  by  which  they  may  speedily  return  to  the 
Church  of  their  preference  and  affection." — Ihid.  p.  466. 

[Two  other  protests  were  entered  against  the  disowning  acts.  (^Minutes,  pp.  473,  495.) 
The  above  however  embody  the  whole  of  the  arguments  used.] 

Title  5. — Testimonies. 

§  166.  Against  certain  disorders  in  the  Churches. 

''Whereas,  it  is  represented  to  the  Assembly,  that  the  following  disorders 
and  irregularities  are  practised  in  some  portions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  Assembly,  without  determining  the  extent  of  them,  would  solemnly  warn 
all  in  our  connection  against  them.     They  are  as  follows,  viz. 

"1.  The  formation  of  Presbyteries  without  defined  and  reasonable  limits, 
or  Presbyteries  covering  the  same  territory,  and  especially  such  a  formation 
founded  on  doctrinal  repulsions  or  affinities;  thus  introducing  schism  into 
the  very  vitals  of  the  body. 

"2.  The  licensing  of  persons  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  the  ordaining  to 
the  office  of  the  ministry  such  as  not  only  accept  of  our  standards  merely  for 
substance  of  doctrine — and  others  who  are  unfit  and  ought  to  be  excluded 
for  want  of  qualification — but  of  many  even  who  openly  deny  fundamental 
principles  of  truth,  and  preach  and  publish  radical  errors,  as  already  set 
forth. 

"3.  The  formation  of  a  great  multitude  and  variety  of  creeds,  which  are 
often  incomplete,  false,  and  contradictory  of  each  jDther,  and  of  our  Confes- 
sion of  Faith   and  the  Bible;  but  which,  even  if  true,  are  needless,  seeing 


728  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

the  public  and  authorized  standards  of  the  Churcli  are  fully  sufficient  for 
the  purposes  for  which  such  formularies  were  introduced,  namely  as  public 
testimonies  of  our  faith  and  practice,  as  aids  to  the  teaching  of  the  people 
truth  and  righteousness,  and  as  instruments  for  ascertaining  and  preserving 
the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace;  it  being  understood  that  we 
do  not  object  to  the  use  of  a  bi'ief  abstract  of  the  doctrines  of  our  Confession 
of  Faith,  in  the  public  reception  of  private  members  of  the  Church. 

"  4.  The  needless  ordination  of  a  multitude  of  men  to  the  office  of  Evan- 
gelist, and  the  conse<|uent  tendency  to  a  general  neglect  of  the  pastoral 
office;  freijuent  and  hurtful  changes  'of  pastoral  relations;  to  the  multiplica- 
tion of  spurious  excitements,  and  the  consequent  spread  of  heresy  and 
fanaticism,  thus  weakening  and  bringing  into  contempt  the  ordinai-y  and 
stated  agents  and  means  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  edification  of 
the  body  of  Christ. 

"■  5.  The  disuse  of  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  in  portions  of  the  Church, 
and  the  consequent  growth  of  practices  and  principles  entirely  foreign  to  our 
system;  thus  depriving  the  Pastors  of  needful  assistants  in  discipline,  the 
people  of  proper  guides  in  Christ,  and  the  Churches  of  suitable  representa- 
tives in  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals. 

"6.  The  unlimited  and  irresponsible  power  assumed  by  several  associa- 
tions of  men  under  various  names,  to  exercise  authority  and  influence,  direct 
and  indirect,  over  Presbyteries,  as  to  their  field  of  labour,  place  of  residence, 
and  mode  of  action  in  the  difficult  circumstances  of  our  Church;  thus 
actually  throwing  the  control  of  aff'airs  in  large  portions  of  the  Church,  and 
sometimes  in  the  General  Assembly  itself,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Presby- 
teries into  those  of  single  indiyiduals  or  small  committees  located  at  a 
distance. 

"  The  Assembly  also  considered  that  part  of  the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Memorial  which  relates  to  church  order;  and  the  following  specifica- 
tion of  irregularity,  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures, 
who  were  instructed  to  bring  in  an  overture  on  the  subject,  to  be  sent  down 
to  the  Presbyteries,  viz. 

''8.  A  progressive  change  in  the  system  of  Presbyterial  representation  in 
the  General  Assembly,  which  has  been  persisted  in  by  those  holding  the 
ordinary  majorities,  and  carried  out  into  detail  by  those  disposed  to  take 
undue  advantage  of  existing  opportunities,  until  the  actual  representation 
seldom  exhibits  the  true  state  of  the  Church,  and  many  questions  of  the 
deepest  interest  have  been  decided  contrary  to  the  fairly  ascertained  wishes 
of  the  majority  of  the  Church  and  people  in  our  communion;  thus  virtually 
subverting  the  essential  principles  of  freedom,  justice,  and  equality,  on 
which  our  whole  system  rests." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  471. 

§  167.  Against  doctrinal  errors. 

"  The  Assembly  adopted  that  part  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Memorial  which  relates  to  doctrinal  errors,  as  follows,  viz. 

''As  one  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  memorialists  is  to  point  out  cer- 
tain errors,  more  or  less  prevalent  in  our  Church,  and  to  bear  testimony 
against  them,  your  committee  are  of  opinion,  that  as  one  great  object  of  the 
institution  of  the  Church  was  to  be  a  depository  and  guardian  of  the  truth; 
and  as,  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  testify  against  error; 
therefore,  resolved,  that  the  testimony  of  the  memorialists  concerning  doc- 
trine, be  adopted  as  the  testimony  of  this  General  Assembly,  (with  a  few 
verbal  alterations,)  which  is  as  follows: 

"1.  That  God  would  have  prevented  the  existence  of  sin  in  our  world, 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  729 

but  was  not  able  witbout  destroying  the  moral  agency  of  man :  or,  that  for 
aught  that  appears  in  the  Bible  to  the  contrary,  sin  is  incidental  to  any  wise 
moral  system. 

"  2.  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  on  a  foresight  of  faith  and 
obedience. 

"3.  That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam  than  with 
the  sins  of  any  other  parent. 

''4.  That  infants  come  into  the  world  as  free  from  moral  defilement  as 
was  Adam,  when  he  was  created. 

"5.  That  infants  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  moral  government  of 
Grod  in  this  world  as  brute  animals,  and  that  their  sufi'eriugs  and  death  are 
to  be  accounted  for,  on  the  same  principles  as  those  of  brutes,  and  not  by 
any  means  to  be  considered  as  penal. 

"6.  That  there  is  no  other  original  sin  than  the  fact  that  all  the  posteri- 
ty of  Adam,  though  by  nature  innocent,  or  possessed  of  no  moral  character, 
will  always  begin  to  sin  when  they  begin  to  exercise  moral  agency;  that 
original  sin  does  not  include  a  sinful  bias  of  the  human  mind,  and  a  just 
exposure  to  penal  suffering;  and  that  there  is  no  evidence  in  Scripture,  that 
infants,  in  order  to  salvation,  do  need  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ, 
and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"7.  That  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  whether  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's 
sin,  or  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  has  no  foundation  in  the  word  of 
God,  and  is  both  unjust  and  absurd. 

"8.  That  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  truly  vicarious  and 
penal,  but  symbolical,  governmental,  and  instructive  only. 

"9.  That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently  of  the 
renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  full  possession 
of  all  the  ability  necessary  to  a  full  compliance  with  all  the  commands  of 
God. 

"10.  That  Christ  does  not  intercede  for  the  elect  until  after  their  regene- 
ration. 

"11.  That  saving  faith  is  not  an  effect  of  the  special  operation  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  but  a  mere  rational  belief  of  the  truth,  or  assent  to  the  word 
of  God. 

"12.  That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner  himself,  and  that  it  con- 
sists in  a  change  of  his  governing  purpose,  which  he  himself  must  produce, 
and  which  is  the  result,  not  of  any  direct  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on 
the  heart,  but  chiefly  of  a  persuasive  exhibition  of  the  truth,  analogous  to 
the  influence  which  one  man  exerts  over  the  mind  of  another;  or  that 
regeneration  is  not  an  instantaneous  act,  but  a  progressive  work. 

"13.  That  God  has  done  all  that  he  can  do  for  the  salvation  of  all  men, 
and  that  man  himself  must  do  the  rest. 

"  11.  That  God  cannot  exert  such  influence  on  the  minds  of  men,  as  shall 
make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a  particular  manner  without 
impairing  their  moral  agency. 

"15.  That  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  the  sole  ground  of  the  sin- 
ner's acceptance  with  God;  and  that  in  no  sense  does  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  become  ours. 

"  16.  That  the  reason  why  some  differ  from  others  in  regard  to  their 
reception  of  the  gospel  is,  that  they  make  themselves  to  differ. 

"Against  all  these  errors,  whenever  and  wherever,  and  by  whomsoever 
taught,  the  Assembly  would  solemnly  testify;  and  would  warn  all  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Presbyterian  Church  against  them.  They  would  also  enjoin 
it  upon  all  the  inferior  judicatories  to  adopt  all  suitable  measures  to  keep 
their  members  pure  from  opinions  so  dangerous.  Especially  does  the  Assem- 
oZ  * 


730  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

bly  earnestly  enjoiuon  all  the  Presbyteries  to  guard  with  great  care  the  door 
of  entrance  to  the  sacred  office.  Nor  can  the  Assembly  regard  as  consistent 
with  ministerial  ordination  vows,  an  unwillingness  to  discipline  according  to 
the  rules  of  the  word  of  God  and  of  our  standards,  any  person  already  a 
teacher,  who  may  give  currency  to  the  foregoing  errors."  Yeas  109, 
Nays  G,  Non  Liquet  11. — Minutes,  1837,  pp.  468,  470. 

§  168.   Protest  against  this  Testimony/. 

"The  undersigned  respectfully  present  their  protest  against  the  act  of  the 
General  Assembly,  adopting  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Over- 
tures, on  so  much  of  the  memorial  of  the  Convention  as  relates  to  erroneous 
doctrines,  and  for  the  following  reasons. 

"We  protest,  1.  Because  of  the  course  jncrsued  h^  tlie  majority  in  relation 
to  this  report.  Early  in  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  it  was  announced, 
that  all  the  great  questions  which  should  claim  their  attention,  and  the 
action  on  which  would  give  character  to  this  Assembly,  and  affect  the  very 
integrity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  were  entwined  around  and  involved 
in  the  memorial  of  the  Convention.  That  memorial  presented,  as  the  evil 
which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  their  solemn  testimony,  and  threatened  the 
very  existence  of  the  Church,  the  prevalence  of  error.  'It  is  against  error' 
say  the  memorialists,  'that  we  emphatically  bear  our  testimony — error,  not 
as  it  may  be  freely  and  openly  held  by  others,  in  this  age  and  land  of 
absolute  religious  freedom,  but  error  held  and  taught  in  the  Persbyterian 
Church,  preached  and  written  by  persons  who  profess  to  receive  and  adopt 
our  scriptural  standards — promoted  by  societies  widely  operating  through  our 
Churches — reduced  into  form  and  openly  embraced  by  almost  entire  Presby- 
teries and  Synods — favoured  by  repeated  acts  of  successive  General  Assem- 
blies, and  at  last  virtually  sanctioned  to  an  alarming  extent  by  the  numerous 
Assembly  of  1836.'     Of  this  they  said  they  had  '  conclusive  proof.' 

"On  Monday,  the  22d  ultimo,  the  fourth  day  of  the  sessions  of  the 
Assembly,  the  committee  to  whom  the  memorial  was  referred,  presented 
their  report  in  relation  to  these  errors,  and  invited  the  attention  of  the 
Assembly  to  this  subject,  as  one  of  the  very  first  importance,  detailing,  with 
one  or  two  verbal  alterations  merely,  the  list  of  errors  condemned  by  the 
memorialists,  and  alleged  to  be  rife  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It  was 
moved  to  amend  this  list  by  introducing  into  it  four  other  errors,  alleged  to 
be  held  and  taught,  and  productive  of  great  mischief  in  the  Church.  At 
the  same  time,  request  was  made  for  one  day's  delay,  that  so  grave  and 
important  a  subject  might  receive  the  calm  and  sober  attention  it  merited. 
On  all  hands,  discussion  was  allowed  to  be  desirable  and  necessary;  and 
the  Assembly  agreed  to  make  the  subject  the  order  of  the  day  for  the  next 
day.  When  the  next  day  arrived,  however,  the  Assembly  refused  to  take 
up  the  subject,  and  notwithstanding  frequent  attempts  were  made  by  the 
minority  to  get  at  the  discussion,  and  the  radical  importance  of  the  subject 
had  been  alleged,  the  Assembly  uniformly  refused  to  take  it  up,  till  near 
the  close  of  the  sessions,  when  all  discussion  and  amendments  were  instantly 
prevented  by  the  call  for  the  previous  question. 

"2.  We  protest,  because  of  the  manner  in  tohich  the  vote  was  arrived  at. 
The  amendment  offered  proposed  the  condemnation  of  the  four  following 
errors,  of  the  existence  of  which  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  more  decisive 
proof,  in  our  view,  was  given  by  several  speakers,  than  of  any  reported 
by  the  Convention,  viz.  1.  '  That  man  has  no  ahility  of  ANY  kind,  to  obey 
God's  command  or  do  his  duty.  2.  That  ability  is  not  necessary  to  con- 
stitute obliyation.     3.  That    God  may  justly  command  xohat  man  has  no 


Part  XL]  THE    ASSEMBLY   OF    1837.  731 

ahlh'.fi/  to  'perform.,  and  jnsfl)/  condemn  him  for  the  non-performance. 
4.  That  all  the  powers  of  man  to  perform  the  duty  required  of  him,  have  been 
destroyed  hy  the  fall.'     The  admission  of  this  amendment  was  opposed. 

"A  motion  was  made  for  the  postponement  of  the  amendment  and  doc- 
trinal discussion  till  the  next  day,  and  argued  till  the  previous  question  was 
demanded,  which,  the  Moderator  decided,  would  present  the  question  of 
postponement  as  'the  main  question;'  and  in  that  form  the  previous  ques- 
tion was  put  and  carried.  But  instead  of  taking  up  the  subject  then  made 
the  order  of  the  day  for  the  next  day,  the  majority  even  afterwards  refused 
to  do  so,  until  the  rule  for  the  previous  question  had  been  so  altered,  and  the 
Moderator's  decision  on  it  so  had,  that  the  use  of  the  previous  question  would 
cut  off  the  amendment,  and  bring  up  the  original  list  of  errors  as  the  main 
question.  At  the  close  of  the  session,  when  it  was  well  known  this  would 
be  the  eiFect  of  the  previous  question,  the  report  of  the  committee  was  taken 
up,  and  the  call  for  the  previous  question  made  so  immediately  as  to  prevent 
all  discussion  on  the  amendment  thereafter,  as  well  as  on  the  whole  list  of 
doctrinal  errors. 

''3.  We  protest,  hecause  of  the  effect  produced  hy  the  prospect  or  p)roha- 
hility  of  ohtaining  a  unanimous  condemnation  of  the  errors.  During  the 
short  discussion  which  took  place  on  the  amendment,  it  became  obvious, 
that  there  would  be  a  general,  if  not  unanimous  testimony  of  the  Assem- 
bly against  the  errors  pi'oposed  to  be  condemned.  Such  a  vote  would  have 
greatly  weakened  if  not  entirely  destroyed  the  allegations  of  the  Convention, 
who  affirmed  that  they  had  'conclusive  proof  that  these  errors  'are  widely 
disseminated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.'  We  hoped  it  would  have  arrest- 
ed all  the  subsequent  action  of  the  Assembly,  which  we  feel  to  have  been  so 
disastrous  to  the  interests  of  our  beloved  Church.  At  all  events,  its  moral 
effect,  as  a  testimony  against  error,  would  have  been  so  great,  that  had  it 
been  the  main  and  exclusive  design  of  the  majority  to  condemn  error,  we 
think  it  strange  they  did  not  see  and  appreciate  it.  We  think  it  strange, 
too,  that  instead  of  endeavouring  to  obtain  a  unanimous  vote  in  the  condem- 
nation of  error,  and  promote  peace  and  harmony,  which  might  have  pre- 
vented much  of  what  we  believe  will  be  productive  of  great  and  lasting  injury 
to  the  Church,  the  doctrinal  errors  were  studiously  and  with  determination 
kept  back  from  the  consideration  of  the  Assembly  till  nearly  all  those  mea- 
sures were  adopted,  which  cotild  only  be  alleged  to  be  necessary,  on  suppo- 
sition of  the  fact,  that  there  could  be  no  unanimity  or  agreement  in  the 
condemnation  of  error. 

"4.  We  protest,  heccmse  of  the  emharrassing  condition  in  iDhicli  meinhers 
of  the  minority  were  placed,  hy  the  manner  in  ivhich  the  majority  deter- 
mined, finally,  to  act  on  the  report.  The  report  presented  the  list  of  errors, 
and  proposed  that  the  Assembly  testify  against  them,  not  as  errors,  in  thesi, 
but  as  errors  declared  by  the  Convention  to  be  rife  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  This  some  of  the  members  did  not  believe.  At  all  events,  no 
proof  whatever  was  exhibited  or  offered  that  such  is  the  fact.  Others  felt 
that  some  of  the  errors  condemned  are  erroneous  inferences,  which  have 
been  drawn  and  falsely  charged  by  those  who  do  not  understand  the  real 
sentiments  of  brethren,  who  prefer,  in  explaining  the  great  doctrines  of  our 
Confession  of  the  word  of  God,  to  speak  in  the  language  of  common  sense, 
rather  than  to  employ  certain  theological  technics  or  terms  of  scholastic 
divinity,  not  found  either  in  the  Bible  or  in  our  standards,  and  which,  it  is 
believed,  in  many  instances  make  dangerous  practical  impressions,  and  con- 
trary both  to  the  truth  and  to  the  design  of  those  that  use  them.  To  have 
refused,  on  the  one  hand,  for  these  and  such  like  reasons,  to  condemn  these 
errors,  would  necessarily,  in  the  present  agitated  state  of  the  public  mind, 


732  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book   VII. 

excite  suspicions  and  doubts  as  to  their  soundness  in  tlie  faith,  who  did  so. 
Yea,  even  a  uon-liquet  vote,  or  declining  to  vote  altogether,  would  have 
the  same  effect.  On  the  other  hand,  to  have  condemned  these  errors, 
without  some  opportunity  afforded  in  discussion  to  state  their  real  views, 
and  to  disavow  their  belief  of  the  erroneous  inferences  drawn  from  their 
mode  of  explaining  the  doctrines  of  the  standards  in  the  language  of  com- 
mon sense,  in  preference  to  that  of  scholastic  theology,  would  have  sub- 
jected them  to  the  charge  of  insincerity  and  hypocrisy,  of  late  so 
industriously  circulated  against  many  estimable  men  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Christian  candour,  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love,  and  the  obligation 
to  do  to  others  as  we  would  have  them  to  do  to  us,  we  think,  should  have 
rendered  the  majority  willing  to  afford  their  brethren  full  opportunity  to 
exhibit  their  real  views,  to  correct  any  misrepresentations,  to  disavow  any 
false  inferences  attributed  to  them  as  their  opinions,  and  to  unite  with  them 
in  the  condemnation  of  pernicious  error. 

''  5.  We  protest  also,  because  of  the  want  of  discrimination,  as  ive  (Jmik, 
in  the  statement  of  the  errors;  some  of  which  are  propositions  wholly  of  a 
metaphysical  character,  and  on  points  by  no  means  clearly  and  positively 
settled,  either  in  our  standards  or  in  the  sacred  Scriptures;  and  calculated 
exceedingly  to  perplex  and  bewilder  the  great  mass  of  ordinary  readers,  in 
finding  them  classed  with  errors  essentially  at  variance  with  both. 

"6.  We  protest  further,  hecause  of  the  imperfect  character,  as  we  thinJc, 
of  the  testimony  given  against  error,  in  the  report  and  resolutions  adojyted. 
We  think  that  the  dangerous  errors  brought  into  view  by  the  amendment, 
should  have  been  condemned;  and  that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  affirm  a  propo- 
sition to  be  erroneous  without  asserting  the  contrary  truth.  Such  a  testimony 
in  full,  we  were  prepared  to  give,  had  we  been  allowed  an  opportunity. 

"  7.  We  protest  yet  further,  because  the  language  of  several  of  the  state- 
ments, we  think,  is  so  ambiguous  as  to  contain  different  propositions  accord- 
ing to  the  different  legitimate  signification  of  the  terms  employed  in  the 
statement,  and  therefore  requiring  soma  explanation,  as  in  specification  first, 
where  it  is  said,  God  was  not  able  to  prevent  the  existence  of  sin.  Here,  if 
the  words  '  not  able'  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  a  want  of  a  mere  literal  power, 
we  have  one  proposition;  but  if  iinderstood  to  signify  inconsistericy  vfhh  the 
perfections  of  the  divine  nature  generally,  we  have  another  totally  different; 
and  so  of  can  in  the  thirteenth,  and  cannot  in  the  fourteenth  specifications. 
The  same  is  also  true  in  regard  to  the  term  ability  in  the  latter  clause  of 
specification  ninth.  If  by  ability  be  meant  endowments,  such  as  constitute 
the  natural  capabilities  of  a  moral  and  responsible  agent,  we  have  one  pro- 
position; but  if  ability  be  understood  to  signify  a  disposition  of  mind  to  will 
and  to  do  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  we  have  one  wholly  diverse.  To  the  list 
of  ambiguities  we  may  add  the  term  regeneration,  in  the  latter  clause  of 
specification  twelfth.  If,  in  that  place,  regeneration  be  understood  to  com- 
prehend all  the  vicissitudes  of  mind  which  man  experiences  in  the  change 
from  a  careless  sinner  to  a  real  Christian,  we  shall  have  a  proposition 
wholly  diverse  from  that  which  we  would  have,  if  we  understood  the  term  to 
mean  merely  the  transformation  of  a  convicted  and  anxious  sinner  into  a 
true  and  spiritual  Christian,  or  the  translation  from  a  state  of  death  in  tres- 
passes and  sins  to  a  state  of  life;  so  that  several  of  these  statements  may  be 
true  or  false,  error  or  orthodoxy,  just  as  the  terms  that  express  them  may  be 
differently  explained.  We  feel  bound  to  protest  against  any  doctrinal  state- 
ments coming  from  this  body,  of  so  ambiguous  import,  and  so  adapted,  as  we 
think,  without  explanation,  to  perplex  and  confound,  and  not  to  instruct  and 
edify  the  Churches. 

^'8.  We  protest,  finally,  because,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  733 

case,  we  feel  that  while  we  wei*e  prevented  from  uniting  in  tlie  final  vote 
with  the  majority  in  their  testimony  against  error,  for  the  reasons  above 
stated,  we  owe  it  to  ourselves,  to  our  brethi'en,  to  the  Church,  and  to  the 
world,  to  declare  and  protest,  that  it  is  not  because  we  do,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, hold  or  countenance  the  errors  stated.  We  are  willing  to  bear  our  tes- 
timony in  full  against  them,  and  now  do  so,  when,  without  misapprehension 
and  liability  to  have  our  vote  misconstrued,  we  avow  our  real  sentiments, 
and  contrast  them  with  the  errors  condemned,  styling  them,  as  we  believe, 
the  true  doctrine,  in  opposition  to  the  erroneous  doctrine  condemned,  as 
follows,  viz. 

"  First  Error.  '  That  God  would  have  prevented  the  existence  of  sin  in 
our  world,  but  was  not  able,  without  destroying  the  moral  agency  of  man; 
or,  that  for  aught  that  appears  in  the  Bible  to  the  contrary,  sin  is  incidental 
to  any  wise  moral  system.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  God  permitted  the  introduction  of  sin,  not  because  he 
was  unable  to  prevent  it,  consistently  with  the  moral  freedom  of  his  creatures, 
but  for  wise  and  benevolent  reasons  which  he  has  not  revealed. 

"  Second  Error.  '  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  on  a  foresight 
of  faith  and  obedience.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  Election  to  eternal  life  is  not  founded  on  a  foresight  of 
faith  and  obedience,  but  is  a  sovereign  act  of  God's  mercy,  whereby,  accord- 
ing to  the  council  of  his  own  will,  he  hath  chosen  some  to  salvation;  'yet  so 
as  thereby  neither  is  violence  offered  to  the  will  of  the  creatures,  nor  is  the 
liberty  or  contingency  of  second  causes  taken  away,  but  rather  established/ 
nor  does  this  gracious  purpose  ever  take  effect  independently  of  faith  and  a 
holy  life. 

"  Third  Error.  'That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam 
than  with  the  sins  of  any  other  parent.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  By  a  divine  constitution,  Adam  was  so  the  head  and 
representative  of  the  race,  that,  as  a  consequence  of  his  transgression,  all 
mankind  become  morally  corrupt,  and  liable  to  death,  temporal  and  eternal. 

"  Fourth  Error.  '  That  infants  come  into  the  world  as  free  from  moral 
defilement  as  was  Adam  when  he  was  created.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  Adam  was  created  in  the  image  of  God,  endowed  with 
knowledge,  righteousness,  and  true  holiness.  Infants  come  into  the  world, 
'not  only  destitute  of  these,  but  with  a  nature  inclined  to  evil,  and  only  evil. 

" FijYh  Error.  'That  infants  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  God,  in  this  world,  as  brute  animals,  and  that  their  sufferings  and 
death  are  to  be  accoimted  for  on  the  same  principles  as  those  of  brutes,  and 
not  by  any  means  to  be  considered  as  penal.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  Brute  animals  sustain  no  such  relation  to  the  moral 
government  of  God  as  does  the  human  family.  lufiiuts  are  a  part  of  the 
human  family;  and  their  sufferings  and  death  are  to  be  accounted  for,  on 
the  ground  of  their  being  involved  in  the  general  moral  ruin  of  the  race 
induced  by  the  apostacy. 

"  Sixth  Error.  'That  there  is  no  other  original  sin  than  the  fact,  that 
all  the  posterity  of  Adam,  though  by  nature  innocent,  will  always  begin  to 
sin  when  they  begin  to  exercise  moral  agency;  that  original  sin  does  not 
include  a  sinful  bias  of  the  human  mind,  and  a  just  exposure  to  penal  suf- 
fering; and  that  there  is  no  evidence  in  Scripture,  that  infants,  in  order  to 
salvation,  do  need  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  regeneration  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  Original  sin  is  a  natural  bias  to  evil,  resulting  from  the 
first  apostacy,  leading  invariably  and  certainly  to  actual  transgression.    And 


734  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

all  infants,  as  well  as  adults,  in  order  to  be  saved,  need  redemption  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  S<:oc.nth  Error.  'That  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  whether  of  the  guilt 
of  Adam's  sin,  or  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  has  no  foundation  in  the 
word  of  (rod,  and  is  both  unjust  and  absurd.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  The  sin  of  Adam  is  not  imputed  to  his  posterity  in  the 
sense  of  a  literal  transfer  of  personal  qualities,  acts,  and  demerit;  but  by 
reason  of  the  sin  of  Adam,  in  his  peculiar  relation,  the  race  are  treated  as  if 
they  had  sinned.  Nor  is  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  his  people 
in  the  sense  of  a  literal  transfer  of  personal  qualities,  acts,  and  merit;  but 
by  reason  of  his  righteousness,  in  his  peculiar  relation,  they  are  treated  as  if 
they  were  righteous. 

'■'■  Ehjlitli  Error.  'That  the  suiFerings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  tinily 
vicarious  and  penal,  but  symbolical,  governmental,  and  instructive  only.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  The  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  symbolical, 
governmental,  and  instructive  only,  but  were  truly  vicarious,  i.  e.  a  substi- 
tute for  the  punishment  due  to  transgressors.  And  while  Christ  did  not 
suffer  the  literal  penalty  of  the  law,  involving  remorse  of  conscience  and  the 
pains  of  hell,  he  did  offer  a  sacrifice  which  infinite  wisdom  saw  to  be  a  full 
equivalent.  And  by  virtue  of  this  atonement,  overtures  of  mercy  are  sin- 
cerely made  to  the  race,  and  salvation  secured  to  all  who  believe. 

" JVinth  Error.  'That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  indepen- 
dently of  the  renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in 
full  possession  of  all  the  ability  necessary  to  a  full  compliance  with  all  the 
commands  of  God.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  While  sinners  have  all  the  faculties  necessary  to  a  per- 
fect moral  agency  and  a  just  accountability,  such  is  their  love  of  sin  and 
opposition  to  God  and  his  law,  that,  independently  of  the  renewing  influence 
or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  never  will  comply  with  the  com- 
mands of  God. 

"  Tenth  Error.  '  That  Christ  does  not  intercede  for  the  elect  until  after 
their  regeneration.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  The  intercession  of  Christ  for  the  elect  is  previous  as 
well  as  subsequent  to  their  regeneration,  as  appears  from  the  following  Scrip- 
ture, viz.  '  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them  which  thou  hast  given  me, 
for  they  are  thine.  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which 
shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word.' 

"  Eleventh  Error.  '  That  saving  faith  is  not  an  effect  of  the  operations  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  a  mere  rational  belief  of  the  truth  or  assent  to  the  word 
of  God.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  Saving  faith  is  an  intelligent  and  cordial  assent  to  the 
testimony  of  God  concerning  his  Son,  implying  reliance  on  Christ  alone  for 
pardon  and  eternal  life;  and  in  all  cases  it  is  an  effect  of  the  special  opera- 
tions of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

''  Twelfth  Error.  '  That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner  himself,  and 
that  it  consists  in  change  of  his  governing  purpose,  which  he  himself  must 
produce,  and  which  is  the  result,  not  of  any  direct  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  the  heart,  but  chiefly  of  a  persuasive  exhibition  of  the  truth,  analo- 
gous to  the  influence  which  one  man  exerts  over  the  mind  of  another;  or 
that  regeneration  is  not  an  instantaneous  act,  but  a  progressive  work.' 

"  True  Doctrine,  llegencration  is  a  radical  change  of  heart,  produced  by 
the  special  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  'determining  the  sinner  to  that 
which  is  good,'  and  is  in  all  cases  instantaneous. 

"  Thirteenth  Error.  '  That  God  has  done  all  that  he  can  do  for  the  salva- 
tion of  all  men,  and  that  man  himself  must  do  the  rest.' 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  735 

"  True  Doctrine.  While  repentance  for  sin  and  faith  in  Christ  are  indis- 
pensable to  salvation,  all  who  are  saved  are  indebted  from  first  to  last  to  the 
grace  and  Spirit  of  God.  And  the  reason  that  Grod  does  not  save  all,  is  not 
that  he  wants  the  poicer  to  do  it,  but  that  in  his  wisdom  he  does  not  see  fit 
to  exert  that  power  further  than  he  actually  does. 

^'■Fourteenth  Error.  'That  God  cannot  exert  such  influence  on  the 
minds  of  men,  as  shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a  par- 
ticular manner,  without  impairing  their  moral  agency.' 

''  True  Doctrine.  While  the  liberty  of  the  will  is  not  impaired,  nor  the 
established  connection  betwixt  means  and  end  broken  by  any  action  of  God 
on  the  mind,  he  can  influence  it  according  to  his  pleasure,  and  does  effec- 
tually determine  it  to  good  in  all  cases  of  true  conversion. 

'^Fifteenth  Error.  'That  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  the  sole 
ground  of  the  sinner's  acceptance  with  God ;  and  that  in  no  sense  does  the 
righeousness  of  Christ  become  ours.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  All  believers  are  justified,  not  on  the  ground  of  personal 
merit,  but  solely  on  the  ground  of  the  obedience  and  death,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  And  while  that  righteousness  does  not 
become  theirs,  in  the  sense  of  a  literal  transfer  of  personal  qualities  and 
merit;  yet,  from  respect  to  it,  God  can  and  does  treat  them  as  if  they  were 
righteous. 

*'  Sijcteenth  Error.  '  That  the  reason  why  some  diff"er  from  others  in 
regard  to  their  reception  of  the  gospel  is,  that  they  make  themselves  to 
differ.' 

"  True  Doctrine.  While  all  sucb  as  reject  the  gospel  of  Christ  do  it,  not 
by  coercion,  but  freely — and  all  who  embrace  it  do  it,  not  by  coercion  but 
freely — the  reason  why  some  differ  from  others  is,  that  God  has  made  them 
to  differ. 

"  George  Duifield,  E.  W.  Gilbert,  Thomas  Brown,  Bliss  Burnap,  JN". 
S.  S.  Beman,  E.  Cheever,  E.  Seymour,  George  Painter,  P.  W. 
Graves,  Obadiah  Woodruff,  N.  C.  Clark,  Robert  Stuart,  Nahum 
Gould,  Absalom  Peters,  Alexander  Campbell." — Minutes,  1837, 
p.  481. 

§  169.  Action  upon  this  Protest. 

"  Mr.  Plumer  offered  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  viz. 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  papeir  just  offered,  purporting  to  be  a  protest, 
though  it  contains  several  important  mis-statements  of  facts,  and  much 
extraneous  matter,  be  admitted  to  record  without  answer;  the  lateness  of 
the  period  at  which  it  is  offered  rendering  it  inconvenient  to  answer  it,  and 
the  character  of  the  paper  rendering  another  disposition  of  it  proper  and 
necessary. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  duly  certified  copies  of  this  paper  be  sent  to  the 
respective  Presbyteries  to  which  the  signers  of  the  protest  belong,  calling 
their  attention  to  the  developments  of  theological  views  contained  in  it,  and 
enjoining  on  them  to  inquire  into  the  soundness  of  the  faith  of  those  who  have 
ventured  to  make  so  strange  avowals  as  some  of  these  are." — Ihid.  p.  486. 

Title  6. — The  Third  Presbytery  op  Philadelphia  Dissolved. 

§170. 

"  Be  it  Resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America, 

"  1.  That  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  be,  and  hereby  is  dis- 
solved. 


736  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

"2.  The  territory  embraced  in  this  Presbytery  is  re-annexed  to  those  to 
which  it  respectively  appertained  before  its  creation.  Its  Stated  Clerk  is 
directed  to  deposite  all  the  records  and  other  papers  in  the  hands  of  the 
Stated  Clerk  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  the 
Sessions  of  that  Synod,  at  its  first  meeting  after  this  Assembly  adjourns. 

"3.  The  candidates  and  foreign  missionaries  of  the  Third  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia,  are  hereb}'  attached  to  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

"4.  The  Ministers,  Churches,  and  Licentiates,  in  the  Presbytery  hereby 
dissolved,  are  directed  to  apply  without  delay  to  the  Presbyteries  to  which 
they  most  natm-ally  belong,  for  admission  into  them.  And  upon  applica- 
tion being  so  made  by  any  duly  organized  Presbyterian  Church,  it  shall  be 
received. 

"5.  These  resolutions  shall  be  in  force  from  and  after  the  final  adjourn- 
ment of  the  present  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly."  [Yeas  75,  Nays 
Q0.2— Minutes,  1837,  p.  472. 

§  171.  Protest  against  the  dissolution. 

"  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  present  the  fol- 
lowing protest  against  the  resolutions  of  the  Assembly,  by  which  the  Third 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  has  been  dissolved,  and  for  the  following  reasons  : 

"1.  Because  the  said  resolutions  are  contrary  to  the  acts  of  several  suc- 
cessive General  Assemblies,  by  which  said  Presbytery  was,  as  we  believe, 
constitutionally  created,  and  has  been  sustained.  This  Presbytery  was 
formed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1832 — justly  said  to  have  been  one  of 
the  ablest  Assemblies  that  ever  sat  in  this  city — and  that,  too,  after  long, 
full,  and  able  discussion,  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  creating  it,  the 
Assembly  having  deemed  it  the  only  effectual  and  constitutional  way  of  sup- 
pressing the  protracted  and  painful  disputes  among  brethren  in  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia.  Nor  was  this  done  until  the  Synod  had  refused  to  take 
steps  for  the  division  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  as  directed  by  the 
Assembly  of  1831,  and  the  case  had  been  brought  up  to  the  Assembly  by  com- 
plaint and  petition,  and  by  the  reference  of  the  Synod.  Subsequently,  this 
Presbytery  having  been  dissolved  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  was  restored 
by  the  Assembly  in  1834.  In  1836,  the  Assembly  assigned  geographical 
limits  to  this  Presbytery,  in  the  belief  and  with  the  general  understanding, 
that  it  was  to  terminate  the  dispute  in  relation  to  its  alleged  unconstitu- 
tional existence,  on  the  ground  of  elective  affinity.  Here  it  was  hoped  this 
Presbytery  would  have  been  permitted  to  pursue  their  labours  without 
further  molestation.  We  therefore  regard  it  as  not  only  doing  injury  to  the 
Presbytery,  but  as  being  contrary  to  the  repeatedly  expressed  decisions  of 
the  collected  wisdom  of  the  whole  Church,  and  utterly  subversive  of  all 
stability  in  our  government,  when  the  case  had  been  fairly  before  them  and 
fully  discussed,  again  to  disturb  the  organization  of  this  Presbytery  and 
agitate  the  Churches  of  this  city. 

"2.  We  protest  against  dissolution  of  this  Pi'csbytery,  on  the  ground  of 
its  having  been  originally  a  mere  elective  afiinity  body,  for  this  principle  has 
been  recognized  and  acted  upon  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country 
for  nearly  a  century,  as  a  means  of  terminating  painful  disputes  among 
brethren  of  the  same  Presbytery.  It  is  a  thing  of  frequent  occurrence,  to 
allow  a  Minister  unpleasantly  situated,  either  from  local  circumstances  or 
otherwise,  to  withdraw  and  connect  himself  with  another  Presbytery. 

''3.  Because  the  objections  urged  against  the  existence  of  this  Presby- 
tery, on  the  ground  of  its  alleged  defective  geographical  limits,  are  wholly 
without  foundation,  inasmuch  as  the  geographical  boundaries  are  completely 
and  throiujhout  its  ichole  extent  accurately  defined,  so  that  its  future  opera- 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  737 

tions  are  restricted  within  limits  mueli  more  distiactly  defined  than  either 
of  the  two  other  Presbyteries  iu  this  city. 

"4.  We  protest  against  the  resolution,  because  of  its  unconstitutionality, 
inasmuch  as  the  Presbytery  has  been  dissolved  without  being  accused,  cited, 
tried,  or  condemned,  and  that  too  without  any  opportunity  of  defence,  and 
in  a  manner  as  sudden  and  unexpected,  as  it  has  been  in  our  apprehension 
contrary  to  justice  and  right;  and  inasmuch  as  it  may  have  the  effect  to 
exclude  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  some  of  its  Ministers  in  good  stand- 
ing, without  the  benefit  of  those  forms  of  justice  which  our  book  of  disci- 
pline provides,  shall  be  respected  in  all  processes  affecting  the  reputation  of 
Ministers,  and  guaranties  to  all. 

"5.  Because  the  resolution  was  passed  after  four  Synods  had  been  cut 
off,  thus  taking  fifty-one  Commissioners  from  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  and 
thus  dismembering  the  body,  which  we  feel  to  be  the  more  grievous, 
because,  had  the  thing  been  attempted  before  such  dismemberment,  it  could 
not  have  been  carried. 

"6.  "We  protest,  finally,  because  of  the  contentions  which  we  fear  it  will 
excite  again  in  this  city,  and  which  we  had  hoped  had  happily  ceased.  The 
Presbytery  was  at  peace  and  peacefully  pursuing  its  course.  Its  plans  of 
usefulness  have  thus  been  broken  up.  Its  way  is  embarrassed.  The 
Churches  under  its  care  are  thrown  into  perplexity  and  confusion,  and  in 
our  apprehension  serious  injury  will  be  inflicted  on  the  interests  of  religion 
in  this  city. 

"John  P.  Cleaveland,  William  Jessup,  Robert  Stuart,  Frederick  W. 
Graves,  James  I.  Ostrom,  E.  W.  Gilbert,  E.  Seymour,  Ambrose 
White,  George  Painter,  John  L.  Grant,  N.  C.  Clark,  E.  Cheever, 
Bliss  Burnap,  George  Duffield,  T.  D.  Southworth,  Thomas  Brown, 
Burr  Bradley,  N.  S.  S.  Beman,  Alexander  Campbell,  John  Mines, 
Absalom  Peters,  Jacob  Faris,  Samuel  Bead,  Wilfred  Hall,  Adam 
MiWer."— Minutes,  1837,  p.  486. 

§  172.  Answer. 
*^  Resolved,  That  the  protest  respecting  the  dissolution  of  the  Third  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  is  sufiiciently  answered  by  stating  that  the  reason- 
ings which  it  contains  are  foreign  from  the  grounds  on  which  the  question 
was  decided;  that  the  evidence  before  this  Assembly,  establishing  the  evil 
effects  of  the  existence  of  this  Presbytery,  is  ample;  that  the  principle  on 
which  it  was  formed,  and  on  which  it  has  existed  up  to  this  time,  viz.  that 
of  elective  afiinity,  is  now  on  all  hands  admitted  to  be  unconstitutional;  and 
lastly,  that  being  originally  formed  by  the  Assembly,  none  can  question  the 
right  of  that  body  to  dissolve  it,  whenever  its  continued  existence  is  found 
to  be  injurious  to  truth  and  charity." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  488. 

Title  7. — The  American  Societies  Discountenanced. 
§  173. 

"Resolved,  That  while  we  desire  that  no  body  of  Christian  men  of  other 
denominations  should  be  prevented  from  choosing  their  own  plans  of  doing 
good — and  while  we  claim  no  right  to  complain  should  they  exceed  us  in 
energy  and  zeal — we  believe,  that  facts  too  familiar  to  need  repetition  here, 
warrant  us  in  aifirming,  that  the  organization  and  operations  of  the  so  called 
American  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  ximerican  Education  Society,  and 
its  branches,  of  whatever  name,  are  exceedingly  injurious  to  the  peace  and 
purity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  We  recommend,  accordingly,  that  they 
should  cease  to  operate  within  any  of  our  Churches." — [Yeas  124, 
Nays  m.']— Minutes,  1837,  p.  442. 
93 


738  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

§  174.   Protest  against  the  above  resolution. 

"The  undersigned,  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  deem  it  their  duty 
respectfully  to  protest  against  a  decision  of  the  Assembly  of  June  'M, 
relating  to  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  the  American 
Education  Society,  and  for  the  following  reasons : 

"1.  For  mani/  years  these  societies  have  existed  and  operated  in  our 
Churches  under  the  sanction  of  the  Assembly.  Fostered  by  our  judicatories 
and  members  in  eveiy  quarter,  they  have  grown  steadily  from  the  weakness 
of  infancy  to  the  size  and  vigour  of  manhood.  They  have  fixed  themselves 
in  the  confidence  and  affections  of  a  great  multitude,  and  become  most 
extensively  organs  of  action  in  two  great  departments  of  Christian  benevo- 
lence. We  think  the  Assembly  to  be  justified  in  now  assuming  an  attitude 
of  open  hostility,  ought  to  have  very  weighty  reasons;  and  we  do  not 
believe  that  any  such  reasons  exist.  That  these  societies  are  corrupt,  either 
in  principle  or  management,  so  as  to  endanger  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
there  has  not  in  our  judgment  been  produced  the  shadow  of  evidence.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  believe  their  designs  to  be  pure,  their  management  wise, 
and  their  influence  immensely  good  in  enlarging  our  Church,  and  strength- 
ening the  cause  of  truth  and  holiness;  and  that  therefore  their  operations 
ought  to  receive  the  continued  encouragement  of  this  Assembly. 

"  2.  Said  decision  is  regarded  as  interfering  iviththe  right  of  every  indi- 
vidual in  our  Church  to  adoj^t  his  oicn  may  of  doing  good.  We  know  it 
does  not  stand  in  the  form  of  positive  prohibition.  It  is,  nevertheless,  au 
expression  of  decided  disapprobation.  And  it  will  be  understood  by  many, 
we  doubt  not,  as  more  than  intimating,  that  for  any  inferior  judicatories, 
Ministers,  Elders,  or  private  members  to  encourage  those  societies,  will  be 
an  ecclesiastical  offence.  And  multitudes  must  either  lie  under  odium  in 
view  of  a  portion  of  the  Church,  or  abandon  two  of  the  most  important  enter- 
prises of  the  age,  or  else  aid  them  in  a  form  which  does  not  accoi'd  with 
their  choice  and  their  deliberate  convictions  of  duty.  We  regard  the  reso- 
lution as  oppressive.  We  claim  it  as  the  right  of  every  judicatory,  officer, 
and  private  individual  in  the  Church,  to  select)  objects  of  benevolence,  and 
to  determine  the  channel  in  which  that  benevolence  shall  flow.  And  we 
solemnly  protest  against  any  act  of  the  Assembly,  whose  influence  must  go 
to  abridge  this  liberty.  And  which,  we  think,  must  be  seen  to  be  the  act 
referred  to. 

''3.  We  protest  against  the  decision,  because  of  its  i^ijurious  bearing  on  a 
multitude  of  Ministers,  Churches,  and  young  men  preparing  for  the  sacred 
office.  More  than  four  hundred  ambassadors  of  Christ  within  our  bounds 
depend  on  one  of  these  societies  for  a  part  of  their  support.  Many  more  than 
this  number  of  Churches  depend  on  the  same  society  for  the  stated  ordinances 
of  the  gospel.  And  scores  of  youth,  struggling  for  the  ministry,  are  looking 
to  the  other  society  for  the  means  of  going  forward.  It  is  the  tendency  and 
may  be  the  effect  of  this  resolution,  to  keep  back  youth  of  promise  from  the 
holy  office — to  divert  the  ministry  from  its  proper  work,  and  push  it 
into  secular  occupations  for  the  means  of  living — to  break  up  pastoral  rela- 
tions— and  take  the  bread  of  life  from  many  an  infant  church  in  the  new 
settlements  of  our  country.  We  think  it  cannot  with  any  propriety  be  said, 
that  these  Ministers  and  Churches  and  young  men  may  look  to  other  sources 
for  aid.  What  security  is  there  that  the  necessary  aid  will  be  afforded?  and 
if  afforded,  that  it  would  come  from  a  source  and  in  a  way  equally  grateful 
to  their  feelings  ? 

"4.  We  protest  against  the  resolution,  as  adapted  to  embarrass  tioo  of 
ike  greatest  enterprises  of  the  age  and  icorld.     A  pious  and  able  ministry  is 


Part  XI.]  THE   ASSEMBLY  OF   1837.  739 

vital  to  the  existence  of  our  country  and  the  salvation  of  the  human  race. 
To  provide  such  a  ministry  for  our  land  and  the  whole  earth,  is  the  aim  of 
these  institutions.  In  prosecution  of  this  aim,  they  have  already  accom- 
plished much.  Many  of  the  brightest  lights  of  the  Church  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  many  of  its  brightest  triumphs,  are  fruits  of  their  labours.  If 
unobstructed  in  their  operations,  they  must  rapidly  advance  in  efficiency; 
and  in  our  judgment  they  promise  infinite  blessings  to  the  nation  and  to  all 
mankind.  We  think  that  institutions  of  such  generous  aim,  and  such 
achievements,  and  at  such  a  time  as  this,  ought  to  have  some  very  great  and 
obvious  imperfection  in  organization  or  management,  to  justify  any  act  cal- 
culated to  impair  public  confidence,  and  cripple  their  efi"orts,  and  limit  their 
usefulness.  Such  imperfections  in  these  societies  we  cannot  discern.  And 
while  our  older  as  well  as  new  settlements  are  filled  with  feeble  Churches  and 
wide  moral  wastes,  and  whole  empires  are  sunk  in  pagan  abominations  and 
hopelessness,  we  cannot  look  at  the  late  action  of  the  Assembly  touching 
these  institutions,  without  deep  pain,  nor  suffer  it  to  pass  without  kind  but 
decided  remonstrance. 

"  5.  We  protest  against  the  resolution  referred  to,  because  founded,  as  we 
believe,  on  tnisapprehension  as  to  the  responsibility  of  said  societies.  Their 
funds  are  all  the  free-will  offerings  of  the  Christian  public.  Their  officers 
are  all  elected  annually  by  the  members  of  the  societies.  Their  operations 
are  all  subject  to  the  strictest  review.  Their  beneficiaries,  before  admitted 
to  patronage,  are  recommended  and  examined  by  committees  entitled  to 
confidence,  and  scattered  all  over  the  land.  Their  ministers  in  the  field  are 
members  of  our  own  ecclesiastical  bodies,  or  of  others  in  correspondence  with 
us,  by  the  very  terms  of  their  appointment,  giving  all  the  security  for  sound 
orthodoxy  and  ecclesiastical  order  which  the  constitution  of  the  Church 
affords.  And  we  cannot  discern  any  possible  hazard  arising  from  lack  of 
responsibility.  Indeed,  we  believe  that  in  all  respects  the  responsibility  is 
equally  perfect  with  that  of  the  two  Boards  of  the  Assembly,  and  much  more 
direct  and  unembarrassed;  and^at  the  same  time,  all  history  lifts  its  voice 
against  a  concentration  of  pecuniary  power  and  ecclesiastical  judicatories  or 
Church  courts.  The  immediate  management  of  all  such  institutions  must 
of  necessity  rest  with  a  few,  and  the  responsibility  and  incidental  influence 
of  the  officers  be  great.  But  in  this  land  of  intelligence  and  wakeful  jealousy, 
as  to  civil  and  religious  rights,  there  can  in  our  judgment  be  no  reasonable 
apprehension  from  these  institutions. 

"  For  these  reasons,  we  think  the  act  referred  to  not  only  unnecessary, 
injurious,  and  unjust,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  institutions  concerned,  but  a 
permanent  reproach  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  view  of  other  Churches 
in  our  own  country  and  throughout  the  world.  And  therefore  we  desire  to 
record  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  our  solemn  protest  against  it. 

"Absalom  Peters,  J.  W.  M'Cullough,  E.  Seymour,  N.  S.  S.  Beman, 
John  L.  Grant,  Baxter  Dickinson,  Thomas  M'Auley,  John  P. 
Cleaveland,  E.  W.  Gilbert,  Robert  Stuart,  Philip  C.Hay,  George 
Duffield,  Timothy  Stillman,  John  B.  Richardson,  S.  W.  May, 
James  I.  Ostrom,  R.  Campbell,  E.  Cheever,  Obadiah  Woodruff, 
Adam  Miller,  William  Jessup,  James  R.  Gibson,  Daniel  Sayre, 
Ambrose  White,  Wilfred  Hall,  Jacob  Paris,  Alexander  Campbell, 
John  S.  Martin,  Ira  M.  Wead,  Samuel  Reed,  Bennet  Roberts,  P. 
W.  Warriner,  B.  Dolbear,  Horace  Bushnell,  S.  Benjamin,  Burr 
Bradley,  Nathaniel  C.  Clark,  Nahum  Gould,  Frederick  W.  Graves, 
W.  C.  Wisner,  George  Painter,  Thomas  Brown,  F.  A.  M'Corkle, 
Ephraim  Cutler,  John  M'Swcen,  Dewey  Whitney,  Edwin  Holt, 
Enoch  Kingsbury,  Calvin  Cutler,  Bliss  Burnap,  T.  D.  Southworth, 


740  THE    NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

Darius  0.  Griswold,  David  Porter,  Jonathan  Cone,  Zina  Whit- 
tlesey, Marcus  Sniitli,  Horace  Hunt,  "William  B.  Stow,  Ira  Petti- 
bone,  Ammi  Doubleday,  William  Roy,  Thomas  Lounsbury,  John 
Gridley,  Abner  Hollister,  Washington  Thatcher,  H.  S.  Walbrid<re, 
Silas  West,  John  M.  Kowland,  George  E.  Delavan,  Fayette  Ship- 
herd,  E.  M.  Gregory,  George  Spalding,  Solomon  Stevens,  Henry 
Brewster,  Merit  Harmon,  Felix  Tracy,  J.  B.  Preston,  John  M. 
Cunningham,  John  Crawford,  James  Carnahan,  John  Leonard, 
Jacob  Gideon,  James  W.  Phillips." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  488. 

§  175.  Answer  to  this  Protest. 

''In  answer  to  the  above  protest  against  the  resolution  of  the  Assembly 
which  declares  that  '  the  organization  and  operation  of  the  so  called  Ameri- 
can Home  Missionary  Society,  and  American  Education  Society  and  its 
branches,  of  whatever  name,  are  exceedingly  injurious  to  the  peace  and 
purity  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,' — and  which  also  recommends  that  'they 
should  cease  to  operate  within  any  of  our  Churches,'  the  Assembly  replies, 
that  th.e  first  reason  of  the  protest,  viz.  that  'for  many  years  these  societies 
have  existed  and  operated  in  our  Churches,  under  the  sanction  of  the  Assem- 
bly,' furnishes  no  ground  why  that  sanction  should  any  longer  be  afforded 
to  them,  if  the  Assembly  be  satisfied  that  their  action  upon  the  true  interests 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  highly  injurious.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  Assembly  to  hasten  as  soon  as  it  could,  to  repair,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, the  serious  evils  which  have  resulted  from  its  former  mistakes  upon  this 
point.  Of  the  existence  of  these  evils,  the  Assembly  has  had  sufficient  evi- 
dence before  it  to  justify  fully  the  expression  of  disapproval  conveyed  in  the 
resolution  complained  of.  The  organization  of  these  institutions  is  defec- 
tive, and  their  management  has  been  such  as  to  awaken  many  and  just 
apprehensions  that  they  are  designed,  upon  the  part  of  some,  to  break  down 
our  own  Boards,  and  to  introduce  and  propagate  opinions  at  war  with  the 
standards  of  our  Church.  The  recorded  sentiments  of  the  principal  organ 
of  one  of  these  institutions,  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  show 
that  the  existence  of  our  own  Board  of  Missions  is  considered  incompatible 
with  the  action  of  the  voluntary  society — and  that  such  is  still  the  opinion 
of  the  advocates  of  the  latter  society,  is  manifest  from  the  deliberate  attempt 
made  by  them,  during  the  last  Assembly,  to  revolutionize  or  cripple  the 
action  of  our  own  Board  by  introducing  into  it  men  known  to  be  hostile  to 
its  existence. 

^'Second.  In  reply  to  the  second  reason,  viz.  that  'said  decision  is  regard- 
ed as  interfering  with  the  right  of  every  individual  in  our  Church  to  adopt 
his  own  way  of  doing  good,'  the  Assembly  denies  any  such  inference.  They 
regard  their  resolution  simply  as  the  expression  of  their  collective  opinion 
upon  a  subject  of  great  practical  moment,  coupled  with  an  earnest  recom- 
mendation to  the  above  associations  to  withdraw  from  operating  in  the 
Churches  of  our  denomination.  If  the  General  Assembly  bo  as  the  consti- 
tution makes  it,  'the  bond  of  union,  peace,  correspondence,  and  mutual  con- 
fidence among  all  our  Churches,'  surely  it  not  only  has  a  right,  but  is  hound 
to  recommend  to  the  Churches  what  will  promote  'union,  peace,  and  mutual 
confidence,'  and  remove  the  contrary  evils.  If  freed  from  foreign  inter- 
ference, the  Assembly  believes  that  the  Churches  would  find  no  difiiculty 
whatever  in  contributing  to  the  two  great  departments  of  missions  and  edu- 
cation, through  the  medium  of  the  long  established,  safe,  and  efficient  organi- 
zations of  the  Church.  Nor  can  they  conceive  any  reason  why  Presbyterians 
should  hesitate  to  do  this — as  soon  as  they  contrast  the  principles  and 
modes  of  action  of  the  responsible  and  irresponsible  organizations.     The 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY   OF   1837.  741 

Assembly  have  no  inclination  to  dictate  to  any  individual,  bow  lie  shall 
give,  or  what  amount  he  shall  give — but  would  earnestly  recommend  to  all 
to  give  wisely,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  sustain  and  not  undermine  the 
Church  with  which  they  have  entered  into  covenant. 

"  Third.  To  the  third  reason,  they  reply  in  affirmation  to  the  questions  of 
the  protestants  themselves — 'the  necessary  aid  will  be  afforded  :'  and,  if 
aff"orded,  the  Assembly  can  see  no  reason  why  the  aid  furnished  by  the 
Church  to  its  Ministers,  feeble  Congregations,  and  youth,  should  be  consid- 
ered as  coming  '  from  a  source  or  in  a  way'  less  '  grateful  to  their  feelings/ 
than  the  aid  which  comes  from  any  other  hands. 

''That  man  can  have  no  very  strong  predilections  for  his  own  Church, 
who,  rather  than  receive  aid  from  it,  would  apply  to  a  society  that  professed 
to  belong  to  no  denomination  in  particular,  and  that  has  never  to  this  day 
given  any  pledge  to  the  Church  what  system  of  doctrine  it  will  maintain. 

"It  is  insinuated  by  the  signers  of  the  protest  that  the  'loay'  in  which 
the  Board  of  Education  aff'ords  aid  to  its  candidates,  will  be  less  grateful  to 
their  feelings  than  the  way  in  which  it  is  given  by  the  American  Education 
Society.  Their  way  is  one  of  our  most  serious  objections  to  the  whole 
system,  viz.  requiring  of  the  young  men  bonds  to  refund  all  they  have 
received,  in  a  short  time  after  entering  the  ministry. 

"Above  all  other  men.  Ministers,  and  candidates  for  the  ministry,  should 
shrink  with  horror  from  the  idea  of  contracting  a  debt  without  any  visible 
resources  to  meet  it. 

"We  object  most  solemnly  to  a  system  which  subjects  so  large  a  portion  of 
the  ministry  of  our  Church  to  the  control  of  a  power  without  the  Church. 

"The  system  of  our  own  Board  binds  our  young  Ministers  only  in  the 
bonds  of  gratitude.  If  any  one  chooses  to  consider  what  he  receives  as  a 
loan,  and  God  puts  in  his  power  afterwards  to  furnish  an  equal  sum  to  aid 
others,  it  will  be  to  his  honour  that  he  has  done  it  freely ;  but  if  otherwise, 
he  will  never  be  compelled  so  to  shape  his  course  in  the  ministry  as  may 
best  enable  him  to  raise  money  to  pay  a  debt  under  which  he  groans,  being 
burdened ;  nor  will  he  find  the  proverb  exemplified  in  himself,  '  the  bor- 
rower is  servant  to  the  lender.' 

^^  Fourth.  To  the  fourth  reason  of  the  protest,  the  Assembly  replies,  that 
it  would  seem  as  if  the  signers  of  that  protest  supposed  that  the  object  of 
the  resolution  was  to  overthrow  the  great  enterprises  of  benevolence, 
domestic  missions,  and  education  :  whereas,  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
respects  altogether  the  mode  of  conducting  those  enterprises.  It  is  hoped, 
and  believed,  that  this  Assembly  will  not  be  behind  the  protesters  in  this 
case,  in  zeal  for  the  spread  of  divine  truth.  But  they  desire  that  in  carry- 
ing on  these  great  enterprises,  the  Churches  may  not  be  misled  to  adopt  a 
system  of  action  which  may  be  perverted  to  the  spread  of  error.  To  those 
who  are  so  anxious  for  the  advancement  of  truth,  as  we  have  received  it,  in 
the  standards  of  our  beloved  Church,  we  earnestly  recommend  the  author- 
ized and  responsible  agencies  of  the  Church.  If  they  were  once  delivered 
from  the  ceaseless  eff"orts  which  have  been  made  to  cripple  their  efficiency, 
impair  their  character,  and  withdraw  from  them  the  contributions  of  our 
own  Churches — why  may  they  not  afford  a  delightful  channel  for  the 
benevolence  of  all  who  love  the  Presbyterian  name  ? 

^^  Fifth.  The  last  reason  of  the  protest  is,  that  the  resolution  of  the  Assem- 
bly is  founded  upon  misapprehension  of  the  responsibility  of  said  societies. 
To  this  it  is  replied,  that  societies,  organized  as  these  are,  rarely  exercise 
any  control,  but  leave  the  management  entirely  to  those  who  are  appointed 
for  that  purpose ;  and  in  the  election  of  officers,  those  nominated  by  the 
Secretary  or  the  officers  for  the  time  being,  are  uniformly  elected,  and  it 


742  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VIL 

would  be  deemed  a  breach  of  decorum  for  any  one  to  make  a  different 
nomination.  The  only  control,  therefore,  that  individuals  or  even  com- 
munities can  exercise,  is  to  withhold  their  contributions;  but  they  must  do 
this  silently,  or  they  will  be  held  up  as  the  enemies  of  these  great  schemes 
of  benevolence,  as  is  clearly  exemplified  in  the  above  protest,  in  regard  to 
this  Assembly. 

"It  is  admitted  that  their  funds  are,  in  some  sense,  the  free-will  offerings 
of  the  Churches;  but  efforts  are  continually  making  by  the  agents  and 
friends  of  these  societies,  to  divert  the  benefactions  of  our  own  Churches 
from  the  channels  which  the  Church  has  made  for  them.  Our  own  Boards 
are  excluded,  almost  uniformly,  from  all  the  Churches  where  these  societies 
gain  admittance ;  and  it  is  not  doubted  that  they  desire  the  exclusion  of  our 
Board;  for  they  admit  that  the  opei'ation  of  two  similar  institutions  in  the 
same  field  is  an  evil;  and  to  whom  are  they  responsible  for  all  this?  Indi- 
viduals may  cease  to  contribute  to  their  funds,  that  is  all.  When  a  large 
convention  was  held  in  Cincinnati,  in  which  a  great  portion  of  the  Presby- 
teries in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  represented,  and  it  was  voted,  by 
an  overwhelming  majority,  that  it  was  expedient  our  domestic  missions  should 
be  conducted  by  our  own  Board,  did  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society  acknowledge  any  right  in  the  representatives  of  these  Presbyteries 
to  control  their  operations?  The  subsequent  history  of  the  contentions  and 
strifes  in  that  region,  growing  out  of  the  rival  action  of  those  two  institu- 
tions, affords  a  mournful  comment  on  their  irresponsible  character. 

"The  protestants  say — in  regard  to  these  societies — 'their  operations  are 
all  subject  to  the  strictest  review.'  Review  !  By  whom  ?  By  the  Presby- 
rian  Church  ?  Some  of  us  have  sought  in  vain,  in  their  published  documents, 
for  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  were  managed  with  propriety.  But  how 
should  an  institution,  which  has  the  centre  of  its  operations  in  New  Eng- 
land, hold  itself  responsible  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  ?  But,  in  regard  to 
our  own  Board  of  Education,  the  Assembly  has  required  it  to  submit  for  the 
inspection  of  its  members,  a  detailed  account  of  its  candidates  by  name — 
their  places  of  study,  amount  received,  &c.,  &c.,  and  they  were  bound  to 
obey ;  for  had  they  refused  obedience,  the  Assembly  might  at  once  have  dis- 
solved them.  Does  the  American  Education  Society,  or  any  of  its  branches, 
feel  responsibilities  like  these  ? 

"  But  these  societies,  from  the  very  nature  of  their  organization,  are  not 
Presbyterian  institutions,  while  our  own  Boards  are  strictly  so.  The  Ame- 
rican Home  Missionary  Society  is  composed  of  various  denominations  of 
Christians,  and  the  American  Education  Society  educates  professedly  Armi- 
nians  as  well  as  Calvinists — for  it  aids  Methodists,  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rians, and  Lutherans,  and  yet  the  protestants  talk  of  'giving  all  the  security 
for  sound  orthodoxy  and  ecclesiastical  order,  which  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church  affords.'  Surely  they  do  not  mean  that  it  is  Presbijterian  orthodoxi/ 
and  order. 

"  Moreover,  they  sustain  beneficiaries  at  Oberlin,  and  Yale,  and  other 
theological  institutions,  where  doctrines  are  taught  diametrically  opposed  to 
our  standards,  and  where  is  their  responsibility  to  the  Presbyterian  Church? 
Certainly  they  do  not  acknowledge  themselves  responsible  to  this  Assembly. 
Their  friends  in  the  above  protest  expressly  deny  this  responsibility  in  their 
second  reason,  viz.  that  the  action  of  this  Assembly  '  is  regarded  as  inter- 
fering with  the  right  of  every  individual  in  our  Church  to  adopt  his  own 
way  of  doing  good.'  Therefore,  no  matter  how  they  abuse  the  liberty  and 
the  recommendations  given  them,  the  Assembly  have  no  right  to  watch  over 
the  Churches,  and  warn  them  of  danger,  and  point  out  to  them  a  more  safe 
channel  through  which  their  bounty  may  flow  to  bless  those  who  are  ready 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  743 

to  perish.  This  may  be  viewed  as  their  own  denial  of  responsibility  to  this 
body,  for  the  first  signature  is  that  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society.  But  although  this  Assembly  cannot 
reach  them  as  it  can  its  own  Boards,  it  holds  them  responsible,  and  warns 
the  Churches  of  the  danger  of  countenancing  them. 

"We  are  aware  that  there  is  danger  both  to  Church  and  State  from  large 
moneyed  institutions,  but  this  surely  does  not  prove  that  both  Church  and 
State  should  refuse  to  countenance  the  establishment  of  all  institutions  which 
require  funds  for  their  support.  With  the  exception  of  a  small  fund  raised 
many  years  ago  for  missionary  purposes,  our  Boards  expect  to  have  no  per- 
manent funds,  but  spend  from  year  to  year  what  the  Church  intrusts  them 
with.  But  the  American  Education  Society  has  permanent  funds,  as  we 
understand,  which  are  continually  increasing  by  this  refunding  sj'stem  as 
well  as  by  donations;  and  the  calculations  of  this  increase,  made  hy  them- 
selves, are  truly  alarming.  But  they  are  the  very  same  kind  of  men,  Minis- 
ters and  Elders,  who  manage  the  pecuniary  affairs  both  of  voluntary  asso- 
ciations and  ecclesiastical  boards,  and  sometimes  the  very  same  individuals. 
Is  there  no  danger  to  the  Church  when  they  are  sitting  as  a  board  of  man- 
agers, but  certain  ruin  when  they  come  together  as  rulers  in  the  house  of  God  ? 
The  Greneral  Assembly,  however,  as  an  ecclesiastical  body,  do  not  manage 
the  education  and  missionary  funds,  but  simply  appoint  persons  to  do  it; 
and  certainly  they  are  as  competent  to  do  this,  as  any  promiscuous  assembly 
by  which  a  board  of  managers  is  elected." — Minutes,  1837,  p.  494. 

Title  8. — Other  Enactments. 

§  176.   Discipline  enjoined. 

"Resolved,  That  in  relation  to  the  whole  subject  of  discipline  as  brought 
before  the  Assembly  by  the  Committee  on  the  Memorial,  the  Assembly 
enjoins  upon  all  the  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  Church  Sessions,  to  see  that 
a  wholesome  and  Christian  discipline  be  exercised  throughout  all  our 
bounds,  as  being  one  of  the  surest  means  of  restoring  purity  to  the  Church, 
and  maintaining  permanent  peace." — Ihid.  472. 

[For  other  cautionary  measures  of  this  Assembly,  see  Book  IV.,  §  44;  100,  c;  and 
135.] 

§  177.   Statistics  of  the  disowned  Synods. 

"In  answer  to  a  request  of  the  Stated  Clerk,  for  direction  in  making  out 
the  General  Statistical  Table,  for  the  current  year,  the  Assembly  ordered 
that  he  should  insert  in  that  table,  the  statistics  in  his  hands  for  the  past 
year,  of  those  judicatories  that  have  been  declared  by  the  General  Assembly 
to  be  no  longer  parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  to  insert  a  marginal 
note  to  this  effect;  and  that  hereafter  the  statistics  of  those  judicatories  will 
not  appear  in  the  general  table  published  by  the  General  Assembly." — 
Ibid.  404. 

[By  this  Assembly  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  erected.     See  Book  V.,  §  119.] 

Title  9. — Pastoral  Letter  to  the  Churches  under  the  care  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

"  Dr.  Alexander,  from  the  committee  to  prepare  a  pastoral  letter  to  be 
addressed  to  the  Churches  under  our  care,  made  a  report,  which  was  read 
and  adopted,"  [as  follows.] — MimUes,  1837,  p.  479. 

§178. 
"Dear  Brethren — As  the  doings  of  the  present  General  Assembly  have 
been  of  an  unusual  character,  and  such  as  may  produce  important  conse- 


744  THE  NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

quences,  we  think  it  proper  to  l:iy  an  abstract  of  our  decisions  and  the  rea- 
sons of"  them  before  the  Churches  under  our  care.  Discerning  men  have 
perceived  for  a  number  of  years,  that  the  affairs  of  our  beloved  Church 
were  hastening  to  a  crisis  j  and  when  the  members  of  the  present  Assembly 
canie  together,  the  state  of  parties  was  such  as  to  make  it  manifest,  that  a 
division  of  the  Church  was  the  most  desirable  object  that  could  be  effected. 
What  are  called  the  Old-school  and  New-school  parties  are  already  separated 
in  fact;  in  almost  every  part  of  our  country  where  those  parties  exist,  they 
have  less  ministerial  or  Christian  communion  with  one  another  than  either 
of  those  parties  have  with  Christians  of  other  denominations;  and  they  are 
so  equally  balanced  in  point  of  power,  that  for  years  past  it  has  been  uncer- 
tain, until  the  General  Assembly  was  fully  organized,  which  of  those  parties 
would  predominate  in  that  body. 

"From  these  circumstances,  as  well  as  from  other  things  not  necessary  to 
mention,  it  is  known  to  our  brethren,  that  the  floor  of  our  highest  judicatory, 
as  well  as  of  our  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  has,  for  years,  presented  scenes 
of  contention  and  strife  such  as  many  of  us  never  expected  to  witness  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  such  as  are  highly  disgraceful  to  our  Chris- 
tian character.  This  spirit  of  contention  deprives  the  Church  of  all  power 
for  maintaining  the  purity  of  her  standards,  and  securing  that  wholesome 
instruction,  either  in  our  pulpits  or  presses,  which  would  conduce  to  the 
edification  of  the  body  of  Christ;  and  until  the  parties  are  separated  and 
formed  into  different  denominations,  there  is  no  ground  of  hope  that  these 
contentions  can  be  terminated. 

"  So  fully  was  this  Assembly  convinced,  that  a  separation  of  the  parties 
was  the  only  cure  for  the  evils  under  which  we  labour,  that  a  committee  was 
appointed  by  common  consent,  composed  of  equal  numbers  from  the  differ- 
ent sides  of  the  house,  to  adjust  if  possible  the  terms  of  an  amicable 
division  of  the  Church  into  two  separate  and  independent  denominations. 
This  joint  committee  agreed  upon  the  principles  of  the  division,  but  could 
not  agree  upon  the  form.  It  was  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  Old-school 
party  should  retain  the  name  and  the  funds  of  the  Church,  and  especially 
all  the  funds  and  property  connected  with  the  Theological  Seminaries  at 
Princeton  and  Pittsburgh.  But  on  the  mode  of  separation  the  committee 
could  not  agree.  The  New-school  party  would  consent  to  no  other  plan 
than  that  of  referring  it  to  the  Presbyteries,  in  order  to  have  the  division 
made  by  the  next  General  Assembly.  To  this  plan  the  other  party  thought 
there  were  insuperable  objections.  It  was  believed  that,  our  Presbyteries 
being  so  widely  dispersed,  the  returns  from  them  would  be  uncertain;  that 
many  things  might  occur  to  defeat  the  arrangement;  and  that,  as  the 
probable  result,  the  parties  would  come  to  the  next  Assembly,  with  more 
determination  to  contend  for  the  power  and  government  of  the  whole 
Church  than  on  any  former  occasion. 

''On  reviewing  the  causes  from  which  our  troubles  have  arisen,  another 
plan  presented  itself  to  the  view  of  the  majority,  which  appeared  better 
calculated  to  effect,  in  a  peaceable  manner,  that  division  of  the  Church 
which  all  seemed  to  consider  as  a  matter  of  indispensable  necessity.  The 
contentions  which  distract  the  Church  evidently  arose  from  the  Plan  of 
Union  formed  in  1801,  between  the  General  Assembly  and  the  Association 
of  Connecticut.  This  Plan  was  indeed  projected  and  brought  into  opera- 
tion by  some  of  the  wisest  and  best  men  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  ever 
known,  and  it  evidently  originated  from  the  purest  and  most  benevolent 
motives.  It  has,  however,  been  disastrous  in  its  effects.  "VVe  mean  no  dis- 
respect to  the  Congregationalists  of  New  England,  as  such ;  indeed  there  is 
no  denomination  of  Christians  beyond  the  pale  of  our  own  Church  whom 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  745 

we  esteem  and  love  more  sincerely;  and  yet  we  believe  that  the  attempt,  by 
this  Plan  of  Union,  to  bring  Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians  into  the 
same  denomination,  has  been  the  principal  cause  of  those  dissensions  which 
now  distract  and  rend  the  Church  to  pieces. 

''We  allude  to  these  circumstances,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  explaining 
the  only  remedy  which  appears  applicable  to  our  present  troubles.  The 
Plan  of  Union  adopted  in  1801,  was  evidently  unconstitutional  in  its  nature, 
and  of  a  tendency  to  subvert  the  institutions  and  distinctive  character  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  such  being  the  fact,  it  was  certainly  the  duty 
of  the  present  Assembly  to  abrogate  said  Plan,  and  to  declare  it  void  from 
the  beginning.  From  this  act  of  abrogation,  and  from  the  declaration  that 
it  was  void  from  the  beginning,  it  would  necessarily  follow,  that  the 
Churches,  Presbyteries,  and  Synods  formed  under  said  Plan,  were  of  course 
not  to  bo  considered  as  parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  From  this  view 
of  the  subject  it  appears,  that  the  sqyaration,  so  necessary  for  the  well  being 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  exists  already,  and  that  we  have  nothing  to  do 
but  to  act  on  the  facts  of  the  case  to  secure  our  tranquillity. 

"In  the  first  place,  we  have  said  that  the  act  of  Union  of  1801,  was  un- 
constitutional. It  will  be  admitted  that  the  most  fundamental  and  sound 
parts  of  the  constitution  of  any  community,  are  those  parts  which  form  the 
legislative  and  judicial  councils  of  the  community,  and  designate  the  quali- 
fications of  the  members  of  said  councils.  These  are  parts  of  the  govern- 
ment, in  all  societies,  deemed  too  sacred  to  be  touched  by  any  authority, 
excepting  that  which  can  make  and  unmake  the  constitution  at  its  plea- 
sure. Should  any  authority  in  the  United  States  assume  to  introduce  into 
the  State  legislatures  or  Congress,  men  not  constitutionally  qualified,  and 
who  were  subjects  of  another  political  power,  the  alarm  would  be  given  at 
once  that  a  most  violent  outrage  had  been  inflicted  on  our  governments  and 
our  rights.  And  although  we  would  say  it  with  respect,  yet  we  must  sai/, 
that  this  was  the  very  thing  which  the  act  of  1801  efi'ected  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  By  that  act,  committee-men  belonging  to 
the  Congregational  Church,  and  under  its  government,  were  introduced  into 
our  Presbyteries,  and  by  the  subsequent  execution  of  the  act,  into  our  Synods 
and  our  General  Assembly.  Men  who  were  under  the  authority  of  a  body 
without  our  Church,  exercised  the  highest  power  of  the  Church.  This  was 
a  most  palpable  infraction  of  our  constitution. 

"  In  the  next  place,  all  the  Churches  formed  and  constituted  under  the 
operation  of  this  act,  were  at  least  as  much  trained  in  doctrine  and  Church 
order  on  the  Congregational  as  on  the  Presbyterian  plan,  and  had  just  as 
much  preparation  for  becoming  members  of  a  Congregational  as  of  a  Pres- 
byterian Church ;  and  therefore  any  subsequent  acts  of  any  of  our  judicato- 
ries, forming  such  Churches  into  Presbyteries  or  Synods,  and  connecting 
them  with  us  as  constituent  parts  of  our  body,  were  unconstitutional.  This 
has  been  the  source  of  all  our  present  evils ;  the  raising  up  of  Presbyteries 
and  Synods  out  of  men  who  had  at  least  as  much  of  the  Congregational  as 
Presbyterian  character,  has  scattered  the  elements  of  discord  through  all  our 
regions,  and  torn  our  afflicted  Church  to  pieces.  These  indeed  were  conse- 
quences not  perceived  from  the  beginning;  it  required  the  light  of  experi- 
ence to  teach  us,  that  the  amalgamation  of  such  bodies  as  the  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  would  produce  a  ferment  sufficient  to  agitate  the  whole 
American  nation. 

"  Having  traced  thus  far  the  unconstitutional  and  pernicious  tendency  of 
this  act,  it  only  remains  to  say,  that  when  this  act  is  abrogated  by  the  pro- 
per authority,  as  a  matter  of  course  everything  which  arose  under  its  influ- 
ence and  training,  is  abrogated  with  it.     This  we  presume  is  the  ground  oa 
94 


746  TnE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

which  all  the  jurisprudence  of  our  country  stands,  and  upon  which  all  our 
political  courts  and  legislatures  act.  It  has  indeed  been  said,  that  when  an 
unconstitutional  law  forms  a  contract,  tlie  abrogation  of  the  law  cannot  set 
the  contract  aside,  as  this  would  suppose  that  a  person  might  take  the 
advantage  of  his  own  wrong  to  relieve  himself  from  a  just  obligation.  But 
to  this  it  may  be  answered,  that  an  unconstitutional  law  can  give  rise  to  no 
binding  contract.  The  unconstitutionality  supposes  that  the  organ  of  gov- 
ernment is  granting  what  it  has  no  right  to  grant,  and  therefore  no  obliga- 
tion can  be  imposed.  But  in  the  present  case,  the  act  in  question  goes  to 
the  subversion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  therefore  any  contract 
which  could  arise  under  it,  calculated  to  destroy  that  Church,  would  be  of 
such  an  immoral  tendency  as  could  impose  no  obligation.  It  is  one  of  the 
first  principles  of  morals,  that  an  unlawful  contract  is  not  to  be  fulfilled. 

"  It  then  appears  plain  to  us,  that,  by  the  abrogation  of  the  act  of  1801, 
the  Synods  of  the  Western  Reserve,  Utica,  Genesee,  and  Geneva,  are  inde- 
pendent bodies,  standing  on  their  own  ground,  and  free  to  choose  their 
future  connections,  and  that  thus  far  a  separation  exists  between  us  and 
them,  which  may  greatly  conduce  to  the  peace  and  comfort  of  both  parties; 
and  as  both  the  majority  and  minority  agree  in  expressing  the  opinion,  that 
a  division  of  the  Church  in  conformity  with  the  sympathies  of  the  present 
parties,  was  both  desirable  and  expedient,  we  were  much  surprised  to  find, 
that  the  minority  would  not  agree  with  us  in  carrying  out  the  existing  sepa- 
ration, so  as  to  form  the  Church  into  two  distinct  bodies,  either  of  which 
would  be  sufficiently  large  to  form  a  General  Assembly,  and  which  might 
act  peaceably  in  promoting  the  common  interests  of  our  Redeemer's  king- 
dom. In  our  present  connection,  there  is  no  hope  of  peace.  The  contro- 
versy threatens  to  become  more  fierce,  more  extensive,  and  more  destructive 
of  all  the  vital  principles  of  religion,  the  longer  we  continue  together.  Indeed, 
the  great  motives  for  all  the  measures  of  separation  to  which  we  have 
resorted  on  the  present  occasion,  are  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  holiness  of  Our 
beloved  Church;  and  these  objects,  we  believe,  can  never  be  obtained  until 
this  separation  is  eifected. 

"Our  brethren  of  the  minority  seemed  to  consider  it  as  an  insult,  when 
we  urged  the  fact,  that  the  abrogation  of  an  unconstitutional  law  left  us  as  dis- 
tinct and  separate  bodies;  we  intended  no  insult;  the  ground  we  took  and 
the  language  we  used  implied  none;  we  only  said  that  they  were  separate 
from  us,  and  we  from  them;  if  this  implied  disgrace  on  them,  it  implied  the 
same  on  ourselves;  we  wished  both  parties  to  consider  themselves  as  on 
equal  gTound;  and  as  to  the  unconstitutional  law  from  which  all  our  misap- 
prehensions had  arisen,  we  were  willing  that  the  greater  blame  should  lie 
on  us.  In  fact,  our  wish  was  and  is  to  part  as  brethren,  and  as  in  certain 
important  points  of  doctrine  and  Church  order  we  cannot  agree,  let  each 
party  take  the  word  of  God  as  their  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  pursue 
their  course  as  those  who  must  give  account  to  the  great  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  their  souls. 

"We  have  now,  dear  brethren,  briefly  explained  the  reasons  for  the  course 
we  have  taken  on  the  present  occasion,  and  we  believe  it  would  have  been  a 
blessing  to  our  Church,  if  the  measures  now  adopted  had  been  resorted  to  at 
an  earlier  period.  The  progress  of  controversy  has  greatly  destroyed  bro- 
therly confidence.  Indeed,  the  union  between  the  parties,  I'or  several  years, 
has  only  existed  in  name;  in  fact  they  have  been  two  separate  bodies,  and 
we  believe  the  sooner  they  are  brought  to  consider  themselves  as  forming 
distinct  denominations,  the  sooner  will  they  return  to  the  spirit  and  princi- 
ples of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

"We  must  observe,  in  conclusion;  that  on  whatever  side  the  principal 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1837.  747 

fault  of  our  present  disturbances  may  lie,  the  whole  Church  has  abundant  cause 
of  deep  humiliation  and  repentance  before  Almighty  Grod.  Our  calamities 
have  not  arisen  from  the  dust;  our  Heavenly  Father  has  stretched  forth  his 
hand  over  us,  and  let  us  acknowledge  '  the  rod  and  him  that  hath  appointed 
it.'  Let  us  return  to  him  that  he  may  return  to  us;  if  he  has  wounded, 
it  is  he  alone  that  can  heal ;  if  he  hath  broken  down,  he  can  build  us  up. 

"  By  order  of  the  Gi-eneral  Assembly. 

David  Elliott,  Moderator. 
John  M'Dowell,  Stated  Clerh. 

"  Philadelphia,  June  Sth,  1837."  —Mimites,  p.  499. 

Title  10. — Circular  Letter  to  the  Churches  op  Christ. 

§179. 

"  Mr.  Breckinridge,  from  the  committee  to  prepare  a  letter  to  be  addressed 
to  all  the  Churches  of  Christ  Jesus  throughout  the  earth,  made  a  report, 
which  was  read,  accepted,  and  adopted,"  [as  follows :] — 3Iinufes,  1887, 
p.  494. 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  to  all  the  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ,  wish  grace,  mercy,  and 
peace  from  God  the  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  the 
Eternal  Spirit. 

(a)  "  Very  Dear  Brethren — Assembled  by  the  good  providence  of  God,  as 
the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  constituting  by  our  ecclesiastical  organization,  not  only  'the  bond 
of  union,  peace,  correspondence,  and  mutual  confidence  among  all  our 
Churches,'  but  also  the  only  organ  *  of  correspondence  with  foreign 
Churches,'  we  cannot  consent  to  separate,  after  the  unusually  long,  interest- 
ing, and  important  session  which  we  are  about  to  close,  without  pouring  out 
the  fulness  of  our  hearts  in  reference  to  the  weighty  matters  concerning 
which  we  have  been  called  to  act  since  we  came  together,  into  the  ears  and 
bosoms  of  all  other  Christian  Churches,  and  especially  those  with  which  we 
are  in  friendly  correspondence. 

''You  cannot  be  ignorant,  dear  brethren,  that  for  a  number  of  years  past, 
the  friends  of  truth  and  of  regular  Presbyterian  order  in  our  beloved  Zion, 
have  been  filled  with  painful  apprehension  at  the  manifest  departure  from 
our  ecclesiastical  standards,  which  appeared  to  be  gaining  ground  in  a  num- 
ber of  our  judicatories.  Firmly  believing  that  the  great  purpose  for  which 
the  Church  was  founded,  was  that  she  might  maintain  in  their  purity  the 
doctrines  and  discipline  of  Christ,  and  hold  them  forth  to  a  dark  world;  we 
have  thought  ourselves  called  upon  to  make  inquiry  respecting  the  errors 
and  disorders  alleged  to  exist,  and  as  far  as  possible  to  banish  them  from 
that  portion  of  the  professing  family  of  Christ  with  which  we  are  connected. 
You  have  witnessed  for  a  number  of  successive  years  our  struggles  for  the 
attainment  of  this  object.  ,  You  have  witnessed  the  mortifying  disappoint- 
ments, which,  from  time  to  time,  have  attended  our  efforts  to  obtain,  by 
constitutional  means,  a  redress  of  the  grievances  of  which  we  complained. 
You  have  seen  what  we  regard  as  error  becoming  more  extensive  in  its 
prevalence,  and  more  bold  and  overbearing  in  its  claims.  You  have  seen 
certain  voluntary  societies,  under  the  cover  of  professed  zeal  for  the  doc- 
trines and  order  of  our  Church,  in  flict  if  not  in  intention,  gradually  sub- 
verting both.  You  have  heard  the  motives  of  the  friends  of  truth  reproached ; 
their  name  cast  out  as  evil ;  their  zeal  for  maintaining  the  purity  of  the  gos- 
pel represented  as  a  mere  straggle  for  power;  and  all  their  attempts  to  edetct 


748  THE   NEW-SCHOOL    SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

and  censure  lioresy,  held  up  to  public  view  as  tlie  efforts  of  restless  and 
ambitious  men  to  gain  the  pre-eminence  for  themselves.  Amidst  these 
ineffectual  attempts  to  banish  error,  and  to  restore  order,  vital  piety  has 
languished;  mutual  confidence  has  disappeared;  the  reviving  and  convert- 
ing influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  have  been  withheld;  and  our  time  and 
strength  have  been  painfully  occupied  with  strife  and  debate,  instead  of 
being  wholly  given  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel  and  the  conversion  of  the 
world. 

(h)  "  We  shall  not  stop  to  inquire,  by  whose  agency  or  by  what  steps  this 
state  of  things  has  been  produced.  The  adjustment  of  the  proper  award 
in  regard  to  this  question,  might  be  deemed  an  invidious  task,  and  fail  of 
commanding  universal  assent.  But  on  the  deplorable  character  of  the  situa- 
tion in  which  we  were  placed,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion.  Over  our 
conflicts  every  friend  of  religion  has  mourned;  every  intelligent  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  has  felt  grieved  and  humbled;  and  we  were 
becoming  a  reproach  among  all  surrounding  denominations.  To  every 
enlightened  beholder  it  has  been  long  manifest,  that  parties  so  heterogeneous 
and  discordant  could  no  longer  act  together  in  the  same  body,  either  with 
comfort  to  themselves,  or  with  honour  and  edification  to  the  cause  of  our 
common  Christianity. 

"  Such  has  been  our  melancholy  history,  especially  for  the  last  six  years ; 
and  such  were  the  discouraging  and  distressing  circumstances  in  which  this 
Assembly  convened.  On  coming  together,  it  was  found  to  contain  such  a 
decided  majority  of  the  friends  of  truth  and  order,  as  to  place  within  our 
reach  the  most  thorough  measures  of  reform.  And  it  is  worthy  of  special 
notice,  that  this  majority  was  created  and  brought  together  in  full  view  of 
the  measures  adopted  by  the  orthodox  Assembly  of  1835,  and  of  all  the 
conflicts  and  painful  disclosures  which  characterized  the  Assembly  of  1836. 
It  was  after  the  attention  of  the  whole  Church  had  been  strongly  called  to 
these  measures  and  disclosures,  that  our  Presbyteries  sent  a  delegation,  the 
major  part  of  whom  declared  in  favour  of  the  doctrines  and  order  of  our 
body.  We  felt  ourselves,  therefore,  distinctly  and  solemnly  called  upon,  by 
the  voice  of  the  Church,  to  go  forward  and  rescue  her  struggling  and  bleed- 
ing interests  from  that  humiliating  and  degrading  perversion  to  which  they 
had  been  so  long  exposed.  This  painful  duty  we  have  endeavoured  to  per- 
form in  the  fear  of  God,  and  although  we  do  not  claim  that  our  manner  of 
discharging  it  has  been  wholly  free  from  the  manifestation  of  human  infir- 
mity, we  do  hope  and  believe  that  our  measures  have  been  accompanied 
with  much  sincere  and  humble  seeking  for  divine  direction ;  and  that  they 
are  such  as  the  enlightened  and  impartial  friends  of  our  ecclesiastical  con- 
stitution will  ultimately  approve. 

(c)  ''As  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all 
Christian  hope,  as  well  as  of  the  purity  and  prosperity  of  the  Church,  we 
felt  ourselves  bound  to  direct  early  and  peculiarly  solemn  attention  to  those 
doctrinal  errors,  which,  there  was  but  too  much  evidence,  had  gained  an 
alarming  prevalence  in  some  of  our  judicatories.  The  advocates  of  these 
errors,  on  their  first  appearance,  were  cautious  and  reserved,  alleging  that 
they  differed  in  words  only  from  the  doctrines  as  stated  in  our  public  stand- 
ards. Very  soon,  however,  they  began  to  contend  that  their  opinions  were 
really  new,  and  were  a  substantial  and  important  improvement  on  the  old 
creed  of  the  Church;  and,  at  length,  that  revivals  of  religion  could  not  be 
hoped  for,  and  that  the  souls  of  men  must  be  destroyed,  if  the  old  doctrines 
continued  to  be  preached.  The  errors  thus  promulged  were  by  no  means  of 
that  doubtful  or  unimportant  character,  which  seems  to  be  assigned  to  them 
even  by  some  of  the  professed  friends  of  orthodoxy.     You  will  see,  by  our 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  749 

published  acts,  that  some  of  them  affect  the  very  foundation  of  the  system 
of  gospel  truth,  and  that  they  all  bear  relations  to  the  gospel  plan,  of  yery 
serious  and  ominous  import.  Surely,  doctrines  which  go  to  the  formal  or 
virtual  denial  of  our  covenant  relation  to  Adam;  the  native  and  total 
depravity  of  man;  the  entire  inability  of  the  sinner  to  recover  himself 
from  rebellion  and  corruption;  the  nature  and  source  of  regeneration;  and 
our  justification  solely  on  account  of  the  imputed  righteousness  of  the 
Kedeemer,  cannot,  upon  any  just  principle,  be  regarded  as  'minor  errors.' 
They  form,  in  fact,  'another  gospel;'  and  it  is  impossible  for  those  who 
faithfully  adhere  to  our  public  standards,  to  walk  with  those  who  adopt  such 
opinions  with  either  comfort  or  confidence. 

(d)  "It  cannot  be  denied,  indeed,  that  those  who  adopted  and  preached 
these  opinions,  at  the  same  time  declared  their  readiness  to  subscribe  our 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  actually  professed  their  assent  to  it,  in  the  usual 
form,  without  apparent  scruple.  This,  in  fact,  was  one  of  the  most  revolt- 
ing and  alarming  characteristics  of  their  position.  They  declared,  that  in 
doing  this,  they  only  adopted  the  Confession  'for  siihsfance,'  and  by  no 
means  intended  to  receive  the  whole  system  which  it  contained.  Upon  this 
principle,  we  had  good  evidence  that  a  number  of  Presbyteries,  in  the  ordi- 
nation and  reception  of  Ministers  and  other  church  officers,  avowedly  and 
habitually  acted.  And  hence  it  has  not  been  uncommon  for  the  members 
of  such  Presbyteries  publicly  and  formally  to  repudiate  some  of  the  impor- 
tant doctrines  of  the  formulary  which  they  had  thus  subscribed;  and  even, 
in  a  few  extraordinary  cases,  to  hold  up  the  system  of  truth  which  it  con- 
tains as  'an  abomination;'  as  a  system  which  it  were  to  be  'wished  had 
never  had  an  existence.'  No  wonder  that  men  feeling  and  acting  thus, 
should  have  been  found,  in  some  instances,  substituting  entirely  different 
Confessions  of  Faith  in  place  of  that  which  is  contained  in  our  constitu- 
tion. Who  can  doubt  that  such  a  method  of  subscribing  to  articles  of  faith 
is  immoral  in  principle;  that  it  is  adapted  to  defeat  the  great  purpose  of 
adopting  confessions;  and  that,  if  persisted  in,  it  could  not  fail  to  open  the 
door  of  our  Church  wider  and  wider  to  the  introduction  of  the  most  radical 
and  pestiferous  heresies,  which  would  speedily  destroy  her  character  as  an 
evangelical  body? 

"Was  it  possible  for  us  to  doubt  or  hesitate  as  to  our  duty,  when  such 
errors  were  evidently  gaining  ground  among  us,  and  when  it  was  in  our 
power  judicially  to  condemn  them — errors  which,  ever  since  the  days  of 
the  apostles,  have  been  pronounced  by  the  true  Church  to  be  dangerous  cor- 
ruptions of  gospel  truth?  We  are  conscious  that  in  pronouncing  the  errors 
in  question  to  be  unscriptural,  radical,  and  highly  dangerous,  we  are  actu- 
ated by  no  feelings  of  narrow  party  zeal;  but  by  a  firm  and  growing  per- 
suasion that  such  errors  cannot  fail,  in  their  ultimate  effect,  to  subvert  the 
foundation  of  Christian  hope,  and  destroy  the  souls  of  men.  As  watchmen 
on  the  walls  of  Zion,  we  should  be  unfaithful  to  the  trust  reposed  in  us, 
were  we  not  to  cry  aloud  and  proclaim  a  solemn  warning  against  opinions  so 
,corrupt  and  delusive. 

§180. 

(a)  "In  the  course  of  our  attempt  at  reform,  we  have  thought  it  our  duty  to 
annul  the  Plan  of  Union  between  Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Churches 
in  the  new  settlements,  formed  in  1801,  and  evidently  intended  as  a  tempo- 
rary system  to  meet  a  temporary  exigency.  By  that  Plan,  Congregational 
Churches  were  brought  into  complete  union  with  the  Presbyterian  Church; 
and  their  delegates,  without  having  adopted  our  public  standards,  were  intro- 


750  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISJf.  [Book  Vlt. 

duced  into  our  judicatories,  and  vested  with  the  power  of  giving  authorita- 
tive, and,  in  some  cases,  decisive  votes  on  the  most  important  questions  of 
doctrine  and  discipline;  and  thus,  in  reality,  of  governing  our  Church. 
And  it  has  happened,  in  fact,  in  a  number  of  instances,  that  some  of  the 
most  important  decisions,  in  their  bearing  on  the  truth  and  order  of  our 
body,  have  been  decided  by  the  votes  of  those  who  had  not  svxbscribed  to 
our  ecclesiastical  constitution,  and  stood  aloof  themselves  from  its  authority. 
Thus  Cougregationalists  were  found,  in  effect,  to  control  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  to  prohibit  her  carrying  into  execution  our  appropriate  system, 
while  we  had  no  more  authority  over  them  than  they  chose  to  recognize. 

'^  It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  this  Plan  of  Union  now,  without  per- 
ceiving that  it  is  most  unnatural  in  its  character;  that  it  has  not  a  shadow 
of  foundation  in  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  it  is 
adapted  to  be  deeply  injurious  in  its  influence  on  us.  It  is  but  just,  indeed, 
to  say,  that  it  was  first  proposed  and  commenced  on  our  part,  and  that  it  was 
dictated  by  that  spirit  of  unsuspecting  simplicity  and  fraternal  confidence 
which  foresaw  no  evil.  Its  mischiefs  gradually  disclosed  themselves,  and  it 
was  not  until  they  had  taken  wide  and  deep  root,  that  they  began  to  attract 
the  attention  and  awaken  the  fears  of  the  friends  of  truth  and  of  Presbyterial 
order.  It  was  more  and  more  perceived,  not  only  that  this  system,  as  before 
remarked,  was  most  unequal,  as  it  in  fact  conceded  the  right  of  governing 
us  to  those  over  whom  we  could  exercise  no  controlling  power,  but  that  its 
effect  must  be,  slowly,  but  inevitably,  to  subvert  the  order  and  discipline  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Surely  no  impartial  judge  can  blame  us  for 
wishing  this  mischievous  system  rescinded,  or  for  annulling  it  when  we  had 
the  power.  It  is  due  to  ourselves,  however,  to  say,  that  this  measure  was 
not  either  hastily  conceived  nor  abruptly  executed.  The  Union  in  question 
has  been  for  many  years  regarded  by  the  great  body  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  as  perhaps  the  most  fertile  source  of  the  difficulties  existing  among 
us,  especially  when  viewed,  not  merely  as  a  violation  of  our  constitution  and 
an  invasion  of  our  order,  but  as  grievously  abused  by  those  who  have  taken 
advantage  of  it,  in  a  manner  not  intended  by  its  original  framers,  to  dissemi- 
nate their  pernicious  errors.  Viewing  the  subject  in  this  light,  the  Grenei'al 
Assembly  of  1835  respectfully  requested  the  Greneral  Association  of  Connec- 
ticut to  consent  that  the  Plan  of  Union  in  question  should  be  annulled. 
Having  now  waited  two  additional  years  in  vain  for  any  favourable  action  in 
the  case,  on  the  part  of  our  brethren  of  Connecticut,  and  having  witnessed 
with  the  deepest  sorrow  the  ever  growing  evils  of  this  relation,  we  have  felt 
at  this  time  solemnly  called  upon  to  abrogate  the  whole  Plan,  and  to  put  an 
end,  as  far  as  in  us  lay,  to  the  destructive  effects  which  have  so  long  resulted 
from  its  operation. 

(h)  "If  it  were  obviously  equitable  and  important,  that  the  Plan  of  Union 
alluded  to  should  be  annulled,  it  was  in  our  view  no  less  equitable  and  im- 
portant that  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  which  that  Plan  had  given  existence, 
and  which  were  animated  and  governed  by  its  spirit,  should  be  declared  to  be 
no  longer  connected  with  our  Church.  It  has  been  indeed  painful  to  the 
Assembly  to  declare  bodies,  in  which  were  brethren  whose  piety  we  cannot 
question,  and  whose  activity  in  extending  the  visible  Church  we  must  regard 
with  approbation,  to  be  no  longer  connected  with  our  body.  But  we  were 
shut  up  to  this  painful  duty.  Being  irregularly  brought  into  our  Church, 
and  retaining  all  the  feelings  and  habits  growing  out  of  the  circumstances 
of  their  original  introduction,  we  could  not  hope  that  they  would  walk 
together  in  peace  with  us,  so  long  as  the  points  of  difference  between  us 
were  so  many  and  so  serious.     Although  the  creation  of  more  Churches  on 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  751 

the  Plan  of  Union  was  made  to  cease  by  the  previous  act  of  abrogation,  still, 
as  all  must  grant  that  the  act  which  brought  them  in  was  wholly  unconsti- 
tutional; and,  as  if  this  were  the  case,  the  act  itself  was  of  course  void  from 
the  beginning,  and  all  the  acts  and  bodies  growing  out  of  it  equally  void — 
we  have  deemed  it  necessary  to  declare  the  brethren  connected  with  those 
judicatories  no  longer  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Fully  aware 
of  the  painfulness  of  this  decision  to  both  parties,  in  order  to  avoid  it,  we 
made  overtures  to  the  brethren  who  were  opposed  to  us  in  sentiment  and  in 
policy,  which  had  for  their  object  an  amicahle  separation ;  offering  them, 
in  order  to  bring  about  such  a  separation,  what  we  deemed  equitable  and 
even  indulgent  terms.  These  terms  will  be  learned  from  the  correspond- 
ence of  the  joint  committee  appointed  to  negotiate  on  the  subject,  which  has 
been  already  made  public.  Our  brethren  saw  fit  to  decline  our  proposal, 
and  chose  rather  to  abide  the  enforcing  of  the  constitution.  They  cannot 
complain  of  our  course,  when  the  only  alternative  was  the  ruin  of  the  Church, 
or  the  restoration  of  our  form  of  government  to  its  legitimate  and  uniform 
reign. 

"  We  are  aware  that  some  have  called  in  question  the  constitutionality  of 
our  proceedings.  On  this  subject,  the  more  maturely  we  reflect,  the  more 
firmly  are  we  persuaded  that  we  have  taken  the  most  eligible  and  even  the 
only  practicable  course.  To  have  attempted  to  separate  from  us  the  brethren 
with  whom  we  could  no  longer  walk  in  peace,  by  personal  process  in  each 
case,  would  obviously  have  been  impossible,  and  even  if  possible,  tedious, 
agitating,  and  troublesome  in  the  highest  degree.  The  General  Assembly 
is  vested  by  the  constitution  of  our  Church  with  plenary  power  '  to  decide 
in  all  controversies  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline;  to  reprove,  warn,  or 
bear  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine  or  immorality  in  practice,  in  any 
Church,  Presbytery,  or  Synod;  to  superintend  the  concerns  of  the  whole 
Church;  to  suppress  schismatical  contentions  and  disputations;  and,  in  gene- 
ral, to  recommend  and  attempt  reformation  of  manners,  and  the  promotion 
of  charity,  truth,  and  holiness,  through  all  the  Churches  under  their  care.' 
It  is  manifest  that  no  other  body  but  the  General  Assembly  is  competent  to 
sit  in  judgment  on  a  Synod;  and  it  is  equally  manifest  that  no  other  body 
can  be  vested  with  power  to  abolish  a  system  which  the  General  iVssembly 
itself  had  formed,  without  consulting  any  of  the  Presbyteries.  We  have, 
therefore,  not  hesitated  to  apply  the  constitutional  remedy  in  its  fullest 
extent.  And  now,  reposing  on  the  high  ground  of  our  truly  primitive  and 
apostolical  system  of  order,  we  appeal  with  unshaken  confidence  to  the 
sympathy  of  all  evangelical  Churches,  to  the  approval  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, and,  above  all,  to  the  sanction  of  Him  '  who  sits  as  King  upon  the  holy 
hill  of  Zion/ 

(c)  "  In  the  adoption  of  these  measures,  we  are  earnestly  desirous  that 
our  views  and  feelings  in  regard  to  our  Congregational  brethren  of  New 
England  should  be  correctly  understood.  We  have  no  controversy  with 
them,  nor  do  we  desire  to  have  any,  with  respect  to  the  Congregational  form 
of  Church  government  as  it  exists  among  themselves,  nor  with  any  other 
form  of  Church  polity.  Toward  the  excellent  brethren  beloved  in  the  Lord 
in  those  and  all  other  Churches,  who  are  now  testifying  against  the  errors 
which  are  troubling  tliem,  as  they  are  troubling  us,  we  entertain  the  most 
cordial  esteem  and  fraternal  affection.  They  are  engaged  in  the  same  hal- 
lowed cause  with  ourselves,  and  we  cordially  bid  them  God  speed.  Let 
there  be  no  strife  between  us.  There  ought  to  be  none,  and  there  icill  be 
none,  so  long  as  there  is  no  effort  made  by  any  party  to  intrude  on  the  do- 
mestic concerns  of  any  other.    We  cannot  wisely  attempt,  with  our  different 


752  THE    NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

views  and  feelings,  to  inhabit  the  same  house;  but,  as  neiglihours,  we  may 
be  on  the  most  amicable  and  even  affectionate  terms.  We  wish  for  no  more 
than  to  be  allowed  the  fair  and  unimpeded  action  of  our  own  ecclesiastical 
principles.  We  desire  to  stand  on  our  own  responsibility,  and  not  to  be 
made  involuutary  sharers  in  the  responsibility  of  other  bodies  and  systems  of 
action,  with  which  we  cannot  entirely  harmonize.  We  desire  to  perform 
our  Master's  work  upon  the  principles  which  we  conscientiously  prefer, 
because  we  believe  those  principles  to  be  found  in  the  word  of  God;  and  we 
cannot  consent  to  an  alliance  with  any  individuals  or  bodies  of  men  in  their 
system  of  action,  without  reserving  to  ourselves  the  right  of  review,  of  con- 
trol, and,  if  necessary,  of  correction. 

"It  is  our  earnest  hope,  with  respect  to  the  brethren  thus  severed  from 
us,  that  both  parties  will  be  essentially  benefited  by  the  separation.  We 
trust  that  both  will  henceforth  proceed  in  the  conscientious  discharge  of 
duty,  without  being  crippled  or  embarrassed  by  each  other;  and  that  here- 
after there  will  be  no  other  strife  between  us,  than  who  shall  love  the 
Redeemer  most,  and  who  shall  serve  him  with  the  warmest  zeal. 

(d)  "We  have  already  adverted  to  the  unhappy  influence  which  has  been 
exerted  for  a  number  of  years  past,  by  certain  voluntary  societies,  which, 
though  not  responsible  to  any  Church,  and  of  course,  therefore,  not  to  us, 
were  pursuing  a  train  of  measures  adapted  covertly  but  effectually  to  weaken 
her  energies  and  govern  her  proceedings.  We  believe  that  if  there  be  any 
departments  of  Christian  effort  to  which  the  Church  of  Christ  is  bound,  in 
her  appropriate  character,  to  direct  her  attention  and  her  unwearied  labours, 
they  are  those  which  relate  to  the  training  of  her  sons  for  the  holy  ministry, 
and  sending  the  gospel  to  those  who  have  it  not,  and  planting  churches  iu 
the  dark  and  destitute  portions  of  the  earth.  To  be  willing  to  commit 
either  of  these  branches  of  her  peculiar  work  to  foreign  and  irresponsible 
hands,  we  are  more  and  more  persuaded  is  unfaithfulness  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  Zion,  and  adapted  fatally  to  injure  the  cause  of  gospel  truth  and  of 
Presbyterial  order.  Surely  if  the  Church  is  under  obligations,  not  only  to 
maintain  in  her  own  bosom,  but  also  to  impart  as  far  as  possible  to  the  whole 
world,  all  such  religious  knowledge,  worship,  and  ordinances  as  God  hath 
revealed  in  his  word,  she  is  bound  to  see  to  it,  that  no  persons  shall  be  either 
educated  or  sent  forth  as  Ministers  who  are  not  well  instructed  in  her  doc- 
trine and  order,  and,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  firmly  attached  to  both. 
This  is  equally  a  dictate  of  duty  to  our  Master  in  heaven  and  to  our  own 
beloved  institutions.  To  suffer  Boards  constituted  by  ourselves,  pledged  to 
adhere  to  our  own  standards,  and  responsible  to  our  own  judicatories,  to 
languish  while  we  sustain  and  sti'engthen  societies  over  which  we  have  no 
control,  and  which  are  gradually  undermining  at  once  our  purity,  and,  of 
course,  our  real  strength,  while  professing  to  add  to  our  numbers,  would  be 
manifestly  as  unwise  as  it  would  be  criminal  in  those  who  profess  to  love 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  to  consider  her  as  conformed,  iu  her  doctrine 
and  order,  to  the  apostolic  model. 

(e)  "  One  of  the  most  formidable  evils  of  the  present  crisis  is  the  wide 
spread  and  ever  restless  spirit  of  rmJ iralism ,  manifest  both  in  the  Church 
and  in  the  State.  Its  leading  principle  everywhere  seems  to  be  to  level  all 
order  to  the  dust.  Mighty  only  in  the  power  to  destroy,  it  has  driven  its 
deep  agitations  through  the  bosom  of  our  beloved  Church.  Amidst  the 
multiplied  and  revolting  forms  in  which  it  has  appeared,  it  is  always  anima- 
ted by  one  principle.  It  is  ever  the  same  levelling  revolutionary  spirit,  and 
tends  to  the  same  ruinous  results.  It  has,  in  succession,  driven  to  extreme 
fanaticism  the  great  cause  of  revivals  of  religion,  of  temperance,  and  of 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1837.  753 

the  rights  of  man.  It  has  aimed  to  transmute  our  pure  faith  into  destruc- 
tive heresy,  our  scriptural  order  into  confusion  and  misrule.  It  has  crowded 
many  of  our  Churches  with  ignorant  zealots  and  unholy  members;  driven 
our  Pastors  from  their  flocks;  and  with  strange  fire  consumed  the  heritage 
of  the  Lord,  filling  our  Churches  with  confusion,  and  our  judicatories  with 
conflict;  making  our  venerated  name  and  beloved  institutions,  so  far  as  its 
fearful  influence  extends,  a  hissing  and  a  by-word  before  the  American 
people ;  and  even  threatening  the  dissolution  of  our  national  Union,  as  well 
as  the  dismemberment  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

(/)  "While  we  have  endeavoured  to  take,  as  our  Master  enabled  us, 
decisive  measures  for  securing,  under  the  divine  blessing,  the  future  purity 
and  peace  of  our  body,  we  would  openly  admit,  dear  brethren,  that  mere 
orthodoxy  and  regular  scriptural  government  ought  not  to  be  considered  by 
any  Church  as  the  onbj  or  even  as  the  cliief  objects  of  her  regard.  Let  it 
never  be  forgotten  that  truth,  whether  in  respect  to  doctrine  or  discipline,  is 
in  order  to  godliness;  and  that  the  real  prosperity  and  glory  of  any  Church 
consists  in  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  enlightening, 
reviving,  and  sanctifying  her  members,  and  adding  to  their  numbers  daily 
of  such  as  shall  be  saved.  We  would,  therefore,  now  that  the  adorable 
Head  of  the  Church  has  enabled  us  in  some  measure  to  remove  from  our 
body  the  most  prominent  sources  of  division  and  strife,  humble  ourselves 
before  Grod,  and  call  upon  all  our  brethren  of  every  name,  with  us  to  seek 
and  pray  without  ceasing,  for  those  reviving  and  converting  influences  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which  alone  can  render  any  Church  what  it  ought  to  be — a 
real  blessing  to  the  world  and  a  nursery  for  heaven.  And  while  we  earnest- 
ly desire  and  implore  this  blessing,  let  us  remember  the  great  importance  of 
distinguishing  between  genuine  revivals  of  religion,  and  those  which  are 
spurious  and  fanatical.  The  former  are  the  product  of  gospel  truth, 
impressed  on  the  heart  and  conscience  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The 
latter  are  mere  excitements  of  natural  feeling,  produced  either  by  error  or 
by  some  other  form  of  human  machinery.  In  proportion  as  the  former  pre- 
vail, the  Church  is  prosperous  and  happy.  The  latter,  however  arrogant  in 
claim  or  plausible  in  appearance,  are  only  fitted  to  send  a  blight  on  the 
garden  of  the  Lord,  and  to  deceive  and  destroy  the  souls  of  men.  We  fear 
that  not  a  little  of  that  which  has  assumed  the  precious  name  of  revivals,  in 
various  parts  of  our  bounds,  is  of  this  latter  description.  This  lamentable 
fact,  however,  creates  no  prejudice  in  our  minds  against  genuine  revivals  of 
religion.  It  rather  excites  us  to  desire  and  long  for  them  with  more  ardour; 
to  pray  for  them  with  more  importunity;  to  promote  them  with  more  care 
by  an  edifying  example;  and  to  guard  against  all  counterfeits  with  more 
enlightened  vigilance. 

"Brethren,  farewell.  May  the  God  of  Israel  bless  you  all — every  one. 
We  love,  with  tenderness  which  we  cannot  utter,  our  own  portion  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  But  we  love  also  every  other  portion  of 
the  inheritance  of  that  dear  Saviour,  and  I'ejoicing  in  the  confident  hope 
that  heaven  will  ring  with  praises  of  the  redeemed  from  amongst  every 
Christian  denomination,  our  ardent  and  constant  desire  is,  to  draw  the  bonds 
of  union  between  us  and  all  the  rest,  as  close  as  possible  here  below.  Hence 
the  present  epistle  to  our  brethren.  Hence  our  earnest  desire  to  explain 
clearly  to  them  our  posture,  our  action,  and  the  solemn  crisis,  which,  having 
first  overtaken  several  of  our  sister  Churches,  has  at  length  fallen  upon  us, 
and  will  unquestionably  overtake  in  succession  all  denominations  of 
Christians. 

"And  now  may  God,  of  his  infinite  mercy,  set  the  seal  of  his  visible 
approbation  upon  what  his  providence  and  grace  have  enabled  us  to  do. 
95 


754  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

And  may  you,  bretliren,  be  preserved  from  the  evils  which,  we  have  endured, 
or  be  enabled  to  meet  them  with  more  promptitude  and  fidelity  than  we  have 
done. 

''And  may  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Chi-ist  abide  richly  on  all  who 
love  his  holy  name. 

By  order  of  the  General  Assembly. 

David  Elliott,  Moderator. 
John  M'Dowell,  Stated  Clerk. 
''Philadelphia,  June  8,  1837."  — Minutes,  p.  502. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

transactions  of  the  assembly  of  1838. 

Title  1. — The  Secession  of  the  New-school  Party. 
§181. 

''The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  met  agreeably  to  appointment,  in  the  Seventh  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  Thursday,  the  17th  day  of  May, 
A.  D.  1838,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M.;  and  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the 
Rev.  David  Elliott,  D.  D.,  the  Moderator  of  the  last  Assembly,  from  Isaiah 
Ix.  1.  '  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
risen  upon  thee.' 

"  After  the  sermon,  the  Moderator  gave  notice  that  as  soon  as  the  bene- 
diction was  pronounced,  he  would  take  the  chair,  and  proceed  to  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Assembly.  The  benediction  being  pronounced,  the  Moderator 
took  the  chair,  and  having  opened  the  meeting  with  prayer,  called  upon  the 
Permanent  Clerk  to  report  the  roll. 

"  The  Rev.  William  Patton,  a  member  of  the  Third  Presbyteiy  of  New 
Yoik,  rose,  and  asked  leave  to  offer  certain  resolutions  which  he  held  in  his 
hand. 

"  The  Moderator  declared  the  request  at  that  time  to  be  out  of  order,  as 
the  first  business  was  the  report  of  the  Clerks. 

"Dr.  Patton  appealed  from  the  decision.  The  Moderator  declared  the 
appeal,  for  the  reason  already  stated,  to  be  at  that  time  out  of  order.  Dr. 
Patton  stated  that  the  resolutions  related  to  the  formation  of  the  roll,  and 
began  to  read  the  same :  but  being  called  to  order,  took  his  seat. 

"The  Permanent  Clerk,  from  the  Standing  Committee  of  Commissions, 
reported  that  the  following  persons,  present,  have  been  duly  appointed,  and 
are  enrolled  as  Commissioners  to  this  G  eneral  Assembly,  and  laid  their  com- 
missions on  the  table,  viz.   [Here  follows  the  roll.] 

"  The  Committee  of  Commissions  further  reported  that  the  Rev.  Robert 
G.  Thompson,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bedford;  Rev.  Adam  Millar,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Montrose;  and  Mr.  James  Elliott,  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Richland,  have  stated  to  the  committee  that  they  were  appointed 
by  their  respective  Presbyteries,  but  have  not  their  commissions ;  that  the 
commission  of  Mr.  John  W.  Cunningham,  a  Ruling  Elder  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle,  wants  the  signature  of  the  Moderator;  and  that  the 
commission  of  the  Rev.  Ephraim  P.  Bradford,  of  the  Presbytery  of  London- 
derry, wants  the  signature  of  the  Clerk. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1838.  755 

"  They  furtlier  reported  that  the  Rev.  David  R.  Preston,  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Beard,  a  Ruling  Elder,  appeared  before  the  committee  with  regular  commis- 
sions from  the  Presbytery  of  Greenbrier,  which  commissions  were  accompa- 
nied with  an  attested  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia, 
certifying  that  said  Presbytery  was  regularly  constituted  by  the  Synod  of 
Virginia,  October  10th,  1837. 

"The  documents  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  report  of  the  informal  cases, 
were  laid  on  the  table  by  the  Permanent  Clerk. 

"  After  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Commissions  had  been  read,  the 
Moderator  stated  that  the  Commissioners  whose  commissions  had  been 
examined,  and  whose  names  had  been  enrolled,  were  to  be  considered  as 
members  of  this  Assembly,  and  added  that  if  there  were  any  Commissioners 
present  from  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  whose  names  had  not  been  enrolled,  then  was  the 
time  for  presenting  their  commissions. 

"  Dr.  Mason  rose,  as  he  said,  to  offer  a  resolution  to  '  complete  the  roll,' 
by  adding  the  names  of  certain  Commissioners  who,  he  said,  had  offered 
their  commissions  to  the  Clerks,  and  had  been  by  them  refused.  The 
Moderator  inquired  if  they  were  from  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Assem- 
bly, at  the  close  of  the  sessions  of  last  year  ?  Dr.  Mason  replied  that  they 
were  from  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  Genesee, 
and  the  Western  Reserve.  The  Moderator  then  stated  that  the  motion  was 
out  of  order  at  this  time.*  Dr.  Mason  appealed  from  the  decision  of  the 
Moderator ;  which  appeal,  also,  the  Moderator  declared  to  be  out  of  order, 
and  repeated  the  call  for  commissions  from  Presbyteries  in  connection  with 
the  Assembly. 

''The  Rev.  Miles  P.  Squier,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva,  then 
rose  and  stated  that  he  had  a  commission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva, 
which  he  had  presented  to  the  Clerks,  who  refused  to  receive  it,  and  that  he 
now  offered  it  to  the  Assembly,  and  claimed  his  right  to  his  seat.  The 
Moderator  inquired  if  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva  was  within  the  bounds  of 
the  Synod  of  Geneva.  Mr.  Squier  replied  that  it  was.  The  Moderator 
said :  '  Then  we  do  not  know  you,  sir,'  and  declared  the  application  out  of 
order.  Mr.  Cleaveland  then  rose  and  began  to  read  a  paper,  the  purport  of 
which  was  not  heard,  when  the  Moderator  called  him  to  order.  Mr.  Cleave- 
land, however,  notwithstanding  the  call  to  order  was  repeated  by  the  Mode- 
rator, persisted  in  the  reading.  During  which,  the  Rev.  Joshua  Moore, 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Huntingdon,  presented  a  commission,  which  being 
examined  by  the  Committee  of  Commissions,  Mr.  Moore  was  enrolled,  and 
took  his  seat. 

"  It  was  then  moved  to  appoint  a  Committee  of  Elections,  to  which  the 
informal  commissions  might  be  referred.  But  the  reading  by  Mr.  Cleave- 
land still  continuing,  and  the  Moderator  having  in  vain  again  called  to  order, 
took  his  seat,  and  the  residue  of  the  Assembly  remaining  silent,  the  busi- 
ness was  suspended  during  the  short  but  painful  scene  of  confusion  and  dis- 
order which  ensued.  After  which,  and  the  actors  therein  having  left  the 
house,  the  Assembly  resumed  its  business." — Minutes,  1838,  pp.  3,  7. 

§  182.  Enumeration  of  the  Seceders. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  those  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly,  viz. 
William  Patton,  D.  D.,  Erskine  Mason,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John  P.  Cleaveland, 
Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  D.  D.,  and  others,  who,  according  to  order  and  usage, 
had  presented  their  commissions  to  the  Permanent  and  Stated  Clerks,  prior 

»  See  Book  IV.  g  108. 


756 


THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM. 


[Book  VII. 


to  the  meeting  of  the  body  on  Thursday  last,  the  17th  instant;  and  after- 
wards, on  that  day,  while  the  House  was  organizing,  and  the  Clerks,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Moderator  presiding,  were  actually  engaged  in  com- 
pleting the  r^ll,  interrupted  the  progress  of  the  regular  proceeding,  by  com- 
bining with  certain  other  persons  present,  unknown  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, in  openly  forming  another  body  which  they  call  the  General  Assembly, 
and  subsequently,  voluntarily,  and  without  leave  asked  or  obtained,  left  the 
house  to  convene  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city ;  in  so 
doing,  committed  an  act,  which,  however  intended,  can  only  be  considered 
as  a  plain  and  palpable  violation  of  order  and  decorum,  and  in  derogation  of 
the  duty  which  they  owed  to  the  House,  and  to  the  Church,  and  the  cause 
of  Christ. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  by  their  said  conduct,  and  by  their  subsequently 
neglecting  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  since  that  day, 
and  at  the  same  time,  notoriously  attending  the  sessions  of  another  body, 
convening  from  day  to  day  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  calling  itself 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America;  the  said  Commissioners  appear  to  have  wilfully  and  deliberately 
vacated  their  seats  in  this  House,  the  only  true  and  proper  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  to 
have  originated  and  oi'ganized  a  schismatical  secession  from  the  body  to  which 
they  belonged. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  the  names  of  the  said  Commissioners  be  now  called 
and  recorded,  in  order  that  they  may  be  reported  to  the  Presbyteries  of 
which  they  are  members,  respectively. 

"  The  roll  was  then  called,  and  the  following  names  were  recorded  agree- 
ably to  the  foregoing  resolution. 


OP   THE   PRESBYTEEIES   OF 

JVeichuri/port, 
Troy, 

Columbia, 

North  River, 
New  York,  M, 

Newark, 

Montrose, 
Wilmington, 
Leices, 
Erie, 
Detroit, 
St.  Joseph, 
Moiiroe, 
Athens, 
3Iarion, 
Cincinnati, 

Crawfordsville, 

Illinois, 

Sangamon, 

Otta  ira, 

Peoria, 

Alton, 


Daniel  T.  Smith, 
Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  D.  D., 
Samuel  T.  Spear, 
Augustus  L.  Chapin, 
Jared  B.  Waterbury, 

Erskine  Mason,  D.  D., 
William  Patton,  D.  I)., 
Samuel  Fisher,  D.  P., 
William  R.  Weeks,  P.  P., 

Eliphalet  W.  Gilbert, 

Pierce  Chamberlain, 
John  P.  Cleavelaud, 
Silas  Woodbury, 
Erastus  N.  Nichols, 
Luther  G.  Bingham, 
Henry  Van  Deman, 
Lyman  Beecher,  D.  P., 
Baxter  Dickinson, 
Samuel  G.  Lowry, 
Edward  Beecher, 
Cyrus  L.  Watson, 
John  Blatchford, 
Flavel  Bascom, 
Albert  Hale, 


N.  M.  Masters, 
Lawrence  Vandyke, 
Frederick  Tyler, 
Aaron  Raymond, 
Robert  ^l.  Hartley, 
Daniel  Pierson, 
Israel  Crane, 
Obadiah  Woodruff, 
Isaac  P.  Foster, 
Willard  Hall, 
Simon  K.  Wilson, 
George  Kellogg-, 

A.  G.  Hammond, 
Henry  Disbrow, 
Marcus  Bosworth, 
S.  G.  Strong, 
George  L.  Weed, 
John  Q.  A.  Bassett, 
John  S.  Jennings, 
A.  H.  Burritt, 


Charles  Barrows, 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF   1838.  757 

St.  Louis,  James  M.  Covinoton, 

St.  Charles,  xVlcxander  J.  Dallas, 
Dist.  of  Columbia, 

Union,  J.  E.  Montgomery,  Walter  M.  M'Gill, 

Levi  R.  Morrison,  Andrew  Early, 

French  Broad,  Gideon  S.  White,  William  Dick, 

Hohton,  Daniel  Rogan,  '  John  Patton, 

Clinton,  A.  C.  Dickerson,  William  M.  Murdock," 

—Minutes,  1838,  p.  19. 

Title  2. — Further  Measures  of  Reform. 
§  183.    Tlie  Committee  of  Pacification. 

^^  Resolved,  That  a  committee  oi  fifteen  be  appointed  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  present  state  of  the  Church,  and  report  a  plan  for  its  prompt 
pacification,  upon  such  a  basis  as  to  preserve  as  far  as  practicable,  in  its 
new  circumstances,  its  whole  geographical  extent  and  entire  ecclesiastical 
organization." — Minutes,  1838,  p.  13. 

[A  paper  reported  by  this  committee,  after  three  days  discussion  and  amendment,  was 
adopted  by  sections,  as  follows :] 

"  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  finds  itself, 
by  the  providence  of  God,  in  the  course  of  new  and  unprecedented  events, 
in  a  position  of  great  difficulty,  novelty,  and  importance.  The  Church,  led 
and  supported  by  the  God  of  Zion,  has  within  the  last  few  years,  commelaced 
a  great  reform,  which  had  become  indispensable  to  its  very  existence,  as 
organized  on  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  and  order  of  its  own  Constitution. 
The  General  Assembly  of  1837,  carried  forward  this  reform  in  several  mea- 
sures of  great  and  momentous  importance,  for  the  details  of  which  we  refer 
to  its  records.  The  voice  of  the  Church,  uttered  in  a  multitude  of  forms, 
and  especially  by  the  Commissioners  to  the  present  General  Assembly,  is 
clearly  and  decisively  in  favour  of  consummating  the  reform  thus  auspi- 
ciously commenced. 

''But,  a  portion  of  the  Ministers  and  Ruling  Elders  sent  to  this  Assembly, 
forgetting,  or  violating,  as  we  apprehend,  their  duty  to  God  and  to  the 
Church,  and  choosing  to  depart  from  us,  have,  in  connection  with  other  per- 
sons not  in  the  communion  of  our  Church,  constituted  a  new  ecclesiastical 
organization,  which  they  improperly  and  unjustly  assume  to  call  the  true 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica. To  meet  the  present  crisis  at  once,  with  the  temper  and  spirit  becoming 
our  high  vocation,  and  to  preserve  in  it,  and  carry  safely  through  it,  the 
Church  committed  in  so  great  a  degree  to  our  guidance,  in  times  of  so  much 
trial  and  disorder,  the  three  following  Acts  are  now  ordained  and  established, 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America. 

§  184.  Act  I. 

"  Section  1.  That  in  the  present  state  of  the  Church,  all  the  Presbyteries 
in  our  connection  ought  to  take  order,  and  are  hereby  enjoined  to  take  such 
order  as  is  consistent  with  this  Minute,  for  the  general  reform  and  pacifica- 
tion of  the  Church ;  and  they  are  directed  so  to  do,  some  time  between  the 
dissolution  of  the  present  General  Assembly  and  the  fall  meetings  of  the 
Synods,  either  at  stated,  or  at  pro  re  nata  meetings  of  the  Presbyteries,  as 
shall  seem  most  advisable  to  them  respectively.  And  those  Presbyteries 
whose  Commissioners  to  this  Assembly  have  united  with  others  in  the  forma- 
tion of  another  Assembly,  in  the  presence  of  this,  and  with  tumult  and  vio- 


758  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

lence  in  open  contempt  of  it:  or  who  have  advised  the  formation  of  said 
body,  or  adhered  to,  or  attended  it  as  members  thereof,  after  its  formation : 
or  who,  without  taking  any  part  therein,  have,  after  its  formation,  renounced 
or  refused  to  recognize  this  true  and  only  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  are  hereby  required  to  take 
proper  order  in  regard  to  their  said  Commissioners. 

"  Section  2.  In  case  the  majoi'ity  of  any  Presbytery,  whose  Commission- 
ers have  acted  as  aforesaid,  shall  take  proper  order  touching  their  conduct 
in  the  premises,  and  are  willing,  upon  the  basis  of  the  Assemblies  of  1837 
and  18o8,  to  adhere  to  the  Pi'esbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  then 
and  in  that  case  the  acts  of  their  said  Commissioners,  in  advising,  creating, 
or  uniting  with  said  Secession,  or  in  refusing  to  attend  on  this  Assembly,  as 
the  case  may  be,  shall  not  prejudice  the  rights  or  interests,  or  affect  the 
integrity  of  said  Presbytery,  or  its  union  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  as  an  integral  portion  thereof. 

"  Section  3.  In  case  the  majority  of  any  Presbytery  shall  refuse  or  neglect 
to  take  proper  order  in  regard  to  its  seceding  Commissioners,  or  shall 
approve  their  conduct,  or  adhere  to  the  new  sect  they  have  created,  or  shall 
decline  or  fail  to  adhere  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  upon  the  said  basis  of  1837  and  1838,  for  the  reform  of  the  Church, 
then  and  in  that  case  the  minority  of  said  Presbytery  shall  be  held  and  con- 
sidered to  be  the  true  Presbytery,  and  shall  continue  the  succession  of  the 
Presbytery  by  its  name  and  style,  and  from  the  rendition  of  the  erroneous 
and  -sehismatical  decision,  which  is  the  test  in  the  case,  be  the  Presbytery ; 
and  if  sufficiently  numerous  to  perform  Presbyterial  acts,  shall  go  forward 
with  all  the  proper  acts  and  functions  of  the  Presbytery. 

"  Section  4.  In  case  the  minority  of  any  Presbytery  should  be  too  small 
to  constitute  a  Presbytery  and  perform  Presbyterial  acts,  said  minority 
shall  remain  in  its  existing  state  until  the  next  subsequent  meeting  of  the 
Synod  to  which  it  properly  belongs,  which  will  then  take  order  on  the  sub- 
ject. Otherwise,  there  is  a  possibility  that  several  Synods  might  be  unable 
to  constitute,  if  majorities  of  part  of  their  Presbyteries  should  adhere  to  the 
secession,  and  the  minorities  attach  themselves  to  other  Presbyteries,  or 
several  unite  into  one,  before  the  Synods  meet. 

"  Section  5.  'The  principles  of  this  Act  shall  be  applied  to  Churches,  with 
their  majorities  and  minorities — and  to  Church  Sessions,  as  far  as  they  are 
applicable.  And  the  Presbyteries  are  hereby  required  so  to  exercise  their 
watch  and  care,  that  as  far  as  possible,  all  the  Churches  may  be  pi-eserved : 
and  where,  unhappily,  this  cannot  be  done,  then  that  the  minorities  in  the 
Sessions  and  Churches  shall  be  cared  for,  and  dealt  with  on  the  general 
principles  now  laid  down. 

"The  Assembly  is  fully  sensible  that  in  divided  Presbyteries  and 
Churches,  everything  depends,  under  God,  upon  the  promptitude,  firmness, 
wisdom,  and  moderation  of  the  friends  of  Christ,  in  this  great  crisis.  In 
this  conviction,  the  whole  of  that  part  of  the  subject  which  relates  to 
Churches  and  private  Christians,  is  especially  commended  to  the  Christian 
zeal,  prudence,  and  fidelity  of  the  Presbyteries  and  Church  Sessions.  In 
regard  to  the  temporal  interests  of  the  Churches,  and  the  difficulties  which 
may  arise  on  their  account,  the  Assembly  advise  that,  on  the  one  hand, 
great  liberality  and  generosity  should  mark  the  whole  conduct  of  our  people, 
and  especially  in  cases  where  our  majorities  in  the  Churches  are  very  large, 
or  our  minorities  are  very  small :  while  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  advise, 
that  providential  advantages,  and  important  rights,  ought  not  in  any  case  to 
be  lightly  thrown  away. 

*' Section  6.  It  is  enjoined  on  the  Synods  to  take  order  on  this  subject — 


Part  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1838.  759 

to  see  that  the  principles  here  laid  down  are  duly  enforced — to  take  care 
that  the  Presbyteries  act  as  truth  and  duty  require  in  the  premises — to 
make  such  needful  modifications  in  the  Presbyteries  as  their  altered  circum- 
stances may  require — and  to  promote  by  all  proper  means  the  speedy  pacifi- 
cation of  the  Churches,  by  delivering  and  saving  them  from  the  leaven  of 
heresy,  disorder,  and  schism,  which  having  so  long  worked  among  them,  is 
at  length  ready,  by  God's  mercy,  to  be  purged  away. 

"  Section  7.  The  Synods  in  all  cases  shall  be  considered  lawfully  consti- 
tuted only  when  formed  by  or  out  of  those  Presbyteries  recognized  as  true 
Presbyteries  by  this  Assembly,  according  to  the  true  tenor  and  intent  of 
this  Act. 

§  185.  Act  II. 

"Whereas,  the  Act  of  the  Assembly  of  June  5th,  1837,  declaring  the 
three  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee,  to  be  out  of  the  ecclesiastical 
connection  of  the  Presbyterian  Chui'ch  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
made  ample  provision  for  the  return  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church  of  every 
Minister  and  Church,  truly  Presbyterian  in  doctrine  and  order,  as  well 
within  the  bounds  of  the  three  aforesaid  Synods,  as  within  those  of  the 
Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve : 

"And  whereas,  it  is  represented  to  this  Assembly,  that  in  addition  to 
those  who  have  embraced  this  invitation  and  provision  of  the  aforesaid  Act, 
there  are  others  who  have  held  back,  and  are  still  waiting  on  the  develop- 
ments of  Providence : 

"And  whereas,  it  was  never  the  intention  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
cause  any  sound  Presbyterian  to  be  permanently  separated  from  our  connec- 
tion, but  it  is,  and  always  was  the  desire  of  the  Church,  that  all  who  really 
embrace  our  doctrine,  love  our  order,  and  are  willing  to  conform  to  our  dis- 
cipline, should  unite  themselves  with  us: 

"And  whereas,  moreover,  the  General  Assembly  has  no  idea  of  narrow- 
ing, but  would  rather  expand  its  geographical  limits,  so  as  to  unite  in  bonds 
of  the  most  intimate  fellowship,  every  portion  of  our  beloved  country,  and 
every  evangelical  Christian  like  minded  with  ourselves :  It  is  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  that  it  be  recommended, 

"  1.  That  those  Ministers  and  Churches  living  within  the  geographical 
limits  of  the  Synods  of  the  Western  Eeserve,  Geneva,  Utica,  and  Genesee, 
who  are  willing  to  adhere  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States, 
on  the  basis  of  the  Acts  of  the  Assemblies  of  1837  and  1838,  for  the  gene- 
ral reform  of  the  Church,  take  steps  for  the  immediate  organization  of  as 
many  Presbyteries  as  there  are  Ministers  and  Churches,  such  as  are  above 
described,  sufficiently  numerous  to  constitute,  so  that  the  whole  number  of 
Presbyteries  thus  formed,  shall  not  exceed  one  Presbytery  for  each  of  the 
aforenamed  Synods :  and  so  that,  the  territory  of  the  Western  Reserve  shall 
in  no  case  be  added  to  that  in  western  New  York.  And  in  case  only  two 
Presbyteries  can  be  constituted  on  the  ground  occupied  by  the  three  Synods 
of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee — then  that  whole  territory  shall  be  divided 
between  them.  And  in  case  but  one  Presbytery  can  be  constituted,  then, 
the  whole  territory  shall  attach  to  it.  In  regard  to  the  Western  Reserve,  it 
is  desired  that  a  single  Presbytery  be  formed  as  soon  as  convenient,  to 
embrace  the  whole  of  that  ground. 

"  2.  The  Ministers  and  Churches  intended  by  this  Act,  will  hold  such 
mutual  correspondence  as  they  shall  deem  needful,  either  by  general  meet- 
ing or  othei-wise;  and  then  meet,  at  such  convenient  time  and  place,  as  may 
be  agreed  on  by  those  who  are  to  be  embraced  in  the  same  Presbytery,  and 


760  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

tlieu  ami  there  constitute  themselves  in  a  regular,  orderly,  and  Christian 
manner,  into  a  Presbytery  under  the  cure  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

''8.  If  as  many  as  three  Presbyteries  can  be  conveniently  formed  in 
Western  New  York,  it  will  be  orderly  for  them,  as  soon  as  possible  thereafter, 
to  unite  and  constitute  themselves  into  a  Synod  upon  the  principles  indicated 
in  this  Act;  and  such  Synod,  if  formed,  shall  cover  the  entire  territory 
heretofore  occupied  by  the  three  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee. 
But  in  case  only  one  or  two  Presbyteries  can  be  formed,  then  application 
shall  be  made  by  it,  or  them,  for  admission  under  the  care  and  into  the 
bosom  of  such  Synod  now  in  our  connection,  as  shall  be  most  convenient 
and  natural.  And  the  Presbytery  on  the  Western  Eeserve,  if  one  should 
be  formed,  will  adopt  the  same  line  of  conduct.  And  any  Synod,  to  which 
application  may  be  thus  made  by  any  Presbytery,  shall  take  immediate  order 
to  accomplish  the  ends  of  this  Act.  And  it  is  considered  that  any  Presby- 
tery or  Synod  formed  in  pursuance  of  these  directions,  shall  have  full  power 
to  perform  all  Presbyterial  or  Synodical  acts,  agreeably  to  tl^e  Constitution 
of  the  Church. 

§  186.  Act  III. 

"Section  1.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  xVmerica,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon, 
now  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  be,  and  hereby  is,  at  its  own 
request,  detached  from  said  Synod,  and  united  to  the  Synod  of  Virginia, 
and  it  shall  hereafter  be  an  integral  part  of  said  Synod  of  Virginia,  and 
subject  to  its  care  and  oversight. 

"Section  2.  And  whereas,  it  is  known  to  the  Assembly,  that  all  the  Com- 
missioners who  were  present  at  its  constitution  from  the  Synods  of  Tennes- 
see, jMichigau,  and  Missouri,  with  the  exception  of  the  Commissioner  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon,  have  withdrawn  from  the  House,  and  it  is 
believed,  have  united  in  forming  another  body :  Therefore, 

(a)  "Be  it  resolved,  That  if  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  shall,  either  by  its  own 
act  or  the  acts  of  its  Presbyteries,  adhere  to  the  secession  which  has  been 
made,  or  fail  or  refuse  to  adhere  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  provided  in 
the  First  Act;  then  the  minority  or  minorities  therein,  adhering  as  afore- 
said to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  shall  be  attached  to,  and  shall  be  under  the 
care  of  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee,  and  may  proceed,  as  before  directed, 
in  the  First  Act,  and  apply  for  admission  to  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee, 
whose  jurisdiction  shall,  in  that  case,  be  extended  so  as  to  include  the  eccle- 
siastical limits  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee:  and  if  the  like  circumstances 
occur  in  respect  of  the  Synod  of  Michigan,  its  minorities  shall  be  under 
the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  on  the  same  principles;  and  further, 
if  the  like  circumstances  occur  with  respect  to  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  its 
minurities  shall  be  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  on  the  same 
principles. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  send  an  attested  copy  of  the  foregoing 
Acts  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  each  Presbytery  and  Synod  in  connection  with 
the  General  Assembly." — Minutes,  lSo8,  pp.  33,  37. 

(h)  "Resolved,  That  if  any  Presbytery  or  Synod  shall  be  formed  accord- 
ing to  the  directions  given  by  this  Assembly,  or  being  already  formed,  shall 
desire  to  be  recognized  as  a  constituent  portion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
all  the  proceedings  in  such  case  shall  be  fully  reported  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  together  with  such  evid§.nce  as  the  nature  of  the  case  shall 
require,  and  shall  be  approved  before  such  body  shall  be  finally  received." 
—Ibid.  p.  43. 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1838.  761 

§  187.  3fissionaries  of  (he  American  Board. 

"With  respect  to  tlie  expediency  of  instituting  an  inquiry  into  the  con- 
duct of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners,  in  relation  to  the  orthodoxy 
of  missionaries  employed  by  said  Board,  as  suggested  in  a  paper  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence,  the  committee  reported,  that 
they  have  no  knowledge  of  any  facts  which  render  such  inquiry  at  this  time 
either  necessary  or  expedient,  and  therefore  recommended  that  this  Assem- 
bly take  no  order  on  the  subject.     Accepted,  and  adopted." — Ibid.  p.  38. 

§  188.    Order  in  regard  to  Theological  Schools. 

"  Whereas,  the  General  Assembly,  in  carrying  forward  the  reform  of  the 
Church,  should  seek  not  only  to  remove  existing  evils,  but  to  guard  the 
Church,  in  all  future  time,  as  far  as  practicable,  from  their  recurrence :  and 
whereas,  much  of  her  security,  under  God,  will  depend  upon  the  character 
of  her  rising  ministry,  who  are  to  be  her  future  pastors  and  rulers :  and 
whereas,  our  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  xiv.  Section  6,  requires  that  can- 
didates for  the  ministry,  before  they  are  licensed,  'shall  have  studied 
divinity,  under  some  approved  divine,  or  professor  of  theology,'  evidently- 
meaning  thereby  such  divine  or  professor  of  theology  as  is  approved  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  some  of  her  regularly  organized  forms :  therefore, 
in  order  to  secure  a  ministry  who  shall  be  sound  in  the  faith  and  well 
instructed  in  the  doctrines,  order,  and  discipline  of  the  Church;  and  in 
order  to  the  thorough  instruction  of  the  people  in  the  cardinal  doctrines  and 
duties  of  our  holy  religion,  it  is 

"Resolved,  1.  That  the  Presbyteries  be,  and  they  are  hereby  enjoined,  to 
see  that  their  candidates  for  the  ministry  prosecute  their  studies  only  at 
such  theological  seminaries,  or  with  such  divines  as  are  thus  approved  and 
recognized  by  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  sound  in  the  faith,  and  attached 
to  our  ecclesiastical  order  and  forms  of  worship,  as  laid  down  in  the  accre- 
dited standards  of  our  Church. 

"2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  our  Ministers  to  give  particular  atten- 
tion to  such  expository  preaching  as  shall  bring  the  great  doctrines  and 
duties  of  the  gospel  clearly  before  the  minds  of  the  people  of  their  respective 
charges;  and  that  they  endeavour  so  to  arrange  this  course  of  instructions, 
that  all  the  various  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  as  set  forth  in  order,  in  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  shall  be  distinctly  presented  and  enforced. 

"3.  That  the  instruction  of  our  youth  in  the  Catechisms  of  the  Church, 
be  earnestly  recommended  to  the  special  attention  of  all  the  Ministers  and 
Sessions  under  the  care  of  this  General  xlssembly." — Ibid.  p.  39. 

§  189.  Instructions  to  the  Clerks. 
'^Resolved,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  and  Permanent  Clerk  be  a  committee 
to  form  the  roll  of  the  next  General  Assembly,  and  that  said  roll  be  formed 
according  to  the  principles  of  Act  the  First  on  the  State  of  the  Church,  viz. 
that  the  Commissioners  from  those  Presbyteries  whose  Commissioners  have 
aided  or  concurred  in  forming  the  secession  from  the  present  Assembly, 
shall  not  be  enrolled  until  the  Assembly  has  first  been  formed  and  has  re- 
ceived a  satisfactory  report  from  the  Presbyteries  aforesaid,  as  to  the  order 
they  have  taken  on  the  conduct  of  their  Commissioners,  and  on  their  wil- 
lingness to  adhere  to  the  constitutional  order  adopted  and  confirmed  by  the 
Assemblies  of  1837  and  1838.— ii/W.  p.  40. 

§  190.  Act  in  regard,  to  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

"  It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  this  Assembly,  that  the  Ministers 
and  Churches,  formerly  constituting  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
96 


762  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book   VII. 

have,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  Minister  and  Church,  failed  or  refused 
to  obey  the  directions  of  the  Act  of  Assembly  of  1837,  which  dissolved  that 
Presbytery, 

'^  Be  it  resolved,!.  That  all  the  Ministers  and  Churches  formerly  con- 
stituting said  Presbytery,  or  being  under  its  care,  are  hereby  directed  to 
comply  with  all  the  directions  of  said  Act,  at  or  before  the  fall  meetings  of 
the  Presbyteries  within  whose  bounds  they  are,  or  to  which  they  most  natu- 
rally belong. 

"2.  In  case  of  the  ftiilure  or  refusal  of  any  of  the  said  Ministers  or  Churches 
to  comply  with  the  directions  now  given  them,  then  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia shall  take  such  order  as  the  peace  of  the  Churches  and  the  rights  of 
the  minorities  in  them  shall  seem  to  require ;  respect  being  had  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Acts  passed  for  the  pacification  of  the  Church,  during  the 
sessions  of  the  present  Assembly." — Ihid.  p.  42. 

§  191.   Presbyters  Pastors  of  Congregational  Churches. 

"  Considering  that  it  is  manifestly  incongruous  and  unreasonable  that  the 
government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  should  be  administered  by  those  who 
do  not  submit  to  it  for  themselves;  and  whereas,  there  are,  in  this  Church, 
certain  brethren  in  the  ministry,  who,  by  taking  the  pastoral  charge  of  Con- 
gregational churches,  have  placed  themselves  in  a  situation  in  which  the 
government  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  cannot,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  be  fully  carried  into  efi"ect,  in  relation  either  to  themselves  or  to  the 
people  of  whom  they  have  the  charge,  this  General  Assembly  feel  it  to  be 
indispensable  to  declare  that  this  is  an  evil  which  ought  to  be  corrected  as 
speedily  as  circumstances  will  permit;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  referred  to  the  next  Greneral  Assembly  to  correct 
the  evil  herein  submitted,  this  General  Assembly  being  willing  that  the 
interval  of  a  year  should  be  allowed  to  the  parties  concerned,  to  correct  for 
themselves  the  evil  in  question,  if  such  shall  be  their  choice." — Ibid. 

Title  3. — Matters  referred  to  the  next  Assembly. 

"Mr.  Breckinridge,  from  the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church, 
made  a  final  report,  which  was  accepted,  and  referred  to  the  next  General 
Assembly;  and  the  committee  was  discharged. 

''  It  was  ordered  that  the  report  be  entered  on  the  minutes,  as  follows, 
viz." 

§  192.  Abbreviated  Creeds,  &c. 
MINUTE   I. 

"  The  lateness  of  the  session  rendering  it  inconvenient  and  unsuitable  for 
the  important  subject  of  abbreviated  Creeds,  Confessions,  and  Church 
Covenants,  to  be  fully  examined  at  this  time, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  next  Assembly  be  requested  to  decide, 

"1.  Whether  members  received  into  our  communion  ought  to  be  received 
only  in  private  by  the  Church  Session;  or  whether,  in  addition  to  this,  and 
after  it,  there  should  be  a  public  reception  of  such  members,  in  the  face  of 
the  Congregation,  upon  profession  of  their  faith,  and  with  covenant  between 
the  Church  and  said  members? 

"2.  If  there  should  be  such  public  reception,  should  the  faith  and 
covenant  professed  and  entered  into,  be  in  substance  the  whole  standards  of 
the  Church:  or  should  the  profession  and  covenant  be  limited? 

"3.  Ought  there  not  to  be  uniformity  on  this  whole  subject;  and  to  that 
end,  ought  not  the  Assembly  either  to  settle  proper  abbreviated  formularies. 


Part  XL]  THE   ASSEMBLY  OF   1838.  76S 

or  to  order  the  general  use  of  those  of  the  Church,  or  forbid  any  usage 
which  requires  the  use  of  any,  iu  the  manner  now  contemplated? 

"Another  subject  of  great  importance,  and  kindred  to  this,  is  the  mode 
of  reception  and  profession  of  faith  by  candidates  for  adult  baptism. 

''And  it  is  for  the  reasons  already  stated  in  the  foregoing  case  referred  to 
the  next  Assembly,  with  the  request  that  it  would  exaiuine  and  decide, 
whether  there  ought  not  to  be  provided  a  comprehensive  formulary,  or  at 
least  a  simple  directory  for  adult  baptisms?  and  if  yea,  ought  not  the 
proper  directory  or  formulary  to  be  provided  without  unnecessary  delay, 
under  the  care  of  the  Assembly?" — Ihkl.  p.  46. 

§  193.  Equalizing  representation.  i 

\  MINUTE    II. 

"The  basis  of  representation  remaining  unaltered,  the  Assembly  recom- 
mends to  the  Synods, 

"1.  The  equalization,  on  just  and  convenient  terms,  of  the  Presbyteries 
in  the  bounds  of  each  respectively,  so  that,  as  far  as  may  be,  in  subordina- 
tion to  existing  interests  and  general  convenience,  the  several  Presbyteries 
in  the  same  Synod  may  approach  something  like  equality. 

"2.  'That  all  the  Synods,  by  a  calm  and  diligent  survey  of  this  subject, 
so  order  it,  as  to  make  the  Presbyteries  throughout  the  Church  stand  as  far 
as  possible,  regard  being  had  as  before  to  existing  interests  and  general  con- 
venience, upon  terms  of  common  right  and  equality." — Ibid. 

Title  4. — Pastoral  Letter  to  the  Churches,  on  the  transac- 
tions OF  1838. 

§194.    _ 

(a)  '■'■Bear  Brethren — In  the  present  agitated  state  of  our  beloved  Zion, 
we  think  it  our  duty  to  lay  our  whole  procedure  before  you,  with  special 
plainness,  and  serious  admonition,  that  you  as  well  as  ourselves  should  look 
earnestly  and  humbly  to  Almighty  Clod,  for  the  deliverance  of  our  Church 
from  the  troubles  and  temptations  by  which  we  have  been  and  are  yet  sur- 
rounded. We  believe  that  all  parts  of  our  Church  have  looked  forward  to 
the  present  meeting  of  the  Assembly  for  some  important  events,  or  decisive 
action,  which  might  determine  our  future  course,  and  give  harmony  to  our 
future  operations. 

(h)  "The  last  General  Assembly  acted  under  the  conviction,  that  the 
only  possible  way  to  secure  peace,  was  by  the  separation  of  the  parties  in 
our  Church,  which  could  not  agree  on  what  were  deemed  important  princi- 
ples of  doctrine  and  Church  order;  and  to  effect  this  separation,  which  all 
parties  acknowledged  to  be  necessary,  the  majority  thought  proper  to  exer- 
cise the  right  of  abrogating  the  unconstitutional  action  which  had  brought 
the  discordant  parties  into  their  present  connection.  This  procedure  was 
indeed  novel;  it  had  never  been  resorted  to  in  our  Church  before,  and  from 
its  very  novelty  was  calculated  to  startle  minds  not  accustomed  to  that  mode 
of  action ;  it  was,  however,  the  only  remedy  for  our  case,  and  a  remedy  to 
which  all  governments,  possessing  a  written  constitution,  are  obliged  to 
resort  when  embarrassed  by  unconstitutional  laws. 

(c)  "At  the  first  meeting  of  the  present  Assembly,  the  friends  of  the  last 
Assembly  had  the  pleasure  of  ascertaining  that  the  action  of  that  body  had 
been  fully  sustained  by  a  large  majority  of  our  Church.  So  decisive  was 
the  preponderance  of  numbers  on  this  occasion,  that  had  even  the  members 
from  the  four  disowned  Synods  been  admitted  to  their  seats,  there  would 
still  have  been  a  clear  and  not  inconsiderable  majority  in  favour  of  the 


764  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

reform  which  the  last  Assembly  had  commenced.  In  these  circumstances 
we  thought  the  course  of  Christian  duty  was  plain  to  all  parties,  and  that 
if  the  minority  could  not  consent  to  submit  to  our  views  of  doctrine  and 
Church  order,  it  was  incumbent  on  them  to  make  a  quiet  and  orderly  seces- 
sion. The  essence  of  all  religious  liberty  and  ecclesiastical  order  is  evident- 
ly involved  in  the  principle,  that  when  two  parties  in  the  same  community 
cannot  agree,  the  majority  must  govern;  but  if  the  minority  cannot  in 
conscience  submit  either  to  the  measures  or  the  doctrines  of  the  majority, 
it  is  their  right  and  duty  to  separate,  and  form  a  different  denomination. 
For  such  a  course  as  this  on  the  part  of  the  minority,  we  were  fully  pre- 
pai'ed;  we  looked  forward  to  it  with  satisfaction,  as  the  only  course  conducive 
to  the  peace  and  Christian  comfort  of  both  parties;  and  had  this  course 
been  adopted,  we  were  willing  to  concur  in  any  reasonable  plan  for  the 
adjustment  of  any  unsettled  claims  which  might  have  appertained  to  the 
case.  By  this  exposition  of  our  views,  our  friends  and  brethren  will  be 
prepared  to  conceive  of  our  astonishment  and  grief  at  the  course  which  was 
actually  pursued. 

(r?)  "When  the  hour  for  organizing  the  Assembly  had  arrived,  and  whilst 
the  proper  officers  were  engaged  in  that  business,  a  number  of  persons 
belonging  to  the  minority  rose  in  a  tumultuous  manner,  in  the  midst  of  the 
house,  and  offered  some  propositions  and  motions,  which  evidently  could  not 
be  entertained  at  the  time,  and  which  were  declared  to  be  out  of  order,  sub- 
sequently proceeded  with  a  confused  clamour,  in  which  something  like  nomi- 
nations and  voting  could  be  heard,  to  what  they  called  an  organization  of 
the  Assembly;  and  then  made  the  announcement,  that  that  body  would 
hold  its  future  sessions  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church;  all  this  was  done 
in  defiance  of  the  authority  of  the  Moderator  of  the  Assembly,  who  was 
constituting  the  body,  and  who  repeatedly  called  to  order  whilst  this  scene 
of  confusion  was  in  progress. 

(e)  ''What  could  have  led  the  minority  to  this  extraordinary  course  is 
not  for  us  to  explain.  It  has  been  suggested  that  they  considered  this 
as  the  best  way  for  securing  their  legal  rights,  and  indeed  it  has  since 
appeared,  that  they  not  only  meant  to  secure  their  own  rights,  but  to  assume 
to  themselves  all  the  legal  rights  and  claims  of  the  whole  Presbyterian 
Church.  In  this  view,  however,  the  very  injustice  of  their  plan  would  seem 
sufficient  to  condemn  it  in  the  estimation  of  all  good  men,  not  influenced  by 
prejudice.  That  a  minority,  by  such  a  movement,  could  take  to  themselves 
the  whole  property  of  the  Church,  and  strip  the  majority  of  all  their  rights, 
would  certainly  be  an  unjust  procedure;  and  if  even  all  this  were  practicable 
in  point  of  law,  yet  in  the  court  of  conscience,  we  believe  there  are  but  few 
men  who  would  be  willing  to  sanction  it.  But  can  it  be  supposed  that 
such  a  course  could  be  supported  in  a  court  of  law?  The  legal  decision 
which  Avould  sustain  such  a  course,  would  establish  a  principle  destructive 
of  the  rights  of  every  ecclesiastical  organization  throughout  the  world;  for 
it  is  abundantly  plain  that  in  any  church  organization  which  could  be 
formed,  a  minority  might  arise,  no  matter  how  small  that  minority,  which 
would  be  able,  on  the  plan  practised  in  this  case,  to  divest  the  majority  of 
all  its  power  and  its  property,  and  ruin  the  Church.  Surely  the  members 
of  the  minority  could  not  mean  to  establish  a  principle  of  law,  by  which 
indeed  they  might  be  able  to  ruin  the  Presbyterian  Church  this  year,  but 
by  which  a  portion,  however  small,  might  be  able  the  next  year  to  niin 
them,  and  strip  them  of  all  their  vested  rights — a  principle,  in  fact,  which 
a  disorderly  minority  in  any  Church  might  at  any  time  employ  for  the  sub- 
version of  that  Church.  We  find  it  therefore  difficult  to  believe,  that  the 
minority  could  have  expected  to  obtain  the  property  and  the  power  of  the 


Part  XL]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1838.  765 

Presbytorian  Churcli  by  the  movement  in  question,  and  what  they  did 
expect  or  intend  by  it,  we  must  leave  to  themselves,  or  to  future  circum- 
stances to  explain. 

(/)  "  Had  the  minority  exercised  a  little  more  confidence  in  the  majority, 
we  think  all  the  points  of  separation  might  have  been  adjusted  in  a  manner 
more  advantageous  to  themselves,  and  certainly  in  a  manner  more  consistent 
with  that  Christian  deportment  which  all  professors  of  religion  are  bound  to 
exhibit  before  the  world.  When  the  General  Assembly  of  1837  determined 
that  a  separation  of  the  parties  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  necessary  to 
its  peace,  and  appointed  a  joint  committee  to  adjust  the  terms  of  separation, 
the  mode  of  dividing  the  property  was  agreed  upon  to  the  satisfaction  of 
both  parties.  We  have  never  heard  that  plan  of  division  objected  to  since 
that  time,  by  any  of  the  minority,  and  we  have  no  doubt  the  majority  would 
at  this  day  have  consented  to  it;  here,  then,  was  an  obvious  mode  of  set- 
tling all  questions  of  property,  which  we  think  would  have  given  general 
satisfaction  to  the  members  of  both  parties,  and  which  ought  to  have  been 
adopted.  Perhaps  the  minority  will  say  that  their  reason  for  acting  as  they 
did,  was  that  they  had  proposed  a  negotiation  just  before  the  organization 
of  the  Assembly,  which  was  rejected.  It  is  true  they  did  propose  a  negotia- 
tion, and  the  proposition  was  rejected;  but  the  reason  for  that  rejection  was, 
that  the  proposition  assumed  as  the  ground  of  the  whole  negotiation,  that 
the  action  of  the  last  General  Assembly  in  disowning  the  four  Synods  of 
Western  Keserve,  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee,  should  be  considered  as  un- 
constitutional, null,  and  void;  and  as  a  large  majority  of  the  Presbyteries 
in  our  Church  had  determined  that  said  action  of  the  last  Assembly  ought 
now  to  be  carried  into  effect,  it  was  evident  that  the  proposition  aforesaid 
could  not  be  entertained  by  the  members  of  this  Assembly. 

(g)  "Such,  dear  brethren,  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  facts  and  circum- 
stances forced  upon  our  attention  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  As- 
sembly, and  we  do  not  deem  it  necessary  here  to  dwell  any  longer,  or  give 
any  further  detail  of  the  events  of  our  past  history,  which  have  brought  mat- 
ters to  their  present  state.  Both  parties  in  our  Church  have  placed  their 
views  of  the  reforming  measures  of  the  last  Assembly  fully  before  the  pub- 
lic; the  public  has  deliberated  on  the  matter;  and  a  decided  majority  of  our 
Presbyteries  have  exercised  their  right  of  declaring  that  those  reforming 
measures  ought  to  be  sustained  and  carried  into  effect;  and  in  consequence 
of  this  decision,  the  minority  have  departed  from  us,  and  organized  a  seces- 
sion. The  Church  is  now  fairly  divided  into  two  separate  and  independent 
denominations.  Of  this  secession  we  only  complain  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  eifected — for  we  hold  it  to  be  the  unalienable  right  of  all 
Christians,  a  right  which  duty  requires  them  to  exercise,  to  separate  them- 
selves from  other  Christians  with  whom  they  cannot  conscientiously  agree 
on  subjects  of  Christian  doctrine  and  Church  order.  When  disagreements 
arise  on  these  points,  such  denominational  separations  afford  the  only  means 
of  preserving  the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Church,  in  its  present  imperfect 
state. 

(/i)  ''And  now,  beloved  brethren,  as  the  first  step  of  this  necessary  sepa- 
ration has  been  taken,  it  is  our  prayer  to  Almighty  God,  that  he  would  dis- 
pose and  enable  all  parties  concerned,  to  carry  it  out  in  such  manner  as  may 
be  most  consistent  with  the  Christian  spirit,  and  most  conducive  to  a  speedy 
restoration  of  general  peace  and  Christian  affection  between  the  members  of 
the  respective  bodies.  It  will  facilitate  the  attainment  of  this  desirable 
object  to  keep  in  memory  the  fact,  that  no  sentence  of  excommunication 
has  ever  passed  between  the  bodies;  we  merely  separate  into  di9"erent  deno- 
minations, as  Christians  who  cannot  agree  to  live  together  in  the  same  par- 


7G6  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

ticular  Church.  Wo  can  assure  our  friends  at  a  distance,  that  the  blessed 
eftects  of  this  separation  are  already  apparent  in  this  General  Assembly;  we 
have  now,  as  we  trust,  'the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace/  as  it 
pervaded  our  Grcneral  Assemblies  in  former  happy  periods  of  our  history, 
when  we  all  *  spake,  and  thought,  and  minded  the  same  things.' 

(i)  "  liejoicing  as  we  do,  that  this  separation  is  thus  far  effected,  yet  we 
think  it  important  to  request  our  brethren  and  the  churches  under  our  care, 
to  ponder  in  the  fear  of  God,  the  events  through  which  we  have  passed,  and 
to  draw  from  them  those  lessons  of  circumspection  and  humility  which  they 
are  calculated  to  give.  A  few  of  the  last  years  of  our  history  have  presented 
a  mortif3dng  spectacle,  which  we  humbly  hope  never  to  see  again,  in  con- 
nection with  our  body.  By  the  appointment  of  God,  the  Church  ought  to 
be  '  a  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth — a  light  of  the  world — a  candle,  giving 
light  to  all  that  are  in  the  house.'  For  the  last  seven  or  eight  years  of  our 
history  we  have  been  full  of  darkness,  our  Church  has  been  occupied  with 
strife,  filled  with  railing  accusations  and  misrepresentations  among  professed 
brethren,  which  was  well  calculated  to  harden  sinners,  and  provoke  the  scoffs 
of  the  infidel. 

(/i;)  "That  the  Church  was  possessed  of  materials  for  furnishing  such  a 
spectacle  as  we  have  witnessed,  affords  evidence  that  God  saw  something 
extremely  wrong  in  our  communion,  before  our  late  troubles  overtook  us; 
the  trials  through  which  we  have  passed,  was  a  dispensation  of  that  kind 
Father,  who  holds  the  Church  as  the  apple  of  his  eye,  and  who  never  need- 
lessly afflicts  the  children  of  men;  and  whether  our  guilt  has  consisted  in 
pride,  in  hypocrisy,  in  worldliness,  or  in  indifference  to  the  truth,  or  whether 
it  may  have  consisted  in  all  these  united,  it  is  yet  certain  that  our  chastise- 
ment has  not  been  heavier  than  our  crimes,  and  that  we  have  much  cause 
as  a  Church,  and  as  private  Christians,  for  deep  repentance,  careful  self- 
examination,  and  turning  to  God,  that  he  may  show  us  wherefore  he  has 
contended  with  us,  and  may  purify  us  to  himself,  as  a  peculiar  people,  zeal- 
ous of  good  works. 

(/)  "  And  as  much  of  our  late  criminality  may  have  consisted  in  things 
unobserved  by  ourselves,  we  think  it  of  special  importance,  at  the  present 
time,  to  urge  upon  all  our  brethren  the  necessity  of  diligent  and  devout 
attention  to  what  are  called  the  secret  means  of  grace.  Could  we  know  that 
our  brethren  wei'e  generally  much  engaged  in  secret  reading  and  meditation 
on  the  word  of  God,  and  in  'praying  with  all  prayer,'  'and  without  ceasing,' 
we  should  then  believe  that  a  happy  and  glorious  reformation  of  our  Church 
would  certainly  be  accomplished,  and  that  Zion  would  soon  look  forth  from 
her  chambers,  'fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners.'  The  promises  of  Scripture  make  it  very  certain  that  if  our 
Church  was  filled  with  the  spirit  of  humble  and  holy  prayer,  it  would  soon 
be  filled  with  every  blessing;  God  will  give  his  Holy  Spirit;  he  will  give 
himself;  he  will  give  every  temporal  and  eternal  good  to  those  who  ask 
agreeably  to  his  will. 

(m)  "We  will  further  observe,  that  the  duty  of  fasting,  as  united  with 
prayer,  appears  to  be  too  much  disregarded,  if  not  entirely  neglected  by 
many  Christians  of  the  present  day.  We  agree  with  our  fathers  of  the 
lleformation,  that  the  appointment  of  annual  or  stated  fasts  is  not  author- 
ized under  the  gospel  dispensation;  but  occasional  fasting,  both  public  and 
private,  such  as  is  called  for  by  peculiar  circumstances,  or  by  the  dispensa- 
tions of  Heaven,  are  still  among  the  appointed  means  of  grace,  and  form  an 
important  part  of  Christian  duty.  Our  Saviour  said,  the  children  of  the 
bride-chamber  would  fast  when  the  bridegroom  was  taken  from  them;  surely 


?art  XI.]  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  1838.  76T 

such  a  dispensation  as  we  have  lately  witnessed,  should  lead  those  children 
to  fast. 

(n)  "As  our  work  at  this  time  is  a  work  of  reformation,  we  believe  the 
present  is  a  proper  period  for  correcting  any  deviations  from  Presbyterian 
usage,  or  from  the  old  commendable  practices  of  our  Church,  which  may  have 
crept  in  among  us.  It  is  important  to  every  community  of  Christians,  that 
the  youth  of  that  community  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  indoctrinated 
in  its  principles.  "We  fear,  however,  that  in  the  important  work  of  bringing 
up  the  children  of  the  Church  'in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,' 
both  parents  and  Pastors  have  too  much  neglected  our  Larger  and  Shorter 
Catechisms,  aCd  especially  our  Larger  Catechism.  Whilst  we  rejoice  in  the 
additional  means,  which  the  publications  and  institutions  of  the  present  day 
have  furnished  for  the  assistance  of  family  and  juvenile  instruction,  yet  we 
do  not  believe  that  anything  has  been  furnished,  which  could  at  all  justify 
the  laying  aside  of  our  excellent  Catechisms.  We  believe  that  no  uninspired 
men  have  ever  been  able  to  exhibit  in  as  short  a  compass,  safer  and  sounder 
views  of  the  doctrines  of  salvation,  than  is  contained  in  those  Catechisms, 
and  we  should  rejoice  to  see  our  Larger  Catechism  brought  back  to  its  for- 
mer place  in  the  system  of  both  family  and  pastoral  instruction,  and  as  exten- 
sively as  practicable  committed  to  memory.  We  are  persuaded  that  the 
dear  youth  under  our  care  would  lose  neither  time  nor  labour,  by  making 
their  minds  as  familiar  as  possible  with  that  excellent  summary  of  the  doc- 
trines of  Christ. 

(o)  "  And  among  other  things,  beloved  brethren,  we  esteem  it  our  duty 
to  recommend  to  your  patronage  and  perusal,  suitable  religious  periodicals. 
We  know  it  has  been  made  a  question  by  some,  whether  the  Church  would 
not  be  better  without  those  papers  and  periodicals  which  are  called  religious, 
than  with  them.  This  is  a  question  we  shall  not  discuss  in  the  abstract; 
such  papers  have  been,  and  will  continue  to  be  circulated,  and  the  only  anti- 
dote for  those  that  do  evil,  is  to  circulate  those  which  do  good.  We  should 
suppose  that  intelligent  Christians  would  not  find  it  difficult  to  determine 
what  papers  or  periodicals  they  ought  to  sustain;  they  may  try  such  papers 
by  the  Bible;  they  may  try  them  by  the  standards  of  the  Church,  or, 
according  to  our  Saviour's  rule,  they  may  try  them  by  their  fruits.  *  Men 
do  not  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  nor  figs  of  thistles;'  publications  filled  with 
railings  and  misrepresentations,  cannot  produce  the  peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness. 

^p)  "And  now,  brethren,  we  would  say  in  conclusion,  let  us  with  cheer- 
ful and  Christian  confidence,  as  well  as  with  true  humility,  put  our  trust  in 
the  living  God.  We  believe  the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  the  work 
of  God.  If  we  know  ourselves,  and  we  have  prayed  that  we  might  know 
ourselves  in  the  present  case — our  great  and  only  motive  has  been,  to  main- 
tain the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  We  believe  that  the  interests  of  truth  are 
at  stake — we  believe  that  our  standards  contain  that  revealed  system  of 
truth,  which  God  has  ordained  for  extending  his  glory  and  his  salvation 
over  the  whole  earth;  and  although  we  have  nothing  to  do  in  judging  those 
that  are  without,  yet  we  cannot  sufi'er  this  system  to  be  mutilated  or  per- 
verted by  those  who  teach  in  our  communion,  and  are  professedly  under  our 
authority.  With  brethren  of  other  communions,  who  honestly  dift'er  from 
us  on  some  points,  we  have  no  contest;  we  leave  the  questions  between 
them  and  us,  to  the  judgment  of  our  common  Master;  but  as  to  persons  in 
our  own  communion,  we  must  contend  earnestly  for  what  we  believe  to  be 
the  faith,  and  whilst  we  ascribe  no  infollibility  to  our  own  judgments,  or 
even  to  our  own  standards,  yet  the  opinions  we  have  formed  from  the  word 
of  God,  must  to  us  be  the  rule  of  our  faith  and  practice;  and  whilst  engaged, 


768  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

as  we  humbly  trust,  in  maintaining  the  truth  and  the  cause  of  our  Saviour, 
■we  look  to  the  living  God  for  the  success  of  our  eflForts.  We  also  believe 
that  the  hand  of  God  has  been  visible  in  leading  us,  and  conducting  our 
cause  to  the  present  issue,  and  we  hope  the  same  Almighty  power  will  guide 
us  and  you  in  all  our  future  operations. 

((/)  "As  reformation  has  been  frequently  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
remarks,  we  trust  it  will  be  understood  by  our  Churches,  that  no  new  doc- 
trine or  practice  is  to  be  introduced.  The  Assembly  merely  intends  that 
there  should  be  a  return  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  our  Church,  as  hereto- 
fore inculcated  in  our  standards,  wherever  there  may  have  been  a  departure. 
We  would  further  recommend,  that  in  view  ofthe  events  thAugh  which  we 
have  passed,  and  the  deliverance  which  we  hope  Almighty  God  has  bestowed 
upon  our  Church,  that  the  second  Thursday  of  December  next  be  solemnly 
observed  by  all  the  members  of  our  communion,  as  a  day  of  solemn  humilia- 
tion, thanksgiving,  and  prayer,  and  that  the  Churches  and  Congregations  in 
our  connection  meet  that  day  for  the  purpose  of  public  worship. 

William  S.  Plumer,  Moderator. 

John  M.  KrebS;  Permanent  Clerk. 
"  Fhiladeljyhia,  May  31,  1838."  —Minutes,  p.  48. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SUBSEQUENT  TRANSACTIONS. 

§  195.  Final  adjustment  of  Preshyteries  and  Synods. 

''  On  motion,  the  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  final  report 
of  the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church,  which  was  adopted  as  follows, 
viz. 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
dissolved,  and  all  the  Ministers  and  Churches  within  its  bounds,  and  ad- 
hering to  this  body,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  attached  to  the  Synod  of  West 
Tennessee;  and  that  as  the  Presbyteries  of  Union  and  French  Broad  have 
departed  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  as  the  minorities  of  said  bodies  have  not  organized,  so  as  to  continue 
the  succession  of  those  Presbyteries  in  adherence  to  this  body,  the  territorial 
limits  of  the  Presbytery  of  Holston  be  extended,  and  they  are  hereby  ex- 
tended so  as  to  include  the  whole  territory  hitherto  occupied  by  the  Presby- 
teries of  Union  and  French  Broad;  and  that  the  territorial  limits  of  the 
Synod  of  West  Tennessee  be  extended  so  as  to  include  the  whole  territory 
heretofore  occupied  by  the  Synod  of  Tennessee;  and  that  the  name  of  the 
Synod  of  West  Tennessee  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  changed  to  the  name 
of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  the  Synod  of  Michigan  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
dissolved,  and  as  many  of  its  members  and  churches  as  adhere  to  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly,  and  the  minorities  of  its  Presbyteries  adhering  as  aforesaid, 
are  hereby  declared  to  be  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati;  and  the 
Synod  of  Cincinnati  is  hereby  directed  to  take  such  order  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject as  to  secure,  so  far  as  possible,  to  sound  Presbyterians  in  the  bounds  of 
the  Synod  hereby  dissolved,  a  regular  connection  witb  the  General  Assem- 


Part  XI.]  LATEK   TRANSACTIONS.  T69 

biy ;  and  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  is  hereby  recjuired  to  make  a  full  report 
of  its  action  on  the  whole  subject,  to  the  next  General  Assembly.* 

''  3.  Whereas,  difficulties  have  arisen  in  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  so  as  to 
have  prevented  any  regular  meeting  for  some  time  past,  and  so  that  it  now 
stands  adjourned  to  no  particular  day,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  said  Synod  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  directed  to  meet 
in  the  town  of  St.  Charles,  on  the  second  Thursday  of  September  next,  and 
that  its  sessions  be  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  oldest  Minister  present. 
And  if  there  shall  fail  to  be  present  a  constitutional  quorum,  then  as  many 
as  are  present  shall  organize  as  a  convention,  and  draw  up  a  full  and  faithful 
statement  of  the  whole  circumstances,  and  present  such  statement  and  them- 
selves at  Springfield,  in  Illinois,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  October  next,  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois ;  and  from  and  after  that  time  all  the 
Churches,  Ministers,  minorities  of  Presbyteries,  and  Presbyteries  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod  of  ^Missouri,  so  for  as  they  adhere  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  shall  be  united  with  and  under 
the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois;  and  from  and  after  such  union,  the  name 
of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  shall  be  changed  to  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois 
and  Missouri. 

"4.  As  the  territory  of  the  "Western  Reserve  does  not  now  belong  to  any 
of  our  Synods,  it  is  hereby  Resolved,  That  the  counties  of  Geauga,  Ashta- 
bula, and  Trumbull,  be  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh,  and  that  the 
remaining  part  be  attached  to  the  Synods  of  Ohio  and  Cincinnati,  and 
divided  between  them  by  the  line  which  now  separates  them  running  north 
to  the  lake. 

"5.  Resejlved,  That  this  General  Assembly  with  pleasure  recognize  the 
Presbytery  of  Peoria,  in  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois;  and  that  it 
be  enrolled  and  its  statistics  published  in  the  Minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

"6.  Resolved,  That  with  equal  pleasure  the  Assembly  recognize  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Ogdensburg,  and  that  it  be  enrolled  and  its  statistics  published  in 
the  Minutes  of  the  General  xVssembly;  and  that  until  another  Presbytery 
be  formed  in  Western  New  York,  so  that  the  new  Presbytery,  in  connection 
with  the  Presbj'teries  of  Ogdensburg  and  Caledonia,  may  be  formed  into 
the  Synod  of  Western  New  York,  the  Presbytery  of  Ogdensburg  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Albany. 

"7.  Whereas,  the  following  Presbyteries  did,  by  their  Commissioners  in 
1838,  combine  with  others  in  forming  a  schisraatical  and  disorderly  body; 
and  whereas,  the  acts  of  such  Commissioners  have  been  approved  and  con- 
firmed by  their  respective  Presbyteries,  thus  creating  a  regular  and  indubi- 
table secession  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America;  therefore, 

^'■Resolved,  That  the  names  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Champlain,  New 
York  3d,  Newark,  Montrose,  AVilmington,  Lewes,  Detroit,  St.  Joseph, 
Monroe,  Athens,  Illinois,  Ottowa,  Alton,  Union,  and  French  Broad,  be 
erased  from  the  roll  of  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  any  IMinisters  and 
Churches  remaining  in  the  territory  formerly  occupied  by  the  said  Presby- 
teries, and  desiring  to  adhere  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  be,  and  they 
hereby  are  directed  to  report  themselves  to  the  nearest  Presbytery  in  our 
connection,  and  that  such  Presbytery,  in  every  case,  take  proper  and  deSni- 

*  "  Overture  No  7,  viz.  a  petition  from  the  Ministers  and  Churches  in  Michigan,  who  were,  hy  a  reso- 
lution of  the  last  Assembly,  attiichcd  to  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  requesting  that  that  resolution  iiiny 
lie  repealed,  and  that  the  petitioners  may  be  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  was  taken  up,  when 
it  was 

"■  Mesolvfil.  That  the  request  he  granted." — Minutes,  1810,  p.  307. 

97 


770  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

tive  action  in  relation  thereto,  agreeably  to  our  Constitution,  and  to  the  pre- 
vious acts  of  the  Assembly  on  the  same  subject. 

"S.  Whereas,  the  Presbytery  of  Newburyport,  by  its  Commissioners,  in 
1838,  did  combine  with  others  in  forming  a  schismatical  body;  and  whereas, 
the  action  of  said  I'resbytery  on  the  subject  has  not  been  decisive;  and 
whereas,  this  Assembly  is  informed  that  a  number  of  the  members  of  said 
Presbytery  are  still  desirous  of  retaining  their  connection  with  the  General 
Assembly,  therefore, 

'' Reso/oed,  That  said  Presbytery,  or  any  number  sufficient  to  continue 
the  succession  thereof,  be  directed,  at  its  next  stated  meeting,  to  take  such 
order  on  the  whole  subject,  as  shall,  on  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of 
1838,  secure  a  continued  and  indubitable  connection  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  make  a  full  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly. 

"9.  Whereas,  it  is  understood  that  there  is  a  sufficient  number  of  Minis- 
ters within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  Presbytery  of  Columbia,  whose  Com- 
missioners, in  1838,  united  with  others  in  forming  a  schismatical  and  dis- 
orderly body,  to  maintain  the  succession  of  said  Presbytery,  therefore, 

"  Eesolved,  That  all  Ministers,  with  one  Ruling  Elder  from  each  Congre- 
gation within  the  limits  of  said  Presbytery,  who  are  disposed  to  adhere  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  be  directed  to  meet  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  August  next,  in 
in  the  Second  Church,  Hudson,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  after  a  sermon  by 
the  oldest  Minister  present,  that  they  proceed  to  all  appropriate  acts  and 
doings  under  the  continued  name  and  style  of  the  Presbytery  of  Columbia." 
— Minutes,  1839,  pp.  170-172. 

§  196.  Interpretation  of  the  Acts  of  Reform. 

(fl)  ^'Whereas  it  is  believed  by  this  Assembly,  that  there  are  Ministei'S 
and  Churches  and  private  Christians  within  our  bounds,  holding  the  same 
doctrines  and  maintaining  the  same  Church  order  with  us,  but  who  from  a 
misapprehension  of  the  Acts  of  the  Assembly  of  1838,  are  not  in  our  com- 
munion; and  whereas,  as  it  is  expressed  in  Act  II,  adopted  by  that  Assem- 
bly, it  was  never  the  intention  of  the  General  Assembly  to  cause  any  sound 
Presbyterian  to  be  permanently  separated  from  our  connection,  but  it  is  and 
always  was  the  desire  of  the  Church,  that  all  who  really  embrace  our  doc- 
trine, love  our  order,  and  are  willing  to  conform  to  our  discipline,  should 
unite  themselves  with  us;  and  moreover,  as  the  General  Assembly  has  no 
idea  of  narrowing,  but  would  rather  expand  its  geographical  limits,  so  as  to 
unite  in  bonds  of  the  most  intimate  fellowship  every  evangelical  Church 
like-minded  with  ourselves  throughout  every  portion  of  our  beloved  country, 
therefore, 

"1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  hereby  declared  by  the  General  jissembly,  that 
in  requiring  an  adherence  to  our  Church  on  the  basis  of  the  Assemblies  of 
1837  and  1838,  they  did  not  create,  nor  introduce  any  new  basis  of  Pres- 
byteriauism,  but  required  an  adherence  to  the  true  and  only  basis  of  our 
organization  and  communion,  viz.  the  doctrinal  standards  and  Constitution 
of  our  Church,  as  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  a  deplorable  departure  from 
which  had  been  suffered  through  the  operation  of  the  Plan  of  Union. 

''  2.  Resolved,  That  it  was  not  then,  and  is  not  now,  required  of  those  who 
would  adhere  to  us  as  a  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  that,  as  a  term  of 
membership  in  this  Church,  they  should  approve  the  Acts  of  the  Assembly, 
of  1837  and  1838;  but  simply  that  they  should  recognize  the  Church  as 
then  and  subsequently  constituted  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 


Part  XL]  THE   SUITS   AT   LAW.  771 

States  of  America,  and  acknowledge  their  subjection  to  its  judicatories." 
[Unauimously  adopted.] — Minutes^  1842,  p.  32. 

(b)  [In  reply  to]  "An  overture  from  tlie  Presbytery  of  P..ochester,  ask- 
ing this  Assembly  to  adopt  some  measures  to  effect  a  union  between  the  two 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church — 

"This  Assembly  having  in  former  years  (see  Minutes  of  1838,  pp.  35 
and  36,  and  Minutes  of  1842,  p.  32,)  fully  declared  that  it  was  not  its 
intention  'to  cause  any  sound  Presbyterian  to  be  permanently  separated 
from  our  connection,'  and  having  provided  a  mode  of  return  to  our  body, 
(see  Minutes  of  1838,  p.  30,)  on  principles  which  have  seemed  adapted  to 
preserve  the  purity  and  peace  of  our  Churches,  consider  it  inexpedient  to 
take  any  further  action  on  the  subject  at  this  time.  Yet  the  Assembly 
would  reiterate  its  desire  to  see  all  sound  Presbyterians  reunited  in  one  com- 
munion, according  to  the  doctrine  and  polity  of  our  standards,  and  would 
affectionately  invite  all  such  to  seek  this  union  in  the  ways  that  are  now 
open  to  them/' — 3Iiniitesj  1850,  p.  467. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  SUITS  AT  LAW. 

§197. 

[The  whole  amount  claimed  by  the  leaders  of  the  New-school  party  on  the  principles 
of  equity  in  the  negotiations  which  preceded  the  disowning  acts  (§  152;  10,)  was  an 
equal  division  of  such  funds  as  belonged  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly  for  other  uses 
than  theSeminary  at  Princeton,  amounting  in  all  to  less  than  §30,000.  Had  their  claim 
at  law  been  successful,  they  not  only  would  have  gained  thereby  control  over  the  two 
Seminaries  of  Princeton  and  Allegheny,  but  have  come  in  possession  of  funds,  buildings, 
libraries,  and  other  property  held  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly  and  of  the  Seminaries, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  not  less  than  from  four  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
to  which,  themselves  being  judges,  they  had  not  a  tittle  of  right,  other  than  by  fictions  of 
law.] 

§  198.   Trustees  elected  hy  tlie  JVeiv-scJwol  Assemhli/  refused  a  seat  in  the 

Board. 

'^  A  letter  was  received  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, which  was  ordered  to  be  recorded,  as  follows,  viz. 

"Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America. 

"J/ay31,  1838. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  held  this  day,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  following  communication  be  transmitted  to  the 
General  Assembly,  viz. 

"  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  G  eneral  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  respectfully  communicate  to  the 
Assembly,  for  their  information,  the  following  extracts  from  their  Minutes 
of  May  24th,  1838,  viz. 

"  A  paper,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy,  was  presented  to  the  Board 
by  James  Todd,  Esq.,  on  behalf  of  the  persons  therein  named. 


772  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

''General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America — Sessions  of  1838. 

"  This  will  certify  that  the  following  persons  were  this  day  elected  Trus-  ' 
tees  of  the  General  Assembly,  viz. 

"James  Todd,  Esq.,  in  place  of  Eev.  Ashbel  Green,  D.  D. 

"John  11.  Neff,  in  place  of  Rev.  George  C.  Potts. 

"  Frederick  A.  Raybokl,  in  place  of  Rev.  William  Latta. 

"William  Darling,  in  place  of  Solomon  Allen. 

"Thomas  Fleming,  in  place  of  Rev.  Cornelius  C.  Cuyler,  D.  D. 

"George  W.  M'Clelland,  in  place  of  Thomas  Bradford. 
"Attest,  Erskine  Mason,  Stated  Clerk. 

^'Philadelphia,  May  24:th,  1838." 

'^Resolved,  That  the  Board  respectfully  decline  receiving  these  gentle- 
men as  members  of  this  Board.   (Mr.  White  dissenting.) 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  advise  with  the 
officers  of  this  Board,  during  the  recesses  of  the  Board,  touching  its  interests, 
with  power  to  employ  counsel  if  necessary. 

"  Messrs.  Chauncey,  Bradford,  and  Kane,  were  appointed  on  this  com- 
mittee. 

"  Dr.  McDowell  presented  a  certificate,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy, 
which  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  Minutes. 

"  I  do  hereby  certify  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  which  commenced  their  sessions  in  this 
city  on  Thursday,  the  17th  inst.  and  are  still  in  session,  have  made  no 
change  in  their  Stated  or  Permanent  Clerks,  or  any  of  their  Trustees,  dur- 
ing their  sessions;  and  that  up  to  this  date  I  have  acted  as  Stated  Clerk, 
and  continue  so  to  act,  and  have  in  my  possession  all  the  books  and  papers 
of  the  General  AssemJ3ly. 

"  Signed,  John  McDoavell,  Stated  Clerk. 

<' Philadelphia,  May  mii,  1338. 

"  From  the  Minutes,  James  Bayard,  "Secretary." 

"  Whereupon,  on  motion  of  Mr.  W.  Maxwell, 

''Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  instructed  to 
take  all  such  measures  as  to  them  shall  seem  needful  for  asserting,  defend- 
ing, and  securing  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  Church  confided  to  their 
care;  and  that  the  faith  of  the  several  churches,  in  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly  be,  and  it  is  hereby  pledged  to  the  said  Trustees  to  in- 
demnify and  save  them  harmless  from  the  loss  or  damage  by  reason  of  their 
action,  in  conformity  with  the  instructions  of  this  body." — 3IiniUes,  1838, 
p.  40. 

§  199.  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  regard  to  the  suits  at  la%o. 

«  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 

8tates  of  America. 
"  To  the  Rev,  Joshua  L.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  : 
"  By  direction  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  I  beg  leave  to  transmit  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly the  enclosed  statement  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  report  of 
a  committee  of  the  Board,  referred  to  in  the  said  statement.     With  great  respect, 

".Tames  Bataud,  Secretary." 

§  200. 

"  On  the  .31st  May,  183S,  the  Board  of  Trustees  had  the  honour  to  communicate  to 
the  General  Assembly,  that  an  application  had  been  made  to  them  by  Messrs.  James 
Todd,  John  R.  JNeff,   Frederick  A,  Raybold,  William  D.irling,  Thomas  Fleming,  and 


Part  XL]  THE  SUITS  at  law/  772 

George  W.  M'CIelland,  claiming  to  be  members  of  the  Board,  in  the  places  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Green  and  others,  and  that  the  Board  had  respectfully  declined  receiving  those  gen- 
tlemen as  members  of  the  corporation.  The  General  Assembly  thereupon  adopted  a  reso- 
lution in  the  following  words: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  instructed  to  take  all  such, 
measures  as  to  them  shall  seem  needful,  for  asserting,  defending,  and  securing  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  Church,  confided  to  their  care;  and  that  the  faith  of  the  several 
churches  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly  be,  and  it  is  hereby  pledged  to  the  said 
Trustees,  to  indemnify  and  save  them  harmless  from  the  loss  or  damage  by  reason  of  their 
action  in  conformity  with  the  instructions  of  this  body. 

"  On  the  *2d  of  June,  1838,  a  writ  of  quo  warranto,  at  the  relation  of  five  of  the  gentle- 
men above  referred  to,  issued  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  commonwealth,  addressed 
to  the  Rev.  Drs.  Green  and  Cuyler,  and  Messrs.  Latta,  Allen,  and  Bradford,  requiring 
them  to  show  by  what  authority  they  continued  to  exercise  the  functions  of  corporators  in 
this  Board.  This  proceeding  was  understood  by  the  Board  to  fall  within  the  scope  of  the 
resolution  of  the  Assembly  ;  and  the  committee  which  had  been  before  appointed  '  to  ad- 
vise with  the  officers  of  the  Board,  during  the  recesses  of  the  Board,  touching  its  inte- 
rests, with  power  to  employ  counsel/  proceeded  accordingly  to  make  such  defence  as  the 
circumstances  in  their  view  required.  The  report  of  the  committee,  detailing  its  proceed- 
ings and  their  result  up  to  the  present  time,  is  herewith  submitted. 

"  Three  other  suits,  in  which  the  Rev.  Miles  P.  Squier,  Henry  Brown,  Esq.,  and  the 
Rev.  Philip  C.  Hay,  are  severally  plaintifl's,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  David  Elliott,  Rev.  Dr.  John 
McDowell,  Rev.  John  M.  Krebs,  Rev.  Dr.  William  S.Plumer,  and  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckin- 
ridge, are  joined  as  defendants,  were  instituted  at  about  the  same  time,  and  are  still  pend- 
ing. It  is  the  declared  object  of  these  suits  to  test,  in  another  manner,  the  propriety  of  the 
Assembly's  action  on  the  questions  that  have  recently  been  before  them.  The  Trustees, 
by  their  committee,  have  therefore  caused  appearances  to  be  entered  in  them  by  counsel, 
and  will  take  such  further  measures  in  regard  to  them  as  may  be  necessary  for  defend- 
ing the  rights  and  interests  of  the  Church. 

"  The  General  Assembly  will  not  fail  to  remark,  from  the  tenor  of  the  report  which 
accompanies  this  communication,  that  the  funds  in  the  charge  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
have  not  been,  in  their  judgment,  legally  applicable  to  the  expenses  of  the  recent  and  yet 
pending  litigation.  It  became  necessary,  theretore,  to  avail  themselves  of  the  credit  of 
the  General  Assembly,  as  pledged  by  its  resolution  of  31st  May  last,  and  to  borrow  a  con- 
siderable amount  from  individual  friends  of  the  Church,  as  a  special  fund.  It  is  most 
respectfully  suggested,  that  some  measures  should  be  taken  by  the  Assembly  at  an  early 
day,  to  enable  the  Board  to  reimburse  the  moneys  thus  loaned,  as  well  as  to  defray  the 
further  expenses  which  future  circumstances  may  render  necessary. 
"  By  order  of  the  Board, 

Ash  BEL  Green,  President. 

"  James  Batard,  Secretary. 

"Philadelphia,  IbthMay,  1839." 

§  201.   Rtport  of  the  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General 
"  Asscmhlt/  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the    United  States  of  America,, 
referred  to  in  the  foregoing. 

"  The  committee,  authorized  by  the  resolution  passed  by  the  Board  on  the  6th  of  June, 
1838,  'to  take  order  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  this  corporation,  in  all  matters  touching 
its  interests  which  may  require  action  in  the  intervals  of  its  meeetings,  so  far  as  the  same 
can  lawfully  be  done  without  the  direct  agency  of  the  Board,'  report: 

"That,  considering  their  appointment  to  have  especial  reference  to  the  suit  instituted 
in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  at  the  relation  of  James  Todd  and 
others,  against  Ashbel  Green  and  others,  members  of  this  Board,  for  the  purpose  of  trying 
their  right  to  be  considered  members  of  the  Board,  the  committee  have  directed  their 
attention  particularly  to  this  object.  In  execution  of  the  duty  confided  to  them,  they  took 
immediate  steps  to  secure  the  professional  services  of  John  Sergeant,  Esq.,  as  counsel  in 
said  suit,  and  two  members  of  the  committee  entered  their  appearance  for  the  defendants, 
prepared  and  filed  pleas  on  their  behalf,  and  attended  to  other  preliminary  arrangements, 
until  other  counsel  should  be  retained.  In  this  stage  of  the  business  it  became  necessary 
to  provide  funds  to  defray  the  expenses  which  would  necessarily  be  incurred  in  defending 
the  suit,  none  of  the  trust  funds  held  by  the  Board  being  applicable  to  this  purpose.  This 
was  reported  to  the  Board  at  its  meeting  held  on  the  17th  of  September,  1838,  and  pro- 


*^ 


774:  THE  NEW-SCHOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

vision  being  made  for  the  collection  of  funds  for  this  purpose,  the  committee  applied  to 
J.  R.  Ingersoli  and  F.  W.  Hubbell,  Esq's,  to  act  as  counsel  with  Mr.  Sergeant.  The 
committee  afterwards  appointed  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  M.  Engles  agent  of  the  Board,  to  at- 
tend 10  the  details  of  the  suit — confer  with  the  counsel — procure  the  attendance  of  witnesses 
— make  arrangements  for  their  accommodation  while  in  the  city,  &c.,  which  olTice  was 
accepted  by  that  gentleman;  and  the  committee  take  this  opportunity  to  bear  testimony 
to  the  zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  he  performed  the  duties  it  imposed  upon  him.  The 
case  was  marked  for  trial  in  November,  (by  direction  of  the  plaintiffs'  attorney,)  and  both 
parties  were  in  attendance  with  their  witnesses  at  that  time;  but  in  consequence  of  a  sug- 
gestion of  the  judge  then  presiding,  it  was  continued  until  March.  During  the  session  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  December,  the  Court  on  the  application  of  the  plaintitfs  allotted  a 
particular  day  (Monday,  the  4th  of  March,  1839)  for  the  commencement  of  the  trial  of 
this  case.  Before  that  day,  the  committee  having  been  informed  that  Mr.  Sergeant  would 
not  be  able,  from  the  state  of  his  health,  to  take  part  in  the  trial  of  the  cause,  immediately 
upon  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  secured  the  services  of 
William  C.  Preston,  Esq.  of  South  Carolina,  who  acted  with  Messrs.  Hubbell  and  Ingersoli. 
The  trial  commenced  on  Tuesday,  the  5th  of  March  before  Judge  Rogers,  at  Nisi  Prius, 
and  occupied  three  weeks,  when  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  against  the  defendants,  in 
accordance  with  the  charge  delivered  by  the  presiding  judge.  A  motion  for  a  new 
trial  was  made  in  the  Supreme  Court  by  Mr.  Hubbell,  on  behalf  of  the  defendants, 
and  the  Court  appointed  Wednesday,  the  24th  of  April,  for  the  argument.  This  motion 
was  argued  before  the  Supreme  Court  by  Mr.  Hubbell  and  Mr.  Sergeant,  on  behalf  of  the 
defendants,  and  the  Court  this  day.  May  8th,  pronounced  judgment,  awarding  a  new  trial, 
on  grounds  so  completely  favourable  to  the  defendants,  that  it  is  not  probable  that  any 
further  action  will  be  had  in  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  plaintiffs. 

"The  case  appears  to  be  thus  happily  terminated;  but,  inasmuch  as  other  proceedings 
may  yet  be  instituted,  which  may  require  the  further  action  of  the  committee,  they  forbear 
to  recommend  that  the  committee  be  discharged. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  committee. 

Signed,  Ashbel  Greeit,  Chairman. 

*<  Philadelphia,  May  8!h,  1839." 

§  202.  Action  of  the  Assembly  on  this  Report. 

"  The  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
report  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  reference  to  the  steps 
taken  by  them  in  defending  the  suits  brought  against  them  and  others,  by 
those  who  have  gone  out  from  us,  beg  leave  to  report  the  following  resolu- 
tions for  the  adoption  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"1.  That  the  report  of  the  Trustees  be  copied  into  the  Minutes. 

"  2.  That  the  General  Assembly  approve  and  ratify  what  has  been  done 
by  their  Trustees  in  the  premises. 

''3.  That  the  Trustees  be,  and  they  are  hereby  instructed  to  continue  to 
take  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary  to  bring  the  said  suits  to  a  close, 
and  that  the  faith  of  the  Churches  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly 
be,  and  it  is  hereby  renewedly  pledged  to  indemnify  them. 

"  4.  That  all  Presbyteries  in  our  connection,  who  have  not  already  done 
so,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  requested  to  take  such  steps  as  may  be  necessary 
to  raise  their  respective  proportions  of  the  expenses  which  have  been  incur- 
red, or  which  may  still  be  incurred,  by  the  Trustees,  in  bringing  the  Avhole 
matter  to  a  final  issue." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  152. 

§  208.  Further  action  on  the  suLJect. 

"  In  view  of  recent  events,  threatening  the  corporate  franchises  and  pro- 
perty of  the  Church,  the  General  Assembly  deems  it  appropriate  to  record 
its  sentiments  of  gratitude  to  God,  reverence  for  the  political  institutions  of 
the  country,  respect  for  its  laws  and  their  organs,  confidence  in  its  own 
agents  in  the  management  of  its  temporal  afi'airs,  and  grateful  remembrance 
of  the  able  and  distinguished  members  of  the  legal  profession,  who,  under 


Part  XI.]  THE   SUITS   AT   LAW.  775 

God,  have  conducted  those  affairs  to  so  successful  a  result :  and  therefore  it 
is  hereby 

^^  Resolved,  1.  We  recognize  the  hand  of  God  in  all  our  temporal,  as 
really  and  fully  as  in  all  our  spiritual  affairs.  We  owe  it  to  his  goodness 
that  our  people  have  had  the  means  and  the  heart  to  give  gifts  to  his  Church, 
to  be  used  for  the  maintenance  of  his  truth  and  the  extension  of  his  king- 
dom. And  now  we  are  indebted  to  his  continued  favour  that  these  gifts  of 
charity  have  not  been  wrested  from  us. 

"  2.  We  record,  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  with  devout  gratitude,  that  his 
grace  enabled  our  people  to  maintain,  with  so  much  unanimity  and  firm- 
ness, a  noble  devotion  to  their  religious  principles,  even  when,  for  a  brief 
period  of  darkness,  they  seemed  about  to  be  called  to  make  great  and  painful 
sacrifices  for  them. 

"3.  We  find  in  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania, 
renewed  reason  to  confide  in  the  protection  of  the  laws,  to  trust  to  the  fidelity, 
integrity,  and  wisdom  of  the  public  tribunals,  and  to  rejoice  in  our  free  and 
noble  institutions.  We  thank  God  for  this  renewed  proof,  that  in  this  happy 
laud,  the  boundaries  between  the  authority  of  God  over  the  consciences, 
and  that  of  society  over  the  actions  of  men,  are  indeed  known  and  esta- 
blished; and  that  our  duties  as  citizens  are  confirmed  by  this  additional 
proof,  to  be  in  sweet  accordance  with  our  obligations  as  Christians. 

"4.  We  return  public  thanks  to  the  respected  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  who 
have  ably,  faithfully,  and  successfully  served  our  Church  in  its  temporal 
trials.  And  while  we  deeply  regret  that  ecclesiastical  affairs  should  ever 
be  carried  before  the  courts  of  justice,  we  rejoice  that  this  unhappy  occasion 
has  made  clearly  and  renewedly  manifest  that  devotion  to  general  liberty  and 
order,  and  that  enlightened  and  efficient  advocacy  of  their  sacred  interests, 
which  has  signalized  this  profession  in  all  ages  of  the  world. 

"5.  We  renew,  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  expressions  of  confidence  in 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  consider  ourselves  and 
our  people  debtors  to  them,  for  their  wise,  firm,  faithful,  and  successful 
administration  of  the  trust  committed  to  them. 

"0.  In  view  of  the  lucid  exposition,  of  which  recent  events  have  been 
made  the  occasion,  in  relation  to  the  Constitution  and  principles  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  we  recommend  it  to  the  Churches  under  our  care,  to 
obtain  and  circulate  the  history  published  at  the  office  of  the  Presbyterian, 
and  at  the  office  of  the  Watchman  of  the  South,  and  shortly  to  come  out 
in  pamphlet  form,  of  the  trial  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania, 
including  an  extended  report  of  the  speeches  of  the  counsel. 

"7.  Resolved,  That  copies  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  transmitted  to 
the  Board  of  Trustees  and  to  the  legal  gentlemen  contemplated  in  these 
resolutions." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  173. 

§  204.  Response  of  the  Hon.  John  Ser<jcant. 

"A  letter  from  the  Hon.  John  Sergeant  to  the  Stated  Clerk,  was  pre- 
sented and  read,  and  on  motion  it  was  ordered  to  be  inserted  in  the  Minutes. 

"It  is  as  follows,  viz. 

'' rhlladeljMa,  June  23,  1839. 

'^Rev.  and  Dear  Sir: — I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date,  and  the 
accompanying  extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  You  may  readily 
believe  how  much  we  must  be  gratified  by  the  resolutions  which  relate  to  us 
who  were  counsel  in  the  late  interesting  trial,  for  the  General  Assembly, 
and  to  the  character  in  general  of  the  profession  to  which  we  belong.  For 
myself,  I  can  truly  say,  that  nothing  has  occurred  in  the  course  of  my  pro- 


776  THE   NEW-SCHOOL   SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

fessional  life  for  which  I  feel  more  thankful  than  that  my  health  and 
strength  were  sufficiently  restored  to  enable  me  to  take  some  part  in  the 
case,  and  to  entitle  me  to  participate  with  my  colleagues  in  the  kind  expres- 
sions of  the  reverend  and  respected  gentlemen  whose  resolutions  you  have 
transmitted  to  us.  Be  pleased  to  accept  for  them  my  earnest  wishes  that 
their  labours  for  the  good  of  their  fellow  men,  may  always  be  crowned  with 
like  success.     Yours,  very  truly, 

John  Sergeant. 
"Rev.  Dr.  McDowell,  Slated  Clerh  of  the  General  Assembly." 

—Minutes,  1840,  p.  284. 

§  205.  Judge  Rogers's  charge. 

[JuJge  Rogers's  charge  is  not  given  because  it  is  altogether  too  large  to  justify  its  inser- 
tion 88  a  mere  curiosity,  covering'  three  limes  the  space  occupied  by  the  opinion  of  the 
Court.  And  as  a  legal  document,  being  set  aside  by  the  Court  in  Bank,  it  is  of  no  more 
authority  than  the  private  opinion  of  any  citizen.] 

§  206.    Opinion  of  the  Court. 

"  Gibson,  C.  J.,  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  on  Wednesday  morning,  May  8th,  as 
follows : 

(a)  "To  extricate  the  question  from  the  multifarious  mass  of  irrelevant  matter  in  which 
it  is  enclosed,  we  must,  in  the  first  place,  ascertain  the  specific  character  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  the  relation  it  bears  to  the  corporation  which  is  the  immediate  subject  of 
our  cognizance.  This  Assembly  has  been  called  a  quasi  corporation;  of  which  it  has  not 
a  feature.  A  quasi  corporation  has  capacity  to  sue  and  to  be  sued  as  an  artificial  person; 
which  the  Assembly  has  not.  It  is  also  established  by  law ;  vyhich  the  Assembly  is  not. 
Neither  is  the  Assembly  a  particular  order  or  rank  in  the  corporation,  though  the  latter 
was  created  for  its  convenience;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  shareholders  of  a  bank  or 
joint-stock  company,  who  are  an  integrant  part  of  the  body.  It  is  a  segregated  associa- 
tion, which,  though  it  is  the  reproductive  organ  of  corporate  successions,  is  not  itself  a 
member  of  the  body;  and  in  that  respect  it  is  anomalous.  Having  no  corporate  quality 
in  itself,  it  is  not  a  subject  of  our  corrective  jurisdiction,  or  of  our  scrutiny,  further  than 
to  ascertain  how  far  its  organic  structure  may  bear  on  the  question  of  its  personal  identity 
or  individuality.  By  the  charter  of  the  corporation,  of  which  it  is  the  handmaid  and 
nurse,  it  has  a  limited  capacity  to  create  vacancies  in  it,  and  an  unlimited  power  over  the 
form  and  manner  of  choice  in  filling  them.  It  would  be  sufficient  for  the  civil  tribunals, 
therefore,  that  the  Assembled  Commissioners  had  constituted  an  actual  body  ;  and  that  it 
had  made  its  appointment  in  its  own  way,  without  regard  to  its  fairness  in  respect  to  its 
members;  with  this  limitation,  however,  that  it  had  the  assent  of  the  constitutional 
majority,  of  which  the  official  act  of  authentication  would  be,  at  least, /;7ima /at it'  evi- 
dence. It  would  be  immaterial  to  the  legality  of  the  choice  that  the  majority  had  expelled 
the  minority,  provided  a  majority  of  the  whole  body  concurred  in  the  choice.  This  may 
be  safely  predicated  of  an  undivided  Assembly,  and  it  would  be  an  unerring  test  in  the 
case  of  a  division,  could  a  quorum  not  be  constituted  of  less  than  such  a  majority;  but 
unfortunately,  a  quorum  of  the  General  Assembly  may  be  constituted  of  a  very  small 
minority,  so  that  two,  or  even  more,  distinct  parts  may  have  all  the  external  organs  of 
legitimate  existence.  Hence,  where,  as  in  this  instance,  the  members  have  formed  them- 
selves into  separate  bodies,  numerically  sufficient  for  corporate  capacity  and  organic  action, 
it  becomes  necessary  to  ascertain  how  far  either  of  them  was  formed  in  obedience  to  the 
conventional  law  of  the  Association,  which,  for  that  purpose  only,  is  to  be  treated  as  a 
rule  of  civil  obligation. 

(6)  "The  division  which,  for  purposes  of  designation,  it  is  convenient  to  call  the  Old 
school  party,  was  certainly  organized  in  obedience  to  the  established  order:  and,  to  legiti- 
mate the  separate  organization  of  its  rival,  in  contravention,  as  it  certainly  was,  of  every- 
thing like  precedent,  would  require  the  presentation  of  a  very  urgent  emergency.  At  the 
stated  time  and  place  for  the  opening  of  the  session,  the  parties  assembled,  without  any 
ostensible  division;  and,  when  the  organization  of  the  whole  had  proceeded  to  a  certain 
point,  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  Moderator  of  the  preceding  session,  who,  for  that 
purpose,  was  the  constitutional  organ,  a  provisional  Moderator  was  suddenly  chosen,  by  a 
minority  of  those  who  could  be  entitled  to  vote,  including  the  exscinded  Commissioners. 


Part  XI.]  THE    SUITS   AT    LAW.  777 

The  question  on  the  motion  to  elect,  was  put,  not  by  the  Chair,  but  by  the  mover  himself; 
after  which,  the  seceding  party  elected  a  permanent  Moderator,  and  immediately  withdrew, 
leaving  the  other  party  to  finish  its  process  of  organization,  by  the  choice  of  its  Moderator 
for  the  session. 

(r)  "  In  justification  of  this  apparent  irregularity,  it  is  urged  that  the  constitutional 
Moderator  had  refused  an  appeal  to  the  Commissioners  in  attendance,  from  his  decision, 
which  had  excluded  from  the  roll  the  names  of  certain  Commissioners  who  had  been 
unconstitutionally  severed,  as  it  is  alleged,  from  the  Presbyterian  connection  by  a  vote  of 
the  preceding  session.  It  is  conceded  by  the  argument,  that  if  the  Synods  with  the 
dependent  Presbyteries  by  which  those  Commissioners  were  sent,  had  been  constitution- 
ally dissolved,  the  motion  was  one  which  the  Moderator  was  not  bound  to  put,  or  the 
Commissioners  to  notice ;  and  that  whatever  implication  of  assent  to  the  decision  which 
ensued,  might  otherwise  be  deduced  from  the  silence  of  those  who  refused  to  speak  out, 
about  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  say  something  in  the  sequel,  there  was  no  room  for 
any  such  implication  in  the  particular  instance.  It  would  follow  also,  that  there  was  no 
pretence  for  the  dcposal  of  the  Moderator,  if  indeed  such  a  thing  could  be  legitimated 
by  any  circumstances,  for  refusing  an  appeal  from  his  exclusion  of  those  who  had  not 
colour  of  title,  and  consequently,  that  what  else  might  be  reform,  would  be  revolution. 
And  this  leads  to  an  inquiry  into  the  constitutionality  of  the  act  of  excision. 

(d)  "  The  sentence  of  excision,  as  it  has  been  called,  was  nothing  else  than  an  ordinance 
of  dissolution.  It  bore  that  the  Synods  in  question,  having  been  formed  and  attached  to 
the  body  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  under,  and  in  execution  of,  the  Plan  of  Union, "  be, 
and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America;  and  that  they  arc  not  in  form  or  in  fact,  an 
integral  portion  of  said  Church."  Now  it  will  not  be  said  that  if  the  dissolved  Synods 
had  no  other  basis  than  the  Plan  of  Union,  they  did  not  necessarily  fall  along  with  it,  and 
it  is  not  pretended  that  the  Assembly  was  incompetent  to  repeal  the  union  prospectively, 
but  it  is  contended  that  the  repeal  could  not  impair  rights  of  membership  which  had 
grown  up  under  it.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended  that  the  Plan  of  Union  was 
unconstitutional  and  void  from  the  beginning,  because  it  was  not  submitted  to  the  Presby- 
teries for  their  sanction ;  and  that  no  right  of  membership  could  spring  from  it.  But 
viewed,  not  as  a  constitutional  regulation  which  implies  permanency  of  duration,  but  as  a 
temporary  expedient,  it  acquired  the  force  of  a  law  without  the  ratification  of  those  bodies. 
It  was  evidently  not  intended  to  be  permanent,  and  it  consequently  was  constitutionally 
enacted  and  constitutionally  repealed  by  an  ordinary  act  of  legislation;  and  those  Synods 
which  had  their  root  in  it,  could  not  be  expected  to  survive  it.  There  never  was  a  design 
to  attempt  an  amalgamation  of  ecclesiastical  principles  which  are  as  immiscible  as  water 
and  oil;  much  less  to  efiect  a  commixture  of  them  only  at  particular  geographical  points. 
Such  an  attempt  would  have  compromised  a  principle  at  the  very  root  of  Presbyterial 
government,  which  requires  that  the  officers  of  the  Church  be  set  apart  by  special  ordina- 
tion for  the  work.  Now,  the  character  of  the  plan  is  palpable,  not  only  in  its  title  and 
provisions,  but  in  the  minute  of  its  introduction  into  the  Assembly.  We  find  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  1801,  page  2.56,  that  a  Committee  was  raised  "to  consider  and  digest  a  Plan 
of  Government  for  the  Churches  in  the  new  settlements  agreeably  to  the  proposal  of  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut;"  and  that  the  plan  adopted  in  conformity  to  its 
report,  is  called  "  a  Plan  of  Union  for  the  new  settlements."  The  avowed  object  of  it  was 
to  prevent  alienation — in  other  words,  the  affiliation  of  Presbyterians  in  other  Churches, 
by  suffering  those  who  were  yet  too  few  and  too  poor  for  the  maintenance  of  a  Minister, 
temporarily  to  call  to  their  assistance  the  members  of  a  sect  who  dili'ered  from  them  in 
principles,  not  of  faith,  but  of  ecclesiastical  government.  To  that  end,  Presbyterian 
Ministers  were  suffered  to  preach  to  Congregational  Churches,  while  Presbyterian 
Churches  were  suffered  to  settle  Congregational  Ministers ;  and  mixed  Congregations 
were  allowed  to  settle  a  Presbyterian  or  a  Congregational  Minister  at  their  election,  but 
under  a  Plan  of  Government  and  discipline  adapted  to  the  circumstances.  Surely  this 
was  not  intended  to  outlast  the  inability  of  the  respective  sects  to  provide  separately  for 
themselves,  or  to  perpetuate  the  innovations  on  Presbyterial  government  which  it  was 
calculated  to  produce.  It  was  obviously  a  missionary  arrangement  from  the  first;  and 
they  who  built  up  Presbyteries  and  Synods  on  the  basis  of  it,  had  no  reason  to  expect 
that  their  structures  would  survive  it,  or  that  Congregationalists  might,  by  force  of  it, 
gain  a  foothold  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  despite  of  Presbyterial  discipline.  They 
embraced  it  with  all  its  defeasible  properties  plainly  put   before  them;  and  the  power 

98 


778        "  THE  NEW-scnooL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

which  constituted  it  might  fairly  repeal  it,  and  dissolve  the  bodies  that  had  grown  out  of 
it,  whenever  the  good  of  the  Church  should  seem  to  require  it. 

(e)  "  Could  the  Synods  however  be  dissolved  by  a  legislative  act  7  I  know  not  how  they 
could  have  been  legitimately  dissolved  by  any  other.  The  Assembly  is  a  homogeneous 
body,  uniting  in  itself,  without  separation  of  parts,  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
functions  of  the  government;  and  its  acts  are  referable  to  the  one  or  the  other  of  them, 
according  to  the  capacity  in  which  it  sat  when  they  were  performed.  JVow  had  the 
exscinded  Synods  been  cut  oft' by  a  judicial  sentence  without  hearing  or  notice,  the  act 
would  have  been  contrary  to  the  cardinal  principles  of  natural  justice,  and  consequently 
void.  But  though  it  was  at  first  resolved  to  proceed  judicially,  the  measure  was  aban- 
doned ;  probably  because  it  came  to  be  perceived  that  the  Synods  had  committed  no 
offtjnce. 

(/)  "A  glance  at  the  Plan  of  Union  is  enough  to  convince  us  that  the  disorder  had 
come  in  with  the  sanction  of  the  Assembly  itself.  The  first  article  directed  missionaries 
(the  word  is  significant,)  to  the  new  settlements  to  promote  a  good  understanding  betwixt 
the  kindred  sects.  The  second  and  third  permitted  a  Presbyterian  Congregation  to  settle 
a  Congregational  Minister,  or  a  Presbyterian  Minister  to  be  settled  by  a  Congregational 
Church;  but  these  provided  for  no  recognition  of  the  people  in  charge  as  a  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  body — at  least  they  gave  them  no  representation  in  its  government.  But  the 
fourth  allowed  a  mixed  Congregation  to  settle  a  Minister  of  either  denomination ;  and  it 
committed  the  government  of  it  to  a  standing  committee,  but  with  a  right  to  appeal  to 
the  body  of  male  communicants  if  the  appellant  were  a  Congregationalist,  or  to  the  Pres- 
bytery if  he  were  a  Presbyterian.  Now  it  is  evident  the  Assembly  designed  that  every 
such  Congregation  should  belong  to  a  Presbytery  as  an  integrant  part  of  it,  for  if  its 
Minister  were  a  Congregationalist,  in  no  way  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  refer  the  appellate  jurisdiction  to  any  Presbytery  in  particular. 
This  alone  would  show  that  it  was  designed  to  place  such  a  Congregation  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal connection  with  the  Presbytery  of  the  district;  but  this  is  not  all.  It  was  expressly 
provided  in  conclusion,  that  if  the  "said  standing  committee  of  any  Church  shall  depute 
one  of  themselves  to  attend  the  Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  to  sit  and  act  in 
the  Presbytery  as  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."  For  what  purpose  if  the 
Congregation  were  not  in  Presbyterial  fellowship] 

(g)  It  is  said  that  this/ws  represent  a!  ionis  was  predicated  of  the  appeal  precedently  men- 
tioned; and  that  the  exercise  of  it  was  to  be  restrained  to  the  trial  of  it.  The  words, 
however,  were  predicated  without  restriction;  and  an  implied  limitation  of  their  meaning 
would  impute  to  the  Assembly  the  injustice  of  allowing  a  party  to  sit  in  his  own  cause, 
by  introducing  into  the  composition  of  the  appellate  court,  a  part  of  the  subordinate  one. 
That  such  an  implication  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  temper  displayed  by  the  Assem- 
bly on  other  occasions,  is  proved  by  the  order  which  it  took  as  early  as  1791,  in  the  case 
of  an  appeal  from  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  whose  members  it  prevented 
from  voting  on  the  question,  (Assembly's  Digest,  p.  332,)  as  well  as  by  its  general  pro- 
vision, that  "members  of  a  judicatory  may  not  vote  in  the  superior  judicatory  ou  a  ques- 
tion of  approving  or  disapproving  their  records."     (Id.  page  333.) 

(A)  "  The  principle  has  since  become  a  rule  of  the  Constitution,  as  appears  by  the  Book 
of  Discipline,  Chap,  vii..  Sec.  3,  paragraph  12.  As  the  representatives  of  those  anomalous 
Congregations  therefore  could  not  sit  in  judgment  on  their  own  controversies,  it  is  pretty 
clear  that  it  was  intended  they  should  be  represented  generally,  else  they  would  not  be 
represented  at  all  in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  by  those  who  might  not  be  Presbyterians; 
and  that  to  effect  it,  the  principle  of  Presbyterial  ordination  was  to  be  relaxed,  as  regards 
both  the  ministry  and  eldership :  and  it  is  equally  clear  that  had  the  Synods  been  cited  to 
answer  for  the  consequent  relaxation  as  an  offence,  they  might  have  triumphantly  appear- 
ed at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly  with  the  Plan  of  Union  in  their  hand.  That  body,  how- 
ever, resorted  to  the  only  constitutional  remedy  in  its  power ;  it  fell  back,  so  to  speak,  on 
its  legislative  jurisdiction,  in  the  exercise  of  which  the  Synods  were  competently  repre- 
sented and  heard  by  their  Commissioners. 

(i)  "Now  the  apparent  injustice  of  the  measure  arises  from  the  contemplation  of  it  as 
a  judicial  sentence  pronounced  against  parties  who  were  neither  cited  nor  heard;  which  it 
evidently  was  not.  Even  as  a  legislative  act,  it  may  have  been  a  hard  one,  though  cer- 
tainly constitutional,  and  strictly  just.  It  was  impossible  to  eradicate  the  disorder  by  any- 
thing less  than  a  dissolution  of  those  bodies  with  whose  existence  its  roots  were  so  inter- 
twined as  to  be  inseparable  from  it,  leaving  their  elements  to  form  new  and  less  heteroge- 
neous combinations.     Though  deprived    of  Presbyterial  organization,  the  Presbyterian 


Part  XL]  THE  SUITS  at  LA^Y.  779 

parts  were  not  excluded  from  the  Church,  provision  being  made  for  them,  by  allowing 
them  to  attach  themselves  to  the  nearest  Presbytery. 

(A-)  "  It  is  said  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  exscinded 
Synods  had  actually  been  constituted  on  the  Plan  of  Union,  in  order  to  have  given  the 
Assembly  even  legislative  jurisdiction.  The  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Squier,  however, 
shows  that  in  some  of  the  three  which  were  within  the  State  of  New  York,  Congrega- 
tions were  sometimes  constituted  without  Elders;  and  the  Synod  of  the  Western  Reserve, 
when  charged  with  delinquency  on  that  head,  instead  of  denying  the  fact,  promptly 
pointed  to  the  Plan  of  Union  for  its  justification.  But  what  matters  it  whether  the  fact 
were  actually  what  the  Assembly  supposed  it  to  be]  If  that  body  proceeded  in  good 
faith,  the  validity  of  its  enactment  cannot  depend  on  the  justness  of  its  conclusion.  We 
have,  as  already  remarked,  no  authority  to  rejudge  its  judgments  on  their  merits;  and  this 
principle  was  asserted  with  conclusive  force  by  the  presiding  judge  who  tried  the  cause. 
Upon  an  objection  made  to  an  inquiry  into  the  composition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Medina, 
it  was  ruled  that  "with  the  reasons  for  the  proceedings  of  18:17,  (the  act  of  excision,) 
we  have  nothing  to  do.  We  are  to  determine  otdy  what  was  done:  the  reasons  of  those 
who  did  it  are  immaterial.  If  the  acts  complained  of  were  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Assembly,  their  decision  must  be  final,  though  they  decided  wrong."  This  was  predica- 
ted of  a  judicial  jurisdiction,  hut  the  principle  is  necessarily  as  applicable  to  jurisdiction 
for  purposes  of  legislation.  I  cite  the  passage,  however,  to  show  that  after  a  successful 
resistance  to  the  introduction  of  evidence  of  the  fact,  it  lies  not  with  the  relators  to  allege 
the  want  of  it. 

(I)  "If  then  the  Synods  in  question  were  constitutionally  dissolved,  the  Presbyteries  of 
which  they  had  been  composed,  were,  at  least  for  purposes  of  representation,  dissolved, 
along  with  them;  for  no  Presbytery  can  be  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly, 
unless  it  be  at  the  same  time  subordinate  to  a  Synod  also  in  connection  with  it,  because 
an  appeal  from  its  judgment  can  reach  the  tribunal  of  the  last  resort  only  through  that 
channel.  It  is  immaterial  that  the  Presbyteries  are  the  electors:  a  Synod  is  a  part  of 
the  machinery  which  is  indispensable  to  the  existence  of  every  branch  of  the  Church. 
It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  Commissioners  from  the  exscinded  Synods  were  not  enti- 
tled to  seats  in  the  Assembly,  and  that  their  names  were  properly  excluded  from  the 
roll. 

(to)  "  The  inquiry  might  be  rested  here  :  for  if  there  were  no  colour  of  right  in  them, 
there  was  no  colour  of  right  in  the  adversary  proceedings  which  were  founded  on  their 
exclusion.  But  even  if  their  title  were  clear,  the  refusal  of  an  appeal  from  the  decision 
of  the  Moderator,  would  be  no  ground  for  the  degradation  of  the  ofiicer  at  the  call  of  a 
minority;  nor  could  it  impose  on  the  majority  an  obligation  to  vote  on  a  question  put 
unotlicially,  and  out  of  the  usual  course.  To  all  questions  put  by  the  established  organ, 
it  is  the  duty  of  every  member  to  respond,  or  be  counted  with  the  greater  number,  be- 
cause he  is  supposed  to  have  assented  beforehand  to  the  result  of  the  process  pre-estab- 
lished to  ascertain  the  general  will;  but  the  rule  of  implied  assent  is  certainly  inapplica- 
ble to  a  measure  which,  when  justifiable  even  \>y  extreme  necessity,  is  essentially  revo- 
lutionary, and  based  on  no  pre-established  process  of  ascertainment  whatever. 

(w)  "To  apply  it  to  an  extreme  case  of  inorganic  action,  as  was  done  here,  might  work 
the  degradation  of  any  presiding  officer  in  our  legislative  halls,  by  the  motion  and  actual 
vote  of  a  single  member,  sustained  by  the  constructive  votes  of  all  the  rest;  and  though 
such  an  enterprise  may  never  be  attempted,  it  shows  the  danger  of  resorting  to  a  conven- 
tional rule,  when  the  body  is  to  be  resolved  into  its  original  elements,  and  its  rules  and 
conventions  to  be  superseded,  by  the  very  motion.  For  this  reason,  the  choice  of  a 
Moderator  to  supplant  the  officer  in  the  chair,  even  if  he  were  removable  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  Commissioners,  would  seem  to  have  been  unconstitutional. 

(o)  "  But  he  was  not  removable  by  them,  because  he  had  not  derived  his  office  from 
them  ;  nor  was  he  answerable  to  them  for  the  use  of  his  power.  He  was  not  their  Modera. 
tor.  He  was  the  mechanical  instrument  of  their  organization ;  and  till  that  was  accom- 
plished, they  were  subject  to  his  rule — not  he  to  theirs.  They  were  chosen  by  the  autho- 
rity of  his  mandate,  and  with  the  power  of  self-organization,  only  in  the  event  of  his 
absence  at  the  opening  of  the  session.  Corporeally  present,  but  refusing  to  perform  his 
function,  he  might  be  deemed  constructively  absent,  for  constitutional  purposes,  insomuch 
that  the  Commissioners  might  proceed  to  the  choice  of  a  substitute  without  him;  but  not 
if  he  had  entered  on  the  performance  of  his  task ;  and  the  reason  is  that  the  decision  of 
such  questions  as  were  prematurely  pressed  here,  is  proper  for  the  decision  of  the  body 
when  prepared  for  organic  action,  which  it  cannot  be  before  it  is  fully  constituted  and 


780  THE  NEW-SCnOOL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 

under  the  presidency  of  its  own  Moderator,  the  Moderator  of  the  preceding  session  being 
fundus  officio.  There  can  be  no  occasion  for  its  action  sooner ;  for  though  the  Commis- 
sioners are  necessarily  called  upon  to  vote  for  their  Moderator,  their  action  is  not  organic, 
but  individual.  Dr.  Mason's  motion  and  appeal,  though  the  Clerks  had  reported  the  roll, 
were  premature;^  for  though  it  is  declared  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, that  no  Commissioner  shall  deliberate  or  vote  before  his  name  shall  have  been  en- 
rolled, it  follows  not  that  the  capacity,  consummated  by  enrolment,  was  expected  to  be 
exercised  during  any  part  of  the  process  of  organization,  but  the  choice  of  a  Moderator; 
and  moreover,  the  provision  may  have  been  intended  for  the  case  of  a  Commissioner  appear- 
ing for  riie  first  time,  when  the  House  was  constituted. 

(p)  "Many  instances  may  doubtless  be  found  among  the  minutes,  of  motions  enter- 
tained previously,  for  our  public  bodies,  whether  legislative  or  judicial,  secular  or  ecclesias- 
tical, are  too  prone  to  forget  the  golden  precept — '  Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in 
order.'  But  these  are  merely  instances  of  irregularity  which  have  passed,  sm6  silentio,  and 
which  cannot  change  a  rule  of  positive  enactment.  It  seems  then  that  an  appeal  from 
the  decision  of  the  Moderator  did  not  lie  ;  and  that  he  incurred  no  penalty  by  the  disallow- 
ance of  it.  The  title  <<f  the  exscinded  Commissioners  could  be  determined  only  by  the 
action  of  the  House,  which  could  not  be  had  before  its  organization  was  complete  ;  and  in 
the  meantime  he  was  bound,  as  the  executive  instrument  of  the  preceding  Assembly,  to 
put  its  ordinance  into  execution  :  for  to  the  actual  Assembly,  and  not  to  the  Moderator  of 
the  preceding  one,  it  belonged  to  repeal  it. 

(5)  "  It  would  be  decisive,  however,  that  the  motion,  as  it  was  proposed,  purported  not 
to  be  in  fact  a  question  of  degradation  for  the  disallowance  of  an  appeal,  but  one  of  new 
and  independent  organization.  It  was,  ostensibly  as  well  as  actually,  a  measure  of  trans- 
cendental power,  whose  purpose  was  to  treat  the  ordinance  of  the  preceding  Assembly 
as  a  nullity,  and  its  Moderator  as  a  nonentity.  It  had  been  prepared  for  the  event  avow- 
edly before  the  meeting.  The  witnesses  concur  that  it  was  propounded  as  a  measure  of 
original  organization  transcending  the  customary  order;  and  not  as  a  recourse  to  the 
ultima  ratio  for  a  specific  violation  of  it.  The  ground  of  the  motion  as  it  was  opened  by 
the  mover,  was  not  the  disallowance  of  an  appeal,  which  alone  could  afford  a  pretext  of 
forfeiture,  but  the  fact  of  exclusion.  To  affect  silent  members  with  an  implication  of 
assent,  however,  the  ground  of  the  motion  and  nature  of  the  question  must  be  so  explicitly 
put  before  them  as  to  prevent  misconception  or  mistake;  and  the  remarks  that  heralded 
the  question  in  this  instance,  pointed  at,  not  a  removal  of  the  presiding  incumbent,  but  a 
separate  organization  to  be  accomplished  with  the  least  practicable  interruption  of  the 
business  in  hand ;  and  if  they  indicated  anything  else,  they  were  deceptive.  The  mea- 
sure was  proposed  not  as  that  of  the  body,  but  as  the  measure  of  a  party;  and  the  cause 
assigned  for  not  having  proposed  it  elsewhere,  was  that  individuals  of  the  party  had  been 
instructed  by  counsel  that  the  purpose  of  it  could  not  be  legally  accomplished  in  any  other 
place.  No  witness  speaks  of  a  motion  to  degrade ;  and  the  rapidity  of  the  process  by 
which  the  choice  of  a  substitute,  not  a  successor,  was  aficcted,  left  no  space  for  reflection 
or  debate.  Now  before  the  passive  Commissioners  could  be  affected  by  acquiescence  im- 
plied from  their  silence,  it  ought  to  have  appeared  that  they  were  apprized  of  what  was 
going  on  ;  but  it  appears  that  even  an  attentive  ear- witness  was  unable  to  understand  what 
was  done.  The  whole  scene  was  one  of  unprecedented  haste,  insomuch  that  it  is  still  a 
matter  of  doubt  how  the  questions  were  put.  Now,  though  these  facts  were  fairly  put  to 
the  jury,  it  is  impossible  not  to  see  that  the  verdict  is,  in  this  respect,  manifestly  against 
the  current  of  the  evidence. 

(>■)  "  Other  corroborative  views  have  been  suggested ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  compress  a 
decision  of  the  leading  points  in  this  case  into  the  old  fashioned  limits  of  a  judicial  opinion. 
The  preceding  observations,  however,  are  deemed  enough  to  show  the  grounds  on  which 
we  hold  that  the  Assembly  which  met  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  not  the 
legitimate  successor  of  the  Assembly  of  1837;  and  that  the  defendants  are  not  guilty  of 
the  usurpation  with  which  they  are  charged. 

"Rule  for  a  new  trial  made  absolute. 

(s)  "Rogers,,!. — After  the  patient  and  impartial  investigation,  by  me,  of  this  cause, 
at  Nisi  Prius,  and  in  bank,  I  have  nothing  at  this  time  to  add,  except  that  my  opinion 
remains  unchanged  on  all  the  points  ruled  at  the  trial.  This  explanation  is  deemed 
requisite,  in  justice  to  myself,  and  because  it  has  become  necessary  (in  a  case,  in  some 
respects  without  precedent,  and  presenting  some  extraordinary  features)  to  prevent  nais- 
apprehension,  and  misrepresentation." 


Part  XL]  THE   SUITS  AT   LAW.  781 

§  207.  Assessme7it  to  meet  the  exjjoises  of  the  suit. 

"  Whereas  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  a  fund  of  34000  be  created  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  law-suits  in  which  the  Trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly  have  been  recently,  or  may  hereafter  be  involved — 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  in  connection  with  the  General 
Assembly  be  requested  to  contribute  forthwith,  for  that  purjwse,  and  trans- 
mit to  Matthew  Newkirk,  the  Treasurer  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly,  the  following  sums  respectively,  viz.  [Here  follows  the  list, 
making  in  the  aggregate  §4000.] 

"2.  Resolved,  Inasmuch  as  a  loan  of  $2000  has  been  obtained  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  on  the  faith  of  pledges  given  by  the  last 
General  Assembly,  that  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  be  requested 
to  assume  the  responsibility  of  raising  the  sum  which  ought  to  be  contribu- 
ted by  their  respective  Presbyteries;  and  that  the  roll  be  called  over,  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  if  they  are  willing  to  do  so. 

''The  roll  was  called,  and  the  members  of  the  Assembly  severally  assumed 
the  responsibility  of  raising  the  sums  expected  from  their  respective  Vxqs- 
lyieriQ^r— Minutes,  1839,  p.  162. 

§  208.    The  Assembly  will  accede  to  an  eqmtahle  division  of  funds. 

"Be  it  Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America — 

"  1.  That  this  body  considers  itself  and  the  Church  at  large  bound,  as 
both  have  been  not  only  willing,  but  desirous,  to  adjust  all  claims  against 
the  corporate  property  of  the  Church,  whether  legal  or  equitable,  in  the 
most  prompt,  fair,  and  liberal  manner. 

''2.  That  this  is  especially  the  case  touching  any  claims  which  may  exist 
on  the  part  of  the  four  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  Genesee,  and  the  Western 
Reserve,  declared  in  1837  to  be  no  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  or  on 
the  part  of  those  who  seceded  from  the  Church  in  1838,  or  on  the  part  of 
any  body  constituted  out  of  the  whole  or  any  part  of  these  elements.  And 
that,  in  regard  to  all  and  each  of  these  bodies  and  persons,  the  Assembly 
will  faithfully  adhere  to  any  pledge  or  promise,  express  or  implied,  which  it 
can  justly  be  construed  ever  to  have  made,  and  will  fulfil  every  expectation 
which  it  ever  knowingly  allowed  to  be  cherished. 

"8.  The  Trustees  of  the  Assembly  are  hereby  authorized  and  requested 
to  do,  on  the  part  of  this  Assembly,  should  occasion  ofier,  whatever  is  law- 
ful, competent,  and  equitable  in  the  premises,  conformable  to  the  principles, 
and  in  the  manner  heretofore  laid  down  in  the  Minutes  of  this  Assembly 
for  1837  and  1838,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  corporate  property  of  the  Church, 
or  any  equities  springing  out  of  the  same. 

"4.  With  reference  to  all  Institutions,  Corporations,  Congregations,  and 
other  public  persons  or  bodies  in  connection  with  us,  but  holding  pi'operty 
for  ecclesiastical  purposes,  or  for  religious  and  benevolent  uses,  which 
property  is  not  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Assembly,  although  the  said 
persons.  Institutions,  or  Congregations  may  be,  in  all  such  cases  where  diffi- 
culties relating  to  property  have  arisen  or  shall  arise,  in  consequence  of  the 
long  and  painful  disorders  and  divisions  in  our  Church,  we  advise  all  our 
members  and  friends  to  act  on  the  general  principles  heretofore  laid  down, 
and  with  the  spirit  of  candour,  forbearance,  and  equity  which  has  dictated 
this  Act. 

"5.  The  Assembly  reiterates  the  declaration,  that  its  chief  desire,  on  all 
this  part  of  our  Church  troubles,  is  to  do  even  and  ready  justice  to  and 
between  all  persons  and  interests  over  which  it  has  any  control,  or  in  regard 
to  which  it  has  any  duty  to  perform." — Minutes,  1839,  p.  158. 


782  THE  NEW-scnooL  SCHISM.  [Book  VII. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

LATER     RELATIONS. 

§  209.  Proj)osnh  for  a  Joint  cclehration  of  the  LorcTs  Supper,  Vy  the  two 

Assenihlies. 
''The  Comiuittee  on  Devotional  Exercises  reported,  iuformino:  the  Assem- 
bly that  a  proposition  had  been  made  to  them  by  the  Committee  on  Devo- 
tional Exercises  of  the  Triennial  General  Assembly  meeting  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  the  effect  that  the  two  Assemblies  unite  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  recommending  the  following  resolu- 
tion, viz. 

^'Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  accept  the  proposition  of  the 
General  Assembly  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  viz.,  that  the 
two  Assemblies  unite  in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  that  the 
Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises,  in  connection  with  the  Corresponding 
Committee  of  the  other  Assembly,  make  arrangements  for  the  same." 

"The  Rev.  Mr.  Palmer,  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Devotional  Exer- 
cises presented  a  counter  report  on  the  joint  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  by  the  two  Assemblies." 

[After  extended  discussion]  ''all  the  papers  relating  to  the  subject  were 
committed  to  a  Committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Musgrave,  Todd,  Young, 
W.  L.  Breckinridge,  S.  B.  Jones,  Grier,  Davis,  and  Vaughan;  with  instruc- 
tions to  bring  in  a  minute  expressive  of  the  views  of  the  Assembly." 

"The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  all  papers  relating  to  the  joint 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  by  the  two  Assemblies,  with  instructions 
to  bring  in  a  minute  expressive  of  the  views  of  the  Assembly,  presented  a 
report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows;  viz. 

"The  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises  having  reported  to  this  General 
Assembly  a  communication  from  a  similar  committee  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  session  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  representing  that  the  said 
Assembly  has  authorized  its  committee  to  confer  with  the  committee  of  this 
Assembly  in  relation  to  a  joint  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  by  the  two 
bodies;  it  was  ordered,  that  the  committee  respectfully  acknowledge  and 
reciprocate  the  courtesy  of  the  communication,  and  say  in  reply,  that  while 
this  Assembly  recognizes  the  above  mentioned  body  as  a  branch  of  the 
Church  of  our  common  Lord,  and  for  this  reason  would,  as  individuals, 
tinder  appropriate  circumstances,  unite  with  our  brethren  in  the  celebration 
of  Divine  ordinances,  yet,  as  this  Assembly  has  never  in  its  corporate  and 
official  capacity  united  with  any  other  ecclesiastical  body  in  celebrating  the 
Lord's  Supper,  it  judges  it  inexpedient  to  institute  a  new  usage  at  this 
time." 

"  On  motion,  the  Committee  on  Devotional  Exercises  were  directed  to 
communicate  a  copy  of  the  above  minute  to  the  committee  of  the  other 
Assembly. "—Minutes,  184G,  pp.  195,  196,  199,  201. 

[At  the  time  when  this  proposal  was  maile,  the  New-school  body  had  never  withdrawn 
the  suit  at  law,  aiming  to  wrest  away  the  entire  funds  of  the  Church.] 

§  210.    Charleston  Union  Freshj/tcri/  re-united. 

"  Overture  No.  10,  on  the  re-annexation  of  Charleston  Union  Presbytery, 
was  taken  up,  and  the  following  minute  was  adopted,  viz. 

"Inasmuch  as  the  subject  brought  to  the  notice  of  this  House  by  memo- 
rial from  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  is  undergoing  investigation  by 


Part  XL]  LATER   RELATIONS.  783 

several  Presbyteries  ■witliin  the  limits  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  therefore, 

*'  Resolved,  That  all  consideration  of  this  subject  by  this  Assembly  be 
indefinitely  postponed." — Minutes,  1845,  p.  20. 

§211. 

"  A  communication  from  the  '  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,'  was  read, 
and  on  motion  referred  to  a  select  committee,  consisting  of  George  Hill, 
James  Allison,  H.  N.  Brinsmade,  D.  D.,  James  Stratton,  P.  0.  Studdiford, 
D.  P.,  Jasper  Corning,  and  William  Hogg." 

[Their  report  adopted,  as  follows:] 

"1st.  Resolced,  That  this  Assembly  express  its  high  gratification  to  learn 
that  the  brethren  submitting  this  communication  do  still  entertain  so 
much  regard  for  the  doctrine  and  polity  of  our  Church,  as  to  cherish  the 
desire  of  adherence  to  this  body,  rather  than  any  other  branch  of  the  visible 
Church. 

''  2d.  Resolved,  That  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery  to  apply  for  redress  of  alleged  grievances  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly, by  appeal  or  complaint,  at  the  proper  time  (some  twelve  years  ago,) 
this  Assembly  does  not  consider  it  expedient  to  enter  upon  an  investigation 
of  the  case  now,  in  the  way  proposed  by  the  Presbytei'y. 

"  3d.  Resolved,  That  mutual  forbearance  and  the  exercise  of  kindly  feel- 
ing be  recommended  to  all  the  parties  concerned. 

"4th.  Resolved,  That,  if  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  shall  make 
known  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  their  adhesion  to  this 
Assembly  and  its  doctrinal  standards,  prior  to  the  next  annual  meeting  of 
the  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Stated  Clerk  to  com- 
municate the  same  without  delay  to  said  Synod;  and  the  Synod  shall  there- 
upon enrol  them  as  a  regular  Presbytery  in  connection  with  this  body." — 
Minutes,  1852,  pp.  206,  223, 


BOOK    VIII. 
MORAL    AND    SECULAR   MATTERS 


PAET   I. 

RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STATE. 


Title  1. — Union  of  Church  and  State. 

[See  Book  I.  §§  7—9,  and  14.] 

§  1.    Our  Church  slandered  on  the  suhject. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  recommitted  the  report  on  the  reference 
from  the  Presbyteries  of  Madison  and  Lancaster,  reported,  and  their  report 
was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

(«)  "That  said  Presbyteries  invite  the  attention  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  certain  slanderous  reports,  extensively  circulated  against  the  Pres- 
byterian and  other  denominations,  involving  the  charge  of  an  attempt  on 
the  part  of  these  denominations  to  unite  Church  and  State,  and  thus  sub- 
vert the  civil  institutions  of  our  country;  and  intimate  their  desire  that  this 
Assembly  would  take  order  on  the  subject,  and  by  some  public  act  disabuse 
themselves  and  their  constituents  of  such  unfounded  and  injurious  impu- 
tations. 

''In  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  no  public  act  is  necessary  on  the  part 
of  this  Assembly  to  refute  a  charge  wholly  unsupported  by  testimony  and 
facts;  nor  any  exposition  of  their  principles  in  relation  to  civil  magistracy, 
and  the  claims  of  the  Church,  demanded,  other  than  that  contained  in  our 
acknowledged  ecclesiastical  standards,  and  published  to  the  world.  For  the 
better  information,  however,  of  any  who  may  be  in  danger  of  imposition 
from  unfounded  statements,  the  Assembly  would  refer  to  the  following  exhi- 
bition of  their  principles  as  contained  in  the  accredited  Constitution  of  the 
Church. 

§2. 

''1.  God,  the  supreme  Lord  and  King  of  all  the  world,  hath  ordained 
civil  magistrates  to  be,  under  him,  over  the  people,  for  his  own  glory 
and  the  public  good,  and  to  this  end  hatli  armed  them  with  the  power  of 
the  sword,  for  the  defence  and  encouragement  of  them  that  are  good,  and 
for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers." 

"2.  It  is  lawful  for  Christians  to  accept  and  execute  the  office  of  magis- 


Part  I.]  RELATIONS   OF   CHURCH  AND   STATE.  785 

trate,  when  called  thereunto;  in  the  managing  whereof,  as  they  ought  espe- 
cially to  maintain  piety,  justice,  and  peace,  according  to  the  wholesome 
laws  of  each  commonwealth,  so  for  that  end,  they  may  lawfully  now  under 
the  New  Testament,  wage  war  upon  just  and  necessary  occasions. 

"  3.  Civil  magistrates  may  not  assume  to  themselves  the  administration  of 
the  word  and  sacraments;  or  the  power  of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  j 
or  in  the  least  interfere  in  matters  of  faith.  Yet,  as  nursing  fathers,  it  is  the 
duty  of  civil  magistrates  to  protect  the  Church  of  our  common  Lord,  with- 
out giving  the  preference  to  any  denomination  of  Christians  above  the  rest, 
in  such  a  manner  that  all  ecclesiastical  persons  shall  enjoy  the  full,  free,  and 
unquestioned  liberty  of  discharging  every  part  of  their  sacred  functions 
without  violence  or  danger.  And  as  Jesus  Christ  hath  appointed  a  regular 
government  and  discipline  in  his  Church,  no  law  of  any  commonwealth 
should  interfere  with,  let,  or  hinder,  the  due  exercise  thereof,  among  the 
voluntary  members  of  any  denomination  of  Christians,  according  to  their 
own  profession  and  belief.  It  is  the  duty  of  civil  magistrates  to  protect  the 
person  and  good  name  of  all  their  people,  in  such  an  effectual  manner  as 
that  no  person  be  suffered,  either  upon  pretence  of  religion  or  infidelity,  to 
offer  any  indignity,  violence,  abuse,  or  injury,  to  any  other  person  whatso- 
ever; and  to  take  order  that  all  religious  and  ecclesiastical  assemblies  be 
held  without  molestation  or  disturbance. 

"  4.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  people  to  pray  for  magistrates,  to  honour  their 
persons,  to  pay  them  tribute  and  other  dues,  to  obey  their  lawful  commands, 
and  to  be  subject  to  their  authority,  for  conscience  sake.  Infidelity  or  dif- 
ference in  religion,  doth  not  make  void  the  magistrate's  just  and  legal 
authority,  nor  free  the  people  from  their  due  obedience  to  him;  from  which 
ecclesiastical  persons  are  not  exempted;  much  less  hath  the  Pope  any  power 
or  jurisdiction  over  them  in  their  dominions,  or  over  any  of  their  people;  and 
least  of  all,  to  deprive  them  of  their  dominions  or  lives,  if  he  shall  judge 
them  to  be  heretics,  or  upon  any  other  pretence  whatsoever.* 

"Synods  and  councils  are  to  handle  or  conclude  nothing,  but  that  which 
is  ecclesiastical;  and  are  not  to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  concern 
the  commonwealth,  unless  by  way  of  humble  petition,  in  cases  extraordi- 
nary; or  by  way  of  advice  for  satisfaction  of  conscience,  if  they  be  there- 
unto required  by  the  civil  magistrate. "f 

"That  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience;  and  hath  left  it  free  from 
the  doctrine  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything  contrary  to 
his  word  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship.  Therefore  they  con- 
sider the  rights  of  private  judgment  in  all  matters  that  respect  religion,  as 
universal  and  unalienable.  They  do  not  even  wish  to  see  any  religious  con- 
stitution aided  by  the  civil  power,  further  than  may  be  necessary  for  protec- 
tion and  security,  and  at  the  same  time,  be  equal  and  common  to  all 
others."! 

§3. 

"  Such  are  the  constitutional  principles  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
these  United  States.  They  were  our  fathers'  principles,  before  and  during 
the  revolution,  which  issued  in  the  consummation  of  our  liberty  and 
independence,  and  under  the  influence  of  which  they  prayed,  and  fought, 
and  bled,  by  the  side  of  the  father  of  our  country.  They  have  been  the 
principles  of  their  descendants  ever  since.  They  are  our  principles  still, 
adopted  from  conviction,  to  whose  support  we  have  pledged  ourselves  under 
the  most  solemn  sanctions,  and  by  the  preservation  of  which  we  believe  that 

*  Conf.  of  Faith,  Chap,  xxiii. 

t  Ibid.  Chap.  xxxi.  Sec.  4.  J  Form  of  GoTernment,  Chap.  i.  Sec.  1. 

99 


786  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

the  common  interests  of  evangelical  religion  and  civil  liberty  will  be  most 
effectually  sustained. 

(d)  "In  closing  this  statement  tTie  Assembly  "would  affectionately  and 
earnestly  exhort  the  members  of  their  communion,  that  in  the  fulfilment  of 
their  civil  and  religious  duties,  they  watch  against  all  unhallowed  feelings, 
and  that  they  suffer  reproach  meekly,  not  rendering  railing  for  railing,  nor 
evil  for  evil,  but  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  they  commend  them- 
selves to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God." — Minutes,  1830, 
p.  25. 

§  4.  vl  laiv  of  the  proprietary  government  of  Pennsylvania  resisted. 

"  The  Synod  determines  that  no  Minister  of  our  persuasion,  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  lower  counties,  from  this  time  forward, 
marry  by  any  license  from  the  governor,  till  the  form  of  them  be  altered  and 
brought  to  a  nearer  conformity  to  those  of  the  neighbouring  governments  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey;  and  particularly  till  they  are  altered  in  such  a 
manner  as  hath  no  peculiar  respect  to  the  Ministers  of  the  Church  of 
England,  nor  oblige  us  to  any  of  the  forms  and  ceremonies  peculiar  to  that 
Church.  And  do  further  agree  to  refer  it  to  the  Presbyteries  of  New 
Castle  and  Donegal  conjunctly  to  make  what  regulations  they  see  cause  for 
upon  the  affair  of  licenses  with  respect  to  their  own  members." — Minutes, 
1734,  p.  111. 

§  5.  ^  calumny  repelled. 

"It  having  been  represented  to  Synod,  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
suffers  greatly  in  the  opinion  of  other  denominations,  from  an  apprehension 
that  they  hold  intolerant  principles,  the  Synod  do  solemnly  and  publicly 
declare,  that  they  ever  have,  and  still  do  renounce  and  abhor  the  principles 
of  intolerance;  and  we  do  believe  that  every  peaceable  member  of  civil 
society  ous;ht  to  be  protected  in  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  their  religion." 
—Minutes,  1783,  p.  499. 

§  6.    Testimony  against  persecution  in  Sivitzerland. 

^^ Resolved,  That  Dr.  J.  H.  Rice,  Dr.  Dickey,  and  Dr.  Fisher,  be  a  com- 
mittee to  draw  up  resolutions  expressive  of  the  views  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, on  the  subject  of  the  persecutions  of  the  'llevived  Christians,'  of  Berne 
and  Vaud,  in  Switzerland." — Minutes,  1830,  p.  23. 

§7. 

[The  committee  (p.  29,)  reported  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  for 
transmission  to  the  Pastors  of  Berne  and  Vaud.] 
"The  declaration  and  memorial  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 

States  of  America,  respecting  persecution  on  account  of  religious  opinions, 

especially  in  Switzerland. 

(a)  "Whereas,  it  has  been  represented  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  North  America,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  a  well-known  and  much  respected  Clergyman,  who  was  an  eye-wit- 
ness, as  well  as  on  evidence  arising  from  other  sources,  that  in  the  cantons 
of  Berne  and  Vaud,  in  Switzerland,  a  number  of  persons  who  have  on  con- 
scientious principles  separated  themselves  from  the  Church  established  by 
law,  are  exposed  to  many  grievous  hardships,  and  even  to  cruel  persecution, 
without  the  allegation  against  them  of  any  immoral  conduct  or  any  violation 
of  the  merely  civil  laws  of  those  cantons,  but  solely  on  the  ground  of  their 
separation  from  the  Established  Church ;  and  that  thus  the  affecting  spectacle 
has  been  exhibited  to  the  world,  of  Protestants  persecuting  Protestants  on 
account  of  differences  in  religious  opinions; — 

(h)  "  And  whereas,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  and 


Part  I.]  RELATIONS   OF   CHURCH   AND    STATE.  787 

the  Protestant  Churches  in  Switzerland,  have  derived  their  religious  doc- 
trines from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  same 
great  reformers  of  blessed  memory,  so  that  this  General  Assembly  cannot 
but  feel  a  most  lively  interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  honour  and  prosperity 
of  their  Protestant  brethren  in  Switzerland; — 

(c)  "  And  furthermore,  because  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  under  the  ordering  of  a  benign  and  gracious  Providence,  know  by 
experience  the  inestimable  value  of  perfect  religious  liberty,  and  are  fully 
justified,  while  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  blessing,  in  testifying  to  their 
brethren  in  other  nations,  and  to  the  world,  their  full  conviction,  as  well  as 
the  results  of  their  experience  on  the  subject;  therefore, 

(c7)  "  Resolved,  1.  That  this  General  Assembly  do  most  firmly  hold  and 
maintain,  that  it  is  the  undeniable  right  of  all  men  to  worship  the  Creator 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences. 

"  2.  That  they  regard  every  attempt  to  restrain  this  right,  not  only  as 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  but  inefi"ectual  for  the  promotion  of 
genuine  piety,  or  the  prevention  of  diversities  in  religious  opinion. 

"  3.  That  the  history  of  this  country  does,  in  their  view,  decidedly  prove, 
that  true  religion  is  most  promoted,  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of  society 
are  best  secured,  by  allowing  perfect  liberty  of  worship  to  all  men. 

"  4.  That  the  General  Assembly  deeply  sympathize  with  those  Protest- 
ants in  the  Swiss  cantons  of  Berne  and  Vaud,  who  are  restrained  in  the 
right  of  worshipping  their  Creator  according  to  their  convictions  of  duty; 
and  that  this  sympathy  is  the  more  lively  inasmuch  as  those  who  suffer 
restraint  profess  to  adhere  to  the  standards  of  doctrine  and  worship  adopted 
by  the  great  reformers. 

"5.  That  the  General  Assembly,  in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the 
truths  contained  in  the  foregoing  declaration,  and  wishing  to  commend  them 
to  the  attentive  consideration  of  their  brethren  in  Switzerland,  feel  con- 
strained to  address  them  the  following  memorial. 

§8. 

"  To  the  Ptcverend,  the  Pastors  of  the  established  Churches  of  the  cantons 
of  Berne  and  Vaud  in  Switzerland,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  North  America,  wish  prosperity  and 
peace  in  our  common  Lord. 

'■'■  Bretliren — The  holy  Scriptures  command  that  every  man  look  not  on 
his  own  things  only,  but  also  on  the  things  of  others.  In  obedience  to  this 
command,  and  in  the  spirit  of  true  Christian  love,  the  Protestant  Churches 
did,  in  the  time  of  the  glorious  Reformation,  often  afford  assistance  and 
counsel  one  to  the  other;  and  when  the  adherents  of  the  Pope  of  Eome  en- 
deavoured, by  the  exercise  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  power  united,  to  sup- 
press the  truth,  the  noble  and  powerful  canton  of  Berne  did  frequently 
interpose  to  sustain  the  cause  of  religious  liberty;  and  you,  brethren,  have 
become  inheritors  of  the  glory  which  your  forefathers  acquired  by  the  dis- 
play of  exemplary  Christian  benevolence,  and  of  admirable  valour,  connected 
with  fervent  piety. 

"  Tlie  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  take  the  most  lively  interest  in  everything  which  concerns  their  Pro- 
testant brethren  throughout  the  world;  and  they  do  especially  cherish  a 
friendly  regard  towards  those  who  dwell  in  Switzerland,  a  country  always 
associated  in  their  minds  with  heroic  achievements  in  the  defence  of  free- 
dom. They  have,  therefore,  with  grief  and  surprise,  heard  that  brethren, 
to  whose  charge  nothing  could  be  laid,  except  that  they  have  conscientiously 


788  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

separated  from  the  Established  Church,  are  oppressed  and  persecuted  by  the 
authorities  of  the  cantons  of  Berne  and  Vaud. 

"The  General  Assembly,  while  they  maintain  that  the  civil  magistrate 
may  and  ought  to  punish  all  immoralities  which  violate  the  law  and  order 
of  society,  and  that  it  is  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty  of  Churches  to 
exercise  ecclesiastical  discipline,  according  to  the  rules  prescribed  by  Jesus 
Christ,  for  preserving  purity  of  doctrine,  worship,  and  morals,  cannot  but 
represent  to  the  reverend  Pastors  of  Berne  and  Vaud,  that  our  almighty 
Creator  is  the  only  Lord  of  conscience,  and  that  in  his  holy  word  he  has 
given  no  authority  to  any  man,  or  body  of  men,  to  control  its  dictates  in 
regard  to  his  sacred  worship. 

"It  is,  moreover,  believed  to  be  both  unjust  and  unwise  to  restrain  men 
from  oifering  their  homage  to  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  in  that  manner 
which  they  believe  to  be  most  acceptable  to  him,  because — 1.  That  worship 
which  is  not  rendered  voluntarily,  and  according  to  the  dictates  of  con- 
science, is  not  the  true  worship  which  the  gospel  requires,  but  base  hypo- 
crisy. 2.  Because  the  experience  of  all  Christians,  since  the  time  when 
perfect  religious  liberty  was  established  in  these  United  States,  proves  that 
the  peace  and  order  of  society,  instead  of  being  disturbed,  are  promoted  and 
secured  by  allowing  every  one  to  worship  his  Creator  in  the  way  which  ap- 
pears to  him  most  agreeable  to  the  divine  will.  It  is  now  well  known, 
that  human  authority  cannot  bind  an  enlightened  conscience,  and  that  men 
who  are  quiet  and  peaceable,  while  they  feel  that  they  are  free,  become  rest- 
less, and  often  turbulent,  when  the  attempt  is  made  unjustly  to  restrain  them ; 
and,  therefore,  while  it  is  admitted  that  the  members  of  every  Church  ought 
to  be  subject  to  its  whole  ecclesiastical  order,  so  long  as  they  voluntarily 
remain  in  its  communion,  yet  they  ought  to  be  permitted  to  withdraw  from 
it  peaceably  when  such  may  be  their  choice.  And  3d.  Because  our  expe- 
rience also  proves,  that  entire  liberty  of  conscience  is  not  only  compatible 
with  the  existence  and  safety  of  religion,  but  that  true  Christianity  operates 
with  the  greatest  energy,  and  prevails  in  its  greatest  purity,  where  the 
Church  relies,  under  the  grace  of  its  Lord  and  Saviour,  on  nothing  to  sus- 
tain and  advance  its  interests  but  the  power  of  truth  and  goodness,  and  the 
impartial  exercise  of  its  own  spiritual  discipline. 

"The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
would,  therefore,  earnestly  and  respectfully  plead  with  the  Pastors  of  the 
Churches  in  Berne  and  Vaud,  to  intercede  in  behalf  of  the  conscientious 
separatists  from  their  establishment — that  they  may  be  permitted  to  enjoy 
full  liberty  of  conscience,  and  to  worship  their  common  Lord  and  Redeemer 
according  to  their  convictions  of  truth  and  duty  in  view  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Ezra  Fisk,  Modei-ator. 
John  McDowell,  Permanent  ClerJc. 
''Done  at  Philadelphia,  in  the  United  States  of  North  America, 

on  the  2d  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1830."  — Minutes,  1830,  p.  55. 

§  9.   TAherti/  of  xoorsliijy  to  American  citizens  ahroad. 

[In  the  Assembly  of  18.52,  the  subject  was  brought  up  by  a  memorial  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Baltimore,  and  was  referred  to  a  select  committee  to  report  thereon  to  the  next 
General  Assembly.  The  chairman  of  this  committee.  Dr.  Plumer,  made  an  extended 
report  to  the  Assembly  of  18.53.     Whereupon  the  following  action  was  had:] 

"  The  report  of  Dr.  Plumer  was  taken  up  and  read,  and  after  some  dis- 
cussion adopted;  and  the  Assembly  recommended  that  it  be  published  at 


Part  I.]  RELATIONS   OF   CHURCH   AND   STATE.  789 

length  in  the  religious  journals  of  the  country.  The  following  are  the  reso- 
lutions adopted : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly,  and  the  Churches  which  it  represents, 
cherish  an  undiminished  attachment  to  the  great  principles  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious freedom,  and  can  never,  without  pain  and  sorrow,  witness  the  least 
infraction  of  them  by  our  own  or  any  other  government. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  we  rejoice  in  the  extension  of  perfect  and  absolute 
freedom  of  opinion  and  worship,  not  only  to  our  own  citizens,  but  also  to 
foreigners  who  may  choose  to  reside  in  our  country. 

''3.  Resolved,  That  it  is  every  way  just  and  equal  that  American  citizens 
residing  abroad  should  be  free  to  profess  their  religious  convictions,  and  to 
worship  God  without  any  hinderance  or  molestation  whatever. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cordially  approves  of  the  provisions  of 
a  late  treaty  with  the  Oriental  Republic  of  Uraguay,  already  cited,  and 
trusts  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  will  by  treaty  secure  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  same  inestimable  rights  by  all  other  governments, 
where  it  may  be  practicable. 

"5.  Resolved,  That  the  people  of  the  Congregations  in  our  connection  be 
advised  to  unite  with  their  fellow  citizens  in  urging  upon  the  government 
of  the  United  States  a  careful  and  earnest  attention  to  this  matter. 

"  6.  Resolved,  That  a  duly  attested  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  for- 
warded to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  President  of  the  Sen- 
ate, and  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  next  Con- 
gress, for  the  consideration  of  each  of  these  branches  of  the  government  of 
our  country." 

[The  following  is  the  provision  in  the  treaty  referred  to  in  the  fourth  resolution :] 
"The  citizens  of  the  two  Republics,  respectively,  residing  in  any  of  the  territories  of  the 
other  party,  shall  enjoy,  in  their  houses,  persons,  and  properties,  the  full  protection  of  the 
Government.  They  shall  not  be  disturbed,  molested,  or  annoyed,  in  any  manner,  on 
account  of  their  religious  belief,  nor  in  the  proper  exercise  of  their  peculiar  religion,  either 
within  their  own  private  houses,  or  in  churches,  chapels,  or  other  places  appointed  for 
public  worship;  which  places  of  worship  they  shall  beat  liberty  to  build  and  maintain  in 
convenient  situations,  interfering  in  no  way  with,  but  respecting  the  religion  and  customs 
of  the  country  in  which  they  reside. 

"  Liberty  shall  also  be  granted  to  the  citizens  of  either  of  the  two  high  contracting  par- 
ties to  bury  their  dead,  who  may  die  in  the  territories  of  the  other,  in  burial  places  of  their 
own,  which,  in  the  same  manner,  may  be  freely  established  and  maintained  ;  nor  shall  the 
funerals  or  sepulchres  of  the  dead  be  disturbed  in  any  way,  or  upon  any  account." — Min- 
utes,  1853,  pp.  460,  596. 


PAET  II. 

OF    MORALS 


Title  1. — Miscellaneous. 

§  10.  Astrology. 

"The  Synods  do  bear  their  strongest  testimony  against  judicial  astrology." 
— Minutes,  1728,  p.  91. 

§  11.   Theatre  and  dancing. 

(a)  "On  the  fashionable,  though,  as  we  believe,  dangerous  amusements 
of  theatrical  exhibitions  and  dancing,  we  deem  it  necessary  to  make  a  few 
observations.  The  theatre  we  have  always  considered  as  a  school  of  immo- 
rality. If  any  person  wishes  for  honest  conviction  on  this  subject,  let  him 
attend  to  the  character  of  that  mass  of  matter  which  is  generally  exhibited 
on  the  stage.  "We  believe  all  will  agree,  that  comedies  at  least,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  are  of  such  a  description,  that  a  virtuous  and  modest  person  can- 
not attend  the  representation  of  them,  without  the  most  painful  and 
embarrassing  sensations.  If  indeed  custom  has  familiarized  the  scene,  and 
these  painful  sensations  are  no  longer  felt,  it  only  proves  that  the  person  in 
question  has  lost  some  of  the  best  sensibilities  of  our  nature,  that  the 
strongest  safeguard  of  virtue  has  been  taken  down,  and  that  the  moral 
character  has  undergone  a  serious  depreciation. 

(i<)  "  With  respect  to  dancing,  we  think  it  necessary  to  observe,  that 
however  plausible  it  may  appear  to  some,  it  is  perhaps  not  the  less  danger- 
ous on  account  of  that  plausibility.  It  is  not  from  those  things  which  the 
world  acknowledges  to  be  most  wrons;  that  the  neatest  dano-er  is  to  be 
apprehended  to  religion,  especially  as  it  relates  to  the  young.  When  the 
practice  is  carried  to  its  highest  extremes,  all  admit  the  consequences  to  be 
fatal;  and  why  not  then  apprehend  danger,  even  from  its  incipient  stages? 
It  is  certainly  in  all  its  stages  a  fascinating  and  an  infatuating  practice.  Let 
it  once  be  introduced,  and  it  is  difficult  to  give  it  limits.  It  steals  away  our 
precious  time,  dissipates  religious  impressions,  and  hardens  the  heart.  To 
guard  you,  beloved  brethren,  against  its  wiles  and  its  fascinations,  we 
earnestly  recommend  that  you  will  consult  that  sobriety  which  the  sacred 
pages  re([uire.  "We  also  trust  that  you  will  attend  with  the  meekness  and 
docility  becoming  the  Christian  character,  to  the  admonitions  on  this  subject 
of  those  whom  you  have  chosen  to  watch  for  your  souls.  And  now,  beloved 
brethren,  that  you  may  be  guarded  from  the  dangers  we  have  pointed  out, 
and  from  all  other  dangers  which  beset  the  path  of  life,  and  obstruct  our 
common  salvation,  and  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  may  have  you  in 
his  holy  keeping,  is  our  sincere  and  aifectionato  prayer.  Amen." — Minutes, 
1818,  p.  G9U. 

(c)  *  *  *  *  "But  we  are  called  to  notice  evils  of  another  kind.  In 
some  of  the  Northern  and  Southern,  and  iu  the  greater  part  of  the  Middle 


Part  II.]  RULES   OF   MORALITY.  791 

and  Western  sections  of  our  Church,  we  hear  complaints  of  the  prevalence 
of  lukewannness,  and  a  great  want  of  evangelical  zeal  among  the  professed 
disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  '  spirit  of  slumber'  seems  to  have  deadened 
all  their  energies,  and  they  are  resting  contented  with  the  forms  of  religion, 
without  feeling  its  vivifying  power.  As  an  effect  of  this  they  are  found 
conforming  to  the  world,  in  its  fashionable  amusements,  frequenting  the 
theatre,  and  the  ball-room,  and  yielding  to  the  spirit  of  strife,  whose  deadly 
influence  resists  the  impulses  of  the  Holy  Grhost,  and  is  calculated  to  banish 
him  for  ever  from  their  hearts.  Over  such  we  mourn,  and  our  prayer  is  that 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  would  breathe  upon  them  and  cause  them  to  live 
again.  Awake!  0  north  wind,  and  come,  thou  south!  and  blow  upon 
these  parts  of  thy  garden,  that  the  spices  thereof  may  flow  out." — Minutes, 
1827,  p.  136. 

(d)  "  In  the  principal  cities  of  our  country  the  theatre,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  a  laudable  aim  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  literature,  and  provide  a 
recreation  calculated  to  improve  the  public  manners,  is  doing  much,  not  only 
to  blunt  the  delicate  sensibilities  of  the  female  mind,  and  generate  a  dislike 
to  all  solid  improvement  and  wholesome  instruction,  but  to  subvert  the  foun- 
dations of  virtue  and  religion,  and  feed  and  cherish  every  description  of  im- 
morality. In  view  of  the  rapid  increase  of  these  fashionable  schools  of 
iniquity,  and  the  increasing  ardour  with  which  the  aflfections  of  the  young 
are  enlisted  in  them.  Christian  parents  and  active  benefactors  of  society 
should  be  constrained  by  every  consideration  of  interest,  duty,  and  compas- 
sion, to  apply  their  strenuous  endeavours  to  the  counteraction  of  the  baneful 
influences  of  this  fascinating  source  of  vice  and  ruin.  As  an  interesting 
sign  of  the  present  time,  and  for  the  encouragement  of  similar  measures,  the 
Assembly  here  notice  with  great  pleasure,  the  refusal  in  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  to  incorporate  the  proprietors  of  a  theatre  in  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal towns  of  the  State." — Jlinutes,  1828,  p.  256. 

§  12.  Duelling. 

"  The  General  Assembly  having  taken  into  serious  consideration  the 
unhappy  prevalence  of  the  practice  of  duelling  in  the  United  States,  and 
being  anxiously  desirous  to  contribute  what  may  be  in  their  power,  consist- 
ently with  their  character  and  situation,  to  discountenance  and  abolish  this 
practice ; 

"  Resolved,  unanimously.  That  they  do  in  the  most  unequivocal  manner 
declare  their  utter  abhorrence  of  the  practice  of  duelling  and  of  all  measures 
tending  thereto,  as  originating  from  the  malevolent  dispositions  of  the  human 
heart,  and  a  false  sense  of  honour;  as  a  remnant  of  Grothic  barbarism;  as 
implying  a  presumptuous  and  highly  criminal  appeal  to  God  as  the  Sovereign 
Judge;  as  utterly  inconsistent  with  every  just  principle  of  moral  conduct; 
as  a  direct  violation  of  the  sixth  commandment,  and  destructive  of  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  families;  and  the  Assembly  do  hereby  recommend  it  to  the 
Ministers  in  their  connection  to  discountenance  by  all  proper  means  in  their 
power  this  scandalous  practice. 

<<  Resolved,  also.  That  it  be,  and  it,is  hereby  recommended  to  all  the  Minis- 
ters under  the  care  of  the  Assembly,  that  they  scrupulously  refuse  to  attend 
the  funeral  of  any  person  who  shall  have  fallen  in  a  duel;  and  that  they 
admit  no  person  who  shall  have  fought  a  duel,  given  or  accepted  a  challenge, 
or  been  accessary  thereto,  unto  the  distinguishing 2'>rivile(jcs  of  the  Church, 
until  he  manifest  a  just  sense  of  his  guilt,  and  give  satisfaetori/  cvidenee  of 
repentance." — Minutes,  1805,  p.  339. 


792  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

§  13.  Litigatimi  among  professing  Christians. 

(a)  "  Overtured,  That  the  Synod  do  bear  their  testimony  against,  and 
dochxre  their  great  dissatisfaction  at,  the  religious  law-suits  that  are  maintained 
among  professors  of  religion,  so  contrary  to  that  peace  and  love  which  the 
gospel  requires,  and  the  express  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  1  Cor.  vi.  1, 
2,  3,  and  consequently  very  much  to  the  scandal  of  our  holy  profession. 
And  that,  therefore,  the  Synod  do  recommend  to  all  the  Ministers  within 
our  bounds,  to  use  their  utmost  endeavour  to  bring  their  several  respective 
Congregations  into  a  joint  agreement  to  avoid  to  their  utmost  all  unnecessary 
law-suits  for  the  future,  and  to  refer  such  differences  as  cannot  be  easily 
accommodated  between  the  parties  themselves,  to  some  prudent,  religious, 
and  indifferent  friends,  if  it  may  be  of  our  own  profession,  mutually  chosen 
by  the  contending  parties,  or  otherwise,  as  such  society  shall  think  best,  to 
decide  and  determine  such  differences.  This  overture  was  approved  by  the 
Synod  nemvne  contradicente." — Minutes,  1729,  p.  96. 

(i)  "The  Synod  recommend  to  the  Church  Sessions  and  Committees 
aforesaid,*  that  they  endeavour  by  their  advice  and  influence  to  prevent  all 
unnecessary  lawsuits,  and  if  possible  to  have  all  differences  of  a  civil  nature 
decided  by  arbitration." — Minutes,  1766,  p.  359. 

§  14.  Free  3Iasonry. 

[In  1821,  the  subject  of  Masonry  came  up  on  a  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh. 
After  some  discussion,  it  was  referred  to  a  committee.  Upon  the  report  of  this  commit- 
tee,] 

"After  discussion  of  considerable  length,  the  previous  question  having 
been  called  for,  was  taken,  and  determined  in  the  negative;  and  the  subject 
was  indefinitely  postponed." — Minutes,  1821,  pp.  10,  13,  15. 

§  15.   Secret  Societies. 

"A  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Miami,  on  the  subject  of  Secret 
Societies,"  [elicited  the  following  reply:] 

^^  Resolved,  That  is  inexpedient  for  the  General  Assembly  to  legislate  ou 
the  subject." — Minutes,  1846,  p.  194. 

§  16.   Sjyirit  of  specidation  and  extravagance. 

"The  General  Assembly  viewing  with  deep  interest  the  present  state  of 
our  country,  and  more  especially  the  commercial  embarrassments  which 
press  upon  every  part  of  the  United  States,  and  the  spirit  of  corrupt  and 
mischievous  speculation,  which  is  probably  to  be  regarded  as  both  a  cause 
and  an  effect  of  these  embarrassments,  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  take  this 
notice  of  this  unhappy  state  of  things,  and  to  express  their  opinion  of  the 
proper  remedy. 

"The  Assembly,  then,  are  persuaded,  that  the  evils  so  general  in  their 
prevalence,  and  so  severe  in  their  pressure,  primarily  on  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  portions  of  the  community,  but  in  a  considerable  degree  on 
all,  owe  their  origin,  in  a  great  measure,  to  that  spirit  of  cupidity,  of  adven- 
turous and  unjustifiable  speculation,  of  extravagance  and  luxury,  which  so 
unhappily  prevail  in  our  country;  aud  also  in  no  small  degree  to  the  want 
of  that  kind  of  education  which  is  calculated  to  prepare  a  youth  for  solid 
usefulness  in  the  Church,  and  in  civil  society.  The  Assembly,  therefore, 
are  firmly  persuaded  that  the  effectual  remedy  for  these  evils,  under  God,  is 
to  be  found  only  in  a  recurrence  to  those  principles  and  duties  of  our  holy 
religion,  which  are  not  less  conducive  to  the  temporal  welfare  of  men,  than 
to  their  eternal  happiness;  and  they  have  no  hope  that  general  prosperity 

•  Committees  to  coUeet  the  Pastor's  salary,  &c. 


Part  II.]  RULES   OF  MORALITY.  793 

can  be  restored  to  our  country,  until  there  is  a  return  to  those  habits  of 
industry,  temperance,  moderation,  economy,  and  general  virtue,  which  our 
common  Christianity  inculcates.  Under  these  impressions  the  Assembly 
would  earnestly  exhort  the  Churches  under  their  care,  to  take  into  due  con- 
sideration the  opinions  above  expressed;  to  cultivate  in  themselves,  and  to 
endeavour  to  promote  in  others,  those  simple,  frugal,  and  regular  pursuits 
which  cannot  fail  to  exert  a  benign  influence  on  the  best  interests  of  society; 
and  to  train  up  their  children  in  those  principles  and  habits  which  will  pre- 
pare them  at  once  to  be  useful  members  of  the  Church  and  useful  citizens. 
They  would  especially  entreat  those  individuals  and  families  belonging  to 
their  communion,  whom  God  has  been  pleased  to  favour  with  temporal 
wealth,  to  consider  the  peculiar  importance  of  their  setting  an  edifying 
example,  so  that  their  whole  influence  may  be  employed  to  discourage 
fashionable  vices  and  amusements,  and  to  promote  the  simplicity  and  purity 
of  Christian  practice.  And  the  Assembly  would  also  earnestly  exhort  all 
the  Ministers  in  their  communion  to  make  these  sentiments  a  subject  of  fre- 
quent and  serious  address  to  the  people  of  their  respective  pastoral  charges, 
and  to  endeavour  by  all  the  means  in  their  power,  to  impress  on  the  minds 
of  their  hearers  the  all-important  truth,  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  in 
its  vital  power  and  practical  influence,  is  the  best  friend  of  civil  society,  as 
well  as  essential  to  the  eternal  well-being  of  man," — 3Iinutes,  1819,  p.  715. 

§  17.    Ganibling  and  Lotteries. 

"The  vice  of  gambling  has  also  been  forced  upon  our  attention.  "We 
indeed  hope  that  few,  or  perhaps  none  of  our  actual  professors,  have 
indulged  themselves  in  the  practice  of  what  they  consider  as  coming  under 
the  denomination  of  gambling.  But  perhaps  there  are  some  addicted  to 
this  practice  who  have  evinced  a  predilection  for  our  Church,  and  forms  of 
worship,  and  who  are  not  unwilling  to  receive  the  word  of  admonition  from 
us.  Such  we  would  earnestly  exhort  to  consider  in  the  most  serious  manner, 
the  consequences  of  the  course  they  are  pursuing  and  the  awful  lessons 
which  the  experience  of  the  world  is  every  day  exhibiting  on  this  subject. 
But  it  is  our  duty  further  to  testify,  that  all  encouragement  of  lotteries  and 
purchasing  of  lottery-tickets;  all  attendance  on  horse-racing,  and  betting 
on  such,  or  any  other  occasions;  and  all  attempts  of  whatever  kind  to 
acquire  gain  without  giving  an  equivalent,  involve  the  gambling  principle, 
and  participate  in  the  guilt  which  attaches  to  that  vice." — Minutes,  1818, 
p.  690. 

§18. 

"  Gambling,  that  infatuating  and  destructive  vice,  is  still  maintaining  its 
accursed  sway  over  thousands  of  its  hapless  victims.  By  this  remark  we 
intend  to  condemn  the  practice  of  gambling  by  lottery,  which  imder  the 
sanction  of  legislative  patronage,  is  in  several  places  within  our  bounds, 
encouraging  a  wild  spirit  of  speculation,  paralyzing  industry,  and  carrying 
disappointment,  poverty,  and  sorrow,  into  many  habitations." — Minutes, 
1827,  p.  135. 

§19. 

"The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  subject  of  lotteries,  was  taken  up 
and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"That  although  so  often  sanctioned  by  legislative  acts;  although  the  pro- 
ceeds of  lotteries  have  not  unfrequently  been  appropriated  to  benevolent 
and  religious  objects;  although  many  wise  and  good  men  have  in  periods 
past,  by  their  participation  or  agency,  given  countenance  to  lotteries,  yet  your 
100 


794  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

committee  cannot  view  tliem  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  legalized 
gambling. 

"  It  would  require  volumes  to  record  all  the  evils  resulting  from  this  sys- 
tem of  predatory  speculation.  It  adds  nothing  to  the  wealth  of  the  commu- 
nity, it  too  often  takes  from  the  uninformed  poor  the  property  obtained 
by  labour  and  skill,  and  transfers  the  same,  without  the  least  c(juivalent,  into 
the  hands  of  the  idle  and  unworthy.  It  thus  becomes  the  means  of  intro- 
ducing and  extending  habits  of  gambling  in  all  forms.  Hundreds  of  fi\mi- 
lies  yearly  are  reduced  to  dependence  and  beggary,  and  not  unfrequently  its 
deluded  victims  terminate  their  miserable  existence  in  this  world,  by  suicide. 
Contemplating  this  multitude  of  evils  to  individuals,  to  families,  and  to  the 
community  at  large,  your  committee  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  reso- 
lutions : 

*'  1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly,  all  lot- 
teries should  be  discountenanced  by  every  professed  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  as  immoral  in  their  nature,  and  ruinous  in  their  effects  upon 
individual  character  and  the  public  welfare. 

"  2.  That  the  purchase  and  sale  of  lottery-tickets  should  be  avoided  by 
every  member  of  our  Church,  even  when  the  professed  object  of  the  lottery 
may  be  praiseworthy,  inasmuch  as  it  not  allowable  to  do  evil  that  good  may 
come. 

''  3.  That  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  this  General  Assembly 
be,  and  they  hereby  are,  recommended  to  take  order  on  the  subject  of  lot- 
tery gambling,  to  press  the  consideration  of  it  and  its  attendant  evils  upon 
Ministers  and  Sessions,  and  to  adopt  such  plans  of  operation  as  may  free  the 
Church  from  all  participation  in  this  sin,  enlighten,  arouse,  and  direct  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  save  our  country  from  this  and  every  other  species  of  gam- 
bling."— Minutes,  1830,  p.  31. 

Title  2. — Intemperance. 
§  20.    Carousals  at  funerals. 

.  "  That  as  the  too  great  use  of  spirituous  liquors  at  funerals  in  some  parts 
of  the  country,  is  risen  to  such  an  height  as  greatly  to  endanger  the  morals 
of  many,  and  is  the  cause  of  much  scandal,  the  Synod  earnestly  enjoin,  that 
the  several  Sessions  and  committees  shall  take  the  most  effectual  methods  to 
correct  these  mischiefs,  and  discountenance  by  their  example  and  influence 
all  approaches  to  such  practices,  and  all  ostentatious  and  expensive  parades, 
so  inconsistent  with  such  mortifying  and  distressing  occasions." — Minutes, 
1766,  p.  359. 

§  21.  Duty  of  Church  oficers  and  members. 

''Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  Miller,  Milledoler,  and  Romeyn,  Rev. 
Messrs.  James  Richards,  McNeice,  Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  and  Gardiner  Spring, 
Dr.  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  Col.  Henry  Rutgers,  and  Mr.  Divie  Bethune,  be 
a  committee  to  endeavour  to  devise  measures,  which  when  sanctioned  by 
the  General  Assembly,  may  have  an  influence  in  preventing  some  of  the 
numerous  and  threatening  mischiefs  which  are  experienced  throughout  our 
country  by  the  excessive  and  intemperate  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  and  that 
this  committee  be  authorized  to  correspond  and  act  in  concert  with  any  per- 
sons who  may  be  appointed,  or  associate  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  that  the 
committee  hereby  appointed  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly." — Mm- 
utes,  1811,  p.  474. 

[Upon  the  report  of  this  committee  the  next  year,  it  was] 

*'  1.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  the  Ministers  of  the  Pres- 


Part  II.]  RULES   OF   MORALITY.  795 

byterian  Churcli  in  the  United  States  to  deliver  public  discourses,  as  often 
as  circumstances  may  render  expedient,  on  the  sin  and  mischiefs  of  intem- 
perate drinking ;  in  which,  as  well  as  on  all  suitable  occasions,  both  public 
and  private,  it  will  be  proper  pointedly  and  solemnly  to  warn  their  hearers, 
and  especially  members  of  the  Church,  not  only  against  actual  intemperance, 
but  against  all  those  habits  and  indulgences  which  may  have  a  tendency  to 
produce  it. 

"  2.  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  Church  Sessions  within  the  bounds  of  the 
General  Assembly,  that  they  exercise  a  special  vigilance  and  care  over  the 
conduct  of  all  persons  in  the  communion  of  their  respective  Churches,  with 
regard  to  this  sin,  and  that  they  sedulously  endeavour,  by  private  warning 
and  remonstrance,  and  by  such  public  censures,  as  different  cases  may 
require,  to  purge  the  Church  of  a  sin  so  enormous  in  its  mischiefs,  and  so 
disgraceful  to  the  Christian  name. 

'*  3.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Ministers  and  other  officers  and  mem- 
bers of  our  Church,  that  they  exert  themselves  to  diffuse  as  extensively  as 
possible,  among  their  Congregations,  and  the  community  at  large,  such  ad- 
dresses, sermons,  tracts,  or  other  printed  compositions  on  this  subject,  as 
may  have  a  tendency  to  produce  a  suitable  impression  against  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits,  and  to  recommend  sobriety  and  temperance. 

"  4.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  officers  and  members  of  our  Church, 
to  take  such  measures  as  may  be  judged  proper  and  effectual,  for  reducing 
the  number  of  taverns  and  other  places  of  vending  liquors  by  small  mea- 
sure, in  all  those  parts  of  our  country  in  which  either  their  excessive  num- 
bers, or  the  improper  character  of  such  places  renders  them  a  public 
nuisance. 

**  It  is  believed  that  the  evils  arising  from  these  sources  are  incalculably 
great,  and  that  by  prudent  management,  they  admit,  under  providence,  of 
very  considerable  diminution." — Minutes,  1812,  p.  511. 

§  22.  Pastoral  Letter  on  Intemperance. 
''The  first  thing  we  shall  mention  is  the  crime  of  drunkenness.  This  crime 
has  at  all  times  been  a  curse  to  our  country,  and  has  often  made  lamentable 
inroads  upon  our  Church.  We  are  convinced  that  it  may  be  opposed  more 
successfully  by  prevention  than  in  any  other  way.  When  the  character  of 
drunkenness  is  fully  formed,  the  unhappy  victim  is  lost  to  those  motives 
which  ordinarily  influence  all  other  classes  of  men.  In  this  state  of  things 
nothing  but  a  miracle  of  divine  grace  can  effect  his  reformation.  The  cer- 
tain and  acknowledged  prospect  of  the  wreck  of  his  family,  his  fortune,  and 
his  character,  and  even  of  the  ruin  of  his  immortal  soul,  is  not  sufficient  to 
arrest  his  course;  and  yet  perhaps  the  same  man  may  formerly  have  been 
in  such  a  state  of  equilibrium  or  indecision  upon  this  subject,  that  the  small- 
est motives  might  have  prevented  the  formation  of  a  habit,  which  in  its  matu- 
rity has  become  so  irresistible.  This  consideration  is  certainly  sufficient  to 
justify  an  effort  for  saving  our  fellow  men  from  the  domination  of  so  destruc- 
tive a  vice.  For  this  purpose  we  earnestly  recommend  to  the  officers  and 
members  of  our  Church  to  abstain  even  from  the  common  use  of  ardent 
spirits.  Such  a  voluntary  privation  as  this,  with  its  motives  publicly  avowed, 
will  not  be  without  its  effect  in  cautioning  our  fellow  Christians  and  fellow 
citizens  against  the  encroachment  of  intoxication;  and  we  have  the  more 
confidence  in  recommending  this  course,  as  it  has  already  been  tried  with 
success  in  several  sections  of  our  Church." — Minutes,  1818,  p.  689. 

§  23.  Day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer. 
'^Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  exceedingly  heinous  nature  of  the  sin  of 
intemperance  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  as  in  direct  opposition  to  the 


796  MORAL   AND    SECULAR    QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

authority  and  moral  government  of  God;  its  wide  spread  prevalence  infect- 
ing, as  we  are  not  without  reason  to  apprehend,  some  members,  and  even 
officers  of  the  (jhurch ;  the  dreadful  miseries  it  inflicts  on  society  in  all  its 
interests,  physical,  political,  moral,  and  religious;  and  especially  in  view  of 
the  great  guilt  that  rests  on  the  Church  in  this  matter,  not  merely  from  so 
many  of  her  members  participating  in  it,  while  others  with  thoughtless 
insensibility,  minister  the  means  of  its  indulgence  to  its  deluded  victims; 
but  especially  in  having  greatly  failed,  as  the  light  of  the  world,  and  the 
salt  of  the  earth,  by  her  instructions,  her  example,  her  prayers,  and  her 
vigorous  efforts  every  way  to  stay  the  plague; 

"This  General  Assembly  do  appoint  the  fourth  Thursday  of  January, 
1829,  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  with  special  reference  to 
this  sin;  and  recommend  to  all  the  people  of  their  communion  its  solemn 
observance  as  such.  Moreover,  they  give  it  in  charge  to  all  their  Ministers 
who  may  officiate  on  this  occasion,  by  prayer  and  study  to  have  their  minds 
thoroughly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  greatness  of  this  sin ;  and  to 
endeavour  so  to  conduct  the  exercises  of  the  sanctuary,  that  all  the  people 
to  whom  they  minister,  may  be  brought  most  fully  under  the  same  impres- 
sion, and  aroused  to  a  vigorous  exertion  of  all  the  means  which  duty  and 
sound  discretion  dictate,  for  arresting  this  hateful  and  desolating  abomina- 
tion."—i/mM<es,  1828,  p.  241. 

§  24.    Total  abstinence. 

^^ Resolved,  That  they  [the  Assembly]  cordially  approve  and  rejoice  in 
the  formation  of  temperance  societies,  on  the  principle  of  entire  abstinence 
from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  as  expressing  disapprobation  of  intemperance 
in  the  strongest  and  most  efficient  manner,  and  making  the  most  available 
resistance  to  this  destructive  and  wide  spreading  evil. 

"That  they  earnestly  recommend,  as  far  as  practicable  the  forming  of 
temperance  societies  in  the  Congregations  under  their  care;  and  that  all 
the  members  of  the  Churches  adopt  the  principle  of  entire  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

"That  as  friends  of  the  cause  of  temperance,  this  Assembly  rejoice  to 
lend  the  force  of  their  example  to  the  cause  as  an  ecclesiastical  body,  by  an 
entire  abstinence  themselves  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits."  fUnanimous- 
]y  adopted.] — Miimtes,  1829,  pp.  375,  376. 

§  25.  Manufacture  and  sale. 

(a)  ^^  Resolved,  That  while  this  Assembly  would  by  no  means  encroach 
upon  the  rights  of  private  judgment,  it  cannot  but  express  its  very  deep 
regret,  that  any  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  should  at  the  present 
day,  and  under  existing  circumstances,  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to  manu- 
facture, vend,  or  use  ardent  spirits,  and  thus,  as  far  as  their  influence 
extends,  counteract  the  eff"orts  now  making  for  the  promotion  of  temper- 
ance."—M«?<tes,  1830,  p.  24. 

(h)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  to  be  used  as  a  drink 
by  any  people,  is,  in  our  judgment,  morally  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  viewed 
as  such,  by  the  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ,  universally." — Minutes,  1834, 
p.  31. 

(c)  "It  is  with  the  utmost  surprise  and  pain  that  we  learn  from  the 
reports  of  two  or  three  Presbyteries,  that  some  of  their  members,  and  even 
Kuling  Elders,  still  manufacture  and  sell  ardent  spirits.  These  things 
ought  not  so  to  be.  They  are  a  stumbling  block  to  many,  and  have  a  mani- 
fest tendency  to  bring  overwhelming  calamities,  both  temporal  and  spiritual, 
on  society  at  large.     No  Church  can  shine  as  a  light  in  the  world,  while  she 


Part  II.]  EULES   OF   MORALITY.  797 

openly  sanctions  and  sustains  any  practices  whicli  are  so  evidently  destruc- 
tive of  the  best  interests  of  society." — llinutes,  1837,  p.  510. 

§  26.    Sale  to  heathen  tribes. 

''Communications  from  tlie  London  Missionary  Society,  and  from  the 
British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,  were  made  to  the  Assembly  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Edwards,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Temper- 
ance Society;  with  regard  to  the  destructive  effects  produced  in  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  by  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  carried  on  by  our  countrymen 
and  others;  therefore, 

'■'■Resolved,  1.  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  our  brethren  in  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  and  in  Great  Britain,  in  view  of  the  distresses  which  through 
agency  of  some  of  our  countrymen  have  been  brought  upon  them;  and 
deplore  the  calamities  that  agency  has  instituted,  by  obstructing  in  those 
Islands  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  demoralizing  the  character,  and  destroy- 
ing the  lives  and  souls  of  men. 

"2.  That  the  practice  of  sending  out  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink, 
by  the  unevangelized  and  partially  civilized  nations  and  tribes  of  men,  is  in 
our  view,  a  violation  of  the  principles  and  precepts  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  ought  to  be  abandoned  throughout  the  world." — Minutes,  1834,  p.  31. 

[For  further  action  on  the  subject  of  temperance,  see  Minutes  1818,  p.  684;  1827,  p. 
128;   184.3,  p.  206,  «&c.] 

§  27.    Relation  of  the   Church  to    Temperance  and  other   moral  reform, 

societies. 

"  A  preamble  and  resolution  submitted  by  the  Executive  Committee- of 
the  American  Temperance  Union  to  the  General  Assembly  for  its  adoption, 
to  which  may  be  added  an  address  of  the  New  York  City  Temperance 
Society,  organized  on  Christian  principles,  transmitted  to  the  Assembly  by 
a  committee  of  the  Society. 

"  Your  committee  would  recommend,  in  reference  to  this  whole  subject 
of  Temperance  Societies,  and  all  other  secular  institutions  for  moral  ends, 
the  adoption  of  the  following  minute : 

"The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  spiritual  body,  to  which  have  been 
given  the  ministry,  oracles,  and  ordinances  of  God,  for  the  gathering  and 
perfecting  of  the  saints  in  this  life,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  It  is  the  great 
instrumentality  of  the  Saviour,  through  which,  by  his  eternal  Spirit,  he  dis- 
penses salvation  to  the  objects  of  his  love.  Its  ends  are  holiness  and  life, 
to  the  manifestation  of  the  riches  and' glory  of  Divine  grace,  and  not  simply 
morality,  decency,  and  good  order,  which  may  to  some  extent  be  secured 
without  faith  in  the  Eedeemer,  or  the  transforming  efficacy  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  laws  of  the  Church  are  the  authoritative  injunctions  of  Christ, 
and  not  the  covenants,  however  benevolent  in  their  origin  and  aim,  which 
men  have  instituted  of  their  own  will:  and  the  ground  of  obligation  which 
the  Church,  as  such,  inculcates,  is  the  authority  of  God  speaking  in  his 
word,  and  not  pledges  of  honour  which  create,  measure,  and  define  the  pecu- 
liar duties  of  all  voluntary  associations.  In  this  kingdom  of  God  the 
Holy  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  manners,  and  no  Church  judi- 
ciary ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  which  shall  bind  the  conscience,  or  to 
issue  recommendations  which  shall  regulate  manners,  without  the  warrant, 
explicit  or  implied,  of  the  revealed  will  of  God.  It  is  hence  beside  the  pro- 
vince of  the  Church  to  i^ender  its  courts,  which  God  ordained  for  spiritual 
purposes,  subsidiary  to  the  schemes  of  any  association  founded  in  the  human 
will  and  liable  to  all  its  changes  and  caprices.  No  court  of  Christ  can 
exact  of  his  people  to  unite  with  the  Temperance,  Moral  Reform,  Colonize- 


798  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

tion,  or  any  other  society  which  may  seek  their  aid.  Connection  with  such 
institutions  is  a  matter  of  Christian  liberty.  Their  objects  may  be,  in  every 
respect,  worthy  of  the  countenance  and  support  of  all  good  men,  but  in  so  far  as 
they  are  moral  and  essentially  obligatory,  the  Church  promotes  them  among  its 
own  members,  and  to  none  others  does  its  jurisdiction  extend,  by  the  means 
which  God  has  ordained  for  the  edification  of  his  children.  Still,  in  the 
exercise  of  their  Christian  liberty,  as  good  citizens,  as  patriotic  subjects  of 
the  State,  from  motives  of  philanthropy,  and  from  love  to  God,  Christian 
people  may  choose  to  adopt  this  particular  mode  of  attempting  to  achieve 
the  good  at  which  all  moral  societies  profess  to  aim,  they  have  a  right  to  do 
so,  and  the  Church,  as  long  as  they  endorse  no  false  principles  and  counte- 
tenance  no  wrong  practices,  cannot  interfere  with  them.  Recognizing  these 
propositions  as  the  truths  of  the  word  of  God,  this  General  Assembly,  as  a 
court  of  Jesus  Christ,  cannot  league  itself  with  any  voluntary  society,  can- 
not exact  of  those  who  are  subject  to  its  discipline  to  do  so;  but  must  leave 
the  whole  matter,  where  the  Scriptures  leave  it,  to  the  prudence,  philan- 
thropy, and  good  sense  of  God's  children;  each  man  having  a  right  to  do  as 
to  him  shall  seem  good. 

"  These  societies  must  appeal  not  to  Church  courts,  but  to  Church  mem- 
bers. When  they  proclaim  principles  that  are  scriptural  and  sound,  it  is  not 
denied  that  the  Church  has  a  right,  and  under  certain  circumstances,  may 
be  bound  to  bear  testimony  in  their  favour ;  and  when,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  inculcate  doctrines  which  are  infidel,  heretical,  and  dangerous,  the 
Church  has  a  right  to  condemn  them.  In  conformity  with  these  statements 
the  General  Assembly  has  no  hesitation  in  cordially  approving  of  abstinence 
from  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  matter  of  Christian  expediency,  according  to 
the  words  of  the  Apostle  in  Romans  xiv.  21,  *It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh 
nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is 
offended,  or  is  made  weak,'  and  in  expressing  its  afi"ectionate  interest  in  the 
cause  of  temperance — and  would  recommend  to  its  Ministers  and  Elders 
who  have  become  connected  with  temperance  societies,  to  use  every  effort 
to  prevent  the  introduction  of  any  other  principle  as  the  ground  of  their 
pledge,  and  to  throw  around  these  institutions  those  safeguards  which  shall 
be  the  means  of  rescuing  them  from  the  excesses  to  which  they  are  liable 
from  influences  opposed  to  or  aside  from  the  Gospel  of  Christ." — Minutes^ 
1848,  p.  58. 

Title  3. — Sabbath  Desecration. 

§  28.  An  extended  deliverance  on  the  sulject. 

"The  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  is  certainly  increasing  with  fearful 
rapidity  in  almost  every  part  of  our  beloved  country.  A  solemn  and  alarm- 
ing crisis  has  already  come.  Unless  the  slumbering  energies  of  the  Church 
are  speedily  aroused  to  arrest  the  progress  of  this  growing  evil,  the  entire 
obliteration  of  the  Sabbath,  will  at  no  distant  period  be  the  result.  It  is 
necessary  only  to  look  into  our  large  cities  and  villages,  on  the  Sabbath,  or 
to  glance  the  eye  along  our  navigable  rivers,  and  over  our  beautiful  lakes, 
or  to  trace  the  extended  lines  of  our  canals,  and  railroads,  or  listen  to  the 
perpetual  rumbling  of  loaded  vehicles  on  all  our  travelled  routes,  in  order  to 
be  convinced  that  Sabbath-breaking  has  already  become  a  sin  of  giant 
growth  in  our  land.  It  is  indeed,  a  wide-spread,  deep-seated,  unblushing 
evil.  It  enters  boldly  into  almost  every  commercial  interest  in  the  country; 
and  embraces,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  its  broad  sweep  of  mischief,  a  vast 
multitude  of  individuals;  and  what  is  still  worse,  an  alarming  proportion  of 
these  offenders  belong  to  the  Church  of  the  living  God.     Here  is  the  root 


Part  IL]  RULES  OF  morality.  799 

of  the  evil.  The  Church  has  become  a  deliberate  partaker  in  this  sin.  In 
this  way  has  her  warning  voice  been  well  nigh  silenced,  her  redeeming 
power  over  the  community  paralyzed,  and  the  salutary  restraints  of  a  consist- 
ent example  effectually  vacated.  Reformation  then  must  begin  at  the 
house  of  God.  If  the  Church  alone  can  save  the  Sabbath  from  being 
abolished,  she  must  first  reform  her  own  conduct.  In  entering  upon  the 
work  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  in  its  failure  or  success  are  involved  the 
best  interests  of  the  Church,  of  our  country,  and  the  world.  The  rest  of 
the  Sabbath  is  the  only  wise  and  adequate  provision  for  the  wants  of  the 
animal  system.  The  ivjiuence  of  the  Sabbath  can  alone  be  relied  on  to  sus- 
tain our  free  institutions,  to  extend  the  empire  of  law,  to  preserve  domestic 
order  and  happiness,  and  to  continue  the  bare  existence  of  morality  and 
religion  in  the  world.  The  abandonment  of  the  Sabbath  is  therefore, 
nothing  less  than  resigning  all  that  is  sacred  and  dear  to  a  Christian  people, 
for  time  and  for  eternity.  It  is  certain,  that  whatever  is  done  to  rebuke  and 
arrest  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  must  be  done  immediately.  The 
work  of  reform  cannot  be  delayed,  without  hazarding  the  irretrievable  loss 
of  all  the  blessings  which  flow  from  the  observance  of  that  day.  The  task 
has  already  become  formidable  and  difficult.  It  is  not  however,  altogether 
hopeless.  The  Sabbath  may  yet  be  restored,  and  its  blessings  perpetuated. 
The  Church  and  the  Ministry  can,  under  Grod,  do  all  that  the  exigency 
demands.  Let  this  Assembly  do  their  whole  duty.  Let  them  lift  up  a 
voice  of  strength — let  them  send  out  a  loud  note  of  alarm — let  them  deter- 
mine in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  to  carry  out,  in  their  practical  relation  to 
the  Sabbath,  the  true  principles  of  Christian  discipline;  and  the  whole 
Church  may  be  cleansed,  the  Sabbath  reinstated,  and  this  great  and  guilty 
nation  saved.  Till  this  is  done,  the  power  of  every  Christian  enterprise  will 
be  circumscribed,  and  fluctuating.  Nothing  that  is  pure  and  holy  can  flourish 
without  the  Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  reform  is  the  fundamental  enterprise. 
It  is  utterly  vain  to  think  of  substituting  any  other  conservative  power. 
The  question  of  rescuing  the  Sabbath  from  general  profanation,  is,  ahsolvte- 
ly,  a  question  of  life  and  death,  to  every  Christian  denomination  in  the 
world.  Such  is  the  momentous  nature  of  the  subject  under  consideration. 
Your  committee  rejoice  that  in  this  work,  all  hearts  may  unite,  and  every 
minor  difference  be  forgotten.  Here  is  common  ground.  The  Sabbath  of 
the  Lord  is  the  inheritance  of  all  true  Christians.  And  there  is  work 
enough  for  all.  The  Church  must  revive  her  wholesome  discipline.  The 
ministry  must  cry  aloud  and  spare  not.  The  press  must  be  enlisted — the 
whole  community  aroused.  The  entire  instrumentality  which  God  has  pre- 
pared for  preserving  his  own  institutions,  must  be  called  forth,  and  kept 
in  untiring  requisition.  For  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  General  Assembly 
more  effectually  to  speak  their  sentiments  to  the  Churches,  and  the  nation, 
your  committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  indispensable  to  the 
preservation  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  furnishes  the  only  security  for 
eminent  and  abiding  prosperity,  either  to  the  Church  or  the  world. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  the  growing  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  in  our  coun- 
try must  be  speedily  arrested,  and  the  habits  of  the  community  essentially 
reformed,  or  the  blessings  of  the  Sabbath,  civil,  social,  and  religious,  will 
soon  be  irrecoverably  lost. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  the  work  of  a  general  reformation  be- 
longs, under  God,  to  the  Christian  Church,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
apply  the  corrections  of  a  firm  and  efficient  discipline  to  all  known  violations 
of  the  Sabbath,  on  the  part  of  her  members. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  must  act  a  con- 


800  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIIL 

spicuous  part  in  every  successful  effort  to  do  away  the  sin  of  Sabbath-break- 
ing, it  is  their  duty  to  observe,  both  in  their  preaching  and  their  practice, 
the  rule  of  entire  abstinence  from  all  profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  studi- 
ously avoiding  even  the  appearance  of  evil. 

"  5.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  own- 
ers of  stock  in  steamboats,  canals,  railroads,  &c.,  which  are  in  the  habit  of 
violating  the  Sabbath,  are  lending  their  property  and  their  influence  to  one 
of  the  most  wide-spread,  alarming,  and  deplorable  systems  of  Sabbath  dese- 
cration, which  now  grieves  the  hearts  of  the  pious,  and  disgraces  the  Church 
of  God. 

"  That  it  be  respectfully  recommended  to  the  friends  of  the  Lord's  day, 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  establish  such  means  of  public  conveyance  as  shall 
relieve  the  friends  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  necessity  under  which  they  now 
labour,  of  travelling  at  any  time  in  vehicles  which  habitually  violate  that 
holy  day,  and  thus  prevent  them  from  being  in  any  way  partakers  in  other 
men's  sins  in  this  respect. 

"  6.  Resolved,  That  the  power  of  the  pulpit  and  the  press  must  be  imme- 
diately put  in  requisition  on  behalf  of  a  dishonoured  Sabbath,  that  the  mag- 
nitude and  remedy  of  the  evils,  which  its  violation  involves,  may  be  fully 
understood  by  the  whole  community. 

"7.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  solemnly  enjoin  it  upon  the  Churches 
under  their  care,  to  adopt,  without  delay,  all  proper  measures  for  accomplish- 
ing a  general  and  permanent  reformation  from  the  siu  of  Sabbath-breaking, 
and  all  its  attendant  evils. 

"8.  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  one  from  each  Synod  under  the  care 
of  this  Assembly,  be  now  appointed,  to  hold  correspondence  with  Ministers 
and  Churches,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  and  applying  the  leading 
principles  of  the  foregoing  report  and  resolutions. 

"9.  Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  report  and  resolutions  be  published  in 
such  newspapers,  secular  and  religious,  as  are  friendly  to  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath. 

"10.  Resolved,  That  all  the  Ministers  in  the  bounds  of  the  General  As- 
sembly be  requested  to  read  the  document  on  the  Sabbath  from  their  several 
pulpits,  and  preach  on  the  whole  subject  which  it  embraces,  on  or  before  the 
third  Sabbath  of  September  nest." — 3Imutes,  1836,  p.  281. 

§29. 

"  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  that  there  is  not  a  more  elevated  tone  of 
feeling,  more  scriptural  views,  and  a  more  correct  practice  among  the  people 
of  our  Churches,  in  regard  to  the  importance  and  sacredness  of  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath,  and  the  obligation  of  its  holy  observance.  In  some  places 
within  our  bounds  very  effective  measures  have  been  taken,  by  conventions 
and  addresses  to  rouse  public  attention  to  the  importance  of  Sabbath 
sanctification ;  while  in  the  bounds  of  other  Presbyteries,  mention  is  made 
of  the  lamentable  and  growing  desecration  of  this  sacred  day;  and  they 
deplore  it  as  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  ministry  of  the  word.  Upon  this 
subject,  our  duty.  Christian  brethren,  is  plain.  Whatever  the  men  of  the 
world  may  think  or  do,  the  Assembly  would  faithfully  and  afl'ectionately 
exhort  all  the  members  of  their  Churches,  to  see  that  their  example  in  this 
respect  be  unblamable  before  their  families  and  all  around  them.  And  let 
the  united  exertions  of  Ministers  and  people  be  directed  to  the  devoutly 
wished  for  object  of  securing  the  proper  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  among 
all  classes  throughout  the  land.  The  holy  Sabbath  is  the  common  privilege 
of  all  men,  and  its  dishonour  should  be  alike  grievous  to  all  good  men.  The 
general  observance  of,  and  veneration  for,  this  day,  is  said  to  distinguish  the 


Part  II.]  RULES   OF   MORALITY.  801 

people  of  these  United  States  from  both  Protestant  and  Papal  Europe.  Let 
this  institution,  then,  become  secularized  and  profaned  extensively  over  our 
land,  and  how  it  would  darken  the  prospects  of  this  nation  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  so  much  that  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  patriot,  and  precious  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  Christian.  Then  might  Ichahod  be  written  on  our 
legislative  halls  and  churches,  because  their  glory  will  have  departed." — 
Ilinutes,  1853,  p.  600. 

§  30.  Desecration  l>y  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

"An  overture  from  a  venerable  and  distinguished  father  in  the  Church, 
proposing,  that  in  view  of  the  great  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  by  our  Na- 
tional Legislature,  and  men  high  in  political  place  and  favour;  and  in  view 
of  destructive  frosts  and  terrible  conflagrations,  and  the  peculiar  judgments 
of  God  upon  our  western  waters,  in  the  late  destruction  of  steamers,  and  in 
the  dreadful  prevalence  of  the  Asiatic  Cholera,  these  frowning  indications 
by  which  He  would  vindicate  his  holy  day;  as  well  as  in  view  of  the  abound- 
ing murders  and  other  aggravated  crimes  which  provoke  his  righteous  indig- 
nation; and  also  in  view  of  the  suspension  of  divine  influences,  this  General 
Assembly  appoint  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer. 

"The  committee  recommended  that  the  Assembly  do  appoint  the  last 
Thursday  of  June  next  for  this  purpose;  unless  in  the  meantime  the  Pre- 
sident of  these  United  States  should  recommend  a  different  day  foi  national 
fasting;  in  which  case,  our  Churches  are  desired  to  conform,  by  changing 
the  time  we  specify,  to  the  day  mentioned  in  the  civil  proclamation.'" — 
Minutes,  1849,  p.  265. 

§  31.   Sabbath  travel. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  views  with  unfeigned  sorrow  and  regret 
the  practice  of  travelling,  by  professors  of  religion  and  others,  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  that  it  considers  all  such  travelling,  which  is  not  strictly  included 
in  works  of  necessity  and  mercy,  as  a  direct  violation  of  the  law  of  God." — 
31inutes,  1850,  p.  482.    v. 

Title  4. — Sabbath  Mails. 

§  32.   Petition  to  Congress  by  the  General  Assembly. 

"The  petition  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  to  the  honourable  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled : 

^^  Humbly  Sheweth — That  your  petitioners  view  with  deep  regret  the 
infractions  of  the  Lord's  day,  occasioned  by  the  opening  of  the  mail  on  that 
day,  and  the  circumstances  accompanying  such  opening. 

''A  variety  of  considerations,  temporal  and  spiritual,  combine,  in  the 
judgment  of  your  petitioners,  to  produce  this  regret.  The  institution  of  the 
Sabbath  by  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  world,  whilst  it  clearly  proves  his 
benevolent  regard  for  men,  imposes  upon  them  the  reasonable  obligation  of 
devoting  this  day  to  his  service.  He  makes  it  their  duty  to  rest  from  the 
toils  and  labours  of  six  days,  and  requires  from  them  that  thoy  should 
statedly  assemble  together  for  his  worship  on  the  seventh.  Both  these 
objects  contemplated  by  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  the  opening  of  the 
mail  on  that  day  and  the  circumstances  accompanying  it,  do  contravene  and 
oppose.  They  who  carry  the  mail  and  they  who  open  it,  together  with 
those  to  whom  letters  or  papers  are  delivered,  under  the  sanction  of  civil 
law,  neglect  the  public  worship  of  God  in  part  or  whole.  Besides  this,  the 
noise  and  confusion  attendin"-  the  carrying  and  opcnino;  of  the  mail  ia 

101  °  ^      o  P  o 


802  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book   VIII. 

post  towns,  too  frequently  in  a  most  painful  manner  disturb  the  devotion  of 
those  who  prefer  their  spiritual  to  their  temporal  interests.  Moreover,  the 
carrying  of  the  mail  encourages  persons  to  hire  out  their  carriages  on  the 
Lord's  day  to  those  who  have  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  thus  adding  to 
the  open  violation  of  the  day;  and  to  say  no  more,  the  brute  creatures  are  made 
to  work  on  this  day  over  and  above  the  six  days,  and  thus  are  deprived  of 
the  rest  to  which  they  are  entitled  by  the  authority  of  God,  whilst  they  are 
forced  to  administer  to  the  cupidity  of  those  who  forget  the  truth,  that  'the 
righteous  man  is  merciful  to  his  beast.' 

"  Your  petitioners  are  the  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
observing  the  Sabbath,  on  account  of  the  influence  which  such  observance 
has  in  promoting  true  morality  and  social  happiness. 

''On  this  day  all  classes  of  men  assemble  together  in  the  presence  of  God 
on  terms  of  perfect  equality,  for  in  his  presence  the  ruler  is  not  more  impor- 
tant than  the  ruled,  since  both  meet  as  sinners  needing  the  exercise  of 
sovereign  and  free  mercy. 

"On  this  day  they  are  taught  from  the  Scriptures,  the  only  source  of 
truth,  their  duty,  their  interest  and  their  happiness. 

"On  this  day  they  unite  according  to  the  direction  of  God,  in  prayer  for 
all  men — for  magistrates  as  well  as  subjects — for  the  nation  as  well  as  indi- 
viduals— for  every  description  of  persons. 

"On  this  day  they  manifest  the  gratitude  which  they  owe  to  God  for  bene- 
fits received,  thanking  him  for  his  mercies,  and  supplicating  his  grace. 

"The  efiects  arising  from  the  duties  in  which  they  engage,  the  instruc- 
tion which  they  receive,  and  their  assembling  together  before  God,  are  all 
calculated  to  produce  such  a  state  of  heart  and  such  a  line  of  conduct,  as 
directly  promote  individual  and  social  happiness. 

"Your  petitioners  are  aware  of  the  plea  which  is  used  to  justify  the 
infractions  of  the  Sabbath,  of  which  we  complain.  Works  of  necessity, 
such  as  arise  out  of  extraordinary  circumstances,  or  such  as  are  unavoidable 
for  the  support  and  comfort  of  life,  together  with  works  of  charity,  are 
admitted  to  be  lawful,  for  God  delighteth  in  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice. 
But  your  petitioners  cannot  conceive  that  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life, 
in  ordinary  times,  or  the  exercise  of  charity,  require  such  infractions  of  the 
Sabbath  as  are  occasioned  by  the  carrying  or  opening  of  the  mail  on  that 
day.  For  the  cases  of  sickness,  to  take  one  of  the  strongest  and  most 
plausible  facts  included  in  the  plea  of  necessity,  which  are  communicated 
by  the  mail,  are  too  few,  and  happen  at  intervals  too  long,  to  justify  the 
habitual  breach  of  the  Sabbath.  As  to  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  any 
prospect  of  gain,  or  fear  of  loss,  cannot  be  admitted  as  legitimate  causes  for 
disobeying  the  command  of  God  to  keep  the  Sabbath  holy.  No  one  ever 
yet  has  sufi'erod,  or  will  sufi'er,  in  obeying  God,  rather  than  his  cupidity,  his 
ambition,  or  his  lusts. 

"Your  petitioners,  moreover,  feel  themselves  constrained  in  their  oflace 
as  rulers  in  the  Church,  to  exercise  the  discipline  of  that  Church  against 
those  of  their  members  who  break  the  Sabbath  in  the  carrying  or  opening 
of  the  mail  on  that  day.  In  doing  this  they  are  not  conscious  of  any  dis- 
respect to  the  civil  authority  of  the  land.  They  wish  to  render  unto  Cajsar 
the  things  which  are  Ca3sar's,  but  must  at  every  hazard,  render  unto  God 
the  things  which  are  God's.  In  thus  honouring  God  more  than  men,  they 
trust  their  motives  will  be  respected,  and  their  conduct  approved. 

"Your  petitioners  are  the  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
a  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  necessity  of  an  alteration  in  the 
existing  regulations  of  the  post-office,  as  far  as  they  relate  to  the  Sabbath, 
from  the  prospect  of  a  war.     As  they  firmly  believe  in  the  special  provi- 


Part  II.]  RULES   OF   MORALITY.  803 

dence  of  God,  and  that  this  providence  is  exercised  according  to  those  prin- 
ciples of  truth  and  equity  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  they  fear,  and  have 
just  reason  to  fear,  that  the  infractions  of  the  Sabbath  allowed  by  civil  law, 
will  di-aw  down  upon  our  nation  the  divine  displeasure.  God  honours  those 
who  honour  him,  and  casts  down  those  who  forget  him.  Obedience  to  his 
will  adds  dignity  to  rulers,  and  enforces  subjection  in  those  who  are 
ruled. 

''From  all  these  considerations  which  have  been  given  in  detail,  your 
petitioners  pray  for  such  an  alteration  in  the  law  relative  to  the  mails,  as 
will  prevent  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  which  now  takes  place  in  con- 
veying and  opening  the  mail.  And  your  petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will 
ever  pray,  &c." 

"  Ordered,  That  this  petition  be  signed  by  the  Moderator,  and  attested 
by  the  Clerk,  and  be  committed  to  the  Moderator  to  forward  to  Congress." 
—Mmufcs,  1812,  p.  513. 

"Dr.  Flinn,  to  whom  was  committed  the  petition  of  the  last  Assembly  to 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  carrying  and  opening 
the  mail  on  the  Sabbath,  reported  that  he  put  the  petition  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Cheves,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  who  afterwards 
informed  him  that  the  prayer  of  the  petition  was  not  granted." — Minutes, 
1813,  p.  519. 

§  33.  A  second  petition  circulated  throughout  the  Church. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  petition  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  on  the  subject  of  opening  the  mail  on  the  Sabbath  day,  reported 
a  draft  of  a  petition,  which  being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is 
as  follows,  viz. 

"  The  subscribers,  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  ....  in  the  State  of  ....  , 
beg  leave  respectfully  to  represent  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
that  in  their  apprehension,  the  transportation  and  opening  of  the  mail  on  the 
Sabbath  is  injurious  to  the  morals  and  civil  welfare  of  this  nation.  They 
do  therefore  pray,  that  such  arrangements  may  be  made  as  shall  pi'event 
the  continuance  of  this  evil. 

In  illustration  of  their  views  on  this  subject  they  beg  leave  to  state  that 
the  Sabbath,  according  to  their  belief,  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  instituted 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  always  regarded  by  believers  in  reve- 
lation, as  a  blessing  indispensable  to  the  well  being  of  mankind,  both  in  the 
present  life,  and  that  which  is  to  come. 

"That  the  Christian  religion,  which  enjoins  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath, is  the  religion  generally  professed  by  the  people  of  this  nation  ;  and 
that  the  laws  of  many  of  the  States  do  expressly  prohibit  such  profanation 
of  the  Sabbath  as  implied  in  the  transportation  of  the  mail.  That  the  rest 
which  the  Sabbath  provides  is  due  to  the  inferior  creation,  on  the  ground  of 
humanity,  and  to  man  himself  on  the  ground  both  of  humanity  and  policy. 
That  the  Sabbath  contributes  to  increase  the  amount  of  productive  labour, 
to  promote  science,  civilization,  peace,  social  order,  and  correct  morality; 
inasmuch  as  it  convenes  the  population  of  a  nation  one  day  in  seven,  to  hear 
the  best  moral  precepts,  enforced  by  the  most  powerful  motives ;  and  as  it 
restrains  mankind  from  those  vices  which  destroy  property,  health,  reputa- 
tion, intellect,  domestic  peace,  and  national  integrity  and  industry;  thus 
preventing  that  ignorance  and  profligacy  which  tend  to  reduce  the  body  of 
the  people  to  poverty  and  slavery,  by  throwing  the  property  and  power  of 
the  nation  into  the  hands  of  a  few. 

"  We  cannot  but  observe  also,  that  the  Sabbath  has  been  the  principal 


804  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

means  of  upholding  in  the  world  the  knowledge  of  God  and  salvation,  and 
ot  preserving  nations  from  the  darkness  and  miseries  of  idolatry. 

"Wo  are  accustomed  to  consider  also  that  our  prosperity  as  a  nation 
depends  upon  the  smiles  of  Heaven,  and  that  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath 
is  calculated  to  awaken  the  displeasure  of  God,  and  bring  down  his  judg- 
ments. With  these  views  of  the  Sabbath  your  petitioners  are  constrained 
to  contemplate  the  transportation  and  opening  of  the  mail  on  that  day, 
with  deep  r9gret,  as  the  great  objects  of  the  Sabbath  are  evidently  defeated 
by  these  means,  in  respect  to  the  multitude  of  persons  who  are  withdrawn 
from  its  salutary  instructions  and  restraints ;  to  which  evil  we  would  add 
the  powerful  influence  upon  the  community,  of  an  example  so  inauspicious, 
so  constantly  occurring,  so  widely  extended,  and  sanctioned  by  so  high 
authority. 

"We  must  add  likewise,  that  the  transportation  and  opening  of  the  mail 
on  the  Sabbath  is,  in  many  places,  a  painful  interruption  to  the  solemnities 
of  public  worship. 

"Your  petitioners  are  aware,  that  works  of  necessity  and  mercy  are  not 
incompatible  with  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath ;  but  as  government 
may,  and  actually  do,  employ  expresses  in  cases  which  require  special  expe-. 
dition,  we  cannot  but  consider  the  stated  transportation  of  the  mail,  on  the 
Sabbath,  to  be  unnecessary,  and  a  profanation  of  that  holy  day." 

*'  Resolved,  That  two  thousand  copies  of  the  foregoing  petition  be  printed 
and  sent  to  the  several  Presbyteries;  and  that  each  Presbytery  be  directed 
to  take  order  that  the  same  be  circulated  for  subscription  in  all  the  Congre- 
gations under  their  care. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Andrew  Hunter,  Elias  B.  Caldwell,  Esq.  and 
Mr.  Robert  Monro,  be  a  committee  of  correspondence  and  conference,  for 
the  purpose  of  soliciting  the  concurrence  of  other  religious  denominations 
with  us,  in  petitioning  Congress  upon  the  subject  of  transporting  the  mail 
on  the  Sabbath. 

"■Resolved,  That  an  agent  be  appDinted  in  each  of  the  Presbyteries,  to 
exert  his  influence  in  favour  of  the  subscription  within  our  bounds,  and  to 
correspond  with  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  and  Conference,  and  that 
it  be  his  duty  to  receive  the  petitions  which  may  be  subscribed,  and  forward 
them  to  Congress  by  the  first  day  of  January  next." — Minutes,  1814, 
p.  565. 

§  34.  Additional  action. 

(a)  [In  1815,  the  Assembly  adopted  a  paper  on  the  subject,  closing  with  an  urgent 
recommendation  to  all  the  Churches  to  petition.     At  the  same  meeting] 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  draught  of  a  petition  to  the  Con- 
gress on  the  subject  of  the  transportation  and  opening  of  the  mail  on  the 
Sabbath,  reported  the  following,  which  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  The  undersigned,  inhabitants  of and  State  of beg 

leave  to  represent  to  the  honourable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  that  in  the  opinion 
of  your  petitioners,  the  transportation  and  opening  of  the  mail  on  the  Sab- 
bath-day, is  inconsistent  with  the  proper  observance  of  that  sacred  day, 
injurious  to  the  morals  of  the  nation,  and  provokes  the  judgments  of  the 
Ruler  of  nations.  We  perceive  from  the  report  of  the  postmaster-general, 
at  your  last  session  on  this  subject,  that  it  is  his  opinion  that  when  peace 
shall  arrive,  the  necessity  of  carrying  and  opening  the  mail  on  the  Sabbath- 
day  will  greatly  diminish.  While,  therefore,  we  congratulate  you  on  the 
return  of  peace,  we  approach  you  with  confidence,  and  beseech  you  to  take 


Part  II.]  KULES   OF   MORALITY.  805 

this  subject  into  your  serious  consideration,  and  enact  such  laws  as  you  in 
your  wisdom  may  deem  necessary  for  the  removal  of  this  evil.  And  we, 
your  petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray/' — Minutes,  1814, 
p.  601. 

§35. 
[Again,  in  1816,] 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee,  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  kSynod 
represented  in  this  Assembly,  be  appointed  to  correspond  with  influential 
individuals  in  all  the  congressional  districts  in  the  United  States,  and 
engage  their  co-operation  in  preparing  and  circulating  petitions  from  said 
districts  to  Congress,  praying  the  repeal  of  the  law  permitting  the  trans- 
portation of  the  mail  on  the  Lord's  day." — Minutes,  1816,  p.  634. 


PART  III. 

THE  COLOURED  POPULATION. 


CHAPTER  L 

SLAVERY. 

§  36.  First  notice  of  the  subject. 

"A  representation  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles  and  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Hopkins,  respecting  the  sending  two  natives  of  Africa  on  a  mission  to 
propagate  Christianity  in  their  native  country,  and  a  request  that  the  Synod 
would  countenance  this  undertaking  by  their  approbation  of  it,  was  brought 
in  and  read." 

"The  representation  and  request  relative  to  sending  negro  missionaries  to 
Africa,  was  taken  into  consideration,  in  consequence  of  which  the  subject 
of  negro  slavery  came  to  be  considered,  and  after  much  reasoning  on  the 
matter  Dr.  Rodgers,  Messrs.  John  Miller,  Caldwell,  and  Montgomery,  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  bring  in  an  overture  on  this  subject  on  Wednes- 
day morning." 

"The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  an  overture  on  the  representation 
from  Dr.  Stiles  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  and  also  on  the  subject  of 
negro  slavery,  brought  in  a  draught,  the  first  part  of  which  being  read  and 
amended,  was  approved,  and  is  as  follows : 

"The  Synod  is  very  happy  to  have  an  opportunity  to  express  their  readi- 
ness to  concur  with  and  assist  in  a  mission  to  the  African  tribes,  and 
especially  where  so  many  circumstances  concur,  as  in  the  present  case,  to 
intimate  that  it  is  the  will  of  God,  and  to  encourage  us  to  hope  for  success. 
We  assure  the  gentlemen  aforesaid,  we  are  ready  to  do  all  that  is  proper  for 
us  in  our  station  for  their  encouragement  and  assistance." 

"But  some  difficulties  attending  the  discussion  of  the  second  part  of  that 
overture,  the  Synod  agree  to  defer  the  affair  to  our  next  meeting." — MinuteSy 
1774,  pp.  456,  458. 

§  37.  First  action  on  the  subject. 
[The  subject  was  delayed  from  time  to  time,  until  1787.] 
"The  following  was  brought  in  by  the  committee  of  overtures: 
"The  Creator  of  the  world  having  made  of  one  flesh  all  the  children  of 
men,  it  becomes  them  as  members  of  the  same  family,  to  consult  and  pro- 
mote each  other's  happiness.     It  is  more  especially  the  duty  of  those  who 
maintain  the  rights  of  humanity,  and  who  acknowledge  and  teach  the  obli- 
gations of  Chi'istianity,  to  use  such  means  as  are  in  their  power  to  extend 
the  blessings  of  e({ual  freedom  to  every  part  of  the  human  race. 

"From  a  full  conviction  of  these  truths,  and  sensible  that  the  rights  of 
human  nature  are  too  well  understood  to  admit  of  debate,  Overtured,  that 


Part  III.]  THE   SLAVERY  QUESTION.  807 

the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  recommend,  in  the  warmest  terms, 
to  every  member  of  their  body,  and  to  all  the  Churches  and  families  under 
their  care,  to  do  everything  in  their  power  consistent  with  the  rights  of 
civil  society,  to  promote  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  the  instruction  of 
negroes,  whether  bond  or  free." 

"The  Synod  taking  into  consideration  the  overture  concerning  slavery, 
transmitted  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures  last  Saturday,  came  to  the  fol- 
lowing judgment: 

"The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  do  highly  approve  of  the 
general  principles  in  favour  of  universal  liberty,  that  prevail  in  America, 
and  the  interest  which  many  of  the  States  have  taken  in  promoting  the 
abolition  of  slavery;  yet,  inasmuch  as  men  introduced  from  a  servile  state 
to  a  participation  of  all  the  privileges  of  civil  society,  without  a  proper  edu- 
cation, and  without  previous  habits  of  industry,  may  be,  in  many  respects, 
dangerous  to  the  community,  therefore  they  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all 
the  members  belonging  to  their  communion,  to  give  those  persons  who  are 
at  present  held  in  servitude,  such  good  education  as  to  prepare  them  for  the 
better  enjoyment  of  freedom;  and  they  moreover  recommend  that  masters, 
wherever  they  find  servants  disposed  to  make  a  just  improvement  of  the 
jDrivilege,  would  give  them  a  peculium,  or  grant  them  sufficient  time  and 
sufficient  means  of  procuring  their  own  liberty  at  a  moderate  rate,  that 
thereby,  they  may  be  brought  into  society  with  those  habits  of  industry  that 
may  render  them  useful  citizens;  and,  finally,  they  recommend  it  to  all 
their  people  to  use  the  most  prudent  measures,  consistent  with  the  interest 
and  the  state  of  civil  society,  in  the  counties  where  they  live,  to  procure 
eventually  the  final  abolition  of  slavery  in  America." — Minutes,  1787, 
p.  540. 

[In  179.3,  this  decision  was  republished  in  reply  to  a  memorial  on  the  subject,  addressed 
to  the  Assembly  over  the  signature  of  Warner  MifHin,  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Tnende.]—Mi7iutes,  179.3,  p.  76. 

§  38.  Intercommunion  with  slave-holders. 

"A  serious  and  conscientious  person,  a  member  of  a  Presbyterian  Con- 
gregation, who  views  the  slavery  of  the  negroes  as  a  moral  evil,  highly  ofi'en- 
sive  to  God,  and  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  gospel,  lives  under  the 
ministry  of  a  person,  or  amongst  a  society  of  people  who  concur  with  him 
in  sentiment  on  the  subject  upon  general  principles,  yet  for  particular  rea- 
sons hold  slaves,  and  tolerate  the  practice  in  others.  Ovcrtured,  ought  the 
former  of  these  persons,  under  the  impressions  and  circumstances  above 
described,  to  hold  Christian  communion  with  the  latter?" 

"After  due  deliberation,  it  was 

"1.  Resolved,  That  as  the  same  difference  of  opinion  with  respect  to 
slavery  takes  place  in  sundry  other  parts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  not- 
withstanding which  they  live  in  charity  and  peace  according  to  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  the  Apostles,  it  is  hereby  recommended  to  all  conscientious 
persons,  and  especially  to  those  whom  it  immediately  respects,  to  do  the 
same.  At  the  same  time,  the  General  Assembly  assure  all  the  Churches 
under  their  care,  that  they  view,  with  the  deepest  concern,  any  vestiges  of 
slavery  which  may  exist  in  our  country,  and  refer  the  Churches  to  the 
records  of  the  General  Assembly  published  at  different  times,  but  especially 
to  an  overture  of  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  published 
in  1787,  and  republished  among  the  exti'acts  from  the  Minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1793,  on  that  head,  with  which  they  trust  every  con- 
scientious person  will  be  fully  satisfied. 

"2.  Resolved  J  That  Mr.  Kice,  and  Dr.  Muir,  Ministers,  and  Mr.  Kobert 


808  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

Patterson,  an  Elder,  be  a  committee  to  draught  a  letter  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Transylvania,  on  the  subject  of  the  above  overture." 

§39. 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  draught  of  a  letter  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Transylvania,  reported  a  draught,  which  being  read  and  debated 
for  some  time,  a  motion  was  made.  Shall  this  draught  of  a  letter  be  read 
and  debated  by  paragraphs,  or  not?  The  vote  being  taken,  the  question 
was  carried  in  the  affirmative.  The  consideration  of  the  draught  was 
resumed,  and  after  very  considerable  time  spent  therein,  it  was  amended  and 
adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  signed,  and  sent  to  the  Presbytery  of  Transyl- 
vania by  their  Commissioners." — Minutes,  1795,  pp.  103,  104. 

§  40.   The  Letter. 

"  To  our  brethren,  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  under  the  care  of 
Transylvania  Presbytery. 

"  Dear  Friends  and  Brethren — The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  hear  with  concern  from  your  Commissioners,  that  differences 
of  opinion  with  respect  to  holding  Christian  communion  with  those  possessed 
of  slaves,  agitate  the  minds  of  some  among  you,  and  threaten  divisions  which 
may  have  the  most  ruinous  tendency.  The  subject  of  slavery  has  repeatedly 
claimed  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  Commissioners 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  are  furnished  with  attested  copies  of 
these  decisions,  to  be  read  by  the  Presbytery  when  it  shall  appear  to  them 
proper,  together  with  a  copy  of  this  letter,  to  the  several  Churches  under 
their  care. 

"  The  General  Assembly  have  taken  every  step  which  they  deemed  expe- 
dient or  wise,  to  encourage  emancipation,  and  to  render  the  state  of  those 
who  are  in  slavery  as  mild  and  tolerable  as  possible. 

"  Forbearance  and  peace  are  frequently  inculcated  and  enjoined  in  the 
New  Testament.  'Blessed  are  the  peace-makers.'  '  Let  no  one  do  anything 
through  strife  and  vainglory.'  '  Let  each  esteem  others  better  than  himself.' 
The  followers  of  Jesus  ought  conscientiously  to  walk  worthy  of  their  voca- 
tion, 'with  all  lowliness,  and^meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one 
another,  endeavouring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.' 
If  every  difference  of  opinion  were  to  keep  men  at  a  distance,  they  could 
subsist  in  no  state  of  society,  either  civil  or  religious.  The  General  Assem- 
bly would  impress  this  upon  the  minds  of  their  brethren,  and  urge  them  to 
follow  peace,  and  the  things  which  make  for  peace. 

"The  General  Assembly  commend  our  dear  friends  and  brethren  to  the 
grace  of  God,  praying  that  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understand- 
ing may  possess  their  hearts  and  minds. 

"Signed  by  order  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1795,  p.  104. 

§  41.    Severity;  and  traffic  in  slaves. 

"  The  committee  to  which  was  committed  the  report  of  the  committee  to 
which  the  petition  of  some  Elders,  who  entertain  conscientious  scruples  on 
the  subject  of  holding  slaves,  together  with  that  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  con- 
cerning the  buying  and  selling  of  slaves,  had  been  referred,  reported,  and 
their  report  being  read  and  amended,  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"The  General  Assembly  have  repeatedly  declared  their  cordial  approba- 
tion of  those  principles  of  civil  liberty  which  appear  to  be  recognized  by  the 
Federal  and  State  governments  in  these  United  States.  They  have  expressed 
their  regret  that  the  slavery  of  the  Africans,  and  of  their  descendants,  still 
continues  in  so  many  places,  and  even  among  those  within  the  pale  of  the 


Part  III.]  THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION.  809 

Church,  and  have  urged  the  Presbyteries  under  their  care  to  adopt  such  mea- 
sures as  will  secure  at  least  to  the  rising  generation  of  slaves,  -within  the 
bounds  of  the  Church,  a  religious  education,  that  they  may  be  prepared  for 
the  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  liberty,  when  God  in  his  providence  may  open 
a  door  for  their  emancipation.  The  committee  refer  said  petitioners  to  the 
printed  extracts  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  for  the  year 
1787,  on  this  subject,  republished  by  the  Asseiublyin  1793,  and  also  to  the 
extracts  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  1795,  which  last  are  in  the  fol- 
lowing words,  viz.     [See  above.] 

"This  is  deemed  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  first  petition,  and  with  regard 
to  the  second,  the  Assembly  observe,  that  although  in  some  sections  of  our 
country,  under  certain  circumstances,  the  transfer  of  slaves  may  be  unavoid- 
able, yet  they  consider  the  buying  and  selling  of  slaves  by  way  of  traffic, 
and  all  undue  severity  in  the  management  of  them,  as  inconsistent  with  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel.  And  they  recommend  it  to  the  Presbyteries  and  Ses- 
sions under  their  care,  to  make  use  of  all  prudent  measures  to  prevent  such 
shameful  and  unrighteous  conduct." — Minutes,  1815,  p.  585. 

§  42.  Action  of  the  Assembly  of  1818. 

(ff)  "The  following  resolution  was  submitted  to  the  Assembly,  viz. 

'■'■Resolved,  That  a  person  who  shall  sell  as  a  slave,  a  member  of  the 
Chiirch,  who  shall  be  at  the  time  in  good  standing  in  the  Church  and  un- 
willing to  be  sold,  acts  inconsistently  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and 
ought  to  be  debarred  from  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

"  After  considerable  discussion,  the  subject  was  committed  to  Dr.  Green, 
Dr.  Baxter,  and  Mr.  Burgess,  to  prepare  a  report  to  be  adopted  by  the  As- 
sembly, embracing  the  object  of  the  above  resolution,  and  also  expressing 
the  opinion  of  the  Assembly  in  general,  as  to  slavery." — Minutes,  1818, 
p.  688. 

[The  report  of  the  committee  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz] 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  having  taken  into 
consideration  the  subject  of  slavery,  think  proper  to  make  known  their  sen- 
timents upon  it  to  the  Churches  and  people  under  their  care. 

(U)  "  We  consider  the  voluntary  enslaving  of  one  portion  of  the  human 
race  by  another,  as  a  gross  violation  of  the  most  precious  and  sacred  rights 
of  human  nature;  as  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  law  of  God,  which 
requires  us  to  love  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,  and  as  totally  irreconcilable 
with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  which  enjoin  that  'all 
things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them.'  Slavery  creates  a  paradox  in  the  moral  system;  it  exhibits  rational^ 
accountable,  and  immortal  beings  in  such  circumstances  as  scarcely  to  leave 
them  the  power  of  moral  action.  It  exhibits  them  as  dependent  on  the  will 
of  others,  whether  they  shall  receive  religious  instruction;  whether  they 
shall  know  and  worship  the  true  God;  whether  they  shall  enjoy  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel;  whether  they  shall  perform  the  duties  and  cherish  the 
endearments  of  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children,  neighbours  and 
friends;  whether  they  shall  preserve  their  chastity  and  purity,  or  regard  the 
dictates  of  justice  and  humanity.  Such  are  some  of  the  consequences  of 
slavery — consequences  not  imaginary,  but  which  connect  themselves  with 
its  very  existence.  The  evils  to  which  the  slave  is  always  exposed  often 
take  place  in  fact,  and  in  their  very  worst  degree  and  form;  and  where  all 
of  them  do  not  take  place,  as  we  rejoice  to  say  in  many  instances,  through 
the  influence  of  the  principles  of  humanity  and  religion  on  the  mind  of  mas- 
ters, they  do  not — still  the  slave  is  deprived  of  his  natural  right,  degraded 
as  a  human  beinor,  and  exposed  to  the  danger  of  passing  into  the  bauds  of 
102 


810  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

a  master  who  may  inflict  upon  him  all  the  hardships  and  injuries  which 
inhumanity  and  avarice  may  suggest. 

"  From  this  view  of  the  consequences  resulting  from  the  practice  into 
which  Christian  people  have  most  inconsistently  fallen,  of  enslaving  a  por- 
tion of  their  brethren  of  mankind — for  '  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth' — it  is  manifestly  the  duty 
of  all  Christians  who  enjoy  the  light  of  the  present  day,  when  the  inconsis- 
tency of  slavery,  both  with  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  religion,  has  been 
demonstrated,  and  is  generally  seen  and  acknowledged,  to  use  their  honest, 
earnest,  and  unwearied  endeavours,  to  correct  the  errors  of  former  times, 
and  as  speedily  as  possible  to  efl'ace  this  blot  on  our  holy  religion,  and  to 
obtain  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  Christendom,  and  if 
possible  throughout  the  world. 

(c)  "We  rejoice  that  the  Church  to  which  we  belong  commenced  as  early 
as  any  other  in  this  country,  the  good  work  of  endeavouring  to  put  an  end 
to  slavery,  and  that  in  the  same  work  many  of  its  members  have  ever  since 
been,  and  now  are,  among  the  most  active,  vigorous  and  efficient  labourers. 
We  do,  indeed,  tenderly  sympathize  with  those  portions  of  our  Church  and 
our  country  where  the  evil  of  slavery  has  been  entailed  upon  them;  where 
a  great,  and  the  most  virtuous  part  of  the  community  abhor  slavery,  and 
wish  its  extermination  as  sincerely  as  any  others — but  where  the  number  of 
slaves,  their  ignorance,  and  their  vicious  habits  generally,  render  an  imme- 
diate and  universal  emancipation  inconsistent  alike  with  the  safety  and 
happiness  of  the  master  and  the  slave.  With  those  who  are  thus  circum- 
stanced, we  repeat  that  we  tenderly  sympathize.  At  the  same  time,  we 
earnestly  exhort  them  to  continue,  and  if  possible,  to  increase  their  exer- 
tions to  effect  a  total  abolition  of  slavery.  We  exhort  them  to  suffer  no 
greater  delay  to  take  place  in  this  most  interesting  concern,  than  a  regard 
to  the  public  welfare  truly  and  indispensably  demands. 

{d)  "  As  our  country  has  inflicted  a  most  grievous  injury  upon  the  un- 
happy Africans,  by  bringing  them  into  slavery,  we  cannot  indeed  urge  that 
we  should  add  a  second  injury  to  the  first,  by  emancipating  them  in  such 
manner  as  that  they  will  be  likely  to  destroy  themselves  or  others.  But  we 
do  think  that  our  country  ought  to  be  governed  in  this  matter  by  no  other 
consideration  than  an  honest  and  impartial  regard  to  the  happiness  of  the 
injured  party,  uninfluenced  by  the  expense  or  inconvenience  which  such  a 
regard  may  involve.  We,  therefore,  warn  all  who  belong  to  our  denomina- 
tion of  Christians,  against  unduly  extending  this  plea  of  necessity;  against 
making  it  a  cover  for  the  love  and  practice  of  slavery,  or  a  pretence  for  not 
using  efforts  that  are  lawful  and  practicable,  to  extinguish  this  evil. 

"And  we,  at  the  same  time,  exhort  others  to  forbear  harsh  censures,  and 
uncharitable  reflections  on  their  brethren,  who  unhappily  live  among 
slaves  whom  they  cannot  immediately  set  free;  but  who,  at  the  same  time, 
are  really  using  all  their  influence,  and  all  their  endeavours,  to  bring  them 
into  a  state  of  freedom,  as  soon  as  a  door  for  it  can  be  safely  opened. 

"Having  thus  expressed  our  views  of  slavery,  and  of  the  duty  indispen- 
sably incumbent  on  all  Christians  to  labour  for  its  complete  extinction,  we 
proceed  to  recommend,  and  we  do  it  with  all  the  earnestness  and  solemnity 
which  this  momentous  subject  demands,  a  particular  attention  to  the  follow- 
ing points. 

(e)  "We  recommend  to  all  our  people  to  patronize  and  encourage  the 
Society  lately  formed,  for  colonizing  in  Africa,  the  land  of  their  ancestors, 
the  free  people  of  colour  in  our  country.  We  hope  that  much  good  may 
result  from  the  plans  and  efforts  of  this  Society.  And  while  we  exceedingly 
rejoice  to  have  witnessed  its  origin  and  organization  among  the  holders  of 


Part  III.]  THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION.  811 

slaves,  as  giving  an  unequivocal  pledge  of  their  desires  to  deliver  themselves 
and  their  country  from  the  calamity  of  slavery;  we  hope  that  those  portions 
of  the  American  union,  whose  inhabitants  are  by  a  gracious  providence 
more  favourably  circumstanced,  will  cordially,  and  liberally,  and  earnestly 
co-operate  with  their  brethren,  in  bringing  about  the  great  end  contem- 
plated. 

(/)  "We  recommend  to  all  the  members  of  our  religious  denomination, 
not  only  to  permit,  but  to  facilitate  and  encourage  the  instruction  of  their 
slaves  in  the  principles  and  duties  of  the  Christian  religion ;  by  granting 
them  liberty  to  attend  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  when  they  have 
opportunity;  by  favouring  the  instruction  of  them  in  the  Sabbath -school, 
wherever  those  schools  can  be  formed ;  and  by  giving  them  all  other  proper 
advantages  for  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  their  duty  both  to  God  and  to 
man.  We  are  perfectly  satisfied,  that  it  is  incumbent  on  all  Christians  to 
communicate  religious  instruction  to  those  who  are  under  their  authority,  so 
that  the  doing  of  this  in  the  case  before  us,  so  for  from  operating,  as  some 
have  apprehended  that  it  might,  as  an  incitement  to  insubordination  and 
insurrection,  would,  on  the  contrary,  operate  as  the  most  powerful  means 
for  the  prevention  of  those  evils. 

(jj)  ''We  enjoin  it  on  all  Church  Sessions  and  Presbyteries,  under  the 
care  of  this  Assembly,  to  discountenance,  and  as  far  as  possible  to  prevent 
all  cruelty  of  whatever  kind  in  the  treatment  of  slaves;  especially  the  cru- 
elty of  separating  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children,  and  that  which 
consists  in  selling  slaves  to  those  who  will  either  themselves  deprive  these 
unhappy  people  of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  or  who  will  ti-ansport  them  to 
places  where  the  gospel  is  not  proclaimed,  or  where  it  is  forbidden  to  slaves 
to  attend  upon  its  institutions.  And  if  it  shall  ever  happen  that  a  Christian 
professor  in  our  communion  shall  sell  a  slave  who  is  also  in  communion  and 
good  standing  with  our  Church,  contrary  to  his  or  her  will  and  inclination, 
it  ought  immediately  to  claim  the  particular  attention  of  the  proper  Church 
judicature;  and  unless  there  be  such  peculiar  circumstances  attending  the 
case  as  can  but  seldom  happen,  it  ought  to  be  followed,  without  delay,  by  a 
suspension  of  the  offender  from  all  the  privileges  of  the  Church,  till  he 
repent,  and  make  all  the  reparation  in  his  power  to  the  injured  party." — 
3Iinutes,  1818,  p.  692. 

§43.  Action  of  U^%. 
[The  subject  being   pressed  on  its  attention    by  various  memorials,  the  Assembly 
declared  that] 

"  Inasmuch  as  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  its  prelim- 
inary and  fundamental  principles,  declares  that  no  Church  judicatory  ought 
to  pretend  to  make  laws,  to  bind  the  conscience,  in  virtue  of  their  own 
authority;  and  as  the  urgency  of  the  business  of  the  Assembly,  and  the 
shortness  of  the  time  during  which  they  can  continue  in  session,  render  it 
impossible  to  deliberate  and  decide  judiciously  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in 
its  relations  to  the  Church;  therefore,  resolved,  that  this  whole  subject  be 
indefinitely  postponed."— J/uiw<es,  1836,  pp.  247,  248,  272,  273. 

§  44.   Full  development  of  princijiles  hy  the  Assembly  of  1845. 

[The  subject  having  been  from  time  to  time,  for  a  series  of  years,  urged  upon  the  As- 
esmbly,  it  was  taken  up  in  1845,  and  the  following  paper  adopted  :] 

"  The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  memorials  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report: 

(a)  "The  memorialists  may  be  divided  into  three  classes,  viz. 

"  1.  Those  which  represent  the  system  of  slavery,  as  it  exists  in  these 


812  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

United  States,  as  a  great  evil,  and  pray  this  General  Assembly  to  adopt 
measures  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  slaves. 

"2.  Those  which  ask  the  Assembly  to  receive  memorials  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  to  allow  a  full  discussion  of  it,  and  to  enjoin  upon  the  members 
of  our  Church,  residing  in  States  whose  laws  forbid  the  slaves  being  taught 
to  read,  to  seek  by  all  lawful  means  the  repeal  of  those  laws. 

"3.  Those  which  represent  slavery  as  a  moral  evil,  a  heinous  sin  in  the 
eight  of  God,  calculated  to  bring  upon  the  Church  the  curse  of  God,  and 
calling  for  the  exercise  of  discipline  in  the  case  of  those  who  persist  in 
maintaining  or  justifying  the  relation  of  master  to  slaves. 

(h)  "The  question  which  is  now  unhappily  agitating  and  dividing  other 
branches  of  the  Church,  and  which  is  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the 
Assembly  by  one  of  the  three  classes  of  memorialists  just  named,  is,  whether 
the  holding  of  slaves  is,  under  all  circumstances,  a  heinous  sin,  calling  for 
the  discipline  of  the  Church. 

(c)  "  The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  spiritual  body,  whose  jurisdiction  extends 
to  the  religious  faith  and  moral  conduct  of  her  members.  She  cannot  legis- 
late, where  Christ  has  not  legislated,  nor  make  terras  of  membership  which 
he  has  not  made.  The  question,  therefore,  which  this  Assembly  is  called 
to  decide,  is  this:  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  the  holding  of  slaves,  with- 
out regard  to  circumstances,  is  a  sin,  the  renunciation  of  which  should  be 
made  a  condition  of  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ? 

(fc?)  "  It  is  impossible  to  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative,  without 
contradicting  some  of  the  plainest  declarations  of  the  word  of  God.  That 
slavery  existed  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  is  an  admitted  fact. 
That  they  did  not  denounce  the  relation  itself  as  sinful,  as  inconsistent  with 
Christianity;  that  slaveholders  were  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Churches 
organized  by  the  Apostles;  that  whilst  they  were  required  to  treat  their  slaves 
with  kindness,  and  as  rational,  accountable,  immortal  beings,  and,  if  Christians, 
as  brethren  in  the  Loi'd,  they  were  not  commanded  to  emancipate  them; 
that  slaves  were  required  to  be  *  obedient  to  their  masters  according  to  the 
flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling,  with  singleness  of  heart  as  unto  Christ,'  are 
facts  which  meet  the  eye  of  every  reader  of  the  New  Testament.  This  As- 
sembly cannot,  therefore,  denounce  the  holding  of  slaves  as  necessarily  a 
heinous  and  scandalous  sin,  calculated  to  bring  upon  the  Church  the  curse 
of  God,  without  charging  the  Apostles  of  Christ  with  conniving  at  sin, 
introducing  into  the  Church  such  sinners,  and  thus  bringing  upon  them  the 
curse  of  the  Almighty. 

(e)  "In  so  saying,  however,  the  Assembly  are  not  to  be  understood  as 
denying  that  there  is  evil  connected  with  slavery.  Much  less  do  they 
approve  those  defective  and  oppressive  laws  by  which,  in  some  of  the  States, 
it  is  regulated.  Nor  would  they  by  any  means  countenance  the  traffic  in 
slaves  for  the  sake  of  gain;  the  separation  of  husbands  and  wives,  parents 
and  children,  for  the  sake  of  '  filthy  lucre,'  or  for  the  convenience  of  the 
master;  or  cruel  treatment  of  slaves,  in  any  respect.  Every  Christian  and 
philanthropist  certainly  should  seek  by  all  peaceable  and  lawful  means,  the 
repeal  of  unjust  and  oppressive  laws,  and  the  amendment  of  such  as  are 
defective,  so  as  to  protect  the  slaves  from  cruel  treatment  by  wicked  men, 
and  secure  to  them  the  right  to  receive  religious  instruction. 

(/)  "Nor  is  the  Assembly  to  be  understood  as  countenancing  the  idea 
that  masters  may  regard  their  servants  as  mere  property,  and  not  as  human 
beings,  rational,  accountable,  immortal.  The  Scriptures  prescribe  not  only 
the  duties  of  servants,  but  of  masters  also,  warning  the  latter  to  discharge 
those  duties,  'knowing  that  their  Master  is  in  heaven,  neither  is  there 
respect  of  persons  with  him.' 


Part  III.]  THE   SLAVERY   QUESTION.  813 

(<7)  ''The  Assembly  intend  simply  to  say,  tliat  since  Christ  and  his 
inspired  Apostles  did  not  make  the  holding  of  slaves  a  bar  to  communion, 
we  as  a  court  of  Christ,  have  no  authority  to  do  soj  since  they  did  not' 
attempt  to  remove  it  from  the  Church  by  legislation,  we  have  no  authority 
to  legislate  on  the  subject.  We  feel  constrained  further  to  say,  that  how- 
ever desirable  it  may  be  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  slaves  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  States,  or  to  remove  slavery  from  our  country,  these 
objects  we  are  fully  persuaded,  can  never  be  secured  by  ecclesiastical  legis- 
lation.  Much  less  can  they  be  attained  by  those  indiscriminate  denuncia- 
tions against  slaveholders,  without  regard  to  their  character  or  circumstances, 
which  have  to  so  great  an  extent  characterized  the  movements  of  modern 
abolitionists,  which  so  far  from  removing  the  evils  complained  of,  tend  only 
to  perpetuate  and  aggravate  them. 

"The  Apostles  of  Christ  sought  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  slaves,  not 
by  denouncing  and  excommunicating  their  masters,  but  by  teaching  both 
masters  and  slaves  the  glorious  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  enjoining  upon 
each  the  discharge  of  their  relative  duties.  Thus  only  can  the  Church  of 
Christ  as  such,  now  improve  the  condition  of  the  slaves  in  our  country. 

(h)  "As  to  the  extent  of  the  evils  involved  in  slavery,  and  the  best 
methods  of  removing  them,  various  opinions  prevail,  and  neither  the  Scrip- 
tures nor  our  constitution  authorize  this  body  to  prescribe  any  particular 
course  to  be  pursued  by  the  Churches  under  our  care.  The  Assembly  can- 
not but  rejoice,  however,  to  learn  that  the  Ministers  and  Churches  in  the 
slaveholding  States,  are  awaking  to  a  deeper  sense  of  their  obligation  to 
extend  to  the  slave  population  generally  the  means  of  grace,  and  many 
slaveholders  not  professedly  religious  favour  this  object.  We  earnestly 
exhort  them  to  abound  more  and  more  in  this  good  work.  We  would 
exhort  every  believing  master  to  remember  that  his  Master  is  also  in  heaven, 
and  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed,  to  act  in  the 
spirit  of  the  golden  rule;  'Whatsoever,  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to 
you,  do  ye  even  the  same  to  them.'* 

§45. 

"In  view  of  the  above  stated  principles  and  facts, 

''Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  was  originally  organized,  and  has  since  continued  the 
bond  of  union  in  the  Church,  upon  the  conceded  principle  that  the  existence 
of  domestic  slavery,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is  found  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  country,  is  no  bar  to  Christian  communion. 

"  2.  That  the  petitions  that  ask  the  Assembly  to  make  the  holding  of 
slaves  in  itself  a  matter  of  discipline,  do  virtually  require  this  judicatory  to 
dissolve  itself,  and  abandon  the  organization,  under  which,  by  the  Divirie 
blessing,  it  has  so  long  prospered.  The  tendency  is  evidently  to  separate 
the  northern  from  the  southern  portion  of  the  Church;  a  result  which  every 
good  citizen  must  deplore,  as  tending  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  of  our 
beloved  country,  and  which  every  enlightened  Christian  will  oppose  as 
bringing  about  a  ruinous  and  unnecessary  schism  between  brethren  who 
maintain  a  common  faith. 

"The  yeas  and  nays  being  ordered,  were  recorded."  [Yeas  168,  Nays  13, 
Excused  4. — Minutes,  1845,  p.  16. 

§  46.    The  action  o/lSi5JinaI,  and  consistent  with  all precedinri  it. 

[In  1846,  a  collection  of  petitions  and  memorials  on  the  subject  of  slavery  was  received 
and  referred.] 

*  See  Book  III.  J  25. 


814  MORAL   AND    SECULAR    QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

''The  committee  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  minute,  viz. 

"Our  Church  has  from  time  to  time,  during  a  period  of  nearly  sixty 
years,  expressed  its  views  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  During  all  this  period 
it  has  held  and  uttered  substantially  the  same  sentiments.  Believing  that 
this  uniform  testimony  is  true,  and  capable  of  vindication  from  the  word  of 
Grod,  the  Assembly  is  at  the  same  time  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  it  has 
already  deliberately  and  solemnly  spoken  on  this  subject  with  sufficient  ful- 
ness and  clearness.     Therefore, 

^'Resolved,  That  no  further  action  upon  this  subject  is  at  present  needed. 

''  The  following  amendment  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  II.  M.  White,  and 
laid  on  the  table,  viz.  'Except  to  say,  that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of 
184:5  is  not  understood  by  this  Assembly  to  deny  or  rescind  the  testimony 
that  has  been  uttered  by  the  General  Assembly  previous  to  that  date.' 

"  The  question  was  then  taken  on  the  report,  when  the  ayes  and  noes 
were  called  for,  and  are  as  follows:"  [Ayes,  119.     Noes,  33.] 

''The  following  resolution  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  R.  M.  White,  and  was 
adopted,  [without  division :] 

'■'■Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  House,  the  action  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  1845  was  not  intended  to  deny  or  rescind  the  testimony 
often  uttered  by  the  General  Assemblies  previous  to  that  date." — Minutes, 
1846,  pp.  206,  207. 

§47. 

[In  1850,  the  subject  being  again  introduced  by  overtures  from  the  Presbytery  of  Bea- 
ver, and  the  Church  of  Rocliy  Spring,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Chillicothe,  the  Committee  of 
Bills,  and  Overtures  recommended  that  it  be  "  Resolved,  That  the  previous  and  repeated 
declarations  of  the  General  Assembly  upon  the  subject  of  American  slavery,  are  such  as 
to  render  any  action  upon  the  above  overture  and  memorial  unnecessary."  The  overture 
was  laid  on  the  table.  (^Minutes,  1850,  pp.  456,  481.)  The  subject  has  not  since  come 
before  the  Assembly.] 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

§48. 

[The  American  Colonization  Society  was  organized  Dec.  21,  1816.  In  May,  1817,] 
"  The  Assembly  notice  with  pleasure,  the  general  attention  and  exertion 
to  alleviate  the  condition  of  the  people  of  colour,  in  almost  all  parts  of  the 
country.  A  society,  for  the  colonization  of  free  people  of  this  description 
is  formed,  and  is  patronized  by  the  first  characters  of  our  nation." — Minutes, 
1817;  p.  651. 

§49. 
[The  next  Assembly,  (that  of  1818,)  in  making  a  full  exposition  of  its  views  of  the 
slavery  question,  takes  the  occasion  to  express  its  strong  recommendation  of  this  society. 
See  above,  §  42,  «.] 

§50. 

"  The  following  overture  was  submitted  to  the  Assembly,  which  being 
read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  viz. 

"  The  objects  and  plans  of  the  American  Society  for  Colonizing  the  free 
people  of  colour  of  the  United  States,  having  been  stated  to  the  General 


Part  III.]  COLONIZATION   SOCIETY.  815 

Assembly,  and  the  same  having  been  considered  and  discussed,  the  As- 
sembly 

^^  Resolved,  That,  in  their  opinion,  the  plan  of  the  Society  is  benevolent 
in  its  design,  and  if  properly  supported,  and  judiciously  and  vigorously 
prosecuted,  calculated  to  be  extensively  useful  to  this  country  and  to  Africa. 

"  The  situation  of  the  people  of  colour  in  this  country  has  frequently 
attracted  the  attention  of  this  Assembly.  In  the  distinctive  and  indelible 
marks  of  their  coloui",  and  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  an  insuperable 
obstacle  has  been  placed  to  the  execution  of  any  plan  for  elevating  their 
character,  and  placing  them  on  a  footing  with  their  brethren  of  the  same 
common  family.  In  restoring  them  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  the  Assem- 
bly hope  that  the  way  may  be  opened,  not  only  for  the  accomplishment  of 
that  object,  but  for  introducing  civilization  and  the  gospel  to  the  benighted 
nations  of  Africa. 

"  From  the  information  and  statements  received,  the  Assembly  believe 
that  the  proposed  colony  in  Africa  may  be  made  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  the 
eiforts  which  are  making  to  abolish  the  iniquitous  traffic  in  slaves  carried 
on  in  Africa,  and  happily  calculated  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  gradual  eman- 
cipation of  slaves  in  our  own  country,  in  a  legal  and  constitutional  manner, 
and  without  violating  the  rights  or  injuring  the  feelings  of  our  southern 
brethren. 

''With  these  views  the  Assembly  feel  it  a  duty  to  recommend  the  Ame- 
rican Society  for  Colonizing  the  free  people  of  colour  of  the  United  States  to 
the  patronage  and  attention  of  the  Churches  under  their  care,  and  to  benevo- 
lent individuals  throughout  the  Union." — 3Iinutes,  1819,  p.  710. 

§  51.  Fourth  of  July  collections  recommended. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  xVssembly  recommend  to  the  Churches  under  their 
care,  to  patronize  the  objects  of  the  American  Colonization  Society;  and 
particularly  that  they  take  up  collections  in  aid  of  its  funds  on  the  Fourth 
of  July  next,  or  on  the  Sabbath  immediately  preceding  or  succeeding  that 
day,  and  whenever  such  course  may  be  thought  expedient  to  give  their 
assistance,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  most  conducive  to  the  interests  of  the 
general  cause." — Minutes,  1825. 

[This  recommendation  has  been  again  and  again  reiterated.  See  Minutes,  1826,  p.  26  ; 
1828,  p.  2:J8;   1831,  p.  184;   1832,  p.  326;   1833,  p.  497;   1839,  p.  155.] 

§52. 

(rt)  "1.  Resolved,  That  the  enterprise  of  the  Colonization  Society,  so 
successfully  prosecuted  amid  so  much  obloquy,  opposition,  and  misunder- 
standing, has  our  highest  confidence,  as  wise,  peaceful,  humane,  and  philan- 
thropic. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  as  it  has  been  in  past  years  repeatedly  commended 
to  the  patronage  of  the  Churches  in  our  connection,  as  pre-eminently  com- 
bining the  noblest  benefits  to  Africa  and  America,  to  the  emigrant  colonists, 
and  to  the  heathen  tribes  around  them,  we  would  again  offer  it  to  their 
patronage,  and  most  earnestly  recommend  to  all  Pastors  and  Churches  an 
annual  collection  for  its  support,  to  be  made  early  in  July. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  we  have  heard  with  the  highest  pleasure  of  the  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  slave  factories  near  Liberia,  and  most  earnestly 
hope  for  the  day  when  a  traffic  so  odious  and  cruel  shall  be  swept  from  the 
ocean." — Minutes,  1848,  p.  32. 

(6)  ^^ Resolved,  That  the  cause  of  Colonization  be  recommended  to  the 
favour  and  support  of  the  Churches." — Minutes,  1853,  p.  459. 


816  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 


CHAPTER  III. 

RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION  OF  THE    COLOURED  POPULATION. 

§  53.   A  Kcgro  Mlssionari/  rqypointed. 
[One  object  specified  in  the  draught  of  a  subscription  paper  upon  which  the  Assem- 
bly s  Permanent  Missionary  Fund  was  raised,  was  "  the  instruction  of  the  black  people." — 
{^Minutes,  1800,  p.  206;    and  1801,  p.  228.)     In   1801,  a  commencement  was  made  to 
carry  out  this  object.] 

"Eesolceil,  That  in  order  to  attain  one  important  object  of  the  contribu- 
tions (the  instruction  of  the  blacks)  Mr.  John  Chavis,  a  black  man  of  pru- 
dence and  piety,  who  has  been  educated  and  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Lexington,  in  Virginia,  be  employed  as  a  Missionary  among  people 
of  his  own  colour,  until  the  meeting  of  next  General  Assembly.  And  that 
for  his  better  direction  in  the  discharge  of  duties,  which  are  attended  with 
many  circumstances  of  delicacy  and  difficulty,  some  prudential  instructions  be 
issued  to  him  by  the  Asseiubly,  governing  himself  by  which,  the  knowledge 
of  religion  among  that  people  may  be  made  more  and  more  to  strengthen 
the  order  of  society.  And  the  Hev.  Messrs.  Hoge,  Alexander,  Logan, 
and  Stephenson,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  draught  instructions  to  said 
Chavis,  and  prescribe  his  route." — Minutes^  1801,  p.  229. 

[The  black  Missionary  thus  commissioned,  continued  in  the  service  of  the  Assembly  for 
several  years.] 

§  54.  Licensure  of  John  Gloucester. 

"A  communication  from  the  Presbytery  of  Union  was  handed  into  the 
Assembly  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  requesting  advice  in  relation  to 
the  licensure  of  John  Gloucester,  a  black  man;  and  Messrs.  Clark,  Miller, 
and  Samuel  ]3rown,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  take  the  same  into  con- 
sideration, and  report  as  soon  as  convenient." 

[The  report  of  this  committee  was  adopted,  as  follows;] 

"Whereas,  from  the  communications  from  the  Presbytery  of  LTnion,  it 
appears  that  the  said  John  Gloucester  has  been  for  some  time  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Union;  that,  in  the  opinion  of  tliat  Presbytery,  he 
possesses  promising  talents  and  eminent  piety;  that  he  has  been,  for  several 
years,  engaged  in  the  study  of  literature  and  theology,  but  has  not  yet 
obtained  all  the  literary  qualifications  usually  required  in  candidates  for 
licensure;  and  that,  if  he  were  licensed,  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  he 
might  be  highly  useful  in  preaching  the  gospel  among  those  of  his  own 
colour:  and  whereas,  said  Presbytery  requests  the  advice  of  the  General 
Assembly,  therefore, 

'■'Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  highly  approve  the  caution 
and  prudence  of  the  Presbytery  of  Union  in  this  case. 

"2.  That,  considering  the  circumstances  of  this  particular  case,  viz.  the 
evidence  of  unusual  talents,  discretion,  and  piety,  possessed  by  John  Glouces- 
ter; the  good  reason  there  is  to  believe  that  he  may  be  highly  useful  in 
preaching  tlie  gospel  among  those  of  his  own  colour;  and  the  various  diffi- 
culties likely  to  attend  a  farther  delay  in  proceeding  in  this  case,  the  (Jene- 
ral  Assembly  did,  and  hereby  do  authorize  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
to  consider  the  case  of  John  Gloucester;  and,  if  they  think  proper,  to 
license  him  to  preach  the  gospel." — Minutes,  1807,  pp.  o81,  387. 

[Mr.  Gloucester  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
in  \Qn.\— Minutes,  1817,  p.  658. 


Part  III.]  INSTRUCTION   OF   THE   NEGROES.  •      817 

§  55.    Occasional  notices  on  the  subject. 

''^Ye  notice  with  pleasure  the  enlightened  attention  which  has  been  paid 
to  the  religious  instruction  and  evangelizing  of  the  unhappy  slaves  and  free 
people  of  colour  of  our  country,  in  some  regions  of  our  Church.  We  would 
especially  commend  the  prudence  and  zeal  combined  in  this  work  of  mercy 
by  the  Presbyteries  of  Charleston  Union,  Georgia,  Concord,  South  Alabama, 
and  Mississippi.  The  millions  of  this  unhappy  people  in  our  country,  from 
their  singular  condition  as  brought  to  the  gospel  by  a  peculiar  providence, 
constitute  at  home  a  peculiar  mission  field  of  infinite  importance,  and  of 
most  inviting  character.  No  more  honoured  name  can  be  conferred  on  a 
Minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  than  that  of  Apostle  to  the  American  slaves;  and 
no  service  can  be  more  pleasing  to  the  Grod  of  heaven,  or  more  useful  to 
our  beloved  country,  than  that  which  this  title  designates." — Minutes,  1825, 
p.  281. 

§56. 

"We  mention  with  peculiar  pleasure  the  growing  attention  of  our  bre- 
thren in  many  parts  of  the  land  to  the  oral  religious  instruction  of  the 
slaves  :  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  with  which  it  has  been  conducted — the  gen- 
eral approbation  which  their  labours  have  received — and  the  success  attend- 
ing them,  mark  an  era  in  the  work  of  Domestic  Missions,  and  should 
encourage  our  brethren  largely  to  enter  upon  this  open  and  interesting  field. 
Wc  cannot  here  forbear  to  extract  a  part  of  the  Pieport  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Georgia.  'We  are  happy  to  say,  in  regard  to  the  religious  instruction  of 
negroes,  that  this  important  part  of  our  service  has  received  a  new  impulse 
during  the  last  year.  This  business  receives  considerable  attention  in  many 
parts  of  our  bounds.  Plantations  are  open  to  all  our  Ministers,  and  fields 
presented  among  this  people  which  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  occupy. 
Sabbath-schools,  for  their  exclusive  benefit,  exist  in  some  of  our  churches, 
and  we  are  happy  to  believe  that  there  is  an  increasing  interest  felt  on  this 
subject.  Within  our  bounds  there  is  one  Minister  whose  whole  ministry  is 
devoted  exclusively  to  this  people,  and  most,  if  not  all  the  settled  pastors 
and  stated  supplies  preach  as  often  as  once  a  week  to  this  class  of  our  pop- 
ulation. And  in  Liberty  county  there  is  at  this  time  very  considerable 
attention  to  religion  among  the  blacks,  not  less  than  fifty  being  under  seri- 
ous impressions.' 

"We  only  add  that  a  beloved  brother  in  Augusta,  and  another  in  the 
vicinity  of  Natchez,  are  following  the  noble  example  recorded  in  the  above 
extract,  by  devoting  their  whole  time  to  this  interesting  work." — Minutes, 
1839,  p.  182. 

§57. 

"In  reviewing  the  past,  we  find  that  notice  has  been  taken  by  several 
previous  Assemblies  of  the  interest  manifested  in  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  coloured  population  of  our  country.  The  reports  received  this  year,  jus- 
tify the  belief  that  this  interest  has  greatly  inci'eased  since  the  meeting  of 
the  last  Assembly.  Almost  all  the  Presbyteries  covering  the  ground  where 
this  portion  of  our  population  are  found  in  the  greatest  numbers,  refer  to 
the  subject,  and  speak  of  efibrts  to  supply  them  with  the  means  of  grace,  as 
being  decidedly  on  the  advance.  The  following  are  specimens  of  the  com- 
munications we  have  received  on  this  subject.  The  Presbytery  of  South 
Alabama  say:  'Perhaps  without  a  solitary  exception,  our  Ministers  are 
devoting  a  considerable  part  of  their  labours  to  the  benefit  of  the  coloured 
population.  It  is  a  field  which  we  all  love  to  cultivate;  and  to  some,  the 
lOo 


818  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

great  Head  of  the  Churcli  is  intimating  an  abundant  harvest.'  Olost  of 
our  Pastors,'  say  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  'devote  a  part  of  their  time 
to  the  exclusive  service  of  the  blacks,  and  in  some  instances  with  the  most 
pleasing  success.  A  scheme  is  now  in  agitation,  with  the  full  consent  of 
the  Presbytery,  for  establishing  an  African  Church  in  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton.' The  Presbytery  of  Georgia  remark,  in  relation  to  one  of  their 
number  who  devotes  his  whole  time  to  this  work:  'During  the  year  he  has 
been  blessed  with  a  revival  in  one  part  of  his  field  of  labour.  Fourteen 
professed  conversion,  and  were  added  to  the  Church.  Another  brother,  in 
another  part  of  our  bounds,  reports  the  conversion  and  reception  into  the 
church  to  which  he  ministers  of  eight  coloured  persons.'  And  the  Presby- 
tery of  Hopewell  speak  of  their  churches  generally,  as  cheerfully  yielding 
the  half  of  their  Pastor's  services  to  this  department  of  labour.  They  also 
express  the  belief  that  several  churches  will  soon  be  erected  for  the  exclu- 
sive accommodation  of  the  coloured  people,  and  that  the  field  will  be  occu- 
pied as  missionary  ground  by  at  least  one  of  their  number,  who  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  work.  Many  other  Presbyteries  have  addressed  us  in  sub- 
stantially the  same  language;  and  we  record  these  facts  as  going  to  encour- 
age the  hope  that  a  better  day  is  about  to  dawn  upon  the  interests  of  this 
long  neglected  class  of  our  people." — Minutes,  1847,  p.  408. 

§58. 
[For    further   notices    on    this  subject,  see   the  Minutes  passim,  especially,    1828, 
p.  258;   1838,  p.  55;    1843,  p.  206;    1844,  p.  398  ;    1845,  p.  42;    1849,  p.  254;    1853, 
p.  600.] 

§59. 

"  The  reports  sent  to  us  from  the  Presbyteries,  covering  the  portion  of 
the  Church  in  which  there  is  a  large  slave  population,  reveal  the  gratifying 
fact  that  the  zeal  hitherto  manifested  on  behalf  of  the  religious  welfare  of 
this  class,  instead  of  abating,  is  evidently  growing  more  ardent  and  active. 
In  their  houses  of  worship,  provision  at  once  special  and  liberal  is  made  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  coloured  people,  so  that  they  may  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges of  the  sanctuary  in  common  with  the  whites.  Besides  this,  nearly  all 
our  Ministers  hold  a  service  in  the  afternoon  of  the  Sabbath,  in  which  the 
exercises  are  particularly  adapted  to  their  capacities  and  wants.  In  some 
instances,  Ministers  are  engaged  in  their  exclusive  service — not  Ministers 
of  inferior  abilities,  but  such  as  would  be  an  ornament  and  a  blessing  to  the 
intelligent,  cultivated  Congregations  of  the  laud.  In  a  still  larger  number 
of  instances,  the  Pastor  of  a  Church  composed  of  the  two  classes,  inasmuch 
as  the  blacks  form  the  more  numerous  portion,  devotes  to  them  the  greater 
share  of  his  labours,  and  finds  among  them  the  most  pleasing  tokens  of 
God's  smiles  upon  his  work.  Besides  the  preaching  of  the  word  to  which 
they  have  free  access,  in  many  cases  a  regular  system  of  catechetical  instruc- 
tion, for  their  benefit,  is  pursued,  either  on  the  Sabbath  at  the  house  of 
•worship,  or  during  the  week  on  the  plantations  where  they  reside.  Thus 
we  give  thanks  unto  God,  our  common  Father,  that  he  has  inspired  the  hearts 
of  our  brethren,  in  the  parts  of  our  Church  referred  to,  with  love  to  the 
souls  of  this  numerous  race,  and  that  he  has  opened  among  them  a  wide 
and  effectual  door  of  usefulness.  At  the  same  time,  reminding  these  bre- 
thren that  the  work  is  great^  and  is  yet  far  from  its  full  accomplishment,  we 
would  exhort  and  encourage  them  to  persevere  and  abound  more  and  more 
therein,  assuring  them  of  the  sympathies  and  prayers  of  the  entire  Church 
tor  them  in  their  self-denying  labours.  The  position  taken  by  our  Church 
with  reference  to  the  much  agitated  subject  of  slavery,  secures  to  us  unlim- 


Part  III.]  INSTRUCTION   OF   THE   NEGROES.  819 

ited  opportunities  of  access  to  master  and  slave,  and  lays  us  under  heavy 
responsibilities  before  God  and  the  world,  not  to  neglect  our  duty  to  either." 
— Minutes,  1854,  p.  183. 

§  GO.   An  Academy  for  free  people  of  coloiir. 
[In  response  to   a  memorial   from    the   Presbyterj'  of  New   Castle  on   the  subject  of 
the  establishment  of  such  an  institution  within  its  bounds  and  under  its  care,  the  Assem- 
bly] 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  establishment  of  a  high-school  for  the  use  and  bene- 
fit of  the  free  coloured  population  of  this  country,  meets  the  cordial  appro- 
bation and  recommendation  of  this  Assembly ;  with  the  understanding  that 
it  shall  be  wholly  under  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  Presbytery  or 
Synod  within  whose  bounds  it  may  be  located,  thus  securing  such  an  educa- 
tion as  shall  promote  the  usefulness  and  happiness  of  this  class  of  our  ^qo- 
i^Xq."— Minutes,  1853,  p.  454. 


TART   IV. 

SECULAR    AFFAIRS 


§  61.  Pasto7-al  Letter  on  occasion  of  the  "  Old  French  War." 

"The  Synod  [of  New  York,]  under  a  sense  of  the  present  distressed  and 
calamitous  state  of  the  country,  do  agree  that  they  will  recommend  to  all 
their  congregations  to  unite  in  observing  the  last  Thursday  of  October  instant, 
as  a  day  of  public  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer. 

"  The  Synod  propose  further  to  recommend  to  their  congregations  to  spend 
part  of  the  last  Thursday  of  every  month  in  extraordinary  prayer,  while  the 
present  mournful  state  of  our  public  affairs  continues. 

"And  they  do  further  most  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  their  members, 
present  and  absent,  to  exert  themselves  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  in  their 
several  spheres  of  influence,  for  a  general  and  thorough  refornuition  of  those 
crying  abominations  which  seem  most  evidently  to  have  kindled  the  anger 
of  Heaven  against  this  land  : 

"And  that  they  would,  in  their  public  performances,  frequently  explain, 
and  warmly  pi-ess  on  their  hearers  the  necessity  of  such  a  reformation  in 
this  day. 

"  The  Synod  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  dangerous  situation  of 
the  public  at  this  juncture,  by  means  of  a  potent,  prevailing,  and  cruel 
enemy;  the  divided  state  of  these  colonies;  the  abounding  of  profanity, 
luxury,  infidelity,  error,  and  ignorance;  the  evident  suspension  of  spiritual 
influences  from  the  Church,  which  is  followed  with  an  evident  insensibility 
under  the  judgments  as  well  as  ordinances  of  God;  together  with  other 
awful  aspects  of  Divine  Providence;  cannot  but  view  them  as  plain  demon- 
strations of  his  displeasure.  We  have  been  warned  and  chastised,  first  more 
gently,  then  more  terribly;  but  not  returning  to  him  that  smites  us,  his 
anger  is  not  turned  away,  but  his  hand  is  stretched  out  still.  Judgment 
yet  proceeds,  the  prospect  becomes  darker  and  darker,  and  all  things 
respecting  us,  are  loudly  alarming.  When  God  judges  he  will  overcome; 
none  have  ever  hardened  themselves  against  him  and  prospered.  Nothing 
but  impiety  rouses  his  vengeance,  and  nothing  but  repentance  towards  him, 
and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  can  turn  it  away.  We  have  not 
so  much  as  the  least  reason  to  expect  deliverance  and  safety  in  a  way  of  im- 
penitent sinning;  for  we  are  assured,  if  we  walk  contrary  to  our  God,  he 
will  walk  contrary  to  us,  and  will  punish  us  yet  seven  times  more  for  our 
iniquity.  And  as  we  judge  that  extraordinary  distresses  are  calls  to  extra- 
ordinary humiliation  and  acts  of  devotion,  so  we  look  on  ourselves  bound, 
not  only  as  members  of  the  community,  but  by  the  duty  of  our  ofiice, 
as  those  who  are  entrusted  with  the  declaration  of  God's  revealed  will,  to 
warn  all  who  will  attend  unto  us,  and  earnestly  exhort  them  to  prostrate 
themselves  before  his  ofi'ended  majesty,  in  the  humblest  manner;  to  depre- 
cate his  righteous  displeasure;    implore  his  mercy  for  themselves,  their 


Part  IV.]  SECULAR   AFFAIRS.  821 

children,  country,  and  nation,  tlieir  and  our  rightful  and  gracious  sovereign 
King  George  the  Second,  his  royal  family,  all  officers  civil  and  military,  and 
the  whole  Church  of  God;  and  solemnly  endeaVour  sincere  and  thorough 
reformation.  For  this  purpose  the  Synod  agree  to  recommend  the  last 
Thursday  of  this  instant,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  public  fasting  and  prayer, 
in  all  the  Congregations  under  our  care.  We  also  recommend  to  all  the 
members  of  our  body,  that  they  exert  themselves  in  promoting  a  reformation 
from  those  evils  which  have  evidently  kindled  the  anger  of  Heaven  against 
this  land;  and  that  they  would  frequently  urge  the  necessity  of  such  a  re- 
formation in  this  day. 

"  Signed  in  the  name  of  the  Synod, 

Richard  Treat,  Synod  ClerJu." 

— Minutes,  1756,  p.  276. 

§  62.   Pastoral  Letter  upon  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 

"Dearly  Beloved — We  think  it  our  indispensable  duty,  not  only  in  our 
particular  charges,  but  in  this  united  and  more  public  capacity,  to  direct  you 
to  some  suitable  reflections  upon  the  late  remarkable  and  merciful  steps  of 
Divine  Providence,  and  to  inculcate  a  becoming  improvement  of  an  event, 
the  most  interesting  and  important  to  the  people  of  this  continent.  For  not 
only  in  the  word  of  God  should  we  attend  to  his  divine  will,  but  also  mark 
his  hand  in  that  providence  by  which  he  directs  the  course  of  human  affairs 
with  invariable  wisdom  and  paternal  goodness. 

"The  faithless  French,  and  their  savage  allies,  were  lately  the  rod  of 
divine  displeasure  for  our  many  provocations.  Under  the  calamities  of  war, 
and  the  wasting  ravages  of  Indian  cruelty,  we  were  repeatedly  brought  to 
approach  the  throne  of  grace,  with  solemn  fasting  and  prayer;  and  thereby 
openly  professed  our  resolution  to  forsake  the  ways  of  sin,  and  turn  unto 
the  Lord.  But,  alas!  we  rendered  not  to  God  according  to  the  multitude 
of  his  tender  mercies;  for  no  sooner  was  the  rod  removed,  and  the  blessings 
of  peace  restored,  but  we  became  more  vain  and  dissolute  than  before. 

"The  Almighty  thus  provoked,  permitted  counsels  of  the  most  pernicious 
tendency,  both  to  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.  The  imposition  of 
unusual  taxes,  a  severe  restriction  of  our  trade,  and  an  almost  total  stagna- 
tion of  business,  threatened  us  with  inevitable  ruin.  A  long  suspense, 
whether  we  should  be  deprived  of,  or  restored  to  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of 
the  inestimable  privilege  of  English  liberty,  filled  every  breast  with  the 
most  painful  anxiety.  A  gloomy  cloud  thickened  over  our  heads,  ready  to 
burst  upon  us  in  a  desolating  storm.  Had  our  gracious  Sovereign,  the 
present  Ministry,  and  the  British  Parliament  been  less  wise,  just,  and  good; 
had  they,  instead  of  yielding  to  a  spirit  of  modei'ation,  unhappily  recurred 
to  force,  we  shudder  at  the  very  thoughts  of  the  consequences.  We  cannot 
look  down  the  precipice  on  the  brink  of  which  we  stood,  without  horror. 
We  were  not  without  reason  apprehensive  that  the  tumultuous  outrages, 
which  in  some  places  attended  a  determined  opposition  to  the  disrelished 
statute,  might  provoke  the  resentment  of  the  British  legislature. 

"When  we  reflect  on  the  public  ofl'ences  of  our  land  against  Heaven; 
when  we  think  of  the  open  disregard  and  violation  of  the  holy  Sabbath; 
the  neglect  of  the  ordinances  of  divine  worship,  the  abuse  of  gospel  light 
and  privileges,  the  profane  swearing  and  cursing,  intemperance  and  luxury, 
the  various  scenes  of  uncleauness  and  lasciviousness,  the  pride  and  vanity, 
and  every  other  evil  so  shamefully  prevalent,  what  less  could  we  expect  than 
that  an  offended  God  would  have  made  the  gathering  tempest  to  break  upon 
us,  and  plunged  us  and  our  mother  country  in  all  the  rueful  calamities  of  a 
civil  war?     But  how  astonishing  is  the  long-suffering  patience  of  Jehovah! 


822  MORAL  AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

He  has  inclined  the  hearts  of  many  powerful  friends  to  espouse  our  cause. 
He  has  given  us  to  experience  the  paternal  tenderness  of  the  best  of  kings, 
and  the  moderation  of  the  British  Parliament.  Our  gracious  God  is  our 
deliverer.  He  is  making  a  further  trial  of  us.  May  his  unmerited  good- 
ness lead  us  to  repentance. 

"  We  therefore  call  upon  you  who  are  the  dear  people  of  our  charge,  not 
only  to  acknowledge  with  joy  and  gratitude,  the  general  providence  of  God, 
but  also,  thankfully  to  adore  that  particular  providence  wherein  upon  special 
occasions,  he  directs  and  controls  the  course  of  events  by  his  immediate 
influence,  and  whereby  he  hath  on  the  late  interesting  occasion,  so  signally 
appeared  for  our  protection.  We  call  upon  you  constantly  to  reverence  that 
all-wise  and  omnipotent  Director  and  Disposer  of  events  on  whom  we 
depend  for  every  mercy  we  enjoy,  to  be  thankful  to  him  for  every  instance 
of  prosperity,  patient  under  every  affliction,  submissive  to  his  wise  disposals, 
and  obedient  to  all  his  holy  precepts;  to  awake  to  repentance,  to  consider 
your  ways,  and  to  turn  unto  the  Lord,  through  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  Let 
every  one  beware  of  adding  to  the  common  stock  of  guilt  and  iniquity. 
We  beseech  and  obtest  you  to  be  strict  in  observing  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  pay  a  sacred  regard  to  his  Sabbath,  to  reverence  his  holy 
name,  and  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  by  good  works.  We  pray 
you  to  seek  earnestly  the  saving  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  the  internal  power 
and  spirit  of  religion.  Thus  may  you  hope  for  the  continued  kindness  of  a 
gracious  Providence,  and  this  is  the  way  to  express  your  gratitude  to  the 
Father  of  mercies  for  your  late  glorious  deliverance.  But  persisting  to 
grieve  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  a  neglect  of  vital  religion,  and  a  continuance  in 
sin,  you  will  have  reason  to  dread  that  an  holy  God  will  punish  you  yet 
seven  times  more  for  your  iniquities. 

*' While  we  thus  call  upon  you  to  fear  God,  you  will  not  forget  to  honour 
your  king,  and  pay  a  due  submission  to  his  august  parliament.  Let  this 
fresh  instance  of  royal  clemency  increase  the  ardour  of  your  affection  to  the 
person,  family,  and  government,  of  our  rightful  and  gracious  sovereign. 
This  you  will  manifest  by  a  cheerful  and  ready  obedience  to  civil  authority. 
A  spirit  of  liberty  is  highly  laudable  when  under  proper  regulations,  but  we 
hope  you  will  carefullly  distinguish  between  liberty  and  licentiousness. 

"  We  most  earnestly  recommend  it  to  you  to  encourage  and  strengthen 
the  hands  of  government,  to  demonstrate  on  every  proper  occasion  your 
undissembled  love  for  your  mother  country,  and  your  attachment  to  her  true 
interest,  so  inseparably  connected  with  our  own. 

"That  thus  you  may  become  wise  and  good,  as  well  as  free  and  happy, 
and  that  while  you  enjoy  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  you  may  not  be  the 
servants  of  sin  and  Satan,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of  those  who  watch  for  your 
souls,  as  men  who  must  give  an  account. 

"  Signed  by  order,  Eliiiu  Spencer,  Moderator. 

"  Presbyterian  Church,  at  New  York,  May  30iA,  1766." 

— Minutes,  1766,  p.  362. 

§  63.   Days  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  Congress. 

"  The  Synod  considering  the  present  alarming  state  of  public  affairs,  do 
unanimously  judge  it  their  duty  to  call  all  the  Congregations  under  their 
care  to  solemn  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  and  for  this  purpose  appoint 
the  last  Thwrsday  of  .June  next  to  be  carefully  and  religiously  observed.  But 
as  the  Continental  Congress  are  now  sitting,  who  may  probably  appoint  a 
fast  for  the  same  purpose,  the  Synod,  from  respect  to  that  august  body  and 
for  the  greater  harmony  with  all  other  denominations,  and  for  the  greater 
public  order,  if  the  Congress  shall  appoint  a  day  not  above  four  weeks  dis- 


Part  IV.]  SECULAR   AFFAIRS.  823 

tant  from  the  said  last  Thursday  of  June,  order  that  the  Congregations  be- 
longing to  this  Synod  do  keep  the  day  appointed  by  the  Congress,  in  obedi- 
ence to  this  resolution;  and  if  they  appoint  a  day  more  distant,  the  Synod 
order  both  to  be  observed  by  all  our  communion.  The  Synod  also  earn- 
estly recommend  it  to  all  the  Congregations  under  their  care  to  spend  the 
afternoon  of  the  last  Thursday  in  every  month  in  public  solemn  pi-ayer  to 
God,  during  the  continuance  of  our  present  troubles." — MiniUcs,  1775, 
p.  464. 

[Until  the  end  of  the  war  these  orders  were  annually  renewed.] — Minnies,  1777,  p. 
478;   1778,  p.  481  ;   1779,  p.  483  ;  and  1780,  p.  488. 

§  64.   Pastoral  Letter  vjjon  occasion  of  the  Revrjhitionary  War. 

"Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Messrs.  Caldwell,  Ilalsey,  Smith,  Kerr, 
and  Ogden,  are  appointed  a  committee  to  bring  in  to-morrow  in  the  after- 
noon, a  draught  of  a  pastoral  letter. 

"The  committee  brought  in  a  draught  of  a  pastoral  letter,  which,  after  a 
few  alterations,  was  approved,  ordered  to  be  printed,  and  is  as  follows: 

"  Veri/  Dear  Brethren — The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  being 
met  at  a  time  when  public  affairs  wear  so  threatening  an  aspect,  and  when 
(unless  Grod  in  his  sovereign  providence  speedily  prevent  it)  all  the  horrors 
of  a  civil  war  throughout  this  great  Continent  are  to  be  apprehended,  vrere 
of  opinion,  that  they  could  not  discharge  their  duty  to  the  numerous  Con- 
gregations under  their  care,  without  addressing  them  at  this  important  crisis. 
As  the  firm  belief,  and  habitual  recollection  of  the  power  and  presence  of 
the  living  God,  ought  at  all  times  to  possess  the  minds  of  real  Christians, 
so  in  seasons  of  public  calamity,  when  the  Lord  is  known  by  the  judgment 
which  he  executeth,  it  would  be  an  ignorance  or  indifference  highly  criminal 
not  to  look  up  to  him  with  reverence,  to  implore  his  mercy  by  humble  and 
fervent  prayer,  and,  if  possible,  to  prevent  his  vengeance  by  unfeigned 
repentance. 

"We  therefore,  brethren,  beseech  you  in  the  most  earnest' manner,  to 
look  beyond  the  immediate  authors  either  of  your  sufferings  or  fears,  and  to 
acknowledge  the  holiness  and  justice  of  the  Almighty  in  the  present  visita- 
tion. He  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways,  and  holy  in  all  his  works.  AfBiction 
springeth  not  out  of  the  dust.  He  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the 
children  of  men;  and,  therefore,  it  becomes  every  person,  family,  city,  and 
province,  to  humble  themselves  before  his  throne,  to  confess  their  sins,  by 
which  they  have  provoked  his  indignation,  and  entreat  him  to  pour  out  upon 
all  ranks  a  spirit  of  repentance  and  of  prayer.  Fly  also  for  forgiveness  to 
the  atoning  blood  of  the  great  Redeemer — the  blood  of  sprinkling,  which 
speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel.  Remember  and  confess  not  only 
your  sins  in  general,  but  those  prevalent  national  offences,  which  may  be 
justly  considered  as  the  procuring  causes  of  public  judgments;  particularly 
profaneness  and  contempt  of  God,  his  name.  Sabbaths,  and  sanctuary; 
pride,  luxury,  uncleanness,  and  neglect  of  family  religion  and  govertiment, 
with  the  deplorable  ignorance  and  security  which  certainly  ought  to  be  im- 
puted to  this  as  their  pinncipal  cause.  All  these  are,  among  us,  highly 
aggravated  by_the  inestimable  privileges  which  we  have  hitherto  enjoyed 
without  interi'uption  since  the  first  settlement  of  this  country.  If,  in  the 
present  day  of  distress,  we  expect  that  God  will  hear  our  supplications,  and 
interpose  for  our  protection  or  deliverance,  let  us  remember,  what  he  him- 
self requires  of  us  is,  that  our  prayers  should  be  attended  with  a  sincere  pur- 
pose, and  thorough  endeavour  after  personal  and  family  reformation.  'If 
thou  prepare  thine  heart,  and  stretch  out  thine  hand  towards  him,  if  iniquity 


824  MORAL   AND    SECULAR    QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

be  in  thine  hand,  put  it  far  aw.ay,  and  let  not  wickedness  dwell  in  thy  taber- 
nacles.' Job  xi.  13, 14. 

"The  Synod  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  is  a  proper  time  for  pressing 
all  of  every  rank,  seriously  to  consider  the  things  that  belong  to  their  eternal 
peace.  Hostilities,  long  feared,  have  now  taken  place;  the  sword  has  been 
drawn  in  one  province,  and  the  whole  continent,  with  hardly  any  exception, 
seem  determined  to  defend  their  rights  by  force  of  arms.  If,  at  the  same 
time,  the  British  ministiy  shall  continue  to  enforce  their  claims  by  violence, 
a  lasting  and  bloody  contest  must  be  expected.  Surely,  then,  it  becomes 
those  who  have  taken  up  arms,  and  profess  a  willingness  to  hazard  their  lives 
in  the  cause  of  liberty,  to  be  prepared  for  death,  which  to  many  must  be 
certain,  and  to  every  one  is  a  possible  or  probable  event. 

"  We  have  long  seen  with  concern,  the  circumstances  which  occasioned, 
and  the  gradual  increase  of,  this  unhappy  difference.  As  Ministers  of  the 
gospel  of  peace,  we  have  ardently  wished  that  it  could,  and  often  hoped  that 
it  would  have  been  more  early  accommodated.  It  is  well  known  to  you, 
(otherwise  it  would  be  imprudent  indeed  thus  publicly  to  profess,)  that  we 
have  not  been  instrumental  in  inflaming  the  minds  of  the  people,  or  urging 
them  to  acts  of  violence  and  disorder.  Perhaps  no  instance  can  be  given 
on  so  interesting  a  subject,  in  which  political  sentiments  have  been  so  long 
and  so  fully  kept  from  the  pulpit,  and  even  malice  itself  has  not  charged  us 
with  labouring  from  the  press;  but  things  are  now  come  to  such  a  state,  that 
we  do  not  wish  to  conceal  our  opinions  as  men  and  citizens,  so  the  relation 
we  stand  in  to  you  seemed  to  make  the  present  improvement  of  it  to  your 
spiritual  benefit,  an  indispensable  duty. 

"  Suffer  us  then  to  lay  hold  of  your  present  temper  of  mind,  and  to  exhort, 
especially  the  young  and  vigorous,  by  assuring  them  that  there  is  no  soldier 
so  undaunted  as  the  pious  man,  no  army  so  formidable  as  those  who  are 
superior  to  the  fear  of  death.  There  is  nothing  more  awfu.1  to  think  of, 
than  that  those  whose  trade  is  war  should  be  despisers  of  the  name  of  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  and  that  they  should  expose  themselves  to  the  imminent  dan- 
ger of  being  immediately  sent  from  cursing  and  cruelty  on  the  earth,  to  the 
blaspheming  rage  and  despairing  horror  of  the  infernal  pit.  Let,  therefore, 
every  one,  who  from  generosity  of  spirit,  or  benevolence  of  heart,  offers 
himself  as  a  champion  in  his  country's  cause,  be  persuaded  to  reverence  the 
name,  and  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  then 
he  may,  with  the  most  unshaken  firmness,  expect  the  issue  either  in  victory 
or  death. 

"  Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that  though  for  the  wise  ends  of  his  providence 
it  may  please  God,  for  a  season  to  sufler  his  people  to  lie  under  unmerited 
oppression,  yet  in  general,  we  may  expect,  that  those  who  fear  and  serve  him 
in  sincerity  and  truth,  will  be  favoured  with  his  countenance  and  strength. 
It  is  both  the  character  and  the  privilege  of  the  children  of  God,  that  they 
call  upon  him  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  he,  who  keepeth  covenant  and  truth 
for  ever,  has  said,  that  his  ears  are  always  open  to  their  cry.  We  need  not 
mention  to  you  in  how  many  instances  the  event  in  battles,  and  success  in 
war,  have  turned  upon  circumstances  which  were  inconsiderable  in  them- 
selves, as  well  as  out  of  the  power  of  human  prudence  to  foresee  or  direct, 
because  we  suppose  you  firmly  believe  that  after  all  the  counsels  of  men, 
and  the  most  prubable  and  promising  means,  the  Lord  will  do  that  which 
seemeth  him  good;  nor  hath  his  promise  ever  failed  of  its  full  accomplish- 
ment; the  Lord  is  with  you  while  ye  be  with  him,  and  if  ye  seek  him  he 
will  be  found  of  you;  but  if  ye  forsake  him  he  will  forsake  you.  2  Chron. 
XV.  2. 

"After  this  exhortation,  which  we  thought  ourselves  called  upon  to  give 


Part  IV.]  SECULAR   AFFAIRS.  825 

you  at  this  time,  on  your  great  interest,  the  one  thing  needful,  we  shall  take 
the  liberty  to  offer  a  few  advices  to  the  societies  under  our  charge,  as  to 
their  public  and  general  conduct;  and, 

"  First.  In  carrying  on  this  important  struggle,  let  every  opportunity  be 
taken  to  express  your  attachment  and  respect  to  our  sovereign  King  George, 
and  to  the  revolution  principles  by  which  his  august  family  was  seated  on 
the  British  throne.  "We  recommend,  indeed,  not  only  allegiance  to  him 
from  duty  and  principle,  as  the  first  magistrate  of  the  empire,  but  esteem 
and  reverence  for  the  person  of  the  prince,  who  has  merited  well  of  his  sub- 
jects on  many  accounts,  and  who  has  probably  been  misled  into  the  late  and 
present  measures  by  those  about  him;  neither  have  we  any  doubt  that  they 
themselves  have  been  in  a  great  degree  deceived  by  false  information  from 
interested  persons  residing  in  America.  It  gives  us  the  greatest  pleasure  to 
say,  from  our  own  certain  knowledge  of  all  belonging  to  our  communion,  and 
from  the  best  means  of  information,  of  the  far  greatest  part  of  all  denomina- 
tions in  the  country,  that  the  present  opposition  to  the  measures  of  admin- 
istration does  not  in  the  least  arise  from  disaffection  to  the  king,  or  a  desire 
of  separation  from  the  parent  state.  We  are  happy  in  being  able  with 
truth  to  affirm,  that  no  part  of  America  would  either  have  approved  or  per- 
mitted such  insults  as  have  been  offered  to  the  sovereign  in  Great  Britain. 
AVe  exhort  you,  therefore,  to  continue  in  the  same  disposition,  and  not  to 
suffer  oppression,  or  injury  itself,  easily  to  provoke  you  to  anything  which 
may  seem  to  betray  contrary  sentiments :  let  it  ever  appear,  that  you  only 
desire  the  preservation  and  security  of  those  rights  which  belong  to  you  as 
freemen  and  Britons,  and  that  reconciliation  upon  these  terms  is  your  most 
ardent  desire. 

"  Secondly.  Be  careful  to  maintain  the  union  which  at  present  subsists 
through  all  the  colonies;  nothing  can  be  more  manifest  than  that  the  success 
of  every  measure  depends  on  its  being  inviolably  preserved,  and,  therefore, 
we  hope  that  you  will  leave  nothing  undone  which  can  promote  that  end. 
In  particular,  as  the  Continental  Congress,  now  sitting  at  Philadelphia,  con- 
sists of  delegates  chosen  in  the  most  free  and  unbiassed  manner,  by  the  body 
of  the  people,  let  them  not  only  be  treated  with  respect,  and  encouraged  in 
their  difficult  service — not  only  let  your  prayers  be  ofiered  up  to  God  for 
his  direction  in  their  proceedings — but  adhere  firmly  to  their  resolutions; 
and  let  it  be  seen  that  they  are  able  to  bring  out  the  whole  strength  of  this 
vast  country  to  carry  them  into  execution.  We  would  also  advise  for  the 
same  purpose,  that  a  spirit  of  candour,  charity,  and  mutual  esteem,  be  pre- 
served and  promoted  towards  those  of  different  religious  denominations. 
Persons  of  probity  and  principle  of  every  profession,  should  be  united  to- 
gether as  servants  of  the  same  Master,  and  the  experience  of  our  happy  con- 
cord hitherto  in  a  state  of  liberty  should  engage  all  to  unite  in  support  of 
the  common  interest;  for  there  is  no  example  in  history,  in  which  civil 
liberty  was  destroyed,  and  the  rights  of  conscience  preserved  entire. 

"  Thirdly.  We  do  earnestly  exhort  and  beseech  the  societies  under  our 
care  to  be  strict  and  vigilant  in  their  private  government,  and  to  watch  over 
the  morals  of  their  several  members.  It  is  with  the  utmost  pleasure  we 
remind  you,  that  the  last  Continental  Congress  determined  to  discourage 
luxury  in  living,  public  diversions,  and  gaming  of  all  kinds,  which  have  so 
fatal  an  influence  on  the  morals  of  the  people.  If  it  is  undeniable  that  uni- 
versal profligacy  makes  a  nation  ripe  for  Divine  judgments,  and  is  the  natural 
mean  of  bringing  them  to  ruin,  reformation  of  manners  is  of  the  utmost 
necessity  in  our  present  distress.  At  the  same  time,  as  it  has  been  observed 
by  many  eminent  writers,  that  the  censorial  power,  which  had  for  its  object 
the  manners  of  the  public  in  the  ancient  free  States,  was  absolutely  necessary 
104 


826  MORAL   AND    SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

to  their  continuance,  we  cannot  help  being  of  opinion  that  ^the  only  thing 
which  we  have  now  to  supply  the  place  of  this  is  the  religious  discipline  of 
the  several  sects  with  respect  to  their  own  members;  so  that  the  denomina- 
tion or  profession  which  shall  take  the  most  effectual  care  of  the  instruction 
of  its  members,  and  maintain  its  discipline  in  the  fullest  vigour,  will  do  the 
most  essential  service  to  the  whole  body.  For  the  very  same  reason  the 
greatest  service  which  magistrates,  or  persons  in  authority  can  do,  with 
respect  to  the  religion  or  morals  of  the  people,  is  to  defend  and  secure  the 
rights  of  conscience  in  the  most  equal  and  impartial  manner. 

"Fourthly.  We  cannot  but  recommend,  and  urge  in  the  warmest  man- 
ner, a  regard  to  order  and  the  public  peace ;  and  as  in  many  places  during 
the  confusions  that  prevail,  legal  proceedings  have  become  difficult,  it  is 
hoped,  that  all  persons  will  conscientiously  pay  their  just  debts,  and  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power  serve  one  another,  so  that  the  evils  inseparable  from 
a  civil  war  may  not  be  augmented  by  wantonness  and  irregularity. 

''Fifthly.  We  think  it  of  importance  at  this  time,  to  recommend  to  all 
of  every  rank,  but  especially  to  those  who  may  be  called  to  action,  a  spirit 
of  humanity  and  mercy.  Every  battle  of  the  warrior  is  with  confused  noise, 
and  garments  rolled  in  blood.  It  is  impossible  to  appeal  to  the  sword  with- 
out being  exposed  to  many  scenes  of  cruelty  and  slaughter;  but  it  is  often 
observed  that  civil  wars  are  carried  on  with  a  rancour  and  spirit  of  revenge 
much  greater  than  those  between  independent  States.  The  injuries  received, 
or  supposed,  in  civil  wars,  wound  more  deeply  than  those  of  foreign  enemies; 
it  is  therefore  the  more  necessary  to  guard  against  this  abuse,  and  recom- 
mend that  meekness  and  gentleness  of  spirit,  which  is  the  noblest  attend- 
ant on  true  valour.  That  man  will  fight  most  bravely,  who  never  fights  till 
it  is  necessary,  and  who  ceases  to  fight  as  soon  as  the  necessity  is  over. 

''Lastly.  We  would  recommend  to  all  the  societies  under  our  care,  not 
to  content  themselves  with  attending  devoutly  on  general  fasts,  but  to  con- 
tinue habitually  in  the  exercise  of  prayer,  and  to  have  frequent  occasional 
voluntary  meetings  for  solemn  intercession  with  God  on  the  important  trial. 
Those  who  are  immediately  exposed  to  danger  need  your  sympathy;  and 
we  learn  from  the  Scriptures,  that  fervency  and  importunity  are  the  very 
characters  of  that  prayer  of  the  righteous  man  which  availeth  much. 

"  We  conclude  with  our  most  earnest  prayer,  that  the  God  of  Heaven 
may  bless  you  in  your  temporal  and  spiritual  concerns,  and  that  the  present 
unnatural  dispute  may  be  speedily  terminated  by  an  equitable  and  lasting 
settlement  on  constitutional  principles. 

"Signed  in  the  name,  presence,  and  by  appointment  of  the  Synod. 

Benjamin  Hait,  Moderator. 

''New  York,  May  22d,  1775." 

"N.  B.  The  Stated  Clerk  is  to  insert  the  pastoral  letter  from  a  printed 
copy.  The  Synod  agree  that  five  hundred  copies  of  said  pastoral  letter  be 
printed;  and  order  the  Synodical  treasurer  to  pay  the  expenses  of  printing, 
which  is  to  be  by  the  Synod  refunded  at  their  next  meeting. 

"  Mr.  Halsey  dissents  from  that  paragraph  of  said  letter  which  contains 
the  declarations  of  allegiance." — Minutes,  1775,  pp.  463,  466. 

§  65.    Congratidations  on  the  birth  of  the  French  Dauphin. 

"Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  Joseph  Montgomery,  and  Dr.  Elihu  Spencer, 
were  appointed  to  be  a  committee  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  Minister  of 
France,  congratulating  him  on  the  birth  of  a  Dauphin/son  and  heir  to  the 
crown  of  his  royal  master,  expressing  the  pleasure  the  Synod  feel  on  this 
happy  event. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  draught  of  an  address  to  the 


Part  IV.]  SECULAR   AFFAIRS.  827 

Minister  of  France,  brought  in  one;  which  being  read,  paragraph  by  para- 
graph, ordered,  that  it  be  signed  by  the  Moderator,  and  that  the  Moderator, 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  Mr.  Montgomery,  be  a  committee  to  wait  upon  the 
Minister,  and  to  present  the  above  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  the  Synod." 
— Mmutes,  1782,  p.  495. 

[The  Dauphin  whose  birth  is  thus  noticed,  was  that  unhappy  youth,  whose  mysterious 
fate  has  led  to  the  conviclion  in  the  minds  of  some,  that  he  is  to  be  identified  in  the  per- 
son of  an  Episcopal  Missionary  among  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  northern  frontier  of  this 
country  !J 

§  66.   Address  to  Washington  on  his  election  to  the  Presidenci/. 

"On  motion.  Resolved  unanimously,  that  an  address  be  presented  from 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States;  and  that  Drs.  Witherspoon,  "A,lison,  and  S.  S.  Smith,  be  a 
committee  to  draught  said  address.  ' 

"  To  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

"  Sir — The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  embrace  the  earliest  opportunity  in  their  power,  to  testify 
the  lively  and  unfeigned  pleasure  which  they,  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  feel,  on  your  appointment  to  tbe  first  office  in  the  nation. 

"We  adore  Almighty  Qod,  the  Author  of  every  perfect  gift,  who  hath 
endued  you  with  such  a  rare  and  happy  assemblage  of  talents,  as  hath 
rendered  j'ou  equally  necessary  to  your  country  in  war  and  in  peace.  Your 
military  achievements  insured  safety  and  glory  to  America,  in  the  late  ardu- 
ous conflict  for  freedom;  while  your  disinterested  conduct,  and  uniformly 
just  discernment  of  tbe  public  interest,  gained  you  the  entire  confidence  of 
the  people:  And  in  the  present  interesting  period  of  public  afl"airs,  the  influ- 
ence of  your  personal  character  moderates  the  divisions  of  political  parties, 
and  promises  a  permanent  establishment  of  the  civil  government. 

"From  a  retirement  more  glorious  than  thrones  and  sceptres,  you  have 
been  called  to  your  present  elevated  station,  by  the  voice  of  a  great  and  a 
free  people;  and  with  an  unanimity  of  suffrage  that  has  few,  if  any 
examples,  in  history.  A  man  more  ambitious  of  fame,  or  less  devoted  to 
his  country,  would  have  refused  an  office  in  which  his  honours  could  not  be 
augmented,  and  where  they  might  possibly  be  subject  to  a  reverse.  We  are 
happy  that  God  has  inclined  your  heart  to  give  yourself  once  more  to  the 
public.  And  we  derive  a  favourable  presage  of  the  event,  from  the  zeal  of 
all  classes  of  the  people,  and  their  confidence  in  your  virtues;  as  well  as 
from  the  knowledge  and  dignity  with  which  the  federal  councils  are  filled. 
But  we  derive  a  presage,  even  more  flattering,  from  the  piety  of  your 
character.  Public  virtue  is  the  most  certain  means  of  public  felicity;  and 
religion  is  the  surest  basis  of  virtue.  We  therefore  esteem  it  a  peculiar 
happiness  to  behold  in  our  chief  magistrate,  a  steady,  uniform,  avowed 
friend  of  the  Christian  religion;  who  has  comnienced  his  administration  in 
rational  and  exalted  sentiments  of  piety;  and  who,  in  his  private  conduct, 
adorns  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  Christ;  and  on  the  most  public  and 
solemn  occasions,  devoutly  acknowledges  the  government  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence. 

"The  example  of  distinguished  characters  will  ever  possess  a  powerful 
and  extensive  influence  on  the  public  mind;  and  when  we  see,  in  such  a 
conspicuous  station,  the  amiable  example  of  piety  to  God,  of  benevolence  to 
men,  and  of  a  pure  and  virtuous  patriotism,  we  naturally  hope  that  it  will 
diffuse  its  influence;  and  that,  eventvially,  the  most  happy  consequences  will 
result  from  it.     To  the  force  of  imitation,  we  will  endeavour  to  add  the 


828  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

wholesome  instructions  of  religion.  We  shall  consider  ourselves  as  doing 
an  acceptable  service  to  God,  in  our  profession,  when  we  contribute  to  render 
men  sober,  honest,  and  industrious  citizens,  and  the  obedient  subjects  of  a 
lawful  government.  In  these  pious  labours,  we  hope  to  imitate  the  most 
worthy  of  our  brethren  of  other  Christian  denominations,  and  to  be  imitated 
by  them;  assured  that  if  we  can,  b}'  mutual  and  generous  emulation,  pro- 
mote truth  and  virtue,  we  shall  render  a  great  and  important  service  to  the 
republic;  shall  receive  encouragement  from  every  wise  and  good  citizen; 
and,  above  all,  meet  the  approbation  of  our  Divine  Master. 

"We  pray  Almighty  God,  to  have  you  always  in  his  holy  keeping.     May 
he  prolong  your  valuable  life,  an  ornament  and  a  blessing  to  your  country, 
and  at  last  bestow  on  you  the  glorious  reward  of  a  faithful  servant. 
"  Signed  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly, 

John  Hodgers,  3foderofor. 

''PUladdpliia,  May  20, 1789."  —Minutes,  1789,  p.  11. 

§  67.    Washington^ s  reply. 

"The  committee  appointed  to  present  the  address  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  reported,  that  they  presented  the 
said  address,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  last  year,  and  received  from  the  Pres- 
ident the  following  answer,  viz. 

''To  the  General  Assembly  of  the   Presbyterian   Church  in    the  United 

States  of  America. 

''  Gentlemen — I-receive  with  great  sensibility  the  testimonial  given  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  of  the  lively  and  unfeigned  pleasure  experienced  by  them  on  my 
appointment  to  the  first  office  in  the  nation. 

"  xVlthough  it  will  be  my  endeavour  to  avoid  being  elated  by  the  too 
favourable  opinion  which  your  kindness  for  me  may  have  induced  you  to 
express  of  the  importance  of  my  former  conduct,  and  the  effect  of  my  future 
services;  yet,  conscious  of  the  disinterestedness  of  my  motives,  it  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  conceal  the  satisfaction  I  have  felt  upon  finding  that 
my  compliance  with  the  call  of  my  country,  and  my  dependence  on  the 
assistance  of  Heaven  to  support  me  in  my  arduous  undertakings,  have,  so 
far  as  I  can  learn,  met  the  universal  approbation  of  my  countrymen.  While  I 
reiterate  the  professions  of  my  dependence  upon  Heaven  as  the  source  of  all 
public  and  private  blessings,  I  will  observe,  that  the  general  prevalence  of 
piety,  philanthropy,  honesty,  industry  and  economy,  seems,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  human  affairs,  particvxlarly  necessary  for  advancing  and  confirm- 
ing the  happiness  of  our  country.  While  all  men  within  our  territories  are 
protected  in  worshipping  the  Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
sciences, it  is  rationally  to  be  expected  from  them  in  return,  that  they  will 
all  be  emulous  of  evincing  the  sincerity  cf  their  professions  by  the  innocence 
of  their  lives  and  the  benevolence  of  their  actions.  For  no  man  who  is  pro- 
fligate in  his  morals,  or  a  bad  member  of  the  civil  community,  can  possibly 
be  a  true  Christian,  or  a  credit  to  his  own  religious  society. 

"I  desire  you  to  accept  my  acknowledgments  for  your  laudable  endea- 
vours to  render  men  sober,  honest,  and  good  citizens,  and  the  obedient  sub- 
jects of  a  lawful  government;  as  well  as  for  your  prayers  to  Almighty  God 
for  his  blessing  on  our  common  couutry,  and  the  humble  instrument  which 
he  has  been  pleased  to  make  use  of  in  the  administration  of  its  govern- 
ment. George  Washington." 

— Minutes,  1790,  p.  24. 


Part  IV.]  SECULAR  AFFAIRS.  829 

§  68.   Pastoralletter  occasioned  hy  the  results  of  the  French  Revolution. 

"A  pastoral  letter  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  to  the  people  in  their  communion. 

"Bear  Friends  and  Brethren — The  aspect  of  divine  providence,  and  the 
extraordinai-y  situation  of  the  world,  at  the  present  moment,  indicate  that  a 
solemn  admonition  by  the  Ministers  of  religion  and  other  Church-officers  in 
General  Assembly  convened,  has  become  our  indispensable  duty.  When 
formidable  innovations  and  convulsions  in  Europe  threatened  destruction  to 
morals  and  religion;  when  scenes  of  devastation  and  bloodshed,  unexampled 
in  the  history  of  modern  nations,  have  convulsed  the  world,  and  when  our 
own  country  is  threatened  with  similar  calamities,  insensibility  in  us  would 
be  stupidity;  silence  would  be  criminal.  The  watchmen  on  Zion's  walls  are 
bound  by  their  commission,  to  sound  a  general  alarm  at  the  approach  of 
danger.  We  therefore  desire  to  direct  your  awakened  attention  towards 
that  bursting  storm,  which  threatens  to  sweep  before  it  the  religious  princi- 
ples, institutions  and  morals  of  our  people.  We  are  filled  with  a  deep  con- 
cern and  awful  dread,  whilst  we  announce  it  as  our  real  conviction,  that  the 
eternal  God  has  a  controversy  with  our  nation,  and  is  about  to  visit  us  in  his 
sore  displeasure.  A  solemn  crisis  has  arrived,  in  which  we  are  called  to  the 
most  serious  contemplation  of  the  moral  causes  which  have  produced  it,  and 
the  measures  which  it  becomes  us  to  pursue. 

"With  regard  to  the  causes  of  those  national  calamities,  which  we  either 
feel  or  fear,  a  little  reflection  may  convince  us,  that  these  may  be  traced  to 
a  general  defection  from  God,  and  corruption  of  the  public  principles  and 
morals.  These  usually  keep  an  equal  pace,  and  they  uniformly  precede  the 
ruin  of  nations. 

"The  evidences  of  our  guilt  are,  unhappily,  too  numerous  and  glaring. 
We  perceive,  with  pain  and  fearful  apprehension,  a  general  dereliction  of 
religious  principle  and  practice  amongst  our  fellow  citizens;  a  great 
departure  from  the  faith  and  simple  purity  of  manners  for  which  our  fathers 
were  remarkable ;  a  visible  and  prevailing  impiety  and  contempt  for  the 
laws  and  institutions  of  religion,  and  an  abounding  infidelity  which  in  many 
instances  tends  to  Atheism  itself,  which  contemptuously  rejects  God's  eter- 
nal Son,  our  Saviour,  ridicules  the  gospel  and  its  most  sacred  mysteries, 
denies  the  providence  of  God,  grieves  and  insults  the  Holy  Spirit;  in  a 
word,  which  assumes  a  front  of  daring  impiety,  and  possesses  a  mouth  filled 
with  blasphemy. 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  alarming  situation  of  the  public  mind,  which  we 
have  noticed  above,  we  perceive  a  degree  of  supineness  and  inattention 
amongst  too  many  of  the  Ministers  and  professors  of  Christianity,  which 
seems  to  threaten  a  dissolution  of  religious  society.  Formality  and  dead- 
ness,  not  to  say  hypocrisy;  a  contempt  for  vital  godliness,  and  the  spirit  of 
fervent  piety;  a  desertion  of  the  ordinances,  or  a  cold  and  unprofitable 
attendance  upon  them,  visibly  pervade  every  part  of  the  Church,  and  cer- 
tain men  have  crept  in  amongst  us,  who  have  denied,  or  attempt  to  explain 
away  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  gospel ;  to  introduce  pernicious  errors  which 
were  either  not  named,  or  named  with  abhorrence,  but  which  have,  within 
a  few  years  since,  been  embraced  by  deluded  multitudes.  The  Lord's 
day  is  horribly  profaned,  and  family  religion  and  instruction  lamentably 
neglected. 

"Our  ingratitude  to  God  enhances  our  dreadful  guilt.  No  people  have  been 
more  highly  favoured  in  our  original  establishment,  our  increasing  pros- 
perity, and  particularly  in  our  contest  during  the  revolutionary  war,  and  its 
prosperous  issue;  but  alas!  we  have  basely  forgotten  our  Benefactor.     We 


830  MORAL   AND   SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

have  abused  his  favours,  and  turned  them  into  engines  of  opposition  against 
himself.  '  He  has  nourished  and  brought  us  up  as  children,  and  we  have 
rebelled  against  him.' 

"The  profligacy  and  corruption  of  the  public  morals  have  advanced  with 
a  progress  proportioned  to  our  declension  in  religion.  Profaneness,  pride, 
luxury,  injustice,  intemperance,  lewdness,  and  every  species  of  debauchery 
and  loose  indulgence  greatly  abound.  And  '  shall  not  the  Lord  visit  us  for 
these  things?  shall  not  his  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this?'  Are 
not  our  crimes  enormous  as  they  are  numerous?  Are  they  not  peculiarly 
aggravated?  Have  we  not  known  our  Master's  will,  and  refused,  or  at  least 
neglected  to  do  it?  Have  we  not  possessed  uncommon  means  of  inforraatiou 
with  regard  to  our  duty,  without  a  proportionate  improvement?  And  have 
not  our  uncommon  advantages  been  abused  without  shame  or  remorse?  As 
surely  as  there  is  a  righteous  God,  so  surely  will  he  visit  us  in  his  just  dis- 
pleasure, unless  his  grace  prevent,  by  awakening  us  to  a  sense  of  our  guilt 
and  recalling  us  to  the  practice  of  our  duty.  Our  circumstances  loudly  de- 
mand a  public  and  solemn  acknowledgment  of  God  as  our  moral  Governor 
and  righteous  Judge.  It  is  time  to  cease  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his 
nostrils;  to  look  beyond  second  causes,  and  openly  confess  the  hand  and 
agency  and  government  of  God  in  the  world.  Let  Christians  unite  more 
cordially  and  openly,  in  adhering  to  their  Master's  cause,  and  opposing  infi- 
delity in  all  its  forms.  God  hath  a  controversy  with  us — let  us  prostrate 
ourselves  before  him !  Let  the  deepest  humiliatioi^  and  the  sincerest  repent- 
ance mark  our  sense  of  national  sins ;  and  let  us  not  forget,  at  the  same 
time,  the  personal  sins  of  each  individual,  that  have  contributed  to  increase 
the  mighty  mass  of  corruption.  Let  the  Ministers  of  religion  weep  and  in- 
tercede for  themselves  and  a  guilty  people!  Let  all  descriptions  of  persons 
lament  their  iniquities,  and  reform!  Let  us  practise  all  righteousness !  Let  us 
be  earnest  and  fervent  in  prayer,  that  God,  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  would  pour  out  his  gracious  Spirit  upon  Ministers  and  people;  and 
that  he  would  revive  his  work,  not  only  amongst  our  Churches,  but  amongst 
all  denominations  of  Christians,  until  the  blessed  promises  and  predictions, 
with  regard  to  the  extent  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  be  completely  fulfilled. 
Let  us  conduct  ourselves  as  quiet  and  peaceable  citizens,  submitting  con- 
scientiously to  the  laws  of  our  own  making,  and  the  government  of  our  own 
choice.  Let  us  treat  with  candour  and  respect  our  civil  rulers.  Let  us 
reflect  that  the  Scripture  precepts  upon  this  subject  are  applicable  to  no 
people,  if  not  to  us,  under  a  representative  government;  yet,  as  in  the  pre-' 
sent  imperfect  state  of  human  nature,  differences  in  opinion  must  exist,  let 
us  carefully  cultivate  the  sentiment  of  brotherly  kindness  and  mutual  for- 
bearance and  charity. 

"  With  a  view  to  give  the  greater  effect  to  the  exhortations  and  admoni- 
tions in  this  letter  expressed,  we  recommend  that  the  last  Thursday  of 
August  next  be  observed  in  all  the  Congregations  under  our  care,  as  a  day 
of  solemn  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer;  and  that  the  Ministers  of  our 
communion  do  then  read  this  letter  to  the  people  of  their  charge,  and 
enforce  the  truth  it  contains  in  such  discourses,  founded  on  the  word  of  God, 
as  shall  appear  best  adapted  to  eflect  so  desirable  a  purpose." — Minutes, 
1798,  p.  152. 

§  69.    Warning  against  j>olitical  and  other  secular  excitements. 

"  Among  the  causes  which  seem  to  have  retarded  the  progress  of  the 
gospel,  one  which  appears  very  prominent  is  a  disposition  among  God's 
people  to  be  carried  away  with,  and  to  unite  in  keeping  up,  the  various  ex- 
citing topics  of  discussion  which  peculiarly  distinguish  the  present  day. 


Part  lY.]  SECULAR   AFFAIRS.  831 

This  has  been  called  the  age  of  improvement.  Such  it  may  be.  But  it 
certainly  ^s  an  age  of  excitement  and  innovation — an  age  in  which  many 
appear  to  think  themselves  called  upon  to  question  and  unsettle  principles 
and  practices,  which  have  received  the  enlightened  sanction  of  centuries — 
to  contest  the  propriety  of  things  held  most  sacred — to  uproot  and  destroy 
the  deep  foundations  of  all  order,  social,  political,  and  religious — and  to 
keep  the  mind  of  society  in  a  state  of  constant  excitement  and  change. 
This  disposition  has  not  been  without  the  countenance  of  professing  Chris- 
tians— and  its  effect  has  been  felt  throughout  the  whole  Church.  Many  of 
God's  people,  instead  of  lending  their  talents,  their  influence,  and  their 
feelings  to  the  great  work  of  saving  sinners,  have  given  them  another  direc- 
tion. They  have  assisted  in  attracting  the  attention  of  the  Church  and  of 
the  world  to  other  objects  which  have  so  effectually  engrossed  the  mind  as 
to  exclude  the  peaceful  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  prevent  their  efficacy.  In 
order  that  the  gospel  may  have  its  most  rapid  and  glorious  progress,  the 
minds  of  men  should  be  in  such  a  calm,  composed,  and  unexcited  state, 
that  the  attention  may  be  directed  as  individually  as  possible  to  gospel  invi- 
tations and  gospel  truths.  The  Church,  instead  of  countenancing  any  other 
state  of  public  feeling,  should  exert  itself  to  allay  and  repress  all  such  ex- 
citements— should  throw  oil  upon  the  troubled  waters — and  should  earn- 
estly pray  to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  that  he  would  speak  peace  to 
the  raging  elements,  that  there  might  be  no  obstacles  to  hinder,  no  difiicul- 
ties  to  retard  the  rapid  advancement  of  his  glorious  kingdom." — Minutes, 
1838,  p.  56. 

§  70.  Indian  civilization. 

"The  committee  to  which  the  overture  on  the  subject  of  the  Assembly's 
expressing  their  approbation  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States  for  civilizing  the  Indian  tribes,  reported,  and  their  report 
being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  are  highly  gratified  in  observing  the  benevolent  exertions  of 
the  general  government  to  promote  the  civilization  of  the  Indian  tribes  with- 
in its  territories,  by  the  support  of  schools,  and  by  introducing  among  them 
the  arts  of  social  life.  The  Assembly  feel  confident  that  the  general  govern- 
ment, by  adopting  these  measures,  act  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  American  people. 

"The  Assembly  sincerely  pray  that  the  Supreme  Being  may  bless  these 
exertions  to  reclaim  the  aborigines  of  our  continent  from  the  darkness  and 
ferocity  of  their  savage  state,  to  the  privileges  and  enjoyments  of  Christian 
civilization. 

^^  Resolved,  That  an  attested  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolution  be  transmit- 
ted to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  signed  by  the  Moderator  and 
Clerks  of  this  Assembly." — Minutes,  1820,  pp.  728,  731. 

§71.  - 

"  The  committee  to  which  was  referred  a  communication  from  Dr.  Morse, 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Society  for  promoting  the  civiliza- 
tion and  general  improvement  of  the  Indians  within  the  United  States ; 
together  with  the  constitution  of  said  Society,  reported,  that  they  had 
examined  these  documents,  and  they  recommended  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  adopted,  viz. 

"1.  That  the  Assembly  highly  approve  of  the  objects  proposed  to  be 
accomplished  by  said  Society. 

"  2.  That  the  plan  of  operation  of  the  said  Society  appears  calculated  to 


832  MORAL   AND    SECULAR   QUESTIONS.  [Book  VIII. 

awaken  c^eneral  attention  to  this  important  subject,  to  command  great  facili- 
ties, and  obtain  efficient  means  fur  promoting  the  temporal  and  eternal  wel- 
fare of  our  heathen  neighbours;  and  for  securing  peace  and  friendly  inter- 
course among  those,  who  have  been  too  much  alienated  from  each  other, 
although  belonging  to  the  same  common  family. 

"3.  The  Assembly,  therefore,  would  devoutly  implore  the  blessing  of  the 
God  of  mercy  upon  the  exertions  of  the  said  Society;  and  recommend  to  the 
members  of  the  Church,  to  lend  what  assistance  they  can  in  forwarding  this 
laudable  (iesii^n."—3Iimotes,  1822,  p.  10. 

§  72.  Vaccination. 
"A  letter  was  received  from  certain  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  styling 
themselves,  'Friends  of  Humanity,'  accompanied  with  two  hundred  copies 
of  a  publication  on  the  vaccine  disease,  re({uesting  that  the  Assembly  will 
take  measures  to  have  the  same  distributed  among  the  people  for  their  infor- 
mation on  the  subject;  and  to  hasten  that  expected  and  desirable  event,  the 
total  extinction  of  that  loathsome  and  fatal  disease,  the  small-pox.  Fifty 
additional  copies  of  the  same  publication,  accompanied  with  a  few  copies  of 
Dr.  Jenner's  Instructions  on  the  practice  of  vaccine  inoculation,  were  also 
received  from  the  same  benevolent  persons,  with  a  request  that  they  may  be 
sent  by  the  Missionaries  from  this  Assembly  to  the  frontiers  of  the  country, 
and  distributed  for  the  caution  and  direction  of  those  who  have  less  oppor- 
tunity of  obtaining  medical  aid  and  advice,  on  the  subject  of  vaccine  inoc- 
ulation. The  present  was  thankfully  accepted  by  the  Assembly,  who  feel- 
ing perfectly  disposed  to  co-operate  with  those  friends  of  humanity,  distribu- 
ted the  two  hundred  copies  aforesaid  among  the  members,  to  be  used  at 
their  discretion  for  promoting  the  end  in  view.  The  fifty  copies,  with  the 
directions  accompanying  them,  were  transmitted  to  the  Standing  Committee 
of  Missions,  to  the  intent  that  they  may  be  employed  for  the  purposes  afore- 
said."—J/mw^es,  1803,  p.  277. 


BOOK   IX. 

STATISTICS 


Title  1. — Rules  in  eegard  to  the  Statistics. 

§  1.  liejMrts  to  he  hrouglit  up  to  the  \st  of  Ajiril. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  be  required  to  direct  the  Sessions  of 
the  Churches  within  their  bounds,  to  make  out  in  each  year  the  Sessional 
Report  to  the  Presbytery  up  to  the  first  day  of  April,  and  transmit  the  same 
to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery,  and  that  each  Presbytery  be  also 
required  to  direct  their  Stated  Clerk,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  May,  in 
each  year,  to  transmit  by  mail,  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly, 
a  Presbyterial  report,  bearing  the  date  of  April  first,  prepared  from  the  Ses- 
sional reports."-^ J/mwiles,  1829,  p.  385. 

§  2.  Items  to  he  reported, 

[In  1828,  a  form  of  Presbyterial  report  was  adopted,  which  indicated  the  following  sub- 
jects; viz.  Names  and  number  of  Ministers.  Names  and  number  of  Licentiates. 
Number  of  Candidates.  Names  and  number  of  Churches.  Communicants  added  on 
examination.  Communicants  added  on  Certificate.  Whole  number  of  Communicants. 
Adults  baptized.  Infants  baptized.  Total  of  baptisms.  Missionary,  Commissioners, 
Seminary,  and  Education  Funds.  Post  Office  of  Ministers.  Presbyterial  history. — Min- 
utes, 1828,  pp.  244,  319.  This  form  of  reports  has  since  been  modified  by  omitting  the 
total  of  baptisms,  and  by  the  following  regulations.] 

§  3.  Employment  of  Ministers  to  be  stated. 

(a)  "Eesolved,  That  in  the  Pre.sbyterial  reports,  the  Missionaries  of  the 
Foreign  Board  of  Missions  be  designated  by  the  letters  P.  31.,  and  those 
of  the  Domestic  Board,  by  the  letters  D.  M.,  and  be  thus  entered  on  the 
Statistical  Tables  of  the  General  Assemh\j. "—Ilinufcs,  1839,  p.  157. 

(h)  ^^  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  be  hereafter  required,  in  making 
their  Annual  Reports  to  the  General  Assembly,  to  place  in  the  second 
column  opposite  to  the  names  of  Ministers  without  pastoral  charge  as  far  as 
practicable,  the  nature  of  their  employment;  as  for  in.stance,  I'resident  of 

College;  Professor  in  College;  Professor  in  Theological 

105 


834  STATisTicg.  [Book  IX. 

Seminary;  Editor  of ;  Teacher;  Corresponding  Secretary,  or  Agent  of 

Benevolent  Institution;  or  Board  of  the  Church.     If  disqualitied  for 

pastoral  duties  by  failure  in  health,  to  place  opposite  the  name  of  such, 
'Infirm  Health;'  and  in  all  other  cases^  simply  W.  C;  i.  e.  without  charge." 
— Minutes,  1845,  p.  19. 

(c)   Ministers  in  transitu, 

[Ministers  who  are  dismissed  at  the  spring  meeting  of  Presbytery,  are  still  members 
until  the  new  connection  has  actually  taken  place,  and  should  therefore  be  reported  to  the 
Assembly  as  in  transitu.] 

§  4.    Column  /or  Coloured  Connnunicanis. 

"The  prayer  of  the  Memorial  of  the  Synod  of  Alabama  was  granted,  and 
an  additional  column  for  coloured  communicants  ordered  to  be  inserted  in 
the  Statistical  Reports  of  Presbyteries." — Mmutes,  1846,  p.  218. 

§  5.    Tlie  Statistics  of  Contrihiitions. 

"An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville,  asking  the  Assembly 
to  simplify  its  statistical  tables,  and  to  render  them  more  full  and  extensive 
as  to  the  contributions  of  the  Churches  for  religious  purposes. 

"The  Committee  recommended, 

"1.  That  a  column  for  the  whole  number  of  families  be  inserted  in  the 
form  of  Congregational  and  Presbyterial  Reports. 

"2.  That  the  form  of  reports  as  to  collections  be  hereafter  as  follows: 

"(1.)  For  Domestic  Missions;  to  include  all  moneys  collected  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  Church  Extension,  whether  for  the  Boards,  or  any  of  the  judica- 
tories of  the  Church. 

"(2.)  Foreign  Missions;  including  all  moneys  for  that  purpose. 

"(o.)  Education;  including  all  that  is  given  for  the  education  of  candi- 
dates for  the  Ministry;  for  Theological  Seminaries;  Presbyterian  Colleges, 
Academies,  Parochial,  and  Sabbath-schools. 

"(4.)  Puhlication ;  all  moneys  for  the  Board  of  Publication,  and  for 
Synodical  and  Presbyterial  depositories,  and  colportage. 

"  (5.)  Freshyterial ;  to  include  Commissioners'  and  Contingent  Funds,  and 
contributions  for  the  support  of  aged  Ministers. 

"(6.)  Congregational;  all  moneys  contributed  for  the  Congregation,  as 
Pastors'  salaries,  building  and  repairing  Churches,  liquidation  of  debts,  and 
current  expenses. 

"(7.)  Miscellaneous;  including  all  other  collections. 

"The  recommendation  was  adopted." — Minutes,  1850,  p.  403. 

§  6.   Supply  of  omissions. 

"  The  committee  think  it  would  be  useful,  should  the  Assembly  direct 
the  Stated  Clerks  of  Presbyteries,  where  Churches  omit  to  report  the  num- 
ber of  their  communicants  at  any  time,  to  insert  in  the  Presbyterial  statis- 
tics the  number  in  the  last  reports  of  such  Churches."  [Adopted.] — 
Mimttes,  1847,  p.  880. 

§  7.    Time  and  place  of  the  meetings  of  the  Synods. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  of  each  Synod  be  required  to  mention 
in  his  report  to  the  General  Assembly  the  time  and  place  of  the  next  meet- 
ing of  his  Synod,  and  that  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  cause 
the  time  and  place  of  such  meetings  to  be  published  in  the  Appendix  to 
thj  Minutes  of  the  Assembly." — Minutes,  1841,  p.  425. 


Book  IX.] 


STATISTICS. 


835 


Title  2. — A  Synopsis  op  the  Statistical  Tables. 

[The  following  tables  give  the  statistics  as  reported  in  May  of  the  years  specified,  com- 
prehending the  twelvemonth  preceding  the  date.] 

§  8.   Statistics  of  the  General  Sijnod. 


Year. 

Ministers. 

13* 

Year. 

5'k 
9 

3 

Year. 
1756a 

20 

If 

r* 

6 

1706 

17486 

39 

3 

1710 

10 

4 

16* 

"  c 

62 

21 

6 

"  b 

70 

13 

6 

1716 

17 

4 

1 

1750a 

23 

14 

3 

"    c 

90 

19 

9 

17^0 

27 

12 

3 

"  6 

44 

3 

4 

1758 

94 

14 

9 

1730 

28 

10 

3 

"  c 

67 

17 

7 

1760 

105 

16 

8 

1740 

50 

24 

6 

1752a 

21 

12 

3 

1765 

99 

17 

9 

I742t 

38 

18 

5 

"  b 

55 

2 

5 

1770 

121 

8 

9 

1746a 

22 

11 

3 

"  c 

76 

14 

8 

1775 

143 

5 

11 

"  6 

29 

2 

3 

1754a 

24 

6 

3 

1780 

130 

4 

11 

"  c 

51 

13 

6 

"  6 

67 

14 

5 

1785 

153 

9 

14 

1748a 

23 

12 

3 

"  c 

89 

20 

8 

1788t 

177 

9 

16 

*  Cliurches  in  connection  witli  the  General  Presbytery, 
f  The  New  Brunswiek  Presbytery  absent. 

a  The  Pliiladelphia  Synod.  6  The  New  York  Synod.  c  The  aggregate. 

J  In  17SS  there  were  11  Probationers  reported,  and  il9  Churches;  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania 
not  reporting. 


§  9  Statistics  of  the  General  Assembly  from  1791  to  1820. 


g 

o 

?o 

<? 

g 

^  —1 

S 

o 

Year. 

Synods. 

Presby- 
teries. 

■  5" 

Year 

c 
1 

Presby- 
teries. 

*-i 

~   o 

a   cr 

3  ¥ 

o 

B 

g  g 

1791 

«4 

2 

*9 

6 

74 

13 

1806 

7 

f 

$1289 

1792 

4 

4 

17 

14 

177 

34 

1807 

7 

*29 

24 

330 

35 

598 

17871 

4641 

1793 

4 

3 

14 

12 

160 

34 

1808 

7 

26 

23 

317 

37 

576 

21270 

4618 

1794 

4 

4 

19 

16 

187 

42 

1809 

7 

t32 

28 

392 

38 

652 

25298 

4460 

1795 

4 

4 

20 

14 

177 

36 

in'63 

1810 

7 

36 

33 

434 

51 

772 

28901 

5439 

1796 

4 

4 

21 

12 

173 

28 

1811 

7 

39 

37 

460 

52 

820 

23639 

6248 

1797 

4 

3 

15 

11 

152 

14 

1812 

7 

39 

34 

469 

51 

789  37699 

6386 

1798 

4 

4 

23 

23 

247 

26 

$1397 

1813 

8 

196G7 

1799 

4 

4 

25 

25 

266 

35 

1814 

9 

40 

37 

511 

57 

916  37767 

5541 

1800 

4 

3 

17 

14 

183 

18 

1815 

10 

41 

36 

520 

59 

859  39685 

7317 

1801 

4 

3 

16 

14 

190 

24 

1816 

10 

43 

36 

oil 

60 

881  37208 

674G 

1802 

4 

4 

28 

19 

224 

34 

2921 

1817 

10 

46 

37  536 

84 

556  475G8 

9627 

1803 

7 

7 

31 

31 

322 

48 

17568 

1818 

11 

47 

45  625 

82 

1016,  52822 

13117 

1804 

7 

6 

27 

17 

130 

33 

1517 

1819 

11 

53 

47  687 

102 

1194  63997 

15149 

1805 

7 

31 

1 

1336 

1 

*  The  first  column  gives  the  whole  number  of  Synods,  the  second  the  number  that  reported  for  the 
year.  The  first  column  of  Presbyteries  pves  the  number  reported  by  those  Synods,  the  second  the 
number  of  those  whose  statistics  were  sent  up.  Thus  in  1794,  of  the  four  Synods  two  reported  9 
Presbyteries.    Of  these  9,  six  reported  74  ministers  and  13  probationers. 

1 1  Association.    See  Book  VI.  g  117. 


836 


STATISTICS. 


[Book  IX. 


§  10.  Numerhal  Statistics  of  the  General  AssemUy  from  1820  to  1854. 


CO 

0 
p. 

t 

2. 

5 
S 

f 

1 

o 
1 

i 

a" 

5  2. 
c'  6 

o 
p 

Q 

9 

|9 

P  o 

Baptisms. 

Year. 

M 

a 
p 

> 

If 

•f.    » 

11 

J820 

11 

59 

741 

108 

99 

1299 

72096 

8021 

*10403 

1821 

11 

62 

734 

103 

101 

1300 

71364 

7186 

8105 

1822 

12 

66 

1411 

1823 

12 

71 

13 

1824 

13 

77 

1679 

13 

1825 

14 

81 

1080 

176 

193 

1772122382 

10431 

11409 

20 

1826 

16 

86 

1127 

187 

204 

1819  127492 

12850 

14 

1827 

16 

89 

1214 

218 

229 

1887  135285 

12938 

13194 

18 

1828  16 

90 

1285 

194 

242 

1968146308 

10790 

3389 

31 

1829 

19 

92 

1393 

205 

195|2070  162816 

14846 

3155 

12171 

3982 

20 

1830 

19 

98 

1491 

220 

2282158 

11748 

4237 

12202 

3255 

13 

1831 

20 

104 

1584 

210 

215  2253  182017 

15357 

4997 

12198 

4390 

20 

1832 

21 

110 

1730 

205 

220  238ll2l7348 

34160 

6886 

13246 

9650 

23 

1833 

22 

111 

1855 

215 

229|2500|233580 

23546 

7252 

14035 

6950 

26 

1834 

23 

118 

1914 

236 

185  2648 

247964 

20296 

8145 

13004 

5738 

36 

1835 

23 

123 

1S36 

23 

128 

1972 

253 

250  2807 

219126 

11512 

7737 

11089 

2729 

1837 

23 

135 

2140 

280 

244  2865  220557 

11580 

9315 

11697 

3031 

1838 

19 

107 

1690 

212 

228 

2343177665 

9562 

7947 

10164 

2692 

1839 

17 

96 

1243 

192 

175 

1823  128043 

6377 

4127 

7714 

1644 

1840 

17 

96 

1221 

185 

199 

1763  126583 

6944 

4200 

7844 

1741 

1841 

17 

99 

1304 

195 

202  1911134433 

7624 

4484 

8365 

1842 

21 

1842 

19 

101 

1316 

192 

229  1904  140433 

9944 

4770 

9567 

2748 

21 

1843 

19 

105 

1434 

183 

3142092  159137 

16416 

5154 

10625 

4363 

16 

1844 

21 

112 

1523 

203 

364  2156  166487 

12068 

5388 

10996 

3287 

12 

1845 

21 

115 

1562 

224 

34612229  171879 

7329 

5076 

9608 

1929 

23 

1846 

22 

115 

1647 

218 

339 

2297il74714 

7792 

5733 

9677 

2036 

19 

]847 

22 

118 

1713 

231 

343 

2376|l79453 

7602 

5673 

2766 

9342 

1794 

23 

1848 

23 

117 

1803 

250 

373 

2459192022 

8851 

6184 

3303 

9837 

2338 

19 

1849 

23 

122 

1860 

252 

364  2512:200830 

8976 

6351 

4441 

9895 

2412 

32 

1850 

23 

127 

1926 

234 

360l2595  207254 

1035S 

7065 

5389 

10372 

2772 

26 

185] 

23 

134 

2027 

237 

38112675  210306 

10852 

7892 

7658 

10994 

2918 

29 

1852 

25 

140 

2039 

229 

353  2733  210414 

9728 

7541 

7782 

11006 

2549 

34 

1853 

28 

145 

2139 

23u' 

363  2879  219263 

11846 

8180 

9067 

11644 

2942 

23 

1854 

t30 

148 

2203 

235 

390  2976|225404 

13433 

8797 

9737 

12041 

3597 

Whole  number  of  families  reported  in  1851,  52,952;  in  1852,  71,664;  in  1853, 
76,840;  and  in  18.54,  77,302,  are  reported  by  about  1500  Churches,  but  little  more  than 
one-half. 


*  Prior  to  1828  the  first  column  gives  the  aggregate  of  baptisms,  infant  and  adult, 
t  Including  two  erected  this  same  year. 


Book  IX.] 


STATISTICS. 


837 


§  11.    Sfaiislii's  of  Benevolence  from  1820  to  1854. 

[The  following  table,  made  up  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  Presbyteries,  is  very  de- 
fective, especially  in  the  earlier  years,  both  from  the  frequent  failure  of  Presbyteries  to 
report,  and  from  the  omission  of  many  important  items  on  the  schedule  ;  the  Bible,  Tract, 
and  Colonization  Societies,  &c.,  being  overlooked  until  the  later  years,  when  they  come 
in  under  the  Miscellaneous  column.] 


Year. 

Missions. 

Education. 

Presby 
terial. 

Aggregate, 

Year. 

Missions. 

Education. 

Presby- 
terial. 

Aggregate. 

1820 

$4,578 

S6,639 

$!,45G 

$12,673 

1830 

$44,914 

$35,774 

S3,504 

$84,192 

1821 

3,008 

3,843 

1,415 

8,266 

1831 

47,501 

50,201 

4,099 

102,801 

1822 

4,082 

7,341 

1,498 

12,921 

1832 

6!),231 

63,065 

5,522 

137,818 

1823 

4,126 

12,898 

1,580 

18,604 

1833 

76,420 

53,465 

5,582 

135,467 

1824 

1834 

114,687 

73,945 

5,814 

194,446 

1825 

12,517 

19,349 

4,040 

35,906 

1835 

1826 

8,900 

10,088 

2.812 

21,880 

1836 

117,148 

104,945 

5,433 

227,526 

1827 

11,053 

18,133 

3,409 

32,595 

1837 

163,563 

111,265 

7,161 

281,989 

1828 

25,993 

11,377 

3,367 

38,737 

1838 

88,356 

43,826 

6,524 

138,706 

1829 

39,180 

30,445 

3,442|    73,067 

t 

Domestic 

Foreign 

Pulilioa- 

ProsI)y- 

Coni;;rega- 

Miscella- 

Year. 

Missions. 

Missions. 

Education. 

cutiou. 

terial. 

tional. 

neous. 

Aggregate. 

1839 

$33,989 

$51,307 

$37,080 

$5,114 

$6,904 

$134,394 

1840 

35,113 

48,523 

33,643 

50,190 

6,128 

173,597 

1841 

29,261 

60,112 

38,212 

6,936 

6,967 

141,488 

1842 

29,770 

46,541 

30,538  1      7,578 

6,552 

$41,620 

162,599 

1843 

24,304 

39,578 

24,350 

1,496 

6,070 

53,086 

148,884 

1«44 

35,611 

48,011 

37,858 

1,647 

6.087 

82,856 

212,170 

1845 

39,214 

51,692 

68,009 

1,342 

5,370 

' 

105,482 

271,109 

1846 

39,368 

51,809 

51,883 

614 

8,414 

103,769 

255,857 

1847 

50,706 

56,767 

58,206 

5,091 

7,481 

129,834 

310,085 

1848 

50,803 

64,594 

52,673 

1,912 

8,136 

148,102 

318,220 

1849 

60,332 

80,210 

49,160 

20,316 

7,409 

151,944 

369,371 

1850 

60,429 

69,425 

50,017 

11,294 

6,784 

130,236 

328,185 

1851 

91,255 

83,770 

89,386 

20,182 

12,357 

$1,056,023  109,642 

1,462,615 

1852 

85,580 

82,480 

56,034 

17,052 

15,084 

934877   141,561 

1,387,668 

1853 

107,579 

97,204 

70,301 

17,637 

14,981 

1,16  8655  205,000 

1,681,357 

1854 

141,390 

100,430 

170,075 

23,689 

13,807 

1,407,9311193,209 

2,050,531 

§  12.    Sfafi'sfics  of  Domestic  Missions  from  1791  to  1854,  inclusive. 

[In  the  following  table  the  receipts  from  1803  to  1852,  are  copied  from  a  table  prepared 
by  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board,  and  published  in  the  Record  for  November  1852,  with  the 
following  note. 

"Note. — From  the  commencement  of  our  Missionary  operations  until  1829,  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  kept  the  account  of  Missionary  funds 
received.  In  July,  1829,  Mr.  Solomon  Allen  entered  upon  his  duties,  as  Treasurer  of  the 
Board  of  Missions,  at  which  time  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  had  advanced  the  Board  over  §4,500.  The  annual  interest  money  due  the 
Contingent  Missionary  Fund,  from  the  Permanent  Missionary  Fund  of  the  General 
Assembly,  was  in  part  retained  by  him,  from  year  to  year,  with  the  consent  of  the  Board, 
to  pay  this  advance ;  and  although  this  interest  money  was  an  actual  receipt  for  missions, 
it  has  not  appeared  in  any  previous  statement  of  receipts,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to 
discover." 

Besides  this  statement,  recourse  has  been  had,  in  making  out  the  following  table,  to  the 
Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  prior  to  1829,  and  the  reports  therein  contained  from 
the  Synods  who  had  charge  of  the  Missionary  business  within  their  own  bounds.  From 
1820,  the  Reports  of  the  Board  have  furnished  the  elements. 

The  table  exhibits  the  statistics  of  Missions  only  so  far  as  they  have  come  under  the 
management  of  our  own  ecclesiastical  organizations.  The  earlier  Missionaries  were 
invariably  itinerants,  their  appointment  being  for  short  tours,  not  averaging  more  than 
three  months.     The  compensation  given  was  generally  at  the  rate  of  about  $400  a  year, 


838 


STATISTICS. 


[Book  IX. 


to  ordained  Missionaries,  The  Synods  usually  employed  Licentiates,  paying  them  half 
that  amount.  The  earlier  operations  were  much  embarrassed  by  the  scarcity  of  Ministers, 
this  cause  reducing  the  number  of  Missionaries  in  1797  and  1798,  to  three. 

The  results  of  Missionary  labour  here  exhibited  fall  short  of  the  truth  in  consequence 
of  the  fiiiiure  of  Missionaries  to  report  to  the  Board.  Thus,  of  2737  Missionaries 
employed  from  1850  to  1854,  inclusive,  755,  or  two-sevenths  of  the  whole  number  made 
no  report;  and  consequently  the  results  given  fall  probably  not  far  from  that  proportion 
below  the  truth.] 

Year,  1791,  1792,  1793,  1794,  1795,  1796,  1797,  1798,  1799,  1800,  1801,  1802, 

Missionaries,    6         8        15       10        6         5         33         548         10 


g 

w 

m 

g 

w 

g 

w 

5- 

c  2 

t-V'- 

M 

Year. 

o 

f 

"S" 

Year. 

§ 

>3' 

Year. 

o 
p 

Year. 

g 

c.' 

as 

5  S 

f 

1803 

17 

$1,706 

1812 

30 

$4,16G 

1821 

37 

$3,707 

1830 

198 

$14,440 

18U4 

16 

2,43(1 

1813 

29 

3,635 

1822 

52 

3,442 

1831 

233 

129 

19,773 

1805 

18 

2,893 

1814 

41 

5,257 

1823 

39 

3,473 

1832 

256 

400  154 

20,692 

J  80b 

17 

2,688 

1815 

32 

4,098 

1824 

37 

2,977 

1833 

269 

600  180 

21,471 

1807 

18 

2,997 

1816 

29 

4,948 

1825 

54 

3,048 

1834 

243 

650  166 

24,029 

1808 

14 

3,383 

1817 

23 

4,137 

1826 

42 

3,051 

1835 

224 

500  144 

22,135 

1809 

12 

3,431 

1818 

22 

4,031 

1827 

51 

2,656 

1836 

242 

500  147 

30,040 

1810 

18 

3,217 

1819 

25 

4,466 

1828 

31 

2,996 

1837 

272 

675;  174 

29,715 

1811 

20 

4,488 

il820 

33 

3,560 

1829 

101 

7,665 

1 

Year. 

Si 

II 

i  1 

a'  o 

Pa, 

li 

So 

1838 

274 

600 

200 

1839 

260 

600 

200 

1840 

256 

600 

200 

1841 

272 

700 

200 

1842 

286 

800 

190 

1843 

296 

750 

212 

1844 

316 

900 

250 

1845 

349 

1000 

235 

1846 

382 

1100 

240 

1847 

431 

1200 

373 

1848 

460 

1200 

400 

1849 

514 

1400 

400 

1850 

570 

1461 

420 

1851 

591 

1113 

1852* 

538 

1101 

1853 

515 

838 

1854 

523 

933 

1360 1650 
1400  1350 
I650|l350 
1800  1300 


2000 
3600 
2688 
1282 
1800 
1900 
2000 
1936 
2189 
2118 
1919 
1643 
2006 


1500 
1200 
1268 
1037 
1200 
1400 
1500 
1522 
1855 
1760 
1665 
1287 
1823 


So 

IK  P" 

o 

B.  S. 

50 

100 

60 

100 

50 

70 

50 

60 

60 

60 

50 

70 

70 

70 

30 

50 

50 

100 

70 

95 

60 

100 

55 

130 

60 

140 

49 

64 

49 

79 

32 

45 

52 

63 

$24,60 
29,559 
28,155 
24,608 
25,165 
24,104 
30,356 
39,842 
41,215 
43,671 
48,732 
56,653 
62,476 
65,597 
55,808 

t58,454 
58,775 


$2500 
2600 
3000 
3000 
3000 
2700 
2700 
2700 
3000 
3000 
3000 
3377 
3503 
4152 
4241 
4940 
5900 


$6850 
7980 
7900 
5226 
3730 
3000 
2637 
3125 
3078 
4851 
3086 
5086 


$286 
280 
171 
188 
18b 
195 
195 
254 
338 
287 
1329 
1943 


4272  2098 
39273525 
2927  1380 
3212|1296 
35622069, 


^  ^^ 


$9,636 

10,860 

11,071 

8,914 

6,918 

5,895 

5,532 

6,079 

6,416 

8,138 

7,415 

10,418 

9,873 

10,16J 

8,548 

9,448 

11,531 


Total 
Receijjts. 


$34,238 
39,419 
39,226 
33,522 
32,082 
29,934 
36,595 
45,821 
47,631 
51,809 
56,147 
70,440 
67,654 
74,974 
64,356 
81,455 
75,207 


*  By  a  change  in  the  beginning  of  the  business  year  ibis  report  is  made  to  comprehend  but  eleyen 
months, 
t  Including  payment  of  borrowed  money. 


§  13.   Church  Extension  Statistics. 


Year. 

1 1845. 

1  1846.1  1847.  i  1848.  |  184^ 

).  1  1850.  1  1851.  1  1852. 

1  1853. 11854. 

Receipts. 

|$3,67U 

|$6,366,$4,596|$6,112|$7,52 

7;$8,633|$6,492|$7,I01 

|$6,498|  6,298 

Paid. 

1$  1,429 

|$2,145|§4,364|      | 

|12,763|$7,552j$4,995|$2,180|6,177 

Churches  aided  | 

1     1     1      1 

1      1  39  1  29. 

1  17  1  35 

Book  IX.] 


STATISTICS. 


839 


§  14.   Statistics  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

[The  Board  of  Education  was  organized  in  1819,  altbiough  it  was  not  until  1825  that 
the  means  were  placeil  in  its  treasury  to  enter  directly  upon  the  business  to  which  it  was 
designated.  In  the  meantirne,  however,  a  number  of  Presbyteries  and  Education  Societies 
assumed  a  nominally  auxiliary  relation  to  it.  These  were  generally  merged  in  the  Board 
upon  its  reorganization  in  1829.  The  statistics  from  1812  to  1829  are  evidently  defec- 
tive. From  182.5  to  1834,  inclusive,  are  given,  first  the  number  of  beneficiaries  and  re- 
ceipts oi  the  Board;  second,  the  whole  number  reported  from  Presbyteries,  auxiliaries,  and 
the  Board.  From  1835  the  total  receipts  are  given,  excluding  loans  and  balances  of  the 
preceding  years.] 


c 

oO 

H_ 

?  1   f    1 

o9 

? 

O 

Tear. 

c 

Year. 

at 

o  ~- 

K2 

p  2_ 

Year. 

at 

tag 
It 

5   1-3 
5=  p. 

Total 
Receipts. 

f^ 

1823 

P'a 

o 

$61 

p 

o' 

^1 

o 

P 

276'  $19,037 

1829 

1819 

59 

1824 

250)  20,000 

1830 

1820 

67 

1825 

24 

2,716 

234!  14,000 

1831 

1821 

73 

1826 

19 

1,035 

2511  46,740 

1832 

270 

$12,901 

1822 

90 

1827 

18 

657 

230  12,167 

1833 

450 

29,577 

1828 

19 

1,514 

98  16,230 

1834 

511!  $33,985 

612 

41,035 

Year. 

Salaries  of 
Officers,  &c. 

11 

S  6 

II 

It 

§■%■ 

td  0 

11 

as 

5.  2 

1835 

641 

$8,563* 

81,101 

$3,664 

$27,378 

$37,042 

$33,921 

1836 

608 

10,560 

$1,714 

1,128 

13,402 

28,472 

48,088 

50,064 

1837 

562 

8,728 

1,935 

706 

11,369 

29,498 

40,869 

41,858 

1838 

526 

7,123 

958 

902 

8,935 

26,345 

35,330 

33,094 

1839 

338 

5,108 

826 

526 

6,462 

22,331 

28,793 

33,562 

1840 

270 

7,922 

1,191 

830 

9,945 

13,197 

23,142 

23,273 

1841 

218 

5,039 

740 

760 

6,540 

13,108 

19,648 

19,777 

1842 

300 

4,205 

686 

728 

5,620 

17,627 

23,247 

24,530 

1843 

350 

4,081 

801 

707 

5,589 

23,834 

29,424 

29,104 

1844 

408 

2,883 

815 

613 

4,312 

26,767 

31,080 

31,057 

1845 

411 

4,776 

975 

490 

6,241 

26,343 

32,584 

■  31,723 

1846 

385 

6,331 

944 

634 

7,910 

22,575 

30,486 

.32,953 

1847 

403 

5,836 

969 

612 

7,418 

24,908 

32,327 

35,627 

1848 

373 

5,400 

765 

823 

6,988 

23,765 

30,753 

32,126 

$182 

1849 

373 

5,1.57 

637 

870 

6,664 

23,920 

35,126 

37,105 

4,641 

1850 

384 

5,100 

391 

841 

6,332 

23,942 

38,367 

33,448 

7,092 

1851 

388 

4,756 

488 

1,060 

'  6,304 

25,238 

38,011 

37,707 

6,118 

1852 

372 

5,883 

594 

848 

7,325 

24,558 

38,188 

39,735 

6,458 

ld53 

370 

5,701 

634 

642 

6,977 

21,967 

37,899 

42,623 

8,858 

1854 

340 

6.259 

736 

969 

7,962 

25,648 

46,589 

46,137 

12,989 

■  Includes  the  travelling  expenses. 


840 


STATISTICS. 


[Book  IX. 


§  15.   Staiisii'cs  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

[The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  created  in  1837,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  re- 
ceived all  the  missions,  &c.  of  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  which  upon  the 
transfer  was  dissolved.  The  statement  for  1837,  in  the  following  table,  exhibits  tlie  state 
of  the  Society  as  thus  incorporated  in  the  Board.  The  number  of  scholars  in  the  schools 
of  the  Missions  falls  uniformly  below  the  truth,  as  there  are  always  omissions,  and  some- 
times quite  large  ones,  on  this  point,  in  the  reports.  They  are  becoming  increasingly 
accurate  in  the  details.  The  Summary  View  is  from  the  annual  report  of  1854.  The 
column  of  receipts  is  exclusive  of  loans  and  balances.] 


Year. 

Missions. 

li 

Agents. 

c 
p." 

S  g- 

$4,722 

Total 
Receipts. 

1 

re' 

1 
p 

?- 
26 

00 

o' 

B 

9 

Pages 
Printed. 

5' 

J  837 

$21,499 

$1,504 

$2,027 

$1,191 

$22,832  11 

1838 

37,010 

2,782 

1,549 

3,062 

7,393 

45,498,15 

23 

9 

190 

183:) 

41,396 

4,000 

5,094 

3,079 

12,173 

58,779 

16 

29 

9 

1,355,030 

235 

1840 

5.5,006 

5,076 

3,636 

2,796 

1],«08 

56,944 

19 

31 

11 

1,239,738 

540 

1841 

52,972 

5,195 

3,383 

2,792 

11,370 

67,081 

23 

41 

11 

3,051,962 

543 

1842 

47,748 

5,120 

3,022 

3,149 

1 1,292 

64,424  27 

45 

12 

5,587,730 

517 

1843 

43,899 

4,820 

3,355 

2,299 

10,474 

62,883 

28 

42 

14 

12,544,685 

549 

1844 

53,684 

5,120 

3,189 

1,858 

10,167 

69,953 

29 

47 

17 

4,263,840 

459 

1845 

72,929 

5,130 

2,128 

1,280 

8,538 

88,669 

38 

55 

19 

7,852,050 

963 

1846 

81,077 

4,932 

2,148 

1,656 

8,736 

84,564 

36 

52 

21 

8,155,407 

977 

1847 

85,468 

4,975 

2,646 

2,367 

9,988 

93,679 

43 

67 

21 

14,279,400 

1,200 

1848 

97,466 

5,158 

3,204 

2,354 

10,716 

]09,dl3 

46 

73 

21 

12,686,930 

1,190 

1849 

98,299 

5,154 

3,966 

2,788 

11,908 

110,534 

.30 

76 

26 

14,260,454 

1,643 

1850 

111,096 

5,682 

4,428 

3,123 

13,233 

126,075 

55 

83 

28 

8,447,763 

1,828 

1851 

125,735 

6,448 

4,559 

3,343 

14,350 

139,084 

54 

98 

30 

9,364,760 

2,290 

1852 

130,293 

6,465 

5,325 

2,387 

14,177 

144,923 

54 

111 

30 

7,851,020 

2,638 

1853 

140,447 

6,608 

3,249 

2,931 

12,789 

153,268 

55 

123 

34 

9,374,278 

2,957 

1854 

1.59,.327 

7,896 

2,036 

3,925 

13,858 

173,834 

56 

136 

38 

No  report. 

3,83G 

Book  IXJ 


STATISTICS. 


841 


§  16.    A   Summary    View  of  the  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  May  1,  1855. 


1       Missionaries  and 

Names  of  Stations. 

Assistants. 

o 

o 

B 
B 

5. 

0 

SCHOLARS. 

MISSIONS. 

g 

Lay  Teachers  and 
others. 

Boarding 

Day. 

H 

American. 

1' 

s 

2^ 

"5 

s 

51 

O 
1-9 

? 

1? 

> 

INDIAN  TRIBES : 

Choctaws, 

Spencer  Academy, 

1846 

1 

7 

6 

1 

95 

100 



100 

Creeks, 

Kowetah, 

184-2 

1 

— 

1 

1 

31 

16 

9 

25 

Tallahassee, 

1849 

1 

2 

8 

— 

25 

40 

40 

80 

Chickasaws, 

Wapanucka, 

1849 

1 

3 

10 

— 

14 

— 

100 

100 

Boggy  Depot, 

18.-.2 

1 

— ■ 

— 

— 

5 

— 

SE>nNOLES, 

Little  River,  or  Oak- 

1S4S 

— 

1 

1 

2 

6 

14 

12 

26 

lowAs  AND  Sacs, 

Iowa,                   [ridge. 

1835 

2 

1 

4 

— 

* 

35 

30 

65 

Otoes  and  Omahas, 

Bellevue, 

1846 

1 

2 

4 

— 

* 

13 

10 

23 

Chippewas  &  Otta- 

Grand  Traverse, 

1S3S 

1 

2 

4 

1 

32 

23 

22 

45 

[was, 

Little  Traverse, 

1852 

— 

1 

2 

— 

— 

— 



20 

20 

40 

Middle  Village, 
Total, 

1853 

— 

1 

1 

— 

208 

241 

223 

15 
35 

15 
35 

30 

9 

20 

41 

5 

534 

AFRICA: 

LiBEKIA  : 

Monrovia, 

1842 

2 

1 

2 

50 



80 

80 

Kentucky, 

1860 

— 

2 

— 

33 

4 

24 

28 

Ilarrisonburgli, 

1S54 

— 

1 

— 

13 



Sinoe, 

1847 

1 

1 

— 

43 



30 

30 

Kroo  People, 

Settra  Kroo, 

1841 

— 

1 

— 



9 

6 

15 

Near  THE  EiiUATOR, 

Corisco, 
Total, 

1850 

3 

3 

139 

9 

22 

12 
12 

28 
168 

6 
6 

55 

6 

6 

5 

208 

INDIA : 

LODIANA, 

Lodiana, 

1834 

3 

4 

2 

25 

23 

269 

292 

Saharunpur, 

1836 

2 

2 

4 

24 

13 

150 

163 

Sabathu, 

1836 

— 

— 

— 

— 



Ambala, 

1848 

3 

3 

2 

14 

115 

115 

Jalandar, 

1847 

It 

— 

2 

7 

238 

238 

Labor, 

1849 

3 

2 

5 

17 

700 

700 

Dehra, 

1853 

1 

1 

2 

6 

120 

120 

FURRUKHABAD, 

Futtehgurh, 

1838 

3 

3 

5 

91 

10 

12 

500 

49 

571 

Mynpurie, 

1843 

1 

1 

2 

5 

236 

236 

Agra, 

Agra, 

1840 

4 

3 

2 

45 



190 

50 

240 

Allahabad, 

Allahabad, 

1S36 

4 

4 

5 

48 

* 

18 

795 

30 

843 

Futtehpore, 

1852 

It 

— 

2 

9 



187 

36 

223 

Banda, 
Total, 

1853 

— 

1 

291 

23 

63 

144 
3644 

144 

26 

23 

34 

165   3886 

SIAM : 

Bangkok, 

1840 

2 

2 

1 

1 

2 

23 

3 

26 

CHINA : 

Canton, 

Canton, 

1846 

3 

1 

4 

1 

24 

9 

60 

93 

NiNGPO, 

Ningpo, 

1844 

6 

1 

6 

* 

30 

30 

28 

20 

78 

Shanghai, 

Shanghai, 

1850 

3 

3 

Chinese  in  Cau- 

San  Francisco, 

1852 

I 



1 

2 

4 

FORNIA- 

^ 

Total, 

13 

2 

14 

3 

34 

54 

37 

80 

171 

JEWS: 

New  York, 
Baltimore, 

1846 
1850 

1 
1 

1 

EOMANISTS: 

Stations  in  France, 
Belgium,  &c. 

1844 

Buenos  Ayres, 
General  Total, 

1853 

1 

43 

~672l 

363 

328 

3927 

206 

59 

31 

84 

4824 

'  Not  reported. 


t  Natives  (2.) 


106 


842 


STATISTICS. 


[Book  IX. 


" 

§17.    Statistics  of  the 

Board 

of  Pahlication. 

Year. 

o 

Sales. 

•eg. 

CO 

Pages  printed. 

Copies  of 
Works. 

c 

ft" 

n 

. 

1835-39 

4,324 

104,000 

1840 

SI  0,61 7 

$982 

$11,600 

$897 

$7,463 

$8,360 

13,759,700 

72,000 

1841 

23,146 

11,350:    35,379 

3,926 

26,187 

30,113 

19,653,896 

63,750 

1842 

7,258 

15,335     22,594 

.3,394 

21,198 

24,543 

20,705,500 

1843 

6,610 

12,050 

18,660 

3,017 

18,362 

21,409 

15,660,250 

1844 

6,488 

27,540 

34,32! 

3,173 

35,806 

38,979 

54,920,500 

1845 

1,071 

33,711 

35,003 

2,949 

29.534 

32.434 

130,500 

1846 

1,031 

28,205 

29,237 

3,883 

25,002 

29,887 

137,750 

1847 

2,162 

29,283 

31,446 

4,214 

22,364 

25,578 

146,500 

1848 

2,451 

34,371 

38,214 

3,700 

38,287 

44,341 

167,500 

1849 

17,513 

28,527 

*63,200 

4,400 

33,123 

50,640f 

A'isitor. 

261.750 

1850 

18,568 

39,454 

*70,563 

5,642 

33,210 

76,782t 

383,500 

1851 

10,391 

58,644 

60,339 

6,283 

55,181 

70,845 

120,000 

430,300 

1852 

18,417 

59,457 

86,910 

7,582 

66,919 

89,023 

676,000 

818.250 

1853 

14,928 

75,005 

91,492 

6,603 

73,956 

92,.356 

960,000 

745.550 

1854 

18,455 

77,647 

193,544 

9,773 

62,858 

91,3J2 

960,000 

595,750 

*  Including  $10,837  in  1S49,  and  $15,438  in  1850,  insurance  received  on  loss  by  fire. 
•f  Including  $22,656  and  §16,675  expended  in  rebuilding. 


§  18.    Col/portage  and  Donation  Statistics. 


g 

Time  out. 
(Months) 

Families 
Visited. 

Vols, 
sold. 

Vols. 
given. 

Pages  of 
Tracts 
given. 

CO  KO 

III 

|2 

Other 
donations.* 

Year. 

Books. 

Pages  of 
Tracts. 

1850 
1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 

63 
125 
141 
145 
151 

364 

420 
407 
491 

50.890 
64,526 
63,264 
68.185 

58,492 

71.150 

87,939 

117,885 

5.525 

5,506 

9,386 

16.098 

528,154 

581,956 

925,172 

1.300,547 

$9,381 
14,530 
11,796 
18,697 

4,524 
6,528 
4.890 
6.517 

250,000 
175,190 
246,337 
381,032 

*  The  aggregate  of  donations,  aside  from  the  colportage  enterprise,  from  1847,  when  the  Board  com- 
menced donation,  to  May  1864,  is  32,285  volumes  of  boolis,  and  1,441,532  pages  of  tracts. 


Book  IX.] 


STATISTICS. 


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$53,143 
57,614 
63,963 

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$45,686 

62,058 
101,555 

76,871 

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APPENDIX. 

GENERAL  RULES  FOR  JUDICATORIES. 


"  The  following  rules,  not  having  been  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries, 
make  no  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Yet  the 
General  Assembly  of  1821,  considering  uniformity  in  proceedings  in  all  the 
subordinate  judicatories,  as  greatly  conducive  to  order  and  despatch  of  busi- 
ness, and  having  revised  and  approved  these  Rules,  recommend  them  to  the 
Synods,  Presbyteries  and  Sessions,  as  a  system  of  regulations,  which,  if 
they  tliinh proper,  may  be  advantageously  adopted  by  them." — Note  in  the 
Constitution. 

[In  the  present  edition  tlie  rules  are  arranged  according  to  their  subjects,  so  as  to 
facilitate  reference  to  them.     For  the  same  purpose  descriptive  titles  are  prefixed.] 

Of  opening  the  Sessions. 

1.  The  Moderator  shall  take  the  chair  precisely  at  the  hour  to  which  the 
judicatory  stands  adjourned;  shall  immediately  call  the  members  to  order j 
and,  on  the  appearance  of  a  quorum,  shall  open  the  session  with  prayer. 

2.  If  a  quorum  be  assembled  at  the  hour  appointed,  and  the  Moderator 
be  absent,  the  last  ModerM)r  present  shall  be  requested  to  take  his  place 
without  delay. 

3.  If  a  quorum  be  not  assembled  at  the  hour  appointed,  any  two  mem- 
bers shall  be  competent  to  adjourn  from  time  to  time,  that  an  opportunity 
may  be  given  for  a  quorum  to  assemble. 

4.  After  calling  the  roll,  and  marking  the  absentees,  the  minutes  of 
the  last  sitting  shall  be  read,  and,  if  requisite,  corrected. 

Duties  of  the  Moderator. 

5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Moderator,  at  all  times,  to  preserve  order, 
and  to  endeavour  to  conduct  all  business  before  the  judicatory  to  a  speedy 
and  proper  result. 

6.  (8.)  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Moderator,  carefully  to  keep  notes  of 
the  several  articles  of  business  which  may  be  assigned  to  particular  days, 
and  to  call  them  up  at  the  time  appointed. 

7.  (9.)  The  Moderator  may  speak  to  points  of  order,  in  preference  to 
other  members,  rising  from  his  seat  for  that  purpose;  and  shall  decide  ques- 
tions of  order,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the  judicatory  by  any  two  members. 


Appendix.]        general  rules  for  judicatories.  84$ 

Duties  of  the  Clerh. 

8.  (6.)  It  stall  be  the  duty  of  the  Clerk,  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  sessions  of  every  judicatory,  to  form  a  complete  roll  of  the 
members  present,  and  put  the  same  into  the  hands  of  the  Moderator.  And 
it  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  Clerk,  whenever  any  additional  members 
take  their  seats,  to  add  their  names,  in  their  proper  places,  to  the  said 
roll. 

9.  (7.)  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Clerk,  immediately  to  file  all  papers, 
in  the  order  in  which  they  have  been  read,  with  proper  endorsements,  and  to 
keep  them  in  perfect  order. 

Order  of  Business. 

10.  Business  left  unfinished  at  the  last  sitting,  is  ordinarily  to  be  taken 
up  first. 

0/  Motions. 

11.  A  motion  made  must  be  seconded,  and  afterwards  repeated  by  the 
Moderator,  or  read  aloud,  before  it  is  debated;  and  every  motion  shall  be 
reduced  to  writing,  if  the  Moderator  or  any  member  require  it. 

Withdrawal  of  Motions. 

12.  Any  member,  who  shall  have  made  a  motion,  shall  have  liberty  to 
withdraw  it  with  the  consent  of  his  second,  before  any  debate  has  taken 
place  thereon;  but  not  afterwards,  without  the  leave  of  the  judicatory. 

Debatable  Questions. 

13.  Motions  to  lay  on  the  table,  to  take  up  business,  and  to  adjourn,  and 
to  call  for  the  previous  question,  shall  be  put  without  debate.  On  ques- 
tions of  order,  postponement,  or  commitment,  no  member  shall  speak  more 
than  once.  On  all  other  questions,  each  member  may  speak  twice,  but  not 
oftener,  without  express  leave  of  the  judicatory. 

Privileged  Questions. 

14.  When  a  question  is  under  debate,  no  motion  shall  be  received,  un- 
less to  adjourn,  to  lay  on  the  table,  to  postpone  indefinitely,  to  postpone  to  a 
day  certain,  to  commit,  or  to  amend;  which  several  motions  shall  have  pre- 
cedence in  the  order  in  which  they  are  herein  arranged;  and  the  motion  for 
adjournment  shall  always  be  in  order. 

Amendments. 

15.  An  amendment  may  be  moved  on  any  motion,  and  shall  be  decided 
before  the  original  motion. 

Reconsideration. 

16.  (19.)  A  question  shall  not  be  again  called  up,  or  reconsidered  at  the 
same  sessions  of  the  judicatory  at  which  it  has  been  decided,  unless  by  the 
consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  who  were  present  at  the  decision ;  and, 
unless  the  motion  to  reconsider  be  made  and  seconded  by  persons  who  voted 
with  the  majority. 


846  GENERAL   RULES   FOR   JUDICATORIES.  [Appendix. 

Resumption  after  Postponement. 

17.  (20.)  A  subject  which  has  been  indeiinitely  postponed,  either  by 
the  operation  of  the  previous  question,  or  by  a  direct  motion  for  indefinite 
postponement,  shall  not  be  again  called  up  during  the  same  sessions  of  the 
judicatory,  unless  by  the  consent  of  three-fourths  of  the  members  who  were 
present  at  the  decision. 

Of  Speakers. 

18.  (26.)  If  more  than  one  member  rise  to  speak  at  the  same  time,  the 
member  who  is  most  distant  from  the  Moderator's  chair  shall  speak  first. 

19.  (21.)  Every  member,  when  speaking,  shall  address  iimself  to  the 
Moderator,  and  shall  treat  his  fellow  members,  and  especially  the  Moderator, 
with  decorum  and  respect. 

Interruptions. 

20.  (23.)  No  speaker  shall  be  interrupted,  unless  he  be  out  of  order,  or 
for  the  purpose  of  correcting  mistakes  or  misrepresentations. 

Personalities. 

21.  (25.)  No  member,  in  the  course  of  debate,  shall  be  allowed  to 
indulge  in  personal  reflections. 

Previous  Question. 

22.  (17.)  The  previous  question  shall  be  in  this  form:  "Shall  the  main 
question  be  now  put?"  and  when  demanded  by  a  majority  of  the  members 
present,  shall  be  put  without  debate;  and  until  it  is  decided,  shall  preclude 
all  amendment  and  further  debate  on  the  main  question. 

28.  (18.)  If  the  previous  question  be  decided  in  the  affirmative,  the 
main  question  shall  be  immediately  put  without  debate;  if  in  the  negative, 
the  debate  may  proceed. 

Of  Voting. 

24.  (30.)  Members  ought  not,  without  weighty  reasons,  to  decline  voting, 
as  this  practice  might  leave  the  decision  of  very  interesting  questions  to 
a  small  proportion  of  the  judicatory.  Silent  members,  unless  excused  from 
voting,  must  be  considered  as  acquiescing  with  the  majority. 

Division  of  tlic  question. 

25.  (10.)  If  a  motion  under  debate  contains  several  parts,  any  two  mem- 
bers may  have  it  divided  and  a  question  taken  on  each  part. 

Order  of  Voting. 

26.  (33.)  When  various  motions  are  made  with  respect  to  the  filling  of 
blanks  with  particular  numbers  or  times,  the  question  shall  always  be  first 
taken  on  the  highest  number,  and  the  longest  time.  ^ 

27.  (31- )  When  the  31oderator  has  commenced  taking  the  vote,  no  fur- 
ther debate  or  remarks  shall  be  admitted,  unless  there  has  evidently  been  a 
mistake ;  in  which  case  the  mistake  shall  be  rectified,  and  the  Moderator 
shall  recommence  taking  the  vote. 

The  Moderator-^  Vote. 

28.  (35.)  When  a  vote  is  taken  by  ballot  in  any  judicatory,  the  Modera- 
tor shall  vote  with  the  other  members :  but  he  shall  not  vote  in  any  other 


Appendix.]       general  rules  for  judicatories.  847 

case,  unless  the  judicatory  be   equally  divided;  when,  if  he  do  not  choose 
to  vote,  the  question  shall  be  lost. 

Yeas  and  JVai/s. 

29.  (36.)  The  yeas  and  nays  on  any  question  shall  not  be  recorded, 
unless  it  be  required  by  one-third  of  the  members  present. 

Committees. 

30.  (31.)  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Moderator  to  appoint  all  committees,  ex- 
cept in  those  cases  in  which  the  judicatory  shall  decide  otherwise. 

31.  (32.)  The  person  first  named  on  any  committee,  shall  be  considered 
as  the  chairman  thereof,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  convene  the  committee, 
and,  in  case  of  his  absence,  or  inability  to  act,  the  second  named  member 
shall  take  his  place,  and  perform  his  duties. 

Private  Sessions. 

32.  (37.)  All  judicatories  have  a  right  to  sit  in  private,  on  business 
which,  in  their  judgment,  ought  not  to  be  matter  of  public  speculation. 

33.  (38.)  Besides  the  right  to  sit  judicially  in  private,  whenever  they 
think  it  right  to  do  so,  all  judicatories  have  a  right  to  hold  what  are 
commonly  called  "interlocutor)/  ineetinr/s,"  or  a  sort  of  committee  of  the 
whole  judicatory,  in  which  members  may  freely  converse  together  without 
the  formalities  which  are  usually  necessary  injudicial  proceedings. 

Judicial  Sessions. 

34.  (30.)  Whenever  a  judicatory  is  about  to  sit  in  a  judicial  capacity,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Moderator,  solemnly  to  announce  from  the  chair, 
that  the  body  is  about  to  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  business  assigned 
for  trial;  and  to  enjoin  on  the  members  to  recollect  and  regard  their  high 
character,  as  judges  of  a  court  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  solemn  duty  in. 
which  they  are  about  to  act. 

Judicial  Committee. 

35.  (40.)  In  all  process  before  a  judicatory,  where  there  is  an  accuser, 
or  prosecutor,  it  is  expedient  that  there  be  a  committee  of  the  judicatory 
appointed,  (provided  the  number  of  members  be  sufficient  to  admit  of  it 
without  inconvenience)  who  shall  be  called  the  Judicial  Committee;  and 
whose  duty  it  shall  be,  to  digest  and  arrange  all  the  papers,  and  to  prescribe, 
under  the  direction  of  the  judicatory,  the  whole  order  of  the  procoedinos. 
The  members  of  this  committee  shall  be  entitled,  notwithstanding  their  per- 
formance of  this  duty,  to  sit  and  vote  in  the  cause,  as  members  of  the  judi- 
catory. 

Committee  of  Prosecution. 

36.  (41.)  But  in  cases  of  process  on  the  ground  of  general  rumour, 
where  there  is,  of  course,  no  particular  accuser,  there  may  be  a  committee 
appointed,  (if  convenient)  who  shall  bo  called  the  Committee  of  Prosecution, 
and  who  shall  conduct  the  whole  cause  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution.  The 
members  of  this  committee  shall  not  be  permitted  to  sit  in  judgment  in  the 
case. 

Decorum. 

87.  (24.)  It  is  indispensable  that  members  of  ecclesiastical  judicatories 
maintain  great  gravity  and  dignity  while  judicially  convened;    that  they 


848  GENERAL   RULES   FOR  JUDICATORIES.         [Appendix. 

attend  closely,  in  tlicir  speeches,  to  the  subject  under  consideration,  and 
avoid  prolix  and  desultory  harangues : — and  when  they  deviate  from  the 
subject,  it  is  the  privilege  of  any  member,  and  the  duty  of  the  Moderator, 
to  call  them  to  order. 

Conversation. 

38.  (22.)  Without  express  permission,  no  member  of  a  judicatory,  while 
business  is  going  on,  shall  engage  in  private  conversation;  nor  shall 
members  address  one  another,  nor  any  person  present,  but  through  the 
Moderator. 

Standing  on  tlie  floor. 

39.  (27.)  When  more  than  three  members  of  the  judicatory  shall  be 
standing  at  the  same  time,  the  Moderator  shall  require  all  to  take  their 
seats,  the  person  only  excepted  who  may  be  speaking. 

Siq^pression  of  disorder. 

40.  (28.)  If  any  member  act,  in  any  respect,  in  a  disorderly  manner,  it 
shall  be  the  privilege  of  any  member,  and  the  duty  of  the  Moderator,  to 
call  him  to  order. 

Appeal  from  the  Moderator. 

41.  (29.)  If  any  member  consider  himself  as  aggrieved  by  a  decision  of 
the  Moderator,  it  shall  be  his  privilege  to  appeal  to  the  judicatory;  and  the 
question  on  such  appeal  shall  be  taken  without  debate. 

Withdrawal  of  Members. 

42.  No  member  shall  retire  from  any  judicatory,  without  the  leave  of  the 
Moderator,  nor  withdraw  from  it  to  return  home,  without  the  consent  of  the 
judicatory. 

Close  of  the  Sessions. 

43.  The  Moderator  of  every  judicatory,  above  the  Church  Session,  in 
finally  closing  its  Sessions,  in  addition  to  prayer,  may  cause  to  be  sung 
an  appropriate  psalm  or  hymn,  and  shall  pronounce  the  apostolical  benedic- 
tion. 


INDEX. 


Abingdon  schism,  page  131,  611. 

Appeal  from,  107. 
Absence  from  Church  courts,  212. 
Committee  on  leave,  289. 
Bar  to  trial,  103. 
Act  and  Testimony,  674. 

Conference  tliat  issued  it,  673. 
Convention,  078. 
Acts  of  1N38,  three,  757. 

Explained,  770. 
Accusations,  not  judicial,  101. 
Admonition  of  the  court,  103. 
Adopting  Act,  4-6. 

Position  of  the  New  Brunswick  party, 

7,  8. 
New-school  misrepresentation,  7. 
Agencies,  300. 
Alex.  Alexander's  case,  103. 
Alexander,  Obituary  memorial  of  Dr.,  422. 
Almsgiving,  152,  205. 
Alphabetical  list  of  Ministers,  284. 
Alternates  and  principals,  272. 
American  Board  of  Commissioners. 
Transfer  of  Missions  to,  318,  319,  321. 
Overture  from,  319. 
Committee  of  Conference  with,  346. 
Orthodoxy  of  missionaries,  761. 
American  Societies  unduly  cherished,  649. 
Admonished,  G83,  737. 
Protest  on  this,  738. 
Reply,  740. 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  inter- 
feres with  the  Assembly's  Board,  334, 
336. 
Complaint  against,  662,  678. 
American    Education   Society,   Complaint 

against,  679. 
Amicable  separation  in  '37,  712,  765,  781. 
Amusements,  fashionable,  790. 
Andrews,  Solomon's  case,  131. 

"        J.  B's  case,  110. 
Appeal,  121. 

Failure  to  prosecute,  133,  134. 
Bars,  130. 

Order  of  hearing,  138. 
Issue,  140. 
Arthur's  case,  105,  107. 
Assembly,  history  of,  264. 
Semi-centenary,  27. 
List  of  meetings,  267. 
Time  of  meeting,  268. 
Prayer  for,  268. 
107 


Assembly,  Devotional  exercises,  p.  288. 

Order  of  organizing,  268. 

Ratio  of  representation,  269. 

Powers,  292. 

Geographical  division  proposed,  649. 
Assembly's  Magazine,  301. 
Assembly's     Presbytery    of    Philadelphia 
erected,  656. 

Refuses  records,  696. 

Dissolved  by  Synod,  696. 

Restored,  700. 

Dissolved  by  Assembly,  735. 

Further  action,  761. 
Astrology,  790. 
Austin's  case,  96. 

Balch's  case,  614. 
Baptism,  neglect  of,  32. 

Disorderly,  75. 

Romish,  77,  79. 

Cumberland,  633. 

Unitarian,  76. 

Parental  qualifications,  80. 

Parental  engagements,  81. 

Cases  concerning  infants,  61. 

Heathen  children,  81. 

Apprentices,  82. 

Slaves,  82.     Mode,  83. 
Baptized,  discipline  of,  98. 

Instruction  of,  167. 
Bars  to  trial,  103,130. 
Barnes's  trials : 

The  first  in  Presbytery  and  Synod,  650. 

In  Assembly,  115,  655. 

The  second  in  Presbytery,  685. 

Junkin's  appeal,  687. 

The  suspension,  690. 

Restoration,  129,  690. 

Dr.  Miller's  resolution,  690. 

Protests  and  replies,  691-695. 
Barrier  Act,  22. 
Beecher's  case,  121. 

«'  George,  128. 

Beck  and  xMcMahon's  case,  116,  l36. 
Belknap's  case,  95. 
Bell's  case,  141. 
Benediction,  apostolic,  82. 
Benevolence,  152. 

Systematic,  153. 
Bergen  Church  case,  129. 
Berne  persecution  reprobated,  786. 
Bible  classes,  192. 


850 


INDEX. 


Bible,  circulation,  p.  398. 

Society,  American,  399. 
Bigamy  case,  1G3. 

Bills  and  Overtures,  committee,  286. 
Bissell's  case,  558. 
Blair's  case,  118. 
Boards,  anticipated  in  1801,  297. 

Elders  in,  298. 

Comn)iUees  on,  291. 

Reports  read  to  llic  Churches,  299. 

Our  own  to  be  sustained,  298,  740. 

Books  of  accounts  to  be  exhibited,  299. 
Board  of  Education  erected,  380. 

Constitution,  381. 

Honorary  members,  383. 

Candidates'  pledge,  384. 

Amount  of  aid,  395. 

They  and  probationers  distinct,  384. 

Caution  in  recommending,  383. 

Dis'inction  of  funds,  384. 

Synodical  agents,  384. 

Aid  to  Theological  Seminaries,  385. 

Relation  to  Slate  schools,  394. 

Statistics,  833. 
Board  of  Missions,  323. 

Constitution,  332. 

Attempt  to  destroy,  336. 

Discretion  over  funds,  342. 

As  to  orthodoxy  of  missionaries,  342. 

Missions  among  Germans,  342. 

Auxiliaries,  344. 

Policy  and  results  of  20  years,  342. 

Statistics,  840. 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  346. 

Rice's  memorial,  346. 

Constitution,  355. 

Amendments,  357. 

Union  of  W.  F.  M.  Society,  357. 

Statistics,  841. 
Board  of  Publication. 

Constitution,  400. 

Funds,  402. 

Depositories,  402. 

Colportage,  402. 

Endowment,  28. 

Statistics,  842. 
Books  and  publications  censured,  571,605, 
613,  635,  642. 

The  right  denied,  669,  694, 

Vindicated,  671,  678,  682. 
Bourne's  case,  95,  109,  111,  113,  132, 141. 
Brainerd's  mission,  311,  et  seq, 
Bushnell's  case,  129,  136. 

Call  not  allowed  till  ex-pastor  is  paid,  68. 
Cameron's  case,  132. 
Candidates,  53,  59. 

Plan  to  multiply,  378. 

Preparatory  examination,  578. 

Under  what  Presbytery?  57,  58. 

With  whom  study?  59, 

Length  of  time,  59. 

Employed  by  Pastors,  383. 
Catechisms,  part  of  Confession,  16. 

The  Larger  amended,  10. 

To  be  taught,  17,  190,  767. 


Catechists  proposed,  p.  330. 

Censors  appointed,  396. 

Censures  proportioned  to  crime,  107. 

Centre  College,  386. 

Certificates  required  of  strangers,  33. 

Chambers's  case,  503. 

Chaplains,  65. 

Charges  must  be  specific,  103. 

Charleston  Union  Presbytery  reunion,  782. 

Charters,  37. 

Charter  of  the  Assembly,  463. 

Chavis,  a  negro  preacher,  816. 

Children,  dedication  to  ministry,  189. 

Trained  in  our  faith,  189. 

Instruction,  160,  187,  767. 
Christian  union,  528. 
Church,  ours  always  Presbyterian,  2. 

A  Missionary  Society,  303. 

Original  extent,  2. 

Moral  Reform  Societies,  797. 

State,  784. 
Church  members'  qualifications,  32. 

Absentee,  34. 

Officers,  3. 

Must  be  sound  in  the  faith,  566. 
Church  Courts,  process  against,  147. 
Church  Extension  Con)miitee,  338. 
Cincinnati  convention,  337. 

Theological  Seminary,  429. 

Memorial  of  1834,  659. 
Clapp's  case,  70,  96. 
Clement's  case,  104. 
Clerks  of  1837  and  1838,  Acts  respecting, 

286,  761. 
College,  Centre,  386. 

Makemie,  394. 

New  Jersey,  373. 

and  Princeton  Seminary,  411. 
and  Assembly's  funds,  481. 
Colleges,  ecclesiastical,  394. 

Greek  Testament  in,  411. 
Collins's  case,  98. 
Colonization  Society,  814. 
Colportage,  402. 
Commentary  proposed,  27. 
Commissions  judicial,  213,324. 

Scotch,  214. 

Waldensian,  2)5. 

Of  inferior  courts,  224. 

Of  General  Synod,  215. 

Of  General  Assembly,  225. 

Appeal  will  not  lie  until  their  acts  have 
been  confirmed,  131. 
Commissioners  from  new  Presbyteries,  269. 

Too  many  from  a  Presbytery,  270. 

With  defective  commissions,  270. 
Committee  on  amicable  separation  in  1837, 

712. 
Committeesof the  Assembly, 279, 285,  Efscy. 
Committee  men,  cases  of,  557,  et  seq. 

Discussions  respecting,  559,  et  seq. 
Communion  terms,  566. 

Baptist  allowed  occasional,  75. 
Complaint  defined,  121. 
Conference  of  Reformed  Churches,  528. 
Confessions,  use  of,  15. 


INDEX. 


851 


Confession,  adoption  by  intrant  Ministers, 
p.  16. 
Not  required  of  members,  32. 
Coiig-regcilions,  organization,  29. 
Without  ofliccrs,  30. 
Supplies  to  an  unorganized  minority,  31. 
Qualification  of  members,  32. 
Manner  of  reception,  33. 
Congregational  Churches,  Pastors  of,  762. 
Conscience,  rights  of  Americans  abroad,  788. 

Rights  of,  785,  787. 
Constitution,  none  written  at  first,  1. 
First  proposal,  3. 
Adoption,  see  "  Adopting  Act,''^  revision 

of  1788,  8. 
Adopting  Act  of,  1788,  10. 
Final  enactment,  13. 
Revisions,  14. 
Marginal  notes,  19. 
Proposed  amendments  on  the  marriage 

question,  167. 
German  translation,  19. 
Circulation,  18. 
Adherence  to,  567,665. 
Contumacy,  109. 

Convention,  called   by  the   Act  and  Testi- 
mony, 678. 
Of  Relormed  Churches,  528. 
With  Connecticut  Churches,  496. 
At  Cincinnati,  337. 
Correction  of  a  judicial  record,  107. 
Corresponding  members,  on  the  Minutes, 
212. 
Of  Assembly,  274,  et  seq. 
Corres])ondence,  belongs  to  Assembly,  491. 
Documentary  history,  491,  ct  seq. 
With  New  England  Churches,  491-510. 
With  the  Dutch  Reformed,  510,  521. 
Associate,  523,  528. 
Associate  Reformed,  510,  520,  528. 
Reformed,  526,  528. 
Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists,  527. 
European  Churches,  533. 
Waldenses,  536. 
Church  of  Scotland,  537. 
The  Slavery  question,  510,  539. 
Cesser,  Mrs.,  case  of,  134. 
Counsel,  in  judicial  cases,  103. 
In  the  New-school  suit,  775. 
Cowell  and  Tennent's  case,  575. 
Craighead's  case,  638. 
Creed,  Apostles',  10. 
Creeds,  use  of,  15. 

Ministers  hostile  to,  17. 
Abbreviated,  762,  712,  727. 
Cross's  case,  108. 
Cumberland  schism,  627. 

Dancing,  790. 

Davies',  (Samuel,)  presidency,  375, 

Mission  to  Europe,  3U9,  373. 

Form  of  ordination  vows,  8. 
Davics's  (J.  L.)  case,  35,  70,  102, 
Davis's  (Thos.)  case,  133,  134. 
Davis's  (VV,  C.)  case,  634. 
Day's  case,  43,  121. 


Deacons,  p.  38. 

Ordination,  90. 
Deaf  and  dumb  instruction,  193. 
Death  a  bar  to  trial,  130. 
Delaware  Synod  erected,  258. 

Dissolved,  683. 
Delegates  to  Corresponding  Churches,  288. 
Demission  of  ministry,  70. 
Deposition  and  excommunication  distinct, 

108. 
Deposed  Minister,  published,  109. 

Jurisdiction  over,  96. 
Discipline,  91,  ct  seq. 
Olden  example,  91. 
Discretionary  powers  irresponsible,  126. 
Dismissions,  35. 

To  the  world,  34,  36. 
Disowning  acts,  719. 

Protests  against,  721,  724. 
Replies,  722,  726. 
Vindications,  744,  747. 
Dissent,  right  of,  91. 
Dobbins's  case,  35. 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  first,  72. 
Donation  parties,  173. 
Donegal  schism,  605. 
Dublin  Presbytery,  letters  to,  304,  306. 
Duelling,  791. 
DufReld's  case,  102,  104. 

Eakin's  case,  96. 

Economy  of  the  Boards,  300. 

Education  of  the  ministry,  54. 

Thorough,  384. 

Early  measures,  368,  377. 

Waved  in  special  case,  56. 

Schools  and  Colleges  ecclesiastical,  368- 
385,  386,  393. 
Education  Register,  301. 
Elders,  39. 

Election,  40. 

Ordination,  90. 

May  fill  the  Deacon's  office,  39. 

Effect  of  restoration  after  discipline,  42. 

Resignation,  43. 

Installation  on  re-election,  42. 

Ordination  question,  43,  48,  84. 

Quorum  question,  43,  44. 
Elective  affinity  courts  formed,  656. 

Condemned,  664,678,  683. 

Dissolved,  683,  735,  761. 
Episcopal  Church,  relation  to,  531. 
European  churches,  correspondence,  533. 
Evangelists,  66,  68. 
Evidence,  105,  114. 

Against  an  inferior  cour  ,  128. 
Ewing's  case,  103,  133. 
Examinations,  judicial,  100. 

In  joining  Presbytery,  237,  667. 
Exegesis  subjects,  61. 
Expenses  of  attendence  on  Church  courts, 

211. 
E.xpository  preaching,  64,  74. 

Family  religion,  64, 160. 
And  Sabbath-schools,  160. 


INDEX. 


Fasting,  pp.  205,  766. 

Female  pr;iyer  meetings,  200. 
Filth  (Pliiladelphia)  Church  case,  143. 
Finance  committee,  291. 
Foreign  Missionary  (paper)  302. 

Correspondence,  28i). 
Foreman's  case,  108. 
Form  of  government  fran  ed,  8,  9. 
Frazer's  case,  114,  134. 
French  war  of  1756,  820. 

Revolution,  829. 
Fund  created  for  pious  uses,  305. 
Funds  of  the  Assembly,  467. 

Division  with  the  New-school,  717,  765, 
781. 
Funeral  carousals,  794. 

Gambling  and  lotteries,  793. 
General  Rules  for  Judicatories,  844. 
German  school  fund,  371. 
German  edition  of  the  Constitution,  19. 
Glasgow  Synod,  letter  to,  2. 
Glenn's  case,  130. 
Gloucester,  a  negro  preacher,  816. 
Graham's  case,  613. 

Green,  (Dr.  A.)  last  time  in  the  Assembly, 
275. 

Obituary  memorial,  276. 
Griffith's  case,  130. 

Ordination,  56. 

Hanna's,  Mrs., case,  135,  138. 
Harker's  case,  604. 
Harney's  case,  106. 
Harrison's  case,  144. 
Harrison,  letter  to  Sir  E.,  303. 
Hawes's  case,  142. 
Hemphill's  case,  109. 
Hindman's  case,  HI,  112,  122. 
Historical  collections,  486. 

Society,  490. 
Hobbs's  case,  140. 

Hopkinsianism,  Synod  of  Philadelphia  on, 
645. 

Tiie  Assembly  on,  646. 
Hunt's  ease,  95. 
Hymns,  Watts's  allowed,  182. 

Assembly's  collection,  183,  184. 

llsley  and  Sharp's  case,  146. 
Indian  missions,  31 1,  et  seq. 

Civilization,  831. 
Independent  Presbyterians  in  S.  C,  527. 
Injunction   to    disorderly   courts    in    1637, 
711. 

To  take  up  a  case,  120. 
Intolerance  condenmed,  78G. 

Judicial  Committee,  287. 

Process  against  a  court,  711,  720. 
Decision,  record  of,  145. 

Copy  demanded  by  respondent,  107. 

Publication  of,  146. 

Of  tliC  Assembly  reversed,  147. 
Special  decision  by  consent  of  parties, 

144. 


Jurisdiction,  territorial,  p.  92. 
Over  candidates,  56. 
All  the  ciders  on  trial,  94. 
The  only  Elder  related  to  accused,  94. 
Member  of  defunct  Presbytery,  94. 
Non-residents,  95. 
Deposed  Minister,  96. 
Declinature,  95. 

Kelso's  appeal, 4 1. 
Keys,  doctrine  of,  3. 
KoUock's  case,  115. 

Lathrop's  case,  557. 
l<aw  ot  Pa.,  on  marriage  opposed,  786. 
Legislative  power,  90. 
Letters    correspondent,  to  Synod  of   Glas- 
gow, 2. 

To  Dublin  Presbytery,  304,306. 

To  the   Scotch    Assembly,    (1758)  373, 
(1844)  559. 

To  the  Irish  Assembly,  539,  541,  543. 

To  Suffolk  Presbytery,  11. 

To  Connecticut  Ministers,  (1708)  491. 

To  the   Massachusetts'  Association,  501. 

To  South  Carolina  Presbytery,  547. 

To  the  Cumberland  party,  629,  63 1. 

To  West  Tennessee  Presbytery,  632. 

To  Yale  College,  595. 

To  Rev.  D.Rice,  54. 

To  Dr.  Leechman,  72. 

To  Governor  of  Virginia,  308. 

To  the  churches  of  Christ  on  the  reform  of 
1837,747. 
Letters,  pastoral,  to  the   Kentucky  Synod 
on  the  Cumberland  schism,  630. 

On  the  rcCorm  of  1837,743. 

On  the  division  of  1838,  763. 

On  systematic  benevolence,  153. 

On  ministerial  support,  173. 

On  monthly  concert,  179. 

To  frontier  and  vacant  churches,  193. 

On  dangers  in  revivals,  199. 

On  promoting  revivals,  203. 

On   Missions,  (1719,)  307,  (1791,)  326, 
(1840,)  362. 

To  foieign  missionaries,  359. 

On  founding  Princeton  Seminary,  408. 

On  maintaining  sound  doctrine,  565. 

In  behalf  of  the  Waldenses,  536. 

On  the  Abingdon  difficulties,  614. 

Of  the    Kentucky  Synod  on  the    New 
Light,  622. 

Of  Pliiladelphia  Synod  on  Hopkinsian- 
ism, 645. 

On  the  old  French  war,  820. 

On  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  829. 

On  the  revolutionary  war,  823. 

On  the  FVench  revolution,  827. 
Mails,  Sabbath  conveyance,  33,  800,801. 
Library,  Synodical  in  1755,  370. 

Of  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  551. 
Libraries,  pastoral,  171. 
Licensure,  disorderly,  61. 

By  a  self-appointed  committee,  61. 

Importance  of  probation,  60. 


INDEX. 


853 


Licensure  not  to  be  sou£;lit  abroad, p.  61. 
Licentiates  to  attend  churcii  courts,  61. 

Jurisdiction  over,  57. 
Liquor  dealers,  32. 
Litifration  among  Christians,  792. 
The  lot,  161. 
Lotteries,  793. 
Lowrie's  appeal,  41,  146. 
Lowcry's  case,  132. 
Lowery's  cases,  140,  143;  135,  146,227. 

Maiiaffey's  case,  112. 

Mail  carriers  and  the  Sabbath,  33,  801. 

Marqnes's    case,   Clarksville    church,    36, 

104,  131. 
Marriage,  inconsiderate  engagements,  162. 

Clandestine,  163, 

Prior  publication,  162. 

Of  heathen  converts,  168. 

By  licentiates,  162. 

Cases  of  affinity,  163 — 168. 
Masonry,  792. 

Matthews,  obituary  memorial  to  Dr.,  453. 
McAdow's  case,   113. 
McCalla's  case,  33,  102. 
McDowell's  case,  142. 
McGill's  case,  98, 
McKim's  case,  697,  700. 
McQueen's  case,  110,  122,  130. 
Members  of  court,  129. 
Memorial  in  judicial  cases,  113. 
Michigan  Synod  dissolved,  768. 
Mileage,  committee,  291. 

Of  Assembly's  officers,  277. 
Miller,  Minutes  respecting  Dr.,  423. 
Miller's  case,  97,  110. 
Ministers,  without  charge,  66,  235. 

Reception  from  other  churches,  89,238. 

Reception  reversed  by  higher  courts,  235, 

Examination  of  intrants,  237. 

Holding  civil  office,  69. 

Strangers,  69. 

Itinerant,  577. 

Removal  wiliiout  leave,  70. 

Forbid  to  preach  at  a  given  place,  70. 

Unfaithful,  66,  67. 

Orthodoxy  of,  570,  727, 4. 

Non-resident,  67. 

Dismission,  246. 

Names  not  to  be  on  the  Church  roll,  69. 

Deaths  to  be  noticed  in  the  Narrative,  287, 

Their  support,  170. 

That  of  aged  and  invalids,  177,  461,463 
Ministry,  consecration  of  children,  189. 
Minutes  of  the  Assembly,  rules  respecting 
283. 

Printing  the  old,  282. 

The  annual,  283. 

Those  of  the  General  Synod,  281. 
IMissions,  belong  to  the  Assembly,  296. 

liistory  of  early,  303,  et  seq. 

Pastors  to  cultivate  the  spirit,  328. 

The  duty  of  the  Church,  303,  347. 

Collections  for,  364. 
Missionaries' salaries,  341, 

Pastoral  Letter  to,  358. 


Missionary  Reporter,  p.  301. 

Chronicle,  30l. 
Mission  Church  courts,  365. 

Relation  to  the  Coiis^tilution,  367. 
Moderator,  in  judicial  cases,  102,  129. 

Of  Assembly,  277, 

List,  267. 
Moral  reform  societies  and  the  Church,  797. 
Munroe's  case,  36. 
Music,  ruled  by  the  Session,  170. 

Listrumental,  170. 

The  Assembly's  collection,  168. 

Narrative,  Committee  on,  287. 
Negro  instruction,  816,  819. 
New  Brunswick  schism,  577. 
New  Light  heresy,  620. 
New-school  controversy,  645. 

Doctrinal  errors,  665,  673, 675,  678, 684. 

Position  in  1834,  6C9. 

Theology  as  avowed  in  1837,  733. 

Irregularities  and  disorders,  660,  663. 

Secession,  754,  764. 

Proposal  for  intercommunion,  782. 
New  York  General  Synod,  593. 
Newspapers,  minute  respecting,  571,  767. 
Nichols's  case,  108. 
Notice  of  appeal  or  complaint,  128. 

Oaths,  judicial,  105. 
Obituary  memorials: 

Alexander,  422. 

Green,  276. 

Matthews,  453. 

Miller,  424. 

Sampson,  445. 
Ordinances,  74,  ei  seq. 

Classified,  73. 

Heretical  and  disorderly,  88,  194. 

Neglect  of,  83, 
Ordination,  Lay,  88, 

Irregular,  87. 

Foreign,  85. 

Of  other  Churches,  89. 

Procured  by  fraud,  88. 

Sine  titulo,  67,  86. 

Of  licentiates  in  batches,  660. 

By  committee,  84. 

Caution  in,  60,  67. 

Olden  trials,  84. 

Of  Elders  with  laying  on  of  hands,  90. 

Of  Ministers,  Elders,  at,  43,48,  84, 

Papacy,  relations  with,  77,  544. 
Parsonages,  171. 
Parsons"  case,  97. 
Pastor,  election,  61. 

Installation,  63. 

Duties,  64,  6^,  187-192, 

Sustentation,  341. 

Relation  dissolved,  64. 

Libraries,  171. 
Pelagian  errors,  675. 
Peoria  Church  case,  30,  31,  70,  143,  146, 

147,  131. 
Periodicals  of  the  Boards,  301, 


854 


INDEX. 


Permanent  Clerk,  p.  280. 
Persecutions,  in  Virginia,  308. 

In  Switzerland,  testimon}',  786. 
Petition  in  judicial  cases,  113. 
Pliiladelpliia    Fresbytery,    (:2d.)      See    As- 

seiiibly's  Presbytery. 
Pittsbur<rli  Cliurcli  case,  31. 

Convention,  678. 
Pliin  of  Union.     Origin,  554. 

Results,  557. 

Complaints  against,  660,  670,  G79. 

Detence  of,  66i),  7U2. 

Abrogation  proposed,  683. 

Abrogation,  701. 

This  vindicated,  705,  744,  749. 
Plan  of  Albany  Presbytery  in  1802,  557. 

Of  Albany  Synod  in  1808,  556,  725,  726, 
Pluralities,  66. 
Political  excitements,  830. 
Postmasters  and  the  Sabbath,  33. 
Prayer,  posture,  179. 

For  rulers,  179. 

Secret,  766. 

Social,  179. 

Female  meetings,  200. 

Monthly  concert,  179. 
Preaching,  lay,  74. 

Expository,  64,  74. 

Reading  sermons,  74. 
Presbyterianism,  radical  principles,  210. 
Presbyteries,  list,  230. 

Duties,  249,  343. 

Quorum,  235. 

Reception  of  members,  235. 

Dismission  and  withdrawal,  246. 

May  not  dismiss  Cliurches,  249. 

Excessive  subdivision,  249,  270,  728. 

Elective  aftinity,  247. 

Equalizing  the  representation,  763. 

Stricken  from  the  roll  in  1838,  769. 
Price's  case,  108,  109,  140. 
Pro  re  nata  meetings  of  courts,  211,  248. 
Protest,  right  of,  91. 

Rejected  in  1834,  672. 
Protestation  of  1741,  582. 
Protracted  meetings,  207,  33. 
Psalmody,  180. 

Frivolous  and  heretical,  182. 
Overture  from  the  Associate  Reformed, 
187. 
Publishers'  books,  recommendation,  398. 

Question,  form  in  judicial  case,  139. 
Quorum,  judicial,  100. 

Of  Presbytery,  43,  44. 

Of  Session,  227. 

Failing,  211. 
Rankin  in  the  Assembly,  272. 
Reading  sermons,  74. 
Reception  on  examination,  33. 
Record,  Home  and  Foreign,  301. 
Records,  1 16. 

Exhibition  required,  119. 

Committees  on,  292. 

Defective,  136. 

Erasure,  117,  118. 


Records,  Amendment,  p.  117. 

Exce()ti()ns,  120. 

Copies  sent  up,  119. 

In  appeals  and  complaints,  135,  136. 
Reference,  1 14. 
Remonstrance,  right  of,  147. 
Rcnnick's  case,  91. 
Reorganization    of  the   Church    after    the 

New-school  schism,  757,  768. 
Resistance  of  censure,  109. 
Review,  annual,  118. 

Who  vote?   119. 

Effect  of,  120. 
Revivals,  te>timony  to,  194. 

Means  of.  203. 

Dangers  in,  199. 

Disorders  in,  196. 

Reception  of  members  in,  33. 
Revolution  documents,  821-827. 
Rice,  Matthew  H.'s  case,  101. 
Roll-calling,  139. 

Arrangement,  283. 
Romanism,  prayer  against,  180, 

Testimony  against,  77,  79,  544. 
Rules  of  the  Assembly  to  be  observed,  105. 

For  judicatories,  844. 
Russell's  case,  135. 

Sabbath  mail  service,  33. 
Sabbath  desecration,  798. 

By  Congress,  801. 

Mails,  801. 
Sabbath-schools,  191. 
Sabbath-school  Visitor,  302. 
Sacraments,  75. 

Cases  of  administration,  75. 
Schism,  evil,  12. 

Schools,  parochial,  368,  386,  385,  393. 
School  books,  393. 
Scotch  Church,  relations  to,  2, 27,  373. 

Free  Church,  537. 
Scott's  case,  137. 

Scripture  proofs  to  the  Constitution,  13. 
Secret  societies,  792. 
Secret  devotions,  766. 
Seminaries,  theological,  404. 

Allegheny,  425. 

Columbia,  446. 

Danville,  429. 

Kentucky,  455. 

Lane,  455. 

Maryville,  454. 

New  Albany,  447. 

Princeton,  405. 

Sy nodical,  441. 

Committee  on,  292. 
Sentence,  must  be  precise,  106. 

Copy  claimed,  107. 
Session,  quorum,  226. 

Moderator,  228. 

Appointed  by  a  higher  court,  224,  227. 

Representation  from,  228. 
Shepherd's  ease.  111. 
Skinner's  case,  140,  142. 
Slave,  baptism,  82. 

Instruction,  807,  811,  816. 


INDEX. 


855 


Slavery,  p.  806. 

Corrtspondence,  510,  539. 
Snodgrass's  case,  133,  134. 
Speculation  and  extravagance,  792. 
Spicer's  case,  107. 

Spirituous  liquors,  manufacture  and   sale, 
796. 

Sale  to  heathen  tribes,  797. 
Stamp  Act  repeal,  821. 
Standingf  rules,  controversy,  22,  23, 
Stated  Clerk  of  Assembly,  279. 
Stated  supplies,  65. 
Stated  meeting  failing,  how  called,  212. 

Changed,  210. 
Statistics,  rules  respecting,  833. 

Synopsis  of  statistical  tables,  835. 
Statistics   of  the   General  Assembly  from 
1791  to  1820,  835. 

Numerical,   of  General  Assembly  from 
1820  to  1854,  836. 

Of  benevolence,  from  1820  to  1854,837. 

Of  Domestic    Missions,   from    1791    to 
1854,  inclusive,  837. 

Of  Church  Extension,  838. 

Of  the  Board  of  Education,  839. 

Of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  840. 

Summary    View    of  l-oreign    Missions, 
May  1,  1855,841. 

Of  the  Board  of  Publication,  842. 

Of  the   New-school    General    Assembly 
1838  to  1856,  843. 
St.  Charles  Church  case,  144. 
Stone's  heresy,  620. 
Suffolk  Presbytery,  reception,  547. 

Threatens  secession,  ll. 
Suits  at  law,  New-school,  771. 

Thanks  to  the  counsel,  775. 

Hon.  John  Sergeant's  reply,  775. 

Opinion  of  the  Court,  776. 
Suspension,  pending  process,  104. 

For  definite  time,  108. 
Suspended  Minister  may  not  exhort,  108. 

Still  enrolled,  108. 
Swiss  persecutions  condemned,  786. 
Synod,  history  of  the  General,  264. 

It  meets  by  delegation,  265. 

Its  powers,  266. 
Synod  of  Delaware  erected,  258. 

Dissolved,  683. 

TJtica,  Geneva  and  Genessee,  and  Wes- 
tern Reserve  disowned,  719. 

Tennessee  and  Michigan  dissolved,  768. 

Western  Reserve,  correspondence  with, 
563. 
Synods,  nature  defined,  252. 

Chronological  list,  251. 

Acts  of  erection,  252-262. 

Opening  sermon,  262. 

Quorum,  211. 

Adjourned  meetings,  263. 

Called  meetings,  262. 

Missions  of,  316,324. 

Re-arrangement   after    the    New-school 
secession,  768. 

Taylor's  (James,)  case,  133. 


Taylor's  (R.,)  case,  p.  128. 
Temporary  Clerk,  281. 
Tennent's  mission  to  Europe,  373. 
Tennent  and  Cowell's  case,  575. 
Testimonies  and  warnings  on  Church  and 
State,  784. 

On   disorders    in    government    and    dis- 
cipline, 675,  727. 

On  duelling,  791. 

On  the  duty  of  opposing  error,  565,  615. 

On  erroneous  publications,  571. 

On  family  religion,  160. 

On  instruction  of  the  young,  187-392. 

On  intemperance,  794. 

On  ministerial  piety,  53. 

On  ministerial  learning,  54. 

On  neglect  of  the  ministry,  66,  67. 

On  supjjort  of  the  ministry,  172. 

On  Foreign  Missions,  357,  362. 

On  Pelagian  errors,  568,  665,  675,  728. 

On  persecution,  786. 

On  piety  in  communicants,  53. 

To  genuine  revivals,  195,  602. 

On  promoting  revivals,  203. 

Against  disorders  in  revivals,  196,  199. 

Against  Romanism,  77. 

On  the  Sabbath,  798. 

On  slavery,  807-814. 

Against  Socinianism,  76,  573. 

On  theatre  and  dancing,  790. 

Against  Univcrsalism,  573. 
Thanksgiving  days,  187. 
Theatre,  790. 
Theological  schools,  404. 

Early  appointment  of  a  Professor,  404. 
Theological   Instructors,  rules  respecting, 

761. 
Time,  limitation,  128,  129. 

When  it  may  not  be  pleaded,  120. 
Todd's  case,  141. 

Toleration  principles,  786.  « 

Total  abstinence,  796. 
Tract  and  book  distribution,  396. 
Translation  of  Pastors,  64. 
Transylvania  Seminary,  378. 
Trimble's  case,  134. 
Troy  Church  case,  128. 
Trustees  of  Assembly,  466. 

Of  the  Churches,  37. 
Tuttle's  case,  559. 


Union,  conference  on  Christian,  528. 

To  be  cultivated,  12. 

Of  Charleston  Presbytery,  548. 

Dutchess,  546. 

South  Carolina,  547. 

Suffolk,  546. 

Charleston  Union,  782. 

Associate  Reformed  Synod,  549. 

The  General  Synods  in  1758,  600. 
Uniiarianism,  76,  573. 
United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  320. 
Universalists  excommunicate,  32. 
Upson's  case,  564. 
Uraguay  Treaty,  789. 


:56 


INDEX. 


Vacant  pulpits  subject  to  Presbytery,  p.  68. 

Ordinances  in  vacant  Churches,  193. 
Vaccination,  832. 
Vancourl's  case,  120. 
Van  Dy  lie's  case,  522. 
Vaud  persecutions  reprobated,  786. 
Virg^inia,  letter  to  the  Governor  of,  308. 
Visitorial  power  of  tlie  Assembly,  295. 


VValdenses,  intercourse  with,  536. 
Ward's  case,  111. 
Wasiiington,correspondence  with  President, 

827. 
Western  Committee  of  Missions,  337. 
Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  347. 

Proposed  transfer,  347,  et  seq. 

Memorial  in  1834,  659. 


Western  Reserve  Synod,  plan  of  union  in, 
p.  563. 

Disowned,  719. 
Westminster  Standards  amended,  5,  9. 

To  be  studied,  27. 

Assembly's  bicentenary,  26. 
Widows'  fund,  457. 
Wiley's  case,  33. 
Wilmington  Presbytery  case,  697. 

Refusal  of  records,  699. 

Dissolved  and  restored,  700. 
Withdrawal  of  parties,  139. 
Witnesses,  105,  106. 
Wood,  Mrs.,  case,  97. 

World's  Christian  Union  Convention,  528. 
Wylie's,  Dr.,  ca.se,  101,  100,  121. 

Yale's  case,  132. 

Yiile  College,  letter  to,  595. 


